Buzzing with FOOD

Noodle Station at Kulim Landmark Central Shopping Complex. This complex also housed the Giant supermarket. So if you are unsure how to reach this place, do look out for Giant’s signboard along the road to this area.

Noodle Station started from Kota Bharu, Kelantan in 2005. Their concept is to create a dining place of fresh food with fast service at an affordable price.

The first branch opened in E-Gate, Penang and soon after, many other branches have mushroomed, from northern region (Sunway Carnival Mall Penang, Taiping Central) to central region (Ampang, Setapak, Subang Jaya, Damansara, Kajang, etc.)

Part of the Menu. There’s over 70 (food) and 100 (beverage) items to choose from. Talk about extensive!!!

(click to view a larger image)

I’m going to do something a little different here. The beverages standard will be based on awards I’ve come up with (IMHO). So feel free to interpret the goodness or worth-ordering factor!! (Not all beverages are featured and given award. The complete serving are shown in 2 photos above)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There’s this restaurant, unnoticeable from the main road leading to this new housing area of Setia Pearl Island. I said unnoticeable because other than a big signboard shouting out the name of this restaurant and an arrow pointing in, it would cross no one’s mind that Pearl Palace Restaurant is located at the Pearl Island Country Club.

Driving straight to the end of the road after turning in from the traffic light, you will see this huge club house.

A little underutilized in my opinion, this place has a magnificent hilltop view of the mega construction happening at the lower ground of the area.

Pearl Palace Restaurant is located on the first floor of this building.

This is a very nice corner to have some tea and chit-chat away.

The restaurant caters more for corporate dinners and also wedding dinners.

This is the bird’s eye view from the restaurant. As night falls, you can’t help but stare at the beautiful view of lights sprawling over the vicinity.

We started the meal with a Fish Steamboat. Three different sets are available -

Set A (RM 68 +) for max 4 pax. - 1 Fresh Fish, bean curd, fish balls, vegetable, chicken meat, crab rolls, meehoon/white rice
Set B (Rm 128+) for max 7 pax. - 1 Fresh Fish, bean curd, fish balls, vegetable, chicken meat, crab rolls, prawns, fresh mushrooms, sotong, meehoon/white rice
Set C (RM 228+) for max 10 pax. - 1 Fresh Fish, bean curd, fish balls, sotong balls, vegetable, chicken meat, chicken meat balls, crab rolls, prawns, fresh mushrooms, sotong, fish maw, meehoon/white rice

The sweetness is attributed to the fried fish fillets that was boiled with the soup and also the cabbage. Some condensed milk is also added. The soup is very sweet and fragrant. Another good thing is that the fishy taste is not too apparent, hence gaining the approval of taste from most of us.

Steamed Beancurd with Salted Egg and Prawn

The beancurd itself does not contain much taste but the sweetness of the prawns and saltiness from the salted egg yolk gives this dish a balance taste. The gravy is of egg-based, something like in the char hor fun. Boiled brussel sprouts adds some green here, which I think is suitable. You cannot be adding some long/huge leafy vegetables here as it would look out of place.

Braised Fresh Mushrooms with Bamboo Shoots

This dish taste a little bland. The center is enoki mushrooms, and circling the side is the bamboo shoots. I applaud the presentation here - looks like a blooming lotus, but maybe more ingredients can be added in to make this dish more exciting and special.

Braised Dry Abalone and Sea Product in Claypot

Among the sea products found in here other than the Japanese Abalone are scallops, dried oysters, fish maw, sea cucumber, cuttlefish, and pacific clams. With all the high quality ingredients, the outcome is of course good. Gravy is of enough thick consistency while the broad beans and carrot springs some color to this dish.

Scallops, Japanese Abalone and pacific clams.

Deep Fried Chicken with Marmite Sauce

I thought this dish would come out to be of darker shade since it’s uses marmite sauce. But I think the chicken fillets are marinated with the sauce and then dip in batter and fried. Very crispy even after being left exposed for quite some time and fragrant thanks to the pandan leaf added into the oil while deep-frying. However, the overall taste was a little sweet for such a dish.

Behold the hidden dragon!!! Very nice presentation isn’t it? Imagine how long it took for the chef to carve out this carrot dragon!!!

Pomfret in Two Preparation

The sliced pomfret is prepared in two ways, one steamed and added with brown gravy, another is stir-fried with celery, carrots and cashew nuts. I personally prefer the stir-fried version. The fish maintained its softness and juiciness even after frying and the cashew nuts, although little, adds a fragrant nutty flavour to the overall taste. Not to say that the steamed version is not good, but when compared side by side with the stir-fried version, I will happily give my vote to the latter.

Fried Wet Hor Fun with Sliced Abalone

This huge plate of hor fun can serve for about 10 people!! The ingredients only consist of mushrooms, some greens and egg (abalone and other seafood, eg. prawns, sotong are added upon request)

It was a little unappetizing with the poor condition of the mashed up hor fun. But as the saying goes, ‘never judge a book by its cover’, so this is the same as well. After eating it, we found that it is very smooth and slides right through the throat. The gravy is also not too watery. If they can purchase some better quality hor fun, then this would be perfect!!

Double boiled Aloe Vera with Red Dates

 We ended our meal with this clear and sweet dessert. The aloe vera are specially planted by the chef to make this dessert. Some say that it’s a waste cooking aloe vera this way since the vitamins will be gone. I do agree to a certain extend but feel that this combination is much more healthier than most desserts that you will find in restaurants elsewhere. Red dates, wolfberries and aloe vera - all the traditional health food of the Chinese folks. I do enjoy this dessert but wished that it could be a little less sweet, since nowadays most people are not so favourable to too sweet stuff.

The Manager aka the chef, Mr Wong was very open to feedback and suggestions, which is a bright aspect of any business outlets because they put the customer’s word into consideration and practice. This restaurant focuses on serving food using good ingredients, hence not compromising the taste. Targeted to customers with wedding dinners and corporate gatherings, but more can be done to attract groups of family or friends to come here and have a good meal. It might not be able to change it’s location, but maybe a certain kind of promotion can bring more customers to this restaurant.

 Contact:

 Pearl Palace Restaurant
Pesiaran Kelicap, 11900, Bayan Lepas, Penang
Tel: 04-644 9355

Direction:

 From Jalan Tengah, it only takes about 4.4km to reach Pesiaran Kelicap. The map is only showing partially of Jalan Tengah, reaching the T-junction where the Chong Cheng Chinese School is located. Turn left and go straight all the way, passing by the Toyota workshop, a chinese cemetery and when approaching another traffic light (a large signboard showing Pearl Palace Restaurant), turn left into the new housing area of Setia Pearl Island. Go straight all the way uphill till the end of the road to reach the club house.

Map:

(long stretch indicates a few km away)

More detailed map 

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Coffee Island @ Gurney Drive, established last year was more tuned towards a trendy hang-out place for youths and young adults to come and have a drink over some business or coffee talk. After it started for a few months, we tried it out.

When we asked for the menu, they said they only have this order form for us to choose our order. That was a little funny.

The interior

We ordered a snack, Tempura Bowl. Pieces of brocolli, carrot, mushroom, cauliflower and corn. Nothing spectacular and certainly way below par of real Japanese-style tempura.

Seafood Spaghetti Marinara. I think any of us can attempt to do this at home and give this dish a good fight. The sauce was not tantalizing enough and there’s no sight of Italian herbs or the taste of it. 

Fish in honey sauce. Nothing to shout about for this one. A little too plain in my opinion and the fish is not grilled well enough.

That was my first visit.

Then recently…..

We were undecided that night on where to have dinner, and it’s already quite late, some shops are closing already. Since my dinner-mate has not been here, I said ok but forewarned her that there shouldn’t be any good expectations towards the food.  

Now they have a menu for the customers to look at what they have to offer.

The new menu, with lots of food photos. Don’t fall prey to the looks though…it looked better in the photos.

They served western and local cuisine. This page is showing the western food

And this is the local food.

New ordering form

Cold Chocolate Island (RM 5.90) and Mango Smoothies (RM 7.90)

Dragon Silk Shrimp Roll (RM 8.00). Some crunchy snack. Lots of crispy threads (made of flour??) coated on the shrimp rolls.

Cheesy Fish Cutlet Rice (RM 10.50). This has got to be the worst cheese bake rice I’ve tasted. Goodness, how can they even think of putting this in the menu??? The cheese taste just like the square cheddar cheese we buy to make sandwiches and turned real hard and tasteless after baked. The fish cutlet is not well-marinated with seasoning thus taste bland and also very dry.

And the funny thing is they serve this dish with sambal!!!! But the sambal was the only thing which pushed me through to finishing this dish without wasting food. In fact, the sambal, with crushed dried shrimps turn out much better than the main dish itself!!! What an irony!!

Southern India Chicken Curry served with tomato rice (RM 12.50). This one fared much better, at least. The curry and sambal was ok but the whole dish was served cold. Hmmmm….

Maybe they are better at local dishes. Western food needs improvement for sure.

There is far more choices of drinks for those who just want to hang out. Lots of tables in open air and near the roadside of Gurney Drive but be careful not to simply pay the bill when you are approached with out requesting for it. Heard of a case where an outsider acted as the waiter and ask for payment, then ran away with the money.

They have free WiFi and even a mini room equipped with 5 computers for you to go online!

You’ll definitely see this outlet when you drive by Gurney Drive. It’s near to Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant.

Now can someone tell me what decent food is worth ordering here??

Many moons ago….I went to Lavender Bistro.

Lavender sounds more like a tea house to me but this outlet is actually a bakery cum bistro.

The abundance of pastries and bread are displayed at the front section of the shop.

The open kitchen, meanwhile, is located at the side of the outlet. Here you can see the pastry chefs creatively making all sorts of pleasing-to-see delights.

Further into the outlet is where the bistro is, tables, sofas and chairs nicely placed to give a place for diners to sit and have a complete meal.

I like the classy look and feel of the interior although it is not using really classy materials. Don’t get what I mean?

The chandelier is actually a wall tile and not a real one, although from far it could fool the eye.

There are also string of beads or some sort hanging down from the ceiling and nice but not overly-bright lighting.

The menu consist of light to heavy meal.

For breakfast, one can opt for set meals such as Healthy Country Bread set, Wheat Bun set, Butter Roll set or Florentine Egg set - each comes with a complimentary coffee/tea.

For a more heavy meal, you can opt for soups, pasta, burgers or even fried rice and tomyam with vermicelli.

Of course the ‘sweet temptation‘ section of the menu like cakes and puddings can be ordered at anytime while stocks are available.

Red Plum Lime Soda (RM 5.90) and Iced Peach Tea

I had Honey Green Tea (RM 5.90). Haha sounds funny right?! Usually green tea is taken without sugar or honey but this combination taste quite pleasant after a few sips.

Also, Americano Coffee (RM 2.45 after a 50% promotional offer)

And we were there to actually get a bite on the sweet temptation. It was way past lunch time…so it’s more like having tea.

Cocoa Barry Walnut (RM 4.80)

Really soft and ‘chocolaty’ mousse. This was gone in a matter of seconds!!!

And a few pastries chosen from the front bakery section. Select what you want and put in your tray, then pass it over to the counter and tell them your table number. They will serve it to you.

Chicken floss bun (RM 2.50), Egg tart (RM 1.50), Charcoal (RM 1.50) - black square pastry, Chocolate Marble Square (RM 1.50) - layered square pastry, Xiao Ge Ge (RM 1.50) - long cake-like pastry. Not expensive considering the environment and service of the bistro. But a 10% service charge and 5% gov. tax is applied.

Now how I wish I can find such outlets in Penang. By the way, this shop is in the Jusco Mall in Bukit Tinggi, Klang.

Lavender Bistro
Lot G18, Ground Floor, Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Centre
Tel: 03-3326 2793 

 Note:

This is going to be a start of more ‘many moons ago’ series post which I will be posting from time to time.

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Young Heart Restaurant hardly needs much introduction. With a motto of ‘healthy living starts with healthy eating’, this restaurants strives to offer healthy home cooked food to its customers but with added quality and comfortable environment. 

Publication in various local dailies are a testimony of their wonderful offerings.

Ground floor setting 

VIP room setting 

They were recently spotted with a new menu and a lot of new dishes have been added to the long list of offerings.

Start of the meal by having some tea. Young Heart offers a really wide variety of tea, including flower tea and some not so well-known tea combination.

Pu Er Tea (left) and Natural Flower Tea Mixture - Rosehip, Hibiscus, Green Apple (right)

Mid Autumn Reunion Package (4 pax) @ RM 123 nett 

 
(pic courtesy of Jason)

Reunion Dumpling Platter (5 flavours-10 pieces) 

One of the main attraction here are the steamed dumplings (jiao zi). 5 different types are served in this package, 2 pieces each. The flavours/types are (from left) Prawn + Pork + Scallop, Pork + Spinach, Pork + Cabbage, Pork + Pumpkin, Fish + Water chestnut.

The fillings are finely chopped and equally distributed. I personally like the prawn + pork + scallop and also the pork + spinach type. The fish + water chestnut is quite similar to the other pork flavours but the addition of water chestnut makes it slightly more crunchy and juicy. Do eat the dumplings while it is hot or else the skin will hardened.

Soup of the Day - Green Papaya with Spare Ribs

Unriped papaya is used here, hence the yellowish-green cubes you see in the soup. The soup as a lot of herbs and spare ribs, making it very sweet. I can’t help feeling very homey while slurping down a bowl of this soup. Very ‘cheng tnee’ as hokkiens would say, meaning clear and sweet.

Cod Fish Ala Twin

The cod fish is steamed to perfection with light soy sauce and garnished with deep fried ginger. Accompanying the steamed cod fish is it’s twin but the fried version. Some places will offer deep fried fish which is hard and overdone but over here, there’s no complains at all as it still remains juicy inside while the outer layer is crispy.

Orange Pork Chop

Pork cubes are deep fried and coated with tangy orange sauce. The meat remains soft eventhough it was deep fried and the sauce adds a zing to whip up the appetite. This is a winner for the night. 

3+1 Cup Chicken

I didn’t realise this is the sort of 3 cup chicken dish as it was not drenched in dark soy sauce but just lightly seasoned. The taste is also not as strong as the one I tried in another chinese food restaurant. However the version here is slightly altered. This is where the +1 comes in - the red chillies. It was a good choice as the chillies added another dimension to the taste of this dish.

Stir Fry Kai Lan

This dish was originally meant to be Stir Fry Chayote Leaves with Shredded Chicken but due to rainy days, they were unable to get fresh stock of the Chayote Leaves. The name was intricate enough to raise a hope of trying for the first time but unfortunately it didn’t happen. So a simple Stir Fry Kai Lan is substituted. It’s a simple dish, with garlic as the main source of taste.

Deep Fried Young Heart Bean Curd

Cube-sized home-made bean curd which is cripsy on the outside but very soft on the inside. Eaten together with thai-style chilli sauce, this will be a hit for adults and children alike. 

The set above comes with a choice of clear hand-made noodle or rice (total of 4 servings)

The noodle is only lightly seasoned with sesame oil but don’t let it’s appearance and perception foul you. The noodle texture is very springy and the sesame oil give just the right amount of taste without overshadowing the real focus, which is the noodle itself.

Mid Autumn Romantic Package (2 pax) @ RM 55 nett

(pic courtesy of Jason)

Deep Fried Young Heart Chicken Wing

I kind of prefer the ones I had last time (which has the fragrance of kaffir leaves). This one is crispy but lacks a distinct flavour. Nevertheless you won’t go wrong with fried chicken, it’s just a classic which is enjoyed by everyone.

Deep Fried Prawn and Cheesy Dumplings

This is like a snack to enjoy while having your meal. Very proportionately sized and has a very crunchy skin.

The fillings inside. Do eat while it’s hot as the juicy prawns really squirts in your mouth when you bite it, while the cheese melts instantly when you cut it open. 

Steam Pork Stuffed Snake Squash with Egg Sauce (check it out here if you want to see how a snake squash look like)

Something similar I had the last time. The quality still maintains.

Stir Fried Enoki Mushroom with Brocolli

A simple stir fry vege to balance the meal. I love the addition of enoki mushrooms.

 Ying Yang Stuffed Egg with Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is something very unique and lovely, pleasing to the eyes and also to our tastebuds. Minced pork is stuffed in the egg and slightly pan fried and cooked with sweet and sour sauce.

Golden Osmanthus Pumpkin Pudding 

Both of the set meals above includes a dessert consisting of Golden Osmanthus Pumpkin Pudding. More like puree in liquid rather than pudding, this dessert is great for those who prefer to have a mildly sweet ending to their meal. Sago is added to the pudding to give some bite to it.

But if you are a mango lover (like us), it is highly recommended to substitude the pumpkin pudding with Mango Puree and Sago Pudding (additional RM 1 per bowl is charged). You can never go wrong with mango and since Young Heart uses fresh mango, this bowl of dessert is really heart-melting!!! I can slurp up 2 bowls of this!! Thumbs-up

This is the dried osmanthus flower and the syrup made out of it. 

To keep the mid autumn spirit alive, Young Heart is giving out complimentary home-made mini mooncakes with special flavours when you choose either packages above. This is more like "Kung Cai Peng’ (canto) or ‘Ang Kong Ngah Piah’ (hokkien). The crust is quite similar to mooncakes but the filling offered here is sambal dried shrimps!!! What a treat! The crust is real soft and the filling is very fine and tasty. If you can’t get enough of it and want to buy more back to satisfy your tummy, do ask the staff.

 If you are still feeling hungry after ordering the above, then here are two more highly recommended items to order. (Note: Not available in the package)

Stir fried Sambal Seafood with Fried Brinjal @ RM 10 (medium-size), RM 15 (large-size)

I was surprise how such a simple combination will bring out such flavourful taste. The deep fried brinjal was like eating tempura while the sambal seafood was not spicy but very aromatic and savory. By combining both, it worked wonders to the crispy brinjal and the rich seafood sambal.

Fiery Hot Noodle @ RM 8.80

If you are longing for ‘lat chiu pan min’ (Chilli Pan Mee), look no where but here. The hand-made noodle is topped with minced meat, fried anchovies, spring onion and a ‘medium raw’ egg. Add the chilli according to your preference but mind you, the name of this dish is Fiery Hot Noodle, so beware of the chilli power! We added the whole saucer of chilli and it was really super hot! But I liked it very much since I love spicy stuff!!

The aftermath of egg oozing out and addition of chilli, all stirred together. Tempting isn’t it?

Young Heart Mid Autumn Package will be available starting from 18th Sept 09. Yes, that’s 2 days away to get a taste of a healthy yet delicious meal. This offer will be valid until 11th Oct 09, so don’t wait too long. Please be aware that they are closed on 28th, 29th and 30th Sept 09.

Young Heart Restaurant is just opposite Bandar Baru Pulau Tikus Supermarket and a stone-throw away from the Pulau Tikus market. 

Map:

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