Oh Sushi @ Straits Quay, Penang.

The rise in Penangites' standard of living could be seen if you take a walk at Straits Quay on a Saturday or Sunday night.
I did that before on a calm Saturday night and what i have observed was that most of the high-end restaurants were crowded with customers.
They were Delicious Cafe, Blue Reef as well as Oh Sushi.
On the same night, i intended to try out the newly opened Oh Sushi but was told that i would have to wait approximately 20 minutes for a table.
It was a positive sign as that clearly proved that the food there is worth a try, "good things come to those who wait".
However, i postponed the visit until i came back from Kuala Lumpur which was exactly two days ago.

I found the restaurant exterior design less attractive because the side facing the car park has nothing but a white wall and a main door which is made of glass and wood planks.
The restaurant interior was artsy with a series of Small Seal Script characters and colourful Sushi plates beautifying the plain white wall, not to forget the Japanese bowls, teapots and wine bottles which are being displayed there.

You see, a vast array of food offered ranging from Sushi, Don, Bento, Set and Dessert got me seeing stars.
Do take note that both plain water and wet towel are free of charge while green tea is charged at RM1 each, i am not sure whether it is bottomless or not.
There is a number 5 printed on the wet towel plastic package and with the statement from the staff, i am now more confident to tell you that the 5 simply means the 5th outlet.

Every Set comes with a salad, Chawanmushi and Miso soup, so did my selection - Beef Ganghas Khan Set (RM23).
I have to say that the main course was very special as i was the chef, i was given a mini gas stove with a shallow pot of green vegetables, been sprouts, sliced garlic, beef slices and a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin on top of it.
It looked and tasted exactly like the Sukiyaki i had at Jogoya, Kuala Lumpur except the eating method.
At Jogoya, i dipped the cooked beef slices in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs before shoveling them into my mouth.
You know what? This set was overpriced as there was only a total of 6 fine beef slices.
Anyhow, i got to admit that the soft tender beef slices were so aromatic after being fully cooked.
The gravy which was fairly sweet with a mild simultaneous hint of saltiness from soy sauce coped perfectly well with the everything especially the beef.

My other half's chosen one was the Salmon Teriyaki Bento (RM19.80) which consisted of a piece of Salmon, a few deep fried chicken cubes and a bowl of garlic fried rice.
With extra RM3, you will get a Chawanmushi and a Miso soup.
According to the service crew, this bento is one of the restaurant's top sellers along with two other bento which share the same price tag.
The garlic fried rice had a savory aroma and was flawless no matter from the aspect of texture or flavour.
After all, the quantity of fried rice looked huge but it wasn't so, the rice bowl was shallow.
The Salmon which was well done with a tender, moist inside formed an awesome combination with the sweet-salty Teriyaki sauce.
Last but not least, the chicken cubes did not have any crispy texture as a result of being soaked in an unknown sauce.
Japanese mayonnaise together with the sauce enriched the flavour which had sweet, salty and sour elements.

The prices stated above are subject to 6% government tax and 10% service tax.
If i am to choose between Oh Sushi and Sakae Sushi, my vote will go to Sakae.
Why? Both the food qualities are more and less the same but Sakae is cheaper for certain dishes.
In the end of the day, my other half and i ended up at Tan Jetty fulfilling our stomachs with Thai Laksa and prawn fritters.

Address:
3E-G-5, Block E, Ground Floor, Straits Quay,
10470 Tanjung Tokong, Penang

Operation hours:
11.30am onward

Contact no.:
04 - 8990109

Fax no.:
04 - 8990109

Read More

Kok Beng Chicken Rice @ Taiping, Perak.

Dear readers, i just returned from a quick trip to Kuala Lumpur and i am really sorry that i could not update this blog in time.
Today, i will write about one of the top 10 best Hainanese Chicken Rice in Malaysia in which i have came across when i was having a one day food hunting trip to Taiping a few weeks ago.
As a stranger in the second largest town in Perak, i am powerless to provide you directions to get there but i still have its address.

I was fortunate enough to be his very last customer of the day despite my late arrival as a result of inability to locate the shop.
Ong Kok Beng, the owner as well as the founder who has a loving, happy and social demeanour laughed when he knew that i drove past his shop and did not notice the eye-catching rectangular signboard which uses yellow and amber background.
He not only showed me the way to go to the famous Ansari's Cendol but also recommended me a few local tourist attractions.
Besides, proofs of his award-winning Chicken Rice such as posters and certificates are being displayed at every corner of the simple plain coffee shop.
4 years ago, Guang Ming Daily in association with local terrestrial television channel, NTV7 aired a TV show in which top 10 Malaysian Hainanese Chicken Rice are being picked and honourably Kok Beng's was one of them.

The thing that caught my attention was his peculiarly shaped chopping board.
It looks like a Sombrero, the broad-brimmed and high-crowned hat Mexican hat.
Apparently, the solid board was carved naturally by the frequent ravaging force applied by Kok Beng when chopping chickens over the past 17 years.
For your information, normal chicken rice or Char Siew rice is priced at RM3.50 each while RM4.50 will be charged if you are going to have both chicken and Char Siew and do take note that for takeaway, no soup will be included.

Sadly, both Char Siew and steamed chicken were all sold out, the only thing left was roasted chicken.
To rate Chicken Rice properly, you have to take the chicken, rice, condiments and soup into account.
Kok Beng certainly passed respective category with flying colours.
The chili sauce was extremely flavourful with a strong trace of fresh chillies and ginger.
It gave off an intense sour taste followed by a moderate spicy taste.
No doubt, it was one of the elements that made my current meal a super pleasant one.

Regarding the soup, i have no idea what it was but i clearly felt that herbal elements were thrown in along with some chicken parts.

Speaking of the white rice, it contained only a very small portion of chicken oil and i don't know why the rice size was a bit longer than those i could find here.
Nothing much worth to mentioned as it was not really aromatic but it went pretty well with the sweet, thick black sauce.

The spotlight was all on the roasted chicken which has a slightly crispy typed skin.
Beneath the skin, it was the tender and firm chicken flesh.
Unlike normal lousy Chicken Rice, the chicken meat was never been compressed.
If you taste the roasted chicken alone, you definitely won't feel anything special.
In the other way round, if you taste the chicken altogether with the soy sauce, chili and rice, you will be amazed just like the way it did to the judges during the TV show.
The combination was simply flawless.

This meal which easily fed two hungry heavy eaters cost RM18 including two cups of refreshing herbal tea.
The price is considered reasonable as the amount of chicken given was generous and also drumsticks were served along.
I even took a package for five back to Penang and i was only charged RM20.

Address:
38, Jalan Kota,
34000 Taiping, Perak
[google map]

Contact no.:
012 - 5056697 / 012 - 5226697
[make sure you call in advance to check its availability]

Read More

Amelie Cafe @ Armenian Street, Penang.

Armenian Street is one of the earliest street found by 19th century and is named after the Armenian inhabitants who were traders from India and Batavia (Jakarta).
Amelie Cafe which is situated on this old road right next to Cheah Kongsi was once a very hot topic as a result of its uniquity and of course, has caught eyes of numerous bloggers.
My other half and i have been hearing great things about the cafe for years and now we finally made the visit.
Unfortunately, we thought it will be an easy task to locate the cafe but we were wrong and we were wasting our precious time wandering at the historical town which is also inscribed as UNESCO heritage site.
We were welcomed by a kingdom of green plants along with some fascinating, beautiful hand painted signs and drawings.
From the picture above, you could see a white cat which is desiring a cup of hot coffee accompanied by words 'cafe n Zakka'.
Zakka which broadly refers to anything and everything that spruces up your home, life and outlook is exactly the cafe concept.

Staying true to their concept, the cafe owners fully support the idea of going green which means recycling and reusing.
The interior is decorated with refurbished junks like glass bottles, glass jam jars and hand painted wood crafts as well as hand painted gunny sacks.
Even the menu of the day is hand written on a piece of blackboard.
For your information, there are only a total of 4 tables which look exactly the same with my old primary school school desk.
I was largely disappointed as photography is prohibited in the cafe but for my dear readers, i snapped down an overview of the interior with a phone instead of DSLR.
There are two possible reasons why photography is not allowed.
First, the cafe is small enough and you certainly will bother the other guests when you walk around taking photos.
Second, some of the crafts displayed are for sale so they are just preventing plagiarism from happening.

To save our stomach for dessert, we shared only a beverage, Banana & Passion Fruit Lassi (RM10).
Our yogurt-based drink was made freshly with yogurt, water, pure banana and passion fruit pulps.
It was pretty thick, creamy, rich in vitamins and surprisingly, it was moderately sweet with a few black tiny banana seeds scattered throughout the liquid.
With the sweetness from banana and passion fruit, it was not necessary to add in sugar.
However, i found it difficult to ease my thirst as the Lassi was extremely thick and it was not cold enough.

One of the two main courses we have chosen was the Aglio Olio (RM17).
As you can see, there was nothing else but spaghetti, cheese flakes and sliced sausage.
With exactly the right amount of olive oil and garlic as well as a strong trace of cheese, the firm, chewy spaghetti was yummy and healthy.
The spaghetti was not excessively dry and the sausage coped with the taste well.
Other than that, the sausage was different from those we could find in supermarket cold storeroom.
It was more compact and had a springy texture like Taiwanese pork sausage.
Nevertheless, the portion was quite small.

The other one was the Pasta Carbonara (RM17) and carbonara simply means 'Char Siew' (叉烧).
This pasta deeply impressed me with its unique gravy in which the flavours of cheese and white sauce total-dominating it.
Besides, the thin slices of carbonara were very soft and tender despite being fried in olive oil.
It was absolutely awesome in term of taste but not value.

One of the two desserts of the day was the Dark Cherry Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream (RM12).
Hot dark chocolate was poured onto the chocolate cake which was like the soft version of Brownie and was served along with a scoop of smooth white vanilla ice cream.
In addition, a couple of black succulent nectarous cherries sat on top of the cake while the cake was actually sandwiching some crunchy almond-like nuts.
The dark chocolate, the cake and the ice cream altogether formed a piece of heaven.
After all, the ice cream was not cold enough.

In conclusion, Amelie Cafe is an ideal place for those who only wants to have a drink.
To me, the main courses there such as pasta and sandwiches are scarily overpriced even though no tax is imposed.
With only an electric fan installed and such low ceilings, the cafe was a bit warm and i could not stop perspiring.
Prohibition of photography is one of the major reasons why i ain't coming back.

Address:
No 6, Armenian Street,
10200 Penang.
(beside Cheah Kongsi)
[google map]

Contact no.:
012 - 496 7838

Email:
ameliecafe@yahoo.com

Read More