Inaka Japanese Restaurant (田舎日本料理) is one of the finer Japanese restaurants outside the large shopping malls, therefore the food is more competitively priced compared to its mall counterparts.

Given the delightful experience previously, we decided to return for lunch today.

From the hot plate menu, we requested the Teppan Salmon (鉄板鮭, RM15.00). This selection comes in a full set: Salad, Chawanmushi (steamed eggs), Miso Soup, Rice and Watermelon.

Thumbs up for the Teppan Salmon (salmon fillet on hot plate). The fillet is quite juicy, while the hot teriyaki sauce adds flavor to the already-buttery meat. It is served while sizzling, so be careful when handling it. Usually, I prefer to wait till the heat subsides for a while before engaging my fragile tongue.

On the other side of the dining table was the Tempura Sashimi (天ぷら刺身, RM22.90). For this price, it is really a good deal: 2 reasonably thick slices of Raw Salmon (鮭), 2 even-thicker slices of White Tuna (白鮪), 2 large Tempura Shrimps, a handful of Tempura Vegetables, Braised Battered Chicken, Salad, Chawanmushi, Miso Soup, Rice and Watermelon. We enjoyed the sashimi the most, but we also need to commend the fine taste of the tempura. Inaka surely knows what fine Japanese food is all about.

Overall, we had a very satisfying lunch that did not burn a deep hole through our wallets.

Soul Kitchen Trattoria is a cozy dining place in the heart of Georgetown's old shop-houses district. Owned and operated by a German-Malaysian couple (who are very friendly by the way), it also provides homestay accommodation for backpackers.

A trattoria is an Italian-style cafe that is usually easy-going and has no printed menu. True to its meaning, the daily dish choices in Soul Kitchen Trattoria are simply scribbled on the blackboard. Nice handwriting though.

When Michele (who serves the tables while her husband manages the kitchen) recommended the Cannelloni (RM15.00), I was delighted to go with it. The Cannelloni is a type of elongated pasta baked in a bowl. The dish is covered in cheese fillings and tomato sauce. It is similar in appearance to lasagna.

From the moment I took the first bite, I immediately knew that I made the right choice! The layers of pasta and cheese fillings was so rich in flavor that I did not leave a single crumb in the end.

When I was done with the Cannelloni, I asked for a piece of Cheese Cake (RM8.00). The cake tastes reasonably good, but I wish that the trattoria can do a little more justice to the size of each slice.

For drinks, I had the Fruity Yoghurt (RM7.00). The actual mixture of fruit varies by day. Though I did not ask, I believe it contained pineapples, mangoes and oranges.

Soul Kitchen Trattoria is really a special place to check out when you are in downtown Georgetown!

Whenever the question regarding where to hold our department's lunch event arises, Sarkies Corner in E&O Hotel is usually the top choice. Given that it is buffet-style (yay to myself), within our department's budget (we have a corporate discount card), and halal-certified (we have Muslim colleagues), there are few other choices that makes this decision a no-brainer. At least most of the time.

From my past experience, I know that the queue gets crazily-long at certain stations. Therefore, I have strategized beforehand and took the effort to arrive earlier than most of my colleagues.

The first station that I hit was the meat section. The roasted duck is usually good, and this visit is of no exception. While I was at it, I also asked for some steamed chicken. Be sure to ask for some plum sauce to go with the duck.

The next station that I quickly hit was for char koay teow. Since the chef only works on 1-2 plates at a time, you bet the queue will be very long when there are many hungry mouths to feed. Although not comparable to the masterpieces from Ah Leng, the Sarkies Corner can cook up pretty nice versions of its own.

Now that other people are starting to pile up at those stations, I headed to the seafood section instead. Among the dishes available are oysters, mussels, shrimps, salmon (raw and smoked), eel (smoked) etc. Strictly speaking, the food isn't all that impressive. But for the price that we are paying, we need to do justice by inflicting a decent amount of damage to E&O by grabbing some expensive seafood dishes.

As for the mainstream dishes (such as chicken, mutton, fried rice, noodles, squid and others), they are just so-so. At least, the variety at Sarkies Corner is more than other similarly-priced buffet restaurants in Penang.

For desserts, I took a colorful assortment of cakes and puddings. In fact, I notice that cakes run out quickly around halfway through the lunch hour, and not all types are replenished. If you are a cake-addict, I recommend that you head there before your favorites are depleted.

In addition, I made an ice cream for myself. There are usually 5-6 flavors to choose from. But why choose when you can try all? Just for fun, I added a piece of marshmallow on top. Looks silly, doesn't it?

Finally, I made myself a bowl of Ice Kacang. Go liberal with the ingredients because it is self-service anyway. Just to seal the deal, the shaved ice was garnished with a slice of grapefruit.

We did not have to wait for long to find another excuse to visit All About Sugar & Gift (团圆) at Lorong Susu. A few outstation friends dropped by, so we wanted to impress them with novelty desserts.

We reordered the old school Sweet Tang Yuan (子孙满堂, RM4.20) so that everyone can sample the different types of glutinous rice that the shop has to offer.

Next, we proceeded to try some Tau Sar Tang Yuan (豆沙汤圆, RM4.20), where the tangyuan is filled in red bean paste, while the soup is also red bean flavored.

The third choice is the Lotus Seed Tang Yuan (莲子汤圆, RM4.20). The tangyuan is unfilled, but the soup has lotus seeds as ingredients.

Finally, we tried the Green Tea Tang Yuan (绿茶汤圆, RM4.20). The tangyuan itself is unfilled but the flour contains green tea extract.

All four choices were satisfying to varying degrees.

Spice Market Cafe is a restaurant located in the Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, a luxurious hotel in Batu Ferringhi specially catered for the elites who eat caviar for breakfast and drink Coca-Cola for tea.

The International buffet dinner is priced at RM128.00++, beyond the affordable range of Tom, Dick and Harry (except Prince Harry). Therefore when the restaurant offered buy-one-free-one promotion recently, we did not hesitate long before we placed our reservation (yes, this is absolutely necessary) and headed to Batu Ferringhi on the selected night.

The first unfortunate victims of our gluttony were from the seafood division: Crayfish, Crabs, Scallops, Clamps, Shrimps, Squid etc. These are food that take up little space in our stomach, but generate huge voids in the pocket if we were to order them ala carte.

The next casualties were the land-based animals, who reluctantly sacrificed their flesh for the greater good: Beef Stew, Satay (Malay skewers), Tandoori Chicken, Roasted Chicken, Mutton Curry etc.

Then, we did a banzai-style invasion by tackling Sashimi (raw sliced salmon) and various types of Sushi.

When satisfied with the carnage we made thus far, we turned our attention to other dishes, such as Noodles, Pasta, Soup etc.

To wrap things up, our sweet tooth took a bite on the desserts, such as Cakes, Ice Cream, Ice Kacang etc.

After 3 long hours of senseless massacre, we decided to call it a day (or night) and headed home to nurse our swollen bellies. That was totally worth it!