Buzzing with FOOD

 (long post, please allow time for pics to load)

Continuing on the Penang Bloggers Gathering held on 15th August 09….

Earlier on in Part I the focus was on the ambiance and setting of Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant.

Now in Part II, let’s take a look at the main dishes served for the night.

We had a standard set meal of RM 40 nett per pax.

Menu:

Drinks
Cordial Drink
Coffee/Tea

Soup
Mushroom Soup
Seafood Soup

Main Course
Plovdiv Ribs
Baked Cod Fish with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Chicken Stroganov
Bulgarian Pork Djolan
Bulgarian Platter

Now let’s take a look at those main course individually. The six of us sitting at the same table agreed to order one of each and two plates of pork ribs and then share so that we can try out every single one of them.

Bulgarian Pork Djolan

Traditional roasted pork knuckles

This is the best of the night, at least agreed by those sitting at our table. The pork knuckles was well marinated with special sauce and herbs. It is then roasted till golden brown but still leaving the meat juicy and tender.

Baked Cod Fish with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

The cod fish was skillfully baked with the right amount of time and the outcome was a very soft and moist texture. It even taste almost jelly-like according to some comments.

Chicken Stroganov

Boneless chicken drumstick cut in strips, cooked with mushroom, wine, cream, herbs and spices. I enjoyed this dish too as it was real easy to eat for one, and it is also very aromatic and infused with the combination taste of wine, herbs and spices. The creamy gravy of onions, mushrooms and red chillies adds a zing to this dish.

We almost finished the dish even before one of our table-mate managed to get a piece!!!

Plovdiv Ribs

Pork ribs grilled till tender. We highly anticipated this but it came out a little short. I feel it was a little salty while others commented it was too sweet. Could it be that it was not thoroughly marinated?

Bulgarian Platter

Mixed grill trio of kebapche, kyofte, karnatche (traditional recipe of in-house homemade Bulgarian sausages and succulent pork fillet) This dish was too meaty for me. The beef patty, beef sausages and pork fillet are a little dry. This is one dish which I would give a miss for the night.

Dessert
Chocolate Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream

I prefer this to the creme brulee. Enjoying cold vanilla ice cream while sipping chocolate soup is something I’ve not tried before.

Chocolate Creme Brulee

The custard base flavoured with chocolate is sweet. Topped with caramelized sugar, this dessert is really for the sweet-tooth. I stopped after two spoonful.

We also had the chance to sample some gelato, courtesy of Gelatissimo brand, which has a branch in Gurney Plaza. Among the five choices brought by them, I love the mango and green tea flavour!!

We were also treated with an array of cakes courtesy of Winter Butterfly Homemade Cakes.

Cream Cheese Mousse Cake - Soft but quite plain

Oreo Cheese Cake - very rich taste of cheese

Chocolate Brownies - a little dry and hard but I guess if it was allowed to cool in room temperature for a little while, it would be alright.

We were full to the brim and had to call it a night as the time approaches midnight. It was definitely a great session to mingle around with other bloggers and to catch up with each other.

Thanks to Alan and Allie again for generously putting in time and effort to organize this fun gathering!!

Details of the restaurant:

 Time sure flies. And we have yet again gathered like-minded friends for a session of Fun, Wild and Intimate, as the theme cleverly interpreted.

The venue:
Vintage Bulgaria, Tanjung Bungah
Located at Jalan Sungai Kelian, Tanjung Bungah, this area is popular among expatriates and tourist who enjoys a drinking session at pubs/bars and tying out international cuisines. Vintage Bulgaria is a neighbour of Ingolf Kneipe, a German food restaurant and bar.

The event:
Penang Floggers 4th Gathering.
Thanks to the owner of Vintage Bulgaria for putting up this simple but spot-on banner.

I still vividly remember the 1st gathering held at Hainan Town Restaurant @ Weld Quay. All of us were so new to each other that we behaved and speaked accordingly. It’s like when you made new friends in school or in your social life!! There was more introduction and the "about-me" than other conversations.

But fast-forward to the 4th gathering, although there’s more new faces joining the group (Yay!!) we blended much better and talk like we’ve known each other for years. We’ve even identified a few as our "mommys, brothers and sisters". Haha that’s the joking part.

As time goes by, with more of such gatherings, I believe we will be more acquainted to each other rather than just being friend in the virtual world.

Back to the venue, I’m pleasently surprised by the beautiful interior deco and clever design of the shop although it only occupies a rather small lot.

At the front, there’s a few tables and chairs for those who prefer to ‘people-watch’ while eating/drinking.

The entrance (left) and a bar on the mezzanine floor.

At the lower ground of the shop, the place is very cozy and cottage-like. Very suitable for a romantic meal with your partners.

And this is the upper floor, which is reserved for the event. The whole floor just for us!!

Bulgarian village painting on the wall.

After waiting for all to arrive and snapping photos of the surrounding, we had a very short introduction and then comes the main VIP of the night. If you know us, it’s not a person who is a VIP, but the FOOD!!!

The Food:

Soups are served first.
Mushroom soup served with ‘Vintage’ garlic bread (cheese-baked garlic bread)
The mushroom soup is the blended version where there’s no chucks of mushrooms visible. Not too creamy and just the right amount of herbs. The garlic bread topped with cheese is something different and is very aromatic. Ours was slightly under-baked, which makes the cheese a little less burnt and hence not as nice as the one in the photo.

Seafood soup
Also another blended version. We tasted some crabmeat and tuna?. It doesn’t have an overpowering pungent seafood smell so it taste quite pleasant and delicious. But I was thinking maybe by adding a little more herbs will do the trick!

We then linger around and talk and talk ’til the main dish arrived.
That’s next in Part II.

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This post is specially dedicated to all those nice people who have spent some time celebrating with me more than a fortnight ago. My deepest gratitude goes to you for making that particular day memorable for me. It has been a long time since I last had a big celebration.

(above taken with friend’s camera)

(taken with my camera. This is what happens when you don’t adjust the white balance to align with the location lighting)

Packaging. Lovely box isn’t it?

Chocolate Cake from another group of friends. Thank You!

A specially-made cake by someone (you can never guess what flavour it is. Haha). Thank you too!

Had another feast too, but virtually. You might be thinking how? They are in different parts of the world, namely UK and Aust and they were so kind to forego their beauty sleep and wait till our morning here to wish me and have a "webfeast" which includes lamingtons, chocolate cake with lots of cream and strawberries, roti canai, spring rolls, poh piah and even hor fun!!!

Haha it was real fun….imagination that is! Gotta have a powerful imagination if you plan to try that out. But the underline is that there are really people who cared and are willing enough to go to a certain extend to make someone’s day a much brighter one!

And my solitary gift of the year (and many more quiet years earlier)….. tadaaa

I’m not gonna bore you with how it looked but one cute label written on the box is…

Thanks a million to the sender. You know who you are. You have always lived up to the tagline of "a friend in need, is a friend indeed". And I hope I can be that sort of friend to you too! *Hugs*

It has been a wonderful start for the first quarter of the year, thanks to all the messages and cakes.

Looking forward to next year as someone promised to take me to a 5-star seafood buffet!!!! Hahahaha

~Cheers~

Wishing everyone a very Happy Lunar New Year

May the new year bring new hope, better opportunities, good health and abundance of happiness and joy

Have a jolly good time, with lovely and tasty food to fill your tummy this festive season!

Cheers