so everyone tell me i should try this Thai Restaurant. i would love to if only it’s situated right in front of USM. the journey there is impossible without personal vehicle. i waited patiently…and then one day the boyf said let’s go to Teluk Kumbar for some Thai food. i beamed! but brushed him off saying ‘haiya so far away, no need la’ i was trying to be a good girlf, you know. as he just drove up from KL earlier the day. but but he insisted so YEAH! we asked JS to come along since he never been there too!ordered coconut to quench our thirsts! berry refreshing…how can one not order tom yam in a Thai restaurant? the broth was berry thick and flavorful, spicy and sour enough, to my liking! my threshold for spicy is notoriously high. seafood like prawns, squids, and slices of fish can be found in the broth. the squids however were not fresh at all as they were berry soft and errr slimy.sourish mango strips + sweet anchovies + crunchy cashew nuts = great appetizer! even i myself who don’t really likey fried anchovies couldn’t resist this. this dish stimulated our appetites for the following dishes!seasoned chicken wrapped in pandan leaves, and deep fried.crispy on the outside, moist and soft in the inside. best eaten with the nutty thai chilli sauce!we had ang cho fish (in hokkien) drenched in some special sourish gravy. they provide the gravy in another bowl so that you can refill or pour it over your rice (that’s what the boyf did). the fish was berry fresh! and the gravy wasn’t too overpowering.


http://constance-ant.com/2012/07/dinner-khunthai-restaurant-teluk-kumbar-penang/

Khunthai Restaurant
1052, Mukim 9, Pasir Belanda,
Teluk Kumbar, 11920 Penang
+604 6251155

there’s also another branch in Butterworth,

104, Permatang Tengah,
13000 Butterworth
+604 3327523

and for KL-ites, there’s two branches for you! say yay!

5&6, Jalan 5/44, Petaling Gardens,
Ogg Jalan Gasing, 46000 Petaling Jaya.
+603 77817523

17A & 18A, Jalan Desa 2/8,
Desa Aman Puri, 52100 Kepong, Selangor
+603 62773523

there’s so many many cafes in Penang that i want to explore before heading back to Malacca end of this year like 42 La Boheme, AHMO, Kwong Sang House, De Yard (for food), Coffee Element, Nostalgie Cafe The Daily Dose, Behind 50 and.. i ming ming got a looong list in my mental note but suddenly can’t think of others now =.=

anyway,

the bff and i dropped by Ete Cafe to kill some time while waiting Moustache Houze to open at around 1630. the sun was mercilessly searing hot that day and we have been on the road ON FOOT for more than 5 hours. when we arrived at Ete Cafe, the first thing we noticed was, to our horror, it’s NON air-conditioner. we almost wanted to leave, but then i couldn’t think of any other cafe in the vicinity, so we went in 硬着头皮ly.the little compartment is ventilated by two standing fans, but we still felt it’s a lil’ stuffy in there. nevertheless, it’s a quaint lil’ cafe with coffee and French dessert being their specialty! they have a wide array of coffee beans available on the shelf. and they use siphon coffee maker to brew your cuppa coffee, kinda interesting. but cold beverage is what we needed to keep us alive there and then! also had a creme brulee for sharing. beverage was meh but the dessert was good! apparently the Taiwanese owner acquired baking skill from the renowned Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris!neh the siphon coffee maker. glassware like this reminds me of laboratory’s!desserts on display!i like how they use vintage frame to showcase the dessert namesIce Fruit Tea | RM 10
did i just pay 10 buck for a glass of colored plain water =.=. it seems that they have diluted the drink as it used to be more concentrated, judging from the color intensity la.Creme Brulee | RM 15
i judge a creme brulee by its crisp caramel layer! and yes it was berry nicely done here! gave the soft yet firm custard a good textural contrast! nom! although RM 15 is quite pricey for a small tub..

it’s such a lovely cafe, it’s a shame that it’s not equipped with air-conditioner.

whenever people mentions Penang char koay teow is mentioned, it automatically relates to Lorong Selamat (and also Siam Road). i have heard so muchy about it but never had the chance to try it, until my cousin, Diana and her friend, Jesmy came visit me end of last month!

at first D’s friend wanted to bring us to try Siam Road’s char koay teow. it’s fried by an old uncle using charcoal. i managed to watched him in action once, but too bad he ran out of koay teow that night, so i got char mee instead, had to share among three of us somemore, so cham. so i got really erratic when i thought i’m going to have a proper char koay teow from uncle, and damn uncle decided not to open his stall! what a bummer! and we left with 遗憾.

the next day, J’s friend brought us to Lorong Selamat’s! he said it’s berry really infamous one. tourist must try.here’s two CKT stalls along Lorong Selamat, just in case you donno which one, spot this aunty with red beret. it’s her signature accessory. the local calls her 红帽阿姨. netizen calls her by grumpy old lady/eyebrow-tattoed bitch cos apparently this CKT stall is notorious for its price and BAAAD attitude.at RM 7.50 for a small plate, it’s indeed pricey! but i also heard that, the prawn size is proportionate with the price. anyone one of you ordered RM 10 one before ar?

she used to be really grumpy , showing black face to the customers. during my visits (i went back few days later with another bunch of friends from Malacca!), i didn’t experience any inhospitable service, mainly because the lady next to her takes our orders, while the aunty just minds her business, tossing koay teow in the wok concentratedly, emotionlessly.the CKT stall is located at Kafe Heng Huat.similar to the Siam Road’s, instead of gas stove, aunty uses charcoal in her cooking. the only difference is, uncle manually fan the charcoal to keep the fire going while aunty has a fan to do the job haha.koay teow dancing vigorously in the wok.can’t wait.Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow | RM 7.50

you’ll get a plate of CKT full of wok hei with chives, chinese sausage, cockles, egg, a handful of bean sprouts and 3 prawns!

the prawns here were slightly larger than ordinary CKT. and i have to say, yeah, it’s the best CKT i had in Penang so far. it’s of course oily (only my mami serves the uber dry CKT), but no as oily as Siam Road’s. since i only have CKT whenever i have friends in town, i won’t be too calculative with the calories intake. eat now diet later, my philosophy.

okay, so if you don’t mind waiting and paying more, i would suggest you to try Lorong Selamat char koay teow!

C spotted a coconut jelly banner while we were on our way home, after we were done with the book-shopping! she insisted we pull over to have a look. “it’s now or never”, she said sternly.

we actually stumbled upon that road by chance. she tried to locate it for a few times before this but to no avail. i must be her lucky star that day heheanyway, back to Joez Coconut.

cute lil’ sign showing you the direction of its shop.we knew we were at the right way when we saw this banner! yes! too ecstatic as it’s just another stupid searing hot day!cooling refreshing coconuts, come to mama {Penang} Coconut Jelly @ Joez Coconut, Dato Keramat Roadhe’s preparing coconut shake for the customer. i heard that the coconut shake was somehow too sweet. luckily we didn’t buy it!Coconut Jelly | RM 3.80
i bought two coconut jellies because i know one was certainly not enough. i shared them with my homie too. well, good thing is meant to be shared {Penang} Coconut Jelly @ Joez Coconut, Dato Keramat Roadi’m so used to springy jelly so i don’t quite like the texture. it’s mushy and wobbly. if you’re lucky to get a young coconut, you can scrap the flesh to eat together with the opaque soft jelly, like what i did with one. the other one was unfortunately an old folk, the flesh was thick and stubborn (too hard to scrap off).

coconut jelly is the best dessert to devour on unforgiving scorching hot days don’t chu agree! i could actually feel the coolness travels down my digestive tract!

oh do you know that the jelly is made in the coconut itself? unlike how we make our konnyaku jelly where we pour the mixture into moulds and let them chill and set. here at Joez Coconut, the coconut (outer husk removed) is first roasted in the oven and then chilled in cooler room. and that’s how the jelly formed from within! ingenius innit?

no addictive or artificial chemical is added so the coconut bought must be kept in refrigerator and is best to consume within 3 days.

for those in KL, they has got a branch at KL Sentral Retail Kiosk, in front of CIMB Bank!

those who have been to Hong Kong must have known that “char chan teng” is one of the HK’s very own culture. when i was in HK, i had almost every meal at char chan teng, the place to get cheap AND nice food while people watching. one thing that i notice about Hongkee is, they are BRUTALRUDE. the way they talk, the way they serve customers. maybe that’s their culture too.

why am i talking about Hong Kong? because i’m going to introduce a restaurant serving Hong Kong style food! or it doesn’t need any introduction? why of course, it has more than 22 branches where you can easily locate them at Klang Valley, Melaka, Johor, Ipoh, Penang and even Singapore! i always patronise the Sunway Giza Outlet together with Kaiye & Kaima.Located at the fairly new hangout place, Gurney Paragon is this Wong Kok Char Chan Teng. it’s hidden behind the escalator on the first floor, right above Meet Fresh. this is the only outlet in Penang so far. nope, the one at Queensbay was a fake wannabe one (that’s why it’s no longer in business now?).

this Wong Kok CCT, one of the pioneer at Gurney Paragon, has been in business for almost a year now, manned by a few partners.

quote from their website:

Since 2003, Wong Kok Char Chan Teng has brought in a new trademark of Hong Kong great cuisine into Malaysia. As a joint for all sorts of Hong Kong famous food and treats,Wong Kok Char Chan Teng is well accepted by residents here and it has emerged as a new trend of great cuisine. It definitely a satisfaction act:”To Taste Hong Kong, Taste in Wong Kok.”
and why Wong Kok?

Wong Kok District (旺角區), one of the districts of Hong Kong, covering the areas of Wong Kok and Tai Kok Tsui in Kowloon. With one of the highest population density in the world, the name “Wong Kok” in Chinese means “flourishing/busy corner”.there is a small al fresco area outside, beside of this main dining area.their menu is EXTENSIVE with 200+ items! we had a hard time making up our mind.

there’s also value set meals available, definitely more value for money. comparing the price between Wong Kok and Kim Gary (another Hong Kong food joint), Wong Kok fairs better. their Value Set Lunch is priced from RM 9.90 – RM 12.90 which includes a main of your choice, a soup, a beverage and a dessert. on weekday, at 1515 – 1800, you get to enjoy certain items at 30% (Tea Time Delights). Set brekkie is also available at 1100 – 1200, at as low as RM 3.99++!Fried Rice with Five Spice Pork | RM 11.30
this plate of fragrant fried rice was the first dish being served. it caught our attention immediately, rice was fluffy not sticky, not oily, and the portion was huge, definitely suitable for carbo lover.

Kaiye adores their Yung Chow Fried Rice berry muchy! he says there’s enough “wok hei (锅气)”.Hot & Spicy Miso Ramen | RM 14.90
if you’re a soupy person, ramen might be a better choice for you. i always prefer soupy dish on a cold day. don’t be intimidated by its huge bowl, the portion is actually just nice for one person. ramen was served in thick and slightly spicy broth with some crunchy black fungus.

udon noodle is also available if ramen is not your thang, served in the same broth and for the thick slab of meat atop, you can either choose pork, chicken or even seafood.Cheese Baked Rice with Chicken Chop | RM 16.20
gooey cheese resting atop of fried rice, served on a bamboo basket. this dish do look lustre right? highly recommended for cheesy person!

you also get to customize your chessy dish! there’s five sauces to choose from: Sweet Corn White Sauce, Italian Red Sauce, Portuguese Sauce, Neapolittan Sauce and Mushroom Sauce. Mr Ong mentioned that Mushroom Sauce is the famous sauce but we all preferred Portuguese Sauce which tasted like thick curry sauce.

besides, there’s also few variants of this dish: 1. Yin Yong which you’ll have both rice and spaghetti, 2. Portuguese sauce based cheese baked rice or spahetti and 3. baked rice with prawn roe sauce. i’m sure you’ll find something you like here.Baked Dragon Boat | RM 10.20
we also had this side dish. generous amount of filling made up of fish, mushroom and prawn and scallion encased in a crisp potato skin. i have a question, do you actually eat the potato skin? i usually don’t cos i thought it’s dirty :/Original Ice Milk Tea in H.K. Style | RM 5.20
a Hong Kong style meal can not do without a cup of nai cha (milk tea)! ice is served in a bowl surrounding the cup instead of just adding into the cup, so that the ice will not affect the concentration and taste of the milk tea. such a thoughtful thought.Double Delight Corn Ice | RM 6.90
this beverage is a mixture of jelly coconut, corn & black sesame. pretty interesting and refreshing after a scrumptious meal.Mango Honeydew with Sago | RM 8.90
for dessert, we had this mango based sprinkles with sago and honeydew cubes. luckily it’s not too sweet, to my liking!