Invited: The Pork-fect Chicago Rib House @ Gurney Plaza, Penang.

I have always been a fan of Chicago Rib House, when i say that i mean way back before the launch of their new menu in which they raised the food prices and also i have previously reviewed this western restaurant twice, check it out (link here). Now, they are launching a brand new menu again and it was a sheer delight for me to be one of the bloggers who were invited to their "Porkfection" tasting session. My hair stiffened as a result of the rippling artificial spider web, bloody creepy "alien" heads hanging freely from the ceiling and others which altogether helped the restaurant to attain a spooky Halloween, no, "Horroween" atmosphere.

My jaw dropped when they distributed their new, creative, vibrant coloured newspaper-like menu which features a wide spectrum of delicacies ranging from Starter, Main Entrée to Dessert. No doubt, this is the best menu i have ever seen, simple, elegant and intriguing. Other than alcoholic cocktails, martinis, beers, wines and non-alcoholic mocktails, Chicago Rib House does offer a vast selection of Mojito, one of the most famous rum-based highballs and each Mojito is freshly prepared.

From left to right: Ocean Mojito, Banana Berry, Beach Fiesta, Pine Slussy, Mai Tai, Apple Mojito, Long Island Iced Tea, Peach Lynch.

The first starter was Cheese Nachos (RM17.90) in which a hearty blend of shredded chicken, chopped spring onions, fresh tomato cubes and layers of mixed cheese was toppled onto the golden crispy tortilla chips. Besides, the chips were served along with salsa and ranch dressing. Either of the dips formed a perfect union along with the chips, creating a flavoursome appetizer.

Next, we were presented with a plateful of Hot Buffalo Wings, Potato Skins and Pork Chili Corn Carne along with similar salsa and sour cream dips - it was the Trio Sampler (RM32.90). The Buffalo Wings made me put aside the thoughts of embarrassment and chomped them directly with my fingers in front of all the bloggers as well as restaurant patrons, well, i guess this is what we call finger-licking good! Potato skins wise, they were palatable with an enticing cheesy aroma.

Time for some tasty and healthy experience, one of their latest salad creations is the Oriental Wedge Salad (RM15.90), comprising of fresh Iceberg lettuce dressed in their special lime and peanut dressing, not forgetting the tomatoes and mandarin oranges which have been thrown in. The combination was an odd one but surprisingly, it turned up to be pretty mouth-watering.

Finally, we are talking about the mains. The Grilled Bourbon Chicken (RM27.90) was no small in portion with its two well-grilled deboned chicken breast. Taste wise, the tenderness of the meat coped really well with CRB's signature bourbon sauce and the half-melted mixed cheese, the sweet plus scorch flavours just exploded in my mouth, fantastic!

Well, is the 8oz Pork Tenderloin (RM32.90) consist of two grilled-to-porkfection pork tenderloin weighted approximately 224 grams (1 oz = 28.3495 g)? Who cares as long as it is ambrosial with the nectarous flavours coming out from the dry homemade apple cinnamon sauce coupling with the dense, springy pork texture. Thumbs up!

The fettuccine was cooked to an al dente texture before being mixed with bell peppers, red onions, minced pork and topped with parmesan cheese, it was the Southwestern Chili Pasta (RM22.90) which tasted positively extraordinary. The whole thing was meant to be dry and it left me yearning for more.

Here came one of the signature dishes of CRB - the BBQ Pork Ribs in Original Sauce (Half Rack RM32.90/ Full Rack RM53.90). The meaty areas were tender and off the bone easily. I know it may sound cliché but seriously, the ribs were simply awesome!

For your information, all eyes were on the BBQ Pork Ribs in Flaming Kansas City Sauce (Half Rack RM38.90/ Full Rack RM59.90) as one of the restaurant crew poured a shot of bourbon over the ribs and fired it up. The ribs were smouldering while the dreamy aroma singed my nose hairs before filling my lungs with flavours. Obviously, it was better than the BBQ Pork Ribs in Original Sauce in terms of marination, seasoning. Do you know that their ribs are slow-roasted in hickory wood to give them the amazing tenderness and unique flavours that have made them world-famous? Now you do. Their succulent and meaty pork ribs which are served with your choice of two side dishes are undoubtedly "s-pork-tacular"! Recommended.

Last but not least, a large scoop of smooth vanilla ice cream coupled with a small, dense moist chocolate cake to form the Brownie Royale (RM12.90). You could feel and taste the soft, damp rich chocolate cake texture as well as crunchy almond texture simultaneously. It is the perfect thing to end your meal.

Below i attached images of the scanned menu.

Address:
GP-170-G-43, Gurney Plaza
Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang.

Operation hours:
10AM to late evening daily

Contact no.:
04 - 2290763

Fax no.:
04 - 2290985

Facebook:
[click here]

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Xuan Xin Steamboat @ Gurney Plaza, Penang.

Lok Lok is a Penang's ubiquitous famous hawker food in which the seller musters innumerable steamboat ingredients and threads them onto wooden sticks. It is like ordinary steamboat where you cook the raw or half-cooked food yourself by dipping it in a hot boiling liquid. However, Lok Lok does not make any hygienic sense as everyone is dipping their sticks into the same pot or even sauces. This should not be an issue with the introduction of air-conditioned Lok Lok-oriented restaurant, Xuan Xin Steamboat by Xuan Xin group which already owns Xuan Xin Restaurant, Xuan Xin Ramen Kitchen as well as Xuan Xin Buffet Steamboat.

The new sister restaurant is located on the 7th floor of Gurney Plaza,next to SenQ and it features an ample seating to suit both intimate dining and larger groups. To maintain freshness, the ingredients are kept in electric powered cold storage while a few items such as fried rice, noodles and entrées are always fresh from the kitchen. The Lok Lok ingredients are charged accordingly to their respective colour sets (the price for each stick: Yellow RM1, Green RM1.50, Blue RM2, Grey RM2.50, Red RM3, Black RM6, Gold RM10). Soup base wise, they only offer 3 varieties, namely, Chicken (RM3), Tom Yam (RM5) and Szechuan Spicy (RM5) with an option to savour two of them at a time (Chicken + Tom Yam/ Szechuan Spicy RM6, Tom Yam + Szechuan Spicy RM8).

With the vouchers purchased from Ezivoucher, i was entitled to five green, five blue sticks plus two pieces of Hong Kong Shrimp Paste Chicken Wings per voucher. I faced dilemma of choosing my sticks from the wide spectrum of ingredients provided. The green stickered ingredients available are sandwich, Italy chicken ball, fish ball, filament stick, chikuwa, vegetable nugget, lobster flavoured ball, vegetable fish ball, dim sum fish ball, fish cake, chicken cocktail, mixed ball, seafood bean curd, quail egg, century egg, assorted stuffed vegetable, small white fish ball, beef ball,pork dumpling, crab claw, braised pork ear, pork ball, bamboo clam, cuttlefish, Pandan chicken, shrimp, straw mushroom, button mushroom, deep fried pork roll, crab cocktail, San Kan, corn, Japanese tofu, black mushroom, Jellyfish, fish fillet, chicken, Broccoli, Nai Pak, Seaweed, pork luncheon meat, pork ham, curry pork belly, Satay pork belly, hot & spicy pork belly, sweet & sour pork belly, Satay beef, curry beef, sweet & sour beef while century egg (small), pork maw, pork chitterlings, roasted pork belly, soy sauce pork belly, pork blood cube, conch, squid, Satay chicken, black pepper chicken, hot & spicy chicken, curry chicken, sweet & sour chicken, curry venison, sweet & sour venison, Taiwanese sausage, dried cuttlefish, Satay fish fillet, curry fish fillet, curry squid, hot & spicy fish fillet as well as dried pork are blue stickered ones.

It is your choice whether to hot pot cook or to have your food barbequed by the helper. Some of the ingredients available are well-marinated for barbeque purposes, i recommend fish fillet, dried cuttlefish, roasted pork belly, dried pork, beef and gamey venison. The seafoods were pretty fresh indeed subtracting the shrimps which tasted not natural with a texture like they have been 'processed'. Unlike Lok Lok, you actually could savour the soup along with the ingredients. The Tom Yam soup base was very normal and it just tasted like paste was used while the chicken soup base was delicate with an enticing sweetness. There is a metal container where you put your finished sticks into. The personnel will do the maths once you ask for the bill. For your information, the numbered clips on the container are to mark your plate of ingredients awaiting to barbequed.

For me, other than freshness of the ingredients, sauce determines whether a Lok Lok stall is hero or zero. Xuan Xin Steamboat offers a total of five condiments: sweet chili sauce, Thai chili sauce, garlic chili paste, Satay sauce and a mix of sweet chili sauce and dark soy sauce. I have to underline the awesomeness of these condiments, they just simply went well with everything!

The worst part is that i got six Hong Kong Shrimp Paste Chicken Wings (RM6.50 for each two wings) to share with my other half, that was a lot, wasn't it? The chicken was like a not crispy version of deepfried chicken. We eventually got bored and brought them home.

On top of the vouchers used, i still have to fish out a total of RM10.55 for my mixed soups, an extra green stick resulting from miscalculation and two glasses of plain water (RM0.80 each) adding 10% service charge, 6% government tax. Do take note that the rating below is made based on the vouchers.

Address:
170-07-09, Plaza Gurney,
Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang

Operation hours:
11am - 10pm daily

Contact no.:
04 - 226 0830

Website:
[click here]

Facebook:
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I Mum Mum Restaurant @ Pengkalan Weld, Penang.

When it comes to Pan Mee, the first thing on my mind is Face to Face Noodle House which is a noodle specialty restaurant and i patronize it at least once a week.
Hidden among the flats, i got to know I Mum Mum Pan Mee Restaurant only via reviews but what's worst is to locate the restaurant.
As you drive through Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong heading to Penang bridge from Weld Quay, keep to your left and you will approach a row of shoplots after passing through the turning to Gat Lebuh Macallum.
Now, slow down and keep your eyes on the coming frontage road which leads to the shoplots parking area.
There is a green-coloured Maxis centre and congratulations, just follow the I Mum Mum signs.

Browsing through the old self-printed laminated two-pages menu, they only offered 6 varieties of Pan Mee with 3 choices of noodles: thin, thick or pinched, price ranging from RM3 to RM5.20.
Besides that, add-ons such as dumplings, meat balls, fish cakes, dried anchovies and fish cakes are available.
The place is not air-conditioned but you could cool yourself down with their home made refreshing herbal tea (RM1.30 each).

It took some time for them to prepare my noodles.
The Fried Dumpling (RM0.80 each) should have been better with such price tag.
A layer of golden brown light crisp enveloping some minced meat.
The outer layer should be thinner and the filling given should be more generous, more moist.

Obviously, the Dumpling Soup (RM0.80 each) was way better than the fried version.
The steamed dough was firm and the filling was perfectly compact, moist.

Next, it was the Dry Pan Mee (RM3 small / RM3.50 big) which was served along with a small bowl of anchovy soup.
The ingredients given were more and less like ordinary Pan Mee: dried anchovies, minced meat and wood ear fungus.
However, the noodle was mixed with some dark soy sauce and sesame oil.
It was very disappointing and i have to say that it is no where near the standard of Face to Face Noodle House's one.

I highly recommend the Crispy Pork Pan Mee (RM3.70 small / RM4.20 big).
The noodle was stirred in a sweet gravy, accompanied by some wood ear fungus and mouth-watering sliced crispy pork chop, topped with some chopped spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Honest speaking, the gravy did not go well with the noodle but what amazed me is the pork chop.
Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside with a mild sweet and sour taste, fantastic!

My visit ended up in disappointment as i had high expectations on the restaurant after going through a few reviews but they were written two years ago.
Still, my vote goes to Face to Face Noodle House despite higher price.

Address:
No. 294, PDC Flats, Pengkalan Weld,
11300 Georgetown, Penang

Operation hours:
7am – 3pm (closed on alternate Mondays)

Contact no.:
012 - 518 1827

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