Buzzing with FOOD

What can you expect when you go on a field trip with a bunch of pure gluttons? It’s eating round the clock for sure!!

It was a planned trip to Kulim to join in a review session (more on that in later post), but there were many more ‘cari makan’ (food find) plans even before we leave the island on that faithful morning.

The review ended after lunch, at around 3pm. But that’s not the end of our food journey. One gave suggestion, another second the idea and off we go to the first pit-stop of never ending food.

We drop by to have something in this house. Guess what is sold here?

Laksa Kelang Lama!! This is the main shop and they have a branch in Taman Jaya, Bukit Mertajam (BM). I tried the one in BM before but I didn’t know the main one is located here. A small bowl is RM 2.40, while big one is RM 2.80. If you want to only take the soup, it cost RM 1.20!!

For me who constantly have home-cooked laksa, this one lacks in the oomph taste. It’s not spicy but just sour.

My mum usually fries prawn fritters when she makes laksa. Over here, the crackers is only made of flour, and is very thin and quite tasteless if you don’t dip it in the laksa soup! (I would prefer home-cooked version anytime over this~ who wants to try it when my mum makes it next time?? hehee)

They also sell Ais Kacang (RM 1.50). This one is good as the ice is finely blended and the syrups compliments well with the ingredients like peanuts, cincau, jelly and red beans.

A good cooling dessert to soothe the burning mouth. (Not burning for me though as I think the laksa is not spicy!).

Hard to resist isn’t it, especially on a hot sunny day!

OK, we were done at this pit-stop for laksa. It was then decided that we go to Megamall Penang area. To do what?? Eat of course!!

Laksa is not filling but instead makes you hungrier you know (due to the sourness)

We reached the next destination no long after.

This building used to be a public market, then a food court for dim sum, but now is home to Restaurant Ki Xiang.

What do they sell? Klang Bak Kut Teh (Herbal Pork Soup)!!! (Now while writing this I just realise that we were hunting down Klang food, first Laksa Kelang Lama, then now Klang Bak Kut Teh)

This is the boss, busy preparing all the available parts of the ‘bak kut’ (parts of the pork) that they offer.

Some tea (RM 3-5) to start of our meal. You can also opt for iced chinese tea (RM 0.50) if you start to sweat once you indulge in the soup.

Complimentary garlic and green chillies. You tiao (RM 1 per bowl) are also available.

Now on to the main attraction. This is what the boss have prepared for all of us.

Part by part

This is the tail part

Hoon Cheong (pork intestines)

 This shop does not serve individual bowls like the above, but just as a presentation to differentiate what kind of cuts/parts they have. When you order, they will serve it in a claypot to retain the heat. Some cabbage and mushrooms will also be added in the claypot. As for the intestines (RM 8 ) and enoki mushrooms (RM 4), it is cooked separately and served in individual bowls.

A bowl of rice (big RM 1, small RM 0.50) to enjoy the meal

This outlet also sells the dried version of Bak Kut Teh. Let’s take a peep at how it’s cooked.

Add some dried cuttlefish, dried chillies and green chillies. Then put in the chopped pork meat (brewed from the soup) and ladies fingers.

Add some dark soy sauce and seasoning. Then give it a blast of fire to start cooking it, stirring in between.

Almost done now, waiting for the gravy to dry and let the seasoning sip into the pork. Tah Dah!!…ready to be eaten. The fragrance is really something you cannot miss. It did made me stop what I was doing and just let the smell tickle my senses!!!

Dry Bak Kut Teh and Soup Bak Kut Teh. Price is charged according to per person’s serving (RM 8 per person)

As a comparison to the Klang Bak Kut Teh I had in Klang, the soup in Klang is more infused with herbal flavour. I believe the avoidance of brewing with mushrooms makes the soup more concentrated with herbs.

Over here, the soup is thick but lacks some strong herbal taste. Nevertheless, it’s considered one of the good Bak Kut Teh available in Penang!! The dry version…as I said, the smell when served, throws me away. The dried cuttlefish and ladies fingers is a great addition to this version. It is a little salty if eaten without rice though.

Compliment the meaty meal with some greens of cabbage blanched in boiling water and added with oil and dark soy sauce (RM 6). Mushrooms are added too!! I couldn’t be more happy as I just like mushrooms, in whatever dish!!!

This is a poster of the shop. This shop is open everday from 8am - 10pm!! All day Bak Kut Teh, whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even supper!! That’s good news for Penangites!!

And the map. Pass by the front of Megamall Penang. Turn right a few hundred meters ahead and you will see PC Depot on your left. Just go straight till the end and Restaurant Ki Xiang is at the left hard corner of the road.

And the GPS coordinate (thanks to Jason’s toy)

BURP….it was indeed a full meal. We surrendered and made our way back to the island, fully satisfied and happy to have filled our tummy to the brim. What started with a review session turned out to be a full day of food hunting!! Imagine how much food we stuffed ourselves! Will write about the review later as there was so so many dishes and drinks served!!!

 (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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