Food Review "Sabah Tea Garden Cafe-Ipoh"

Ipoh may not be well known as foodie paradise compared to Penang however recently I noticed that this town which ideally sit at the foothill of Kinta Valley has lots more to offer in terms of epicurean experiences. I have to admit that only recently that i became more familiar of the surrounding of the localities in Ipoh and its eateries however based on that I believe and knew that more people should visit this city for its historical places, peaceful atmosphere and of course its foods.

During my wander in Ipoh recently, I spotted a beautiful white colonial building which had been restored as a restaurant located in a small lane of Jalan Tun Sambathan Ipoh and I noticed the acronym "STG" on the vivid green awning adorning the sides of the building. I had no idea what "STG" stands for but  decided to check it out anyway as I was looking for some place to have coffees and dessert.

I opted for the alfresco dining area as it was not a humid day. Many patrons opted to sit inside the airconditioned main dining area. No doubt that this place had just been recently opened as all funitures and fittings looked brand new, even some touch up works were being done by the handyman while I was there.

The friendly waitress warmly greeted me and handed the large menu book to me, only at that moment that I knew "STG" stands for Sabah Tea Garden. I was informed that this is their second branch after the first in Taman Kinta, Ipoh.

The menu:

I ordered the Iced Cappuccino:

It was mildly sweetened, the way i like.

and Chocolate Lava Cake 

The presentation was awe inspiring. The cake was soft and has a nice thick chocolate filling, which though did not ooze out from the crust, complemented well to the off-bitter taste of the cake. The accompaniments of vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce made it a wonderful desert all together.

I hope to taste their other dishes next time as this was a wonderful place to have a relaxing meal due to its quiet location and also friendly service.Cheers-Kay2014

Food Review: Fish Ball Noodle-Phuket Thailand

During my recent trip to Phuket, Thailand, i chanced upon this one restaurant serving delicious fishball noodle. Though i cant figure out the name of this eatery nor did i ask the owner, i believe it is Anwa Restaurant based on the placard placed on the counter. All other signages are in Thai, so forgive me for this little info that i can share of the restaurant. Nevertheless, it's not hard to find this restaurant as it's located around the vicinity of Nurul Islamiyyah Mosque-Patong. If you are coming from Phuket Town or airport, the mosque will be on your left while the restaurant itself will be on the right side of the road. Once you have passed the mosque, drive slow until you see a T junction with traffic light and the restaurant will be on your right immediately after the junction.The best part of it this restaurant open till late at night as we were there almost midnight and people were still coming in to eat even after we left.

The general view of the restaurant. Very spacious with many seating and most importantly very clean neat and tidy.

the menu

as you can see they served not only selections of noodles but also western food and snacks

I ordered the fishball noodle soup.You can choose the type of noodle that you want being yellow, rice noodle or kweytiaw. Price THB 60

The taste of fresh ingredients were prominent, as always in Thai dishes they only use fresh ingredients. The broth tasted of seafood based ingredients and has salty-sour taste to it, which complemented well with the fishballs and fish cakes. The noodle was topped with chopped peanuts and spring onions giving more texture to it. This was eaten with pickled chilli or other condiments provided in small bottles on your table. It tasted heavenly especially during cold rainy night, as it was when we were there.

We also ordered some minced chicken nuggets. Price THB 70. This was served piping hot. A little bit greasy but the dipping sauce accompanying it was aptly made from some tangy/sour orange or lemon juice with chillies, which cut through the oiliness

This restaurant also has wifi connection thus you can connect to internet while having your meal here. Dont forget to give this place a try if ever you are in Phuket. cheers-Kay2014

Food Review-Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant-Gurney Drive-Penang

Penang is my favourite holiday destination in Malaysia due to its vibrant city with beautiful seaview and most importantly all those delicious local food that can be found in abundance all over the island. Surely all most visitors will flock Gurney Drive for their epicurean trail as there are many selections here from the streetfood at the hawker centre to many restaurants lining along the drive which offers amazing dining experience overlooking the open sea.

During the recent trip to Penang i managed to try one of the prominent restaurant in Gurney Drive serving fresh seafoods, Bali Hai. As our stay coincided with extended public holiday on Monday, the restaurant was packed to the brim to the extent that we had to park few metres away from the restaurant as the restaurant parking was full.

From my observation this restaurant may be targeting  families or large groups rather than couples as i couldn't find any table for two and thus we had to seat at a small round table which could accommodate 5 people.

Menus:

They have vast selections of  seafood here and it can't be more fresher as they are all live seafood which will be taken out from the big aquarium once ordered

We ordered:

Kailan in Oyster Sauce

Butter Prawn

Sweet n Sour Seabass

Crab in Special Sauce

Honestly i think the foods here are quite ordinary/nothing outstanding in terms of taste but the freshness of the ingredients made up for the normalcy. The most preferred dish that night was the seabass, then the prawn, the kailan and last was the crab. We were disappointed that the crab, being the most expensive dish that night had a very tough and heavy shell though small in size. Thus we reckon that we were actually paying for the weight of the shells rather than the crab meat!

Our bill came out to RM 278 and for that price paid i had high expectation but it turned out that i can find the same taste in other seafood restaurants in KL. Highly unlikely that i will return to this restaurant but i believe this place will be a nice place to have family dinner or treating your friends or large group for seafood feast.

the crowded atmosphere

Lime infused water to wash your hands off any fishy odour

Kay2014

Food Review-Restoran Mee Udang Sempoi Diraja-Ipoh

Sometimes to get to the best food in town you need to ask the locals and that was what i did during my recent trip to Ipoh, Perak. Though not as popular as Penang as food heaven, Ipoh has its fair share of culinary specialties such as the world famous Ipoh white coffee, chee cheong fun and other mostly Chinese influenced dishes.

From the word of mouth, i was informed of one restaurant that i should not miss to try in Ipoh which serves delicious Prawn Mee and other seafood dishes which has become so popular with the locals and even throughout the state of Perak due to the freshness of the seafoods used in their dishes, the great taste of the same and the affordable price. This restaurant is aptly named "Restoran Mee Udang Sempoi Diraja" which i believe can be deemed to represent the greatness of the speciality served here which is the Prawn Mee with the word "Diraja" or "Royal" in its name.

Locating this restaurant can be a challenge for those who are not familiar with roads within Ipoh town and truth be told me and my friend had to make few turns, u-turns and queries along our way to reach this place. However once we got there, we noticed that the landmark to this place is the Best Western Premier Haven Ipoh Hotel whereby from there you have to drive straight heading to Tanjung Rambutan about 5 minutes until you see a mosque named Masjid An Nur on your right and a Petronas station on your left. This restaurant is located in the cornerlot of the one-storey shoplot behind the Petronas Station.

Here is the location map which i found from the net for better understanding and direction:

Once we arrived, we were warmly greeted by the owner and the waiter and handed with the menu. I felt so excited to see so many choices of dishes served here as they not only specialized in serving Prawn Mee, but vast selections of other seafood dishes that you may find in other restaurant such as Sweet and Sour Fish, Butter Prawn, Chilli Crab, to name a few and they even have lobster here which may not be available in other restaurant of similar establishment. Do note that this is no fancy restaurant but a small laid back place, no frills which serve good food at affordable price-which is hard to find nowadays.

The simple design of the restaurant

I had to try their speciality which is the Prawn Mee and i chose this to be served with Giant Fresh Water Prawn. Take note that you may choose other types of prawn such as Tiger Prawn or even Lobster for the noodle. The price for this dish will depend on the size of the prawn used and you may choose the prawn yourself or ask the friendly waiter to choose for you, which i did the latter and asked for the smallest prawn. To my surprise and delight, when the plate was brought to my table, i was impressed with the size of the prawn used which is literally the size of my palm and this being the smallest that they have.

Truth be told, the taste of the Prawn Mee is tantalizingly delicious. The prawn was succulent, sweet and fresh. The gravy was thick with balance taste of sweet and sour and with cuts of chillies to give it some extra kick. I can testament to the great taste of this dish that made it so popular.

My friend ordered Mixed Crab and Prawn Mee, which was similarly delicious. With one medium sized fresh Blue Crab and good amount of prawns thrown into the dish.

We also ordered Sweet and Sour Seabass. The fish was fried to perfection and the gravy was just  perfect with balances of sweet and sour taste in it.

All the above came to a price of RM 74 only-much to our surprise,which we believe was quite cheap for the dishes that we ordered. 

This place does not offer stunning views for dining or any other luxuries of upscale eateries however it does offer first class foods and for that i will keep coming back for more, just like other people who had sworn to the deliciousness of the foods do all these time. Cheers-Kay2014