Penang Food

Old May 19th 2016, 11:24 pm
  #301  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

The other day a complete stranger came up to me and started raving on about the great bread she had just bought....so fresh lah. (it was the Butter Olive bakery in Jalan Fettes)

This is just so Penang though, isn't it. Where else would a stranger approach you talking about food?
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Old May 20th 2016, 8:47 am
  #302  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by bakedbean
Where else would a stranger approach you talking about food?
It would be nice if they knew what they are talking about. I have noticed a few times that those Malaysians who have been abroad suddenly stop raving about the local Penang food, as they have come to realize that it ain't that special after all.....
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Old May 20th 2016, 9:55 am
  #303  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by SushiFan
It would be nice if they knew what they are talking about. I have noticed a few times that those Malaysians who have been abroad suddenly stop raving about the local Penang food, as they have come to realize that it ain't that special after all.....
That's an interesting comment SushiFan. Only last week I asked my wife "Do you think the local Penang food is really that great? I'm not no sure", and discussed it for a while.
I agree and I don't. I could happily argue it either way.

Here in Penang there are loads of places you can eat well cheaply, and several where you can eat very well indeed (at a price).

But finding a restaurant in Penang that ticks all the following is difficult:
  • Good food and drink
  • Good greeting and service
  • Good ambience
  • Good clean décor, crockery, cutlery, glassware, kitchen...
  • Value for money

But not so hard in many more developed countries....where you might even get a full size napkin!

As an aside, we just returned from our third trip to Bali and I have to say we find the food there very disappointing, compared with Penang. Even in those restaurants highly rated on TripAdvisor. (Hotels and fancy expensive restaurants excepted).
How would the restaurants in Vietnam, Cambodia or Myanmar compare with Penang I wonder?

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Old May 20th 2016, 11:18 am
  #304  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

We did a trip all around the southern half of Vietnam a couple of years ago and found the restaurants depressingly bad.
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Old May 21st 2016, 9:28 am
  #305  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

JC3, I fully agree with you. Sometimes I am just doubting whether I might have gotten spoilt by living for many years in Japan. I might have become too critical of almost any other place on the globe.
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Old May 21st 2016, 11:21 am
  #306  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by SushiFan
JC3, I fully agree with you. Sometimes I am just doubting whether I might have gotten spoilt by living for many years in Japan. I might have become too critical of almost any other place on the globe.
Hi SushiFan,
I’ve not been to Japan but have heard about the wonderful service culture there. I think that will be a long time coming to Malaysia. It’s a real shame so many merchants seek only to make a fast buck today, and take so little care to look after tomorrow.
I find it a pleasant surprise when I get attentive, polite and efficient service here – it’s those shops and restaurants that I return to. Honesty helps too.

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Old May 21st 2016, 11:37 pm
  #307  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by JC3

But finding a restaurant in Penang that ticks all the following is difficult:
  • Good food and drink
  • Good greeting and service
  • Good ambience
  • Good clean décor, crockery, cutlery, glassware, kitchen...
  • Value for money


JC3
No Eyed Deer at Prima Tanjung on Jalan Fettes ?
It's been there for years and Ken the owner is very welcoming. And it's home cooked food and no MSG too. The Laotian Laksa and Beef Rendang is fab. Yet to try out the Pho.
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Old May 22nd 2016, 4:15 am
  #308  
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by bakedbean
No Eyed Deer at Prima Tanjung on Jalan Fettes ?
It's been there for years and Ken the owner is very welcoming. And it's home cooked food and no MSG too. The Laotian Laksa and Beef Rendang is fab. Yet to try out the Pho.
Thanks for the tip BB. I've only been to No Eyed Deer once. That was in 2012. I was disappointed and haven't been back as a result, but can no longer remember why. It definitely sounds like I should try it again - love laksa, love beef rendang...

You know how it is with restaurants - one hard potato / too many chillies / very busy on the night you go and wait for ages for the food come/ upset tummy the next day etc. Sometimes you can just be unlucky, and then you don't go back. Then again it could just be me.

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Old May 22nd 2016, 8:48 am
  #309  
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Default Re: Penang Food

Although I do like No Eyed Deer I don't go there too often. The reason? The menu is a bit limited. In other words: if you go too often you find yourself eating the same dish over and over.

Another restaurant I recently discovered is Iso Gin (unsurprisingly: Japanese). The chef is Japanese and they have a good (and reasonably priced) sushi lunch set. It is located in the same building along Jl. Tanjung Tokong where the Ginza Japanese restaurant is. Iso Gin is not on street level, but one floor up.
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Old May 23rd 2016, 9:11 am
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Default Re: Penang Food

I had lunch with chums at d'Tandoor restaurant in Precinct 10, Tanjung Tokong. That's the eatery area adjacent to Island Plaza.

I've had takeaways from there many times before.

It's North Indian food and it's really very very nice. This is not a cheap eats though not outrageous either. I think the fact that it's been operating for several years says something. This was a Monday lunchtime and it was about 80 percent packed.

It is not licensed. It's got one of those see-through glass screens looking onto the kitchen so you can see what's going on there.

There is a website but, as the Penang venue is a franchise, doesn't seem to mention it. A bit odd. The Facebook page is more forthcoming. You can drool over the menu here:
https://www.facebook.com/11249862223...59136264242544
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Old May 24th 2016, 5:54 am
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Default Re: Penang Food

I had a lunchtime special (weekdays only) in Nonya Breeze at Straits Quay today. Soup, meat dish, veggie dish, rice & iced tea for 16.20 Rm inclusive. The food was very tasty, the venue immaculate & the service charming.
Eating out in Penang is one of the main attractions for me.
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Old May 24th 2016, 6:10 am
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Default Re: Penang Food

IVV so sad to hear about your bad culinary experience in Vietnam. When I went there we found our local tour guide was taking us to some pretty average local restaurants catering for tourists because he thought they were 'safe' for foreign tourists to eat in (or maybe other reasons as well). Hoi An was possibly the exception where the quality of many of restaurants we found to be superb with some very creative food being prepared by very talented chefs. Once we had convinced our tour guide of the error of his ways & we went off piste we had superb food everywhere. The Ben Thanh night market in Ho Chi Minh had some of the best 'street food' stalls I have experienced.
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Old May 24th 2016, 6:50 am
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Default Re: Penang Food

Yes other people have told us they ate well in Vietnam. I was following TA most of the time - the problem, if you go off-piste, is that it's difficult to understand what's on offer - a tour guide must be very valuable. We visited a wet market and this put us off not quite knowing what we were ordering
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Old May 24th 2016, 7:54 am
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Default Re: Penang Food

Originally Posted by InVinoVeritas
Yes other people have told us they ate well in Vietnam. I was following TA most of the time - the problem, if you go off-piste, is that it's difficult to understand what's on offer - a tour guide must be very valuable. We visited a wet market and this put us off not quite knowing what we were ordering
We had a 6 day stopover in HCMC on our way back to UK from Singapore as we wanted to do a recce as to whether we should spend a longer time in Vietnam.

We found the food poor in fine dining as well as just off the street.
Every meal we had the meat was tough whatever the meat. I like a bite to my meat but this was too much.
HCMC had a bit of interest but overall was a disappointment.
And because of the experience there with the food and the people who were very helpful and also totally unhelpful even accounting for language differences we are now doubting if we will go back to Vietnam.
We've read some good write ups on Hoi An and other places but wonder if it's worth it as there might not be enough places of interest and beaches are no longer of interest to us.

The Governor suite at the Rex Hotel was available at £80 per night if you sourced on the internet.
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Old May 24th 2016, 8:42 am
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Default Re: Love Bread?

Originally Posted by JC3
Thanks for the tip BB. I've only been to No Eyed Deer once. That was in 2012. I was disappointed and haven't been back as a result, but can no longer remember why. It definitely sounds like I should try it again - love laksa, love beef rendang...

You know how it is with restaurants - one hard potato / too many chillies / very busy on the night you go and wait for ages for the food come/ upset tummy the next day etc. Sometimes you can just be unlucky, and then you don't go back. Then again it could just be me.

JC3
The problem with restaurants and restaurant reviews is so much depends upon personal tastes and expectations. For example my wife loves tomatoes and I hate the dammed things so we would never agree on which pizza tasted best.

Similarly some prefer to have ambiance and service whilst others want to focus on the flavours in the food. Nowhere is this more keenly observed than in the USA where service is everything and the food is in the main pretty uninspiring.

The one thing that annoys me here in Penang, is when you order off the menu something described as an appetiser but it arrives half way through the meal. I have commented to some of my Chinese friends about this and without exception they tell me the Chinese don't care what order the food arrives they just want to get their food as quickly as possible. So I now except that we are living in a Chinese dominated community and the restaurants will pander to the local requirements not mine. Having embraced this philosophy I can now focus on the food and have enjoyed many good meals here.

Also in the same way that little things can put JC3 off, it is the little things that can make a place. The first time at Northern Ribs in Tanjong Bungah we were asked if we wanted our wine chilled or warm(how refreshing). The next visit we didn't even need to be asked, Cynthia remembered.

So do I think the food in Penang is good? Absolutely yes as long as you keep in perspective what you can expect for your money. char kuey teow is a pretty simple dish (It won't win any culinary awards) but look on line at the debate about who has the best CTW in Penang. There is clearly a lot of thought and competition at the top. And this tasty morsel costs just 5-10 ringgets. If you can put up with 'rustic' tables and chairs Tsumani Village and Teluk Kumber Seafood offer excellent fish and seafood at competitive prices as does Sri Ananda Bhawan with tasty and authentic Indian food which is IMHO far superior to that in D'Tandoor. If you want to add in a little ambiance then Suffolk House, 32 The Mansion and Vintage Bulgaria all offer good food at a fair price and ambiance. For the full deal try Ferringhi Gardens or one of the better hotel restaurants such as Rasa Sayang or E&O. And the price will still be less than you would pay for a basic meal in the UK.
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