One of the local delights that you can’t miss in Penang is this aromatic Char Koay Teow. It’s actually considered one of the staple food over here for the gourmands of Penangites, hehe Usually come with a decent amount of flat noodle, which is fragrantly stir-fried with the dark soya sauce and seasoning accordingly. Some may even layer it with a piece of banana leaves. As time passes by, the method has since been simplified and just served on a normal plate. Thus, a good plate of Char Koay Teow must possess enough ‘wok hei’ ^^.This stall at Sheng Yuan Coffee Shop has indeed woofed up a decent fare. The noodle was very flavourful and spriny. Not too oily either. In addition, the crunchiness of the generous bean sprouts further zest up the dish. Also contributing to the delectable spread was the sprinkle of Chinese chives and also some chilly to taste.

In fact, I tend to enjoy the fried egg more, hehe. I feel that the beaten egg that was fried together with the noodles gave out a very appetizing fragrance than usual. Not forgetting the juicy prawns which were fresh and succulent, albeit only a few pieces, hehe. However, I can’t recall if there was any Chinese Sausage added . In a nutshell, it was a pretty good deal for any epicure

Whenever am going to have breakfast in Penang, first thing that comes into mind naturally is to enjoy an array of splendid hot dim sums, hehe. There are, in fact, a lot of Dim Sum restaurant available here, so be prepared to be spoilt for choices

As for me, this time round bring us to one outlet in a friendly neighborhood at Lip Sin Garden, which goes by the name Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant. The name actually reminds me of the famous Croation pianist, hehe. As soon as I stepped into the eatery, I picked up my order card and headed straight to pick the little morsels of my choice The card is needed for the hawkers to tick the items that you took and only pay at the counter when you’re done with your dining. So here we have, four plates of various fried Dim Sums ^^.

Deep fried Yam Croquette is one of the must-order in my list. The flaky and crispy layer of the yam outside layer is very addictive and the meaty filling with dark soya sauce is just nice, not too salty. However, I started to feel full after just one portion, hehe. Thus must wash down with some tea if I still wish to resume gastronomic moments Then my another favourite is Egg Tart. A nice egg tart should possess the qualities such as soft and silky egg custard with flaky tart pastry. However, I found this tart a tad dry to me, as the custard was bit solid, opposed to what it should be. As for the skin, it’s bit too dry to my liking, which makes me yearns for the yummy egg tart I have at Town Steamboat Restaurant. I think I should make another return trip soon Luckily, this Char Siew So is delectable. The char siew filling is decently mixed with other seasoning at the right amount, with some parsley added to it. Therefor, there is a tinge of leafy fragrance when you bite into it. In this case, the pastry skin is softer and much satisfactorily than the one of egg tart. The pastry skin which is added with some dashes of white sesame also aids in bringing out the aroma.Subsequently, our meal is followed by Fried Lotus Ball. These little balls are fried till fragrant and golden brown. The outer layer is kind of glutinous-like and is dabbed with white sesame before deep fried. Encased within is the pandan lotus (which in fact, am expecting the normal pure lotus, but that’s alright). They make a good combo of slight crisp on the outside with its soft gooey paste on the inside. The level of sweetness of the lotus paste is just nice. Slurps!

Apart from the many street food that Cecil Market got to offer the ever diversified Penangites’ taste bud, there is also one stall that is selling varieties of biscuits, which are made fresh locally. It is tucked at one corner in the same row as other hawker food operators. Actually I’ve been frequenting this stall quite often for I feel the biscuit especially tau sa pia, is delectable and does not loose out to those bigger names in town. It all started when we can’t get some of the biscuits in town as souvenir for KL friends, my dad bump into this stall coincidentally and thus, we try out its products. It turns out pretty good and since then we escape all the jam in town, hehe.The tau sa pia we bought more than often is very fresh and fluffy. The filling used was soft and nicely powdered in form. It’s not sweet but yellowish in color due to the beans used. You may sometime find some noticeable fried onions inside it as well. I think they mixed that together to enhance the aroma of the traditional pastries. Each roll of packet came in 5 decent pieces. They are selling at great price too. Why not get some to try one day when you’re here and bring back some joy to share with friends as well? ^^

Cheers to another jovial day! ^^

Another Penang street food that you must try at Cecil Street Market is this Yam Cake. As we know, yam cake is one of the favorite snacks among Penangites especially during the afternoon. Best paired with a cup of Kopi-O as well According to the local here, this stall serves one of the best Yam Cake in town. This cake need to be steamed for some time and need years of experience in order to get a nice piece of cake steamed without any visible bubble on the top. It’s whitish in color and made of yam. The kueh is really smooth and occasionally you may bite on the chunky yam as well. As the cake itself is pretty plain but not till tasteless, it is accompanied with some chilly sauce which is not too spicy. Fried minced garlic are then added as well to enhance the flavor with some scallions and a little bit of chilly slices.

Yum yum!

This is the first time I stepped into Cititel in Penang. In comparison, I think that the hotel here looks much grandeur than to Cititel in KL which is located next to Mid Valley shopping mall. It could be due to its lavish décor of the many sparkling chandeliers.

So here we are, at the oriental restaurant which goes by the name, Zhonghua Gourmet. The dinner kicked off with the first plate served with morsels of bite-sized food with a dainty candle light in the middle. It consisted of jelly fish layered with ham on the top, some pandan leaves-wrapped meat, catchy fishcake and also pork cutlet. Of all the choices, I enjoyed the layered fishcake and the glazing pork meat. The yellowish layer in the fishcake did seem like cheese and some greenish layer wrapped in seaweed. It taste like ordinary fishcake but the outer layer was crispy. As for the latter, the meat was juicy and chewy, thoroughly infused with caramel which makes it a delectable one!Next to join us was Shark Fin soup. Upon arrival, the waiter poured in a certain amount of vinegar into the soup itself before asking any on our opinion. Luckily am still OK with it as some people would not keen on sourish soup. Even me,myself, more than often I would opt to go without it. The soup was a tad salty but not too extreme. There was also this big chunk of crabmeat found in my bowl and it’s fresh and sweet. The meal was later ensued by a plate of Roasted Duck and Fried Chicken fillet in Sweet and Sour Sauce. I enjoyed the latter very much as the fried chicken fillet was crispy albeit topped with savory gravy. The meat itself was juicy too and not too oily as well. Thumbs up! As for the duck meat, the meat seems bit bland; perhaps due to it’s of dry version, so no dipping sauce to accompany with.