Buzzing with FOOD

Now on to the food available in Noodle Station. For a look at what beverages they have, look here.

With over 70 items to choose from, here are some of the more widely ordered dishes. 

Curry Springy Noodle With Prawn & Fish Ball (No. 25) @ RM 7.50
Springy Noodle Soup With Tom Yam Seafood (No. 32) @ RM 7.50

This two dishes came out first. Curry was a little tad salty and tomyam was sweet instead of hot+spicy. Nevertheless these two are the more popular dishes here. I do agree too that these two are some of the better choice to order.

Curly noodles are used in all their noodles dishes. Not as springy as I thought it would be.

Fried Springy Noodle With Thai Style- Spicy (No. 40) @ RM6.50
Fried Springy Noodle With Prawn- Non Spicy (No. 39) @ RM6.50

 Look almost the same except that one is in a darker shade than the other. I know ‘al-dente’ does not cover this kind of noodle category but not al-dente is what I feel about these two dishes. There’s also not much ingredients other than a few prawns and greens.

Springy Noodle With Fried Chicken Dumpling (No. 7) @ RM 6.50

It’s a little dry and that’s why this dish is accompanied by a small bowl of clear soup. I think making the soy sauce seasoning more fragrant will enhance the noodle’s taste.

 Springy Noodle With BBQ Honey Whole Leg Chicken (No. 15) @ RM 8.00

The first look of this dish is indeed impressive but as you dig in, you’ll realise that the whole leg drumstick is a little of a hindrance. Chopping it into a few pieces but presented it in the same way will make it more realistic I think.

Spicy Fried Kuey Teow (No. 44) @ RM6.00

Before I talk about the koay teow, compare the drumstick below with the one above. What’s the difference? Shinny right? It’s the wonders of honey!!

The spicy fried koay teow taste ok but as we all know, Penangnites are spoilt with great choices for char koay teow. But this version is of course halal and that’s a plus point for some.

Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 53) @ RM6.00
Tom Yam Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 54) @ RM6.50

Both fried rice lack the thorough frying effect. The tomyam version has more flavour than the normal version but the tomyam paste seems a little too much.

Ladna Kuey Teow (No. 45) @ RM6.50
Fried Yellow Noodle Hokkien Style Kicap Hitam (No. 49) RM6.50

Dishes such as these two seem very little when served but this is actually due to the plate size, not the portion. If you prefer something not too dry, then try it. Can’t fight the hawker version though.

Honey BBQ Chicken Wing- 6pcs (No. 72) @ RM14.50
Fried Chicken Dumpling- 10pcs (No. 73) @ RM5.00

The BBQ chicken wings are of the same style as the whole drumstick served with the springy noodles. I feel it’s a little dry, i.e. not juicy. The fried dumplings is very crispy but the filling is quite little. Nevertheless, it makes a good finger food!!

Super Sandwich With Smoke Turkey (No. 67) @ RM7.50
Chicken Chop With Brown Sauce (No. 57) @ RM10.90

If you want to take something light, then go for the sandwich. I like the fact that they use the thick ‘roti benggali’ style of bread and lightly toast it. The chicken cop is one of the western food dish available here. I don’t fancy the brown sauce and funny thing is that a fried egg is served with this dish.

Overall, Noodle Station does serve with it’s mission of providings food with fast service. Lots of choices and and cafe-dining concept is a plus point here. Food-wise, some hits and misses, but with further improvements, they should be able to cope in this business.

Here are some of the branches available across the country. 

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)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!!!

 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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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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