Mentioning about Bar. B. Q Plaza, everyone will think of their delicious steamboat with fresh meat slices and awesome dipping sauce. Their steamboat is indeed very nice, however their side dishes are equally good too, such as Som Tam with soft shell crab.Som Tam with Soft Shell Crab. (RM8.90)
Shredded green papaya and carrot marinated in lime juice, further tossed with spicy crushed peanuts, and topped with pieces of deep fried soft shell crab. A beautifully done Thai salad that is so appetizing, a bite of soft shell crab followed by a mouthful of salad is so delightful.

There is a stall in Kedai Kopi Hai Beng selling very nice lor mee. The stall started their business since 1957 and is very famous among the neighbourhood. Other than lor mee, the coffee shop also has stalls selling mixed rice and western breakfast sets. The shop is rather quiet when we are there, probably because it is already 10am and most of the people already done with their breakfast.lor mee
The lor mee is small in portion, but taste nice in every spoonful. The gravy is thick and flavourful, coating every strands of the mee hun. I especially like the meat slices, for it is tender and moist, not just tasteless and tough like those I have tasted back in Klang Valley.

Balik Pulau and Air Itam is said to be the best place for laksa in Penang. The taste of laksa for both places is different, and which one you like is depends on your palate. The one in Balik Pulau tastes lighter, while the one in Air Itam tastes heavier. My girl brought me to have the laksa at Air Itam when I visited her in Penang few months ago. The stall was shabby and hot, with a few stools and tables all fully occupied by customers. Indeed many were still waiting to get an empty seat, so do us.Laksa
The laksa was alright with some disappointment. It tasted rather light and lack of flavourfulness, but there was ample fish meat in the soup. My girl said the laksa was not that light when she tasted it two weeks ago. She said the laksa that time was quite thick and flavourful, but the one I had was very diluted, probably it was almost 4pm and the owner had been adding some hot water instead of real laksa stock to the previous laksa soup.

Other than char kuey teow, cendol, ice kacang, koay chiap, loh bak is another must have in Penang. Kafe Kheng Pin in George Town serves one of the best loh bak in Penang, and the place is very crowded during lunch hour. Every table is full and sharing tables is common in the shop. Every customer is seen to have loh bak together with their mains.A plate of mix lor bak for 2 persons cost RM7. I feel that it is quite reasonable, cheaper than the one I had in Taiping. The plate consists of a big piece of fried bean curd, spring roll, prawn fritters, deep fried pork roll. Lor bak here is nice, fresh and not oily at all. I especially heart the prawn fritter and spring roll. The prawn fritter is very crunchy but not doughy, with just enough batter to coat the generous amount of prawns.

People said it is a must to try out ice kacang and home made durian ice cream at Kek Seng Coffee Shop when travel to Penang. Yea we did, but the ice kacang taste bad. The shop is not doubt getting famous especially among tourists but they make me feel like they are more into making money than to provide good refreshing ice kacang and durian ice cream.
Ice Kacang

The bowl of ice kacang was topped with jelly, red beans, sweet corns, durian ice cream and sugar drizzle.
The "ice" kacang came half melted. Half of the ice was melted by the time it reached our table. The ice was so coarse and tasted so awful, with the smell of tap water. The durian ice cream was also half melted, not nice, and lack of durian taste.