Buzzing with FOOD

 This place hardly needs any introduction. Anyone who craves for some authentic banana leaf cuisine will surely be reminded of Passions of Kerala Restaurant. They have a branch in Brown Garden, this one in Service Road (off Burmah Road) and the latest new outlet at New World Park.

Of the 3 branches, I prefer the environment and setting in Service Road. It still maintains its old pre-war house charm (unlike the spanking new cafe concept in New World Park) and is considerably very clean (Brown Garden’s branch is a little worn out, hence looking less appealing). There’s air-conditioning in here too, although the restaurant doors are left open.

Some spices crucial in Indian cooking. No spice no Indian food, as they say.

Menu

Prices differ from branch to branch. The one in New World Park is more expensive.

All the portion and serving shown in the menu are meant for one to two pax.

How can I go to an Indian restaurant without ordering my favourite mango lassi (RM 4.50)

Banana leaf being laid out.

The vegetarian set (RM 5.00) includes five types of dishes - chilli beansprout, pickled mango, mayo salad, papadam and one more which I cant recall.

If 2 pieces of papadam is not enough, you can order a basket but it cost RM 1.00, not FOC.

One serving of McNairs fried chicken. This taste great as it was well marinated with spices but not spicy. The only setback was that one piece of chicken was a little uncooked in the center part, near the bones. Other than that, it’s a winner.

Fried ladies fingers. I was trying to get others to agree to order the fried bitter gourd but they were not as adventurous and opted for ladies fingers. Not over-fried and very crunchy. This can be gone in minutes since it’s a nice dish to munch on while waiting for other dishes to be served. Same goes with the fried squid  (sotong). I guess I was too busy eating and hence forgot to snap a photo of that dish. But it was as crunchy as the ladies fingers and didn’t taste "rubbery".

Mutton masala is richly cooked in their special masala sauce. It was very tender and goes very well with rice.

Curry fish with ladies fingers. The never-fail curry version with ikan bawal. Not very spicy for me but others might think otherwise.

Chicken masala. Isn’t this table full of "masalah"?? Haha, no it’s not the masalah (problem) but masala. This dish is very flavourful and has a thick gravy coating the chicken. Their combination of spices is just right. You won’t feel like there’s too strong taste of one certain spice, which can contribute to the downfall of a dish.

Fish curry, chicken curry and dhall all united to drown the rice and other side dishes on the banana leaf. You can request to have more or less gravy, depending on your stlye of eating. Me, I prefer my rice wet, so more gravy please!!!

Price list.

Thank you to the guest whom we brought here to eat. It was suppose to be my treat, since I’m the one bringing the guest out for dinner, but I was a minute too late in grabbing the bill.

Contact:

40, Service Road (Burmah Square),
10050, Penang
Tel:04-229 2570

Map:

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 When you hear the word "Bento", you’ll think of Japanese food. It’s a Japanese word for meals in a box.

What is bento?

Bento (written 弁当), or obento (お弁当) to use the honorific term, is the Japanese word for a meal served in a box. Beyond that basic definition though, just about anything goes as to what kind of box or container is used, as well as what is put inside that box,.

Different types of bento

(See also: Types of homemade bento.)

There are several different kinds of bento, with different purposes. Makunouchi bento are elaborate bento meals presented at formal meals, meant to be eaten at table.

(read more from the source)

Over here I think no Japanese restaurant go by without adding bento meals into their menu. But Tonki Bento stands out as a Japanese Restaurant which focuses on these box meals, hence the name.

It’s location is a little hidden, off from the busy Burmah Road, so some might not realise this corner shop. Nevertheless, they are going all out with their delivery service of bento meals. I tried their delivered bento lunch box before and I thought I would go to the restaurant to try out some other offerings of theirs.

Very simple interior decoration, comfortable enough for about 10 tables.

Free-flow of green tea

 Teriyaki Bento (RM 18.80)

A complete meal of rice, salad, teriyaki chicken, deep-fried prawns, orange and also a bowl of miso soup.

Tori Katsu Kore (RM 11.80) - Japanese curry Katsu-don. Japanese curry is not as spicy and fragrant as the curry we have here. It is more towards a sweet taste. It’s also not as red as our local curry. But this is how Japanese curry is like, since Japanese can’t really take spicy stuff. But there’s lots of big onions added in this curry.

Tori Katsu Don (RM 8.80). This version of chicken cutlet is added with an egg after being deep-fried. I’ve tasted much better Katsu-don elsewhere. Over here, it’s quite dry and lacks in aroma and taste.

A stock of carnation was given to each table for an occasion (go guess)

I think they are more popular with bento meals. Other types of ala-carte dishes are just so-so. I did not try their sushi though.

Look at their Bento sets for lunch. Great variety at a low price. (click to view larger image)

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