Chinese dessert/snack @ TianJin, China

Not sure why i'm feeling a bit nostalgic lately.. maybe because I just copied all my photos from my personal laptop to my work laptop and while going through all the pics, I found that I have tonnes of food pics I never got to blog about!

It was during our second last day on our Beijing trip at Tian Jin - we were out shopping and stumbled upon this peddlar on bicycle selling a type of snack. Now we were actually forewarned by our tour guide that people at Tian Jin are generally not as 'friendly' and 'open' compared to people back in Beijing as they tend to be more 'open & direct' with their emotions e.g. if you are not genuinely interested in buying items at the stalls - DO NOT ask for the price.

Anyway, back to the peddlar, we noticed that there were quite a few locals buying from this peddlar and finally we summoned enough courage to ask what is it he's selling - is it something sweet or savory and what is it made of?


So he said it's made of glutinous rice and dates and it's a sweet dessert - well, because it's served with a layer of sugar spread on top of it.

The peddlar said there are 2 varieties - one layered with red dates and another which I've actually forgotten :( so we opted for the red dates

We actually asked for the smallest portion and only paid like RM 3 for it after conversion. And it tasted absolutely beautiful! Freshly made and finely sliced with the right amount of sugar coating - authentic street/peddlar food this is - check out the aparatus he used to 'judge' the weight and subsequently the price - so old school ok?


After we had the first helping and walking around a while, we decided to buy a slightly bigger serving for the others to try and if they didn't wanted them, we'd chow them down ourselves :) In the end, some took our offer while others did not - and so we were happy to finish them off!

Room Service @ Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles

Decided to post up some room service food I had for a change - for those who knew when these have dated back since - shhhh k? :P

Stayed at Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles and due to the lazy bum and 'kia si' nature I am, I used the room service so conveniently made available to us guests during my stay there.

The meals that I had..

Breakfast:-

Plain pancakes garnished with a strawberry, served with rolled up butter and maple syrup and a glass of iced water with a slice of lemon in it.


The pancakes were steaming hot but there were too many pieces of it, I couldn't finish it and it was too thick, too dry and no flavour unfortunately :(

I had to keep pouring the maple syrup to make it slightly not so dry and flavoured a bit.

On my way back, I stayed at the same hotel for 3 nights and used their room service again - but for my dinner instead.

I had a good 'ol burger on my touch down night:- It was chock full of ingredients like beef patty, bacon, 2 types of cheese, onion, with a side of salad.


The beauty of it lies in the fact that it was served with 3 cute mini bottles of Heinz sauces - ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard! (which I was very tempted to bag in my luggage mind you) oh, and it came complete with salad dressing and the usual iced water with a slice of lemon


The bacons were definitely too hard and the cheese were just too overwhelmingly much (if there's such a description) I think the salad were not too fresh as well, although the beef patty was pretty good, to say the least

It took me a lot of effort - far too much effort to 'try' to finish this beast - so I ended up having leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It was cold and all but at least I have something filled my stomach before heading out to play :)

Based on my 2 experiences of not being able to finish my meals, I decided to go for their kid's meal the second night :D So I ordered myself a kid's spaghetti meatball, a kid's hot dog and an apple juice (adult size :P )

When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find that the portion was just right for me :D (and again served with 3 mini bottles of Heinz sauces)

Though both the spaghetti looked very plain and unappealing, they tasted great!!

The spaghetti meatballs were full of tastily marinated meatballs, the spaghetti soft and the sauce was just a perfect complement. By the time I was done with my spaghetti, I was actually pretty full but I couldn't resist taking a bite of the hot dog while it's still hot and it tasted good too! Grilled just right. Because of this, I decided to keep it til the next morning for breakfast, to go with ketchup :D

One thing I liked was the pretty decent sized dessert made up of pineapple and 2 types of honeydew - probably for the sake of giving kids some fruit elements. The fruits were not very fresh though they were quite juicy.

Oh and I absolutely adored the huge kickass apple juice served too! It filled up the glass to its fullest! This is what I call value for money ok?

Overall I was the happiest when I had the kid's meal.. Maybe that goes on to prove that I'm just a kid at heart afterall eh? :P

Häagen-Dazs Flavours of Summer

During PChoon and myself's recent visit to with Häagen-Dazs', we were delighted that they are offering a 15% discount off the Flavours of Summer in conjunction with Häagen-Dazs' 15th Anniversary in Malaysia!

Check out its Sensual Summer Moments menu...


These 'creations' adorn very romantic names indeed.... and each comes with a description of how it's being inspired


Jewel Blush
Summer Drops
Taffeta Blossoms
Aprica Romance
Sunset Frills

We had Jewel Blush, which is described as...


'A tribute to the hottest shoe design from the runway this summer - bejewelled strappy sandals! Scoops of Rasperry Sorbet, Apricot & Cream, Belgian Chocolate and Macadamia Nut ice cream presented on a bed of checkered chocolate sauce accentuated by silver pearls'

Let's compare... Häagen-Dazs' original version......... (from Jewel Blush on Voize)


To the one featured in The Star (Flavours of Summer in The Star)


And finally, the version we were served that night....



Not bad isn't it? Normally we won't get anything near to the prettily decorated ones as illustrated in the menu, but this one did not disappoint at all :)

In case you're wondering - we substituted some of the flavors that we did not really fancy hence the reason for the mis-match in the colours

And we still could not figure out if the silver pearls can be consumed - but it was damn hard anyway

LauEE Home Kitchen Fine Home Dining

Took my grandma, mom and dad to a nice Shark's fin place in celebration of my dad's birthday :)

It's a very private home dining where prior reservation needs to be made, but we'll soon find out why it's all worthwhile. I was so worried that I couldn't find the place but I found it at last :D

Apparently my Sar Chek (third uncle) frequents this place quite often and brought my grandma and my dad along previously, but this place operated from a bungalow at Pulau Tikus.

The very tastefully decorated interior......... This is kinda like the 'signature' of the owner's 'home', as with his previous bungalows





Table setting


Vinegar and home made chilli sauce that the owner claimed goes well with anything from shark's fin to noodles


Cilantro leaves to go with shark's fin later


We ordered...


2 pots of Large Braised Shark's Fin (RM 50 each)




These were served in boiling hot claypots and were just marvelous - check out the ample shark's fin within.. genuinely good stuff! I normally have my shark's fin with green chillies but we tried with the home made chilli sauce and it was like a match made in heaven - the chilli sauce was so spicy!

Crab Claw Tang Hoon Noodles (RM 35)



The crab claws were huge and it was easy to consume too, given the fact that only the claws were left covering the crab meat and the rest are readily exposed. The crab meat were very fresh and were not overcooked even with the tang hoon noodles together. One thing to note is this dish had strong pepper fragrance to it and it had loads and loads of garlic cloves underneath all the tang hoon

Goose Legs Noodle (RM 30)



When we ordered this goose legs dish, we did not realize that it came with noodles as well, if we knew we would most probably ordered something else that did not come with noodles. Nevertheless, the goose legs were soft and flavorful and unlike the ones we had at Red Bali before. Too bad we did not enjoy the noodles that much because we were all pretty stuffed with the tang hoon from the crab claws dish.

We all loved the home made chilli sauce - even my dad who's pro in consuming cabai etc found it to be extremely spicy and had to stop half way


Thai Fruit Jelly Dessert (RM 8 each)


After all the 'heavy' mains we had and the spiciness built-up within us from the chilli, we initially wanted to have Bubur Cha Cha but we were told that we had to pre-order them so that they would be freshly prepared. So we ended up ordering 2 thai jellies to be shared and they were very timely indeed. The cool and chillness of the jellies were comforting and did a good job ending our sumptuous meal :)

The bill came to RM 181 for 4 pax - about RM 45 per pax for fine home dining shark's fin :)


If you're looking for a home style yet fine dining private setting for a nice pig out of the best of the best - this is the place to be.

Please call to make reservations about 3 days ahead -
Tel : 016-4322 986
Address : 318-A HTE KEAT ESTATE, PENANG
Direction : Take a 3 o'clock turn at the Air Itam roundabout, go straight and uphill right til the end of the road. By then you will be able to see the bungalow on the left.

Gelatomio @ G Hotel

Ahhh... my favourite dessert.. ice cream!

Spotted a new 'stall' of gelato ice cream near Nando's side entrance lately and been wanting to try it out but no 'kaki' so finally had it last night with KW


It was a rainy day yesterday but nevertheless I was determined to have my dessert after a not-so-satisfying dinner @ Blue Reef prior (will post it later)

There is another shop nearby called Gelatissimo offering a variety of gelato ice cream as well but something kinda tells me that Gelatomio is nicer :) maybe because the last time we tried Gelatissimo at Mid Valley, it did not impress us that much

A total of 10 flavors are offered at Gelatomio but I'm not complaining as this is, afterall, a make-shift push cart 'stall' we're talking about.


Tiramisu *
Strawberry Yoghurt
Chocolate Marshmallow
Black Sesame
Rum & Raisin *
Kiwi Yoghurt
Soya Green Apple
Wildberries
Oreo & Cream
Mango

* flavours that contain liquor


We asked to sample the flavours and the attendant manning the stall was generous to give us pretty decent-sized ones too! After checking out a few, I decided to get a cone with a single scoop of Chocolate Marshmallow

This is how it looked like:


It's HUGE isn't it?? And I thanked the guy for being so generous! The chocolate was rich and creamy, and there were traces of marshmallows in it - the absolute marvelous dessert! :D

I asked the guy what's the difference between this stall and Gelatissimo - are they related whatsoever - apparently they offer gelato ice cream, but this stall is managed by G Hotel and the prices are all in nett.

At Gelatissimo, the price ranges about RM 8 ++

RM 7 nett was what we paid for this baby - and it's sooo worth it heh?

Gelatomio pricing:

Single
Cup RM 6.50 nett
Cone RM 7.00 nett

Double
Cup RM 10.00 nett
Cone RM 11.00 nett

Triple
Cup RM 14.00 nett
Cone RM 15.00 nett

Invited Review - Ivy's Kitchen @ Chow Thye Road

It is yet another pleasure to have been invited for my 2nd invited review from Criz – this round for Ivy’s Kitchen, courtesy of owner Mr. Tan and his wife Ivy.

I personally visited this place once and Mr. Tan was generous enough to offer me and my friends 10% discount as well as a complimentary red bean soup dessert for our enjoyment upon knowing that I was a food blogger :)

After knowing that I’d be reviewing this place, I thought I’d combine all both of my visits in this post for easier reference so here goes!

Ivy’s Kitchen had started operations for about 2 years now – mainly offering a variety of homey cookings, most of them Nyonya style. This is a Pork-Free establishment hence Muslims can definitely enjoy home-style cooking here.

The simplicity of the establishment itself offers coziness and coincides with the warmth of the food prepared by none other than Mr. Tan’s wife – Ivy, hence the name Ivy’s Kitchen.

The surroundings of the restaurant


Criz was kind enough to share with us the 普洱茶 (Pu Erh tea) that he brought – thanks!


All the 7 of us were seated within the inner area of the restaurant where air-conditioning had just been recently installed – definitely a plus point especially during afternoon up until early evening where the weather is still fairly warm.

First up – we were asked the drinks we’d like to have but since we’re OK with anything, a variety of fruit juices were prepared for us.


Anti clock-wise from bottom : Carrot with Milk; Apple with Lime; Orange Juice; Cucumber Mint; Watermelon Juice; Ampala Sour Plum; Honey Dew Juice

All fruit juices are priced at RM 2.20 each – they were all equally refreshing indeed

Our first dish was up even before we realized!

Sweet & Sour Flower Crab (RM 30 per 600gms)



Apart from the actual crab, the sauce is always the main ingredient that defines crab dishes as such – although I personally felt that it can be spicier, but we have to bear in mind that generally not everyone can accept too high level of spiciness. And this is, afterall sweet & sour and not chilli crabs!

I personally liked the paste so much so that I scooped up a lot of it to go with my rice :) and the flower crabs were fresh too!

Next up – Joo Hoo Char (RM 10) with Sang Choy



This is a very authentic Nyonya dish which I personally have very high expectations of, for the simple reason of both my grandma and my mom being able to deliver a mouth-watering version liked by all my family members every Chinese New Year.

Being pork free, chicken was used instead. Taste-wise, I like it to be more flavorful and preferably if it’s not too dry. Texture-wise, however, it is every bit as crunchy as I liked it to be – as it will then go very well with the sang choy and the sambal that is home-made.

Criz demonstrates the proper way of enjoying joo hoo char :)


Chicken Lor Bak (RM 6) was served afterwhich


This is one solid lor bak – notice how much fillings were wrapped up nicely within the skin then fried. The skin was fragrant and goes well with the chilli sauce.

Assam Prawns (RM 4-5 per pax) were up next!


Again, this is another dish in which I have high expectations of – as my grandma makes a very good version of it – she fries it till it gets a bit burnt and it’s a dry version – yummy!

When this dish was served – I couldn’t help but admire how the prawns were neatly arranged for our ‘shooting’ pleasures :P nice touch there

By the time I got to the prawn, it started to get a bit cold, nevertheless, the marinated taste infused within the prawns were undeniably good – it’s not too sour yet not too sweet – the taste was just right! I have to admit that it can compete with my grandma’s version (don’t tell her k)

Actually it’s my first time really consuming the prawn head as I normally give it away to my grandma or my mom or KW – and no way I’m gonna give these ones away though, they’re just too flavorful! The freshness of the prawns make this the perfect Assam Prawns

Gulai Tumis Ikan (RM 9 per 100 gms)


Most of us liked this a lot! The Black Promphet was very fresh and not being a fish lover myself, I normally don’t take fish if I don’t have anyone with me who will choose the portions without bones for me – as I have fish bone phobia. But this time, I took and consumed one piece of this fish all by myself! :)

The gulai was simply too good – it’s thick, spicy, sour and just very appetizing indeed – I’m gulai crazy actually, and I’d normally drink gulai just like that – and this pot definitely did not escape my mouth :P

Sambal Kailan [RM 8 (S), RM 10 (M), RM 14 (L)]


I never tasted Kailan with sambal before, and this is definitely a first! Kailan was stir-fried with Ivy Kitchen’s home-made sambal together with kick-ass big prawns. This is one hell of a spicy Kailan I must say – and most of us also loved this dish because of the spiciness.

The sambal is definitely the secret at Ivy’s Kitchen as it can be used with many dishes yet it tastes right in all of them – nice!

Mr. Tan was nice enough to serve us an additional Beef Rendang on top of all the good food we were already having :)


I’ve always had a soft spot for rendang – and the rendang base did not disappoint – relatively thick, fragrant and spicy. The beef itself was a bit too tough though, and the texture would be even greater if it was softer.

Seaweed & Tofu Soup [RM 8 (S), RM 10 (M), RM 14 (L)]


Although this is a relatively normal seaweed soup, I felt that it is very hearty indeed. It was topped with fried garlic onion and it tastes just like mom’s cooking. A lot of ingredients were used in the soup – and when I served I remember not having enough soup to go around but plenty of ‘liao’ still present.

There were fishballs, chicken meatballs, vegetables, seaweed, prawns and tofu. I liked it as the soup did not smell weird with the seaweed and it wasn’t too salty either. All the ingredients were fresh and the chicken meatballs were nice and chewy too!

Last but not least, we had dessert – Red Bean Soup (RM 2) a.k.a. ang tau sar




Compared to my first visit, the red bean soup had definitely stepped up a notch. The soup base itself is now thicker, red beans are softer and the whole texture and flavor is really coming into place this round. I loved how the ingredients were mixed within the red bean soup – dried longans, sago and red bean – which makes the dessert’s sweetness not so much from the sugar but from the ingredients themselves.

There is a promotion going on where diners can collect 1 stamp for every RM 5 spent at Ivy’s Kitchen. With every 10 stamps collected, diners are entitled to a free set meal; or an RM 7.50 discount off the total bill. A maximum of 2 cards can be used for each visit for discount off the total bill.



The set meals (that comes with fresh fruit juice and jelly) available are:-

Chicken Rendang
Beef Rendang
Fried Fish Meal
Nasi Lemak with Curry Lemak Fish
Nasi Lemak with Curry Assam Fish
Nasi Lemak with Curry Lemak Prawn

Ivy’s Kitchen also offers a variety of noodles and porridges, laksa, toasts, side dishes e.g. Poh Piah Chee, mix pickles, and its signature dish is definitely Cincaru Sambal Fish fried to perfection and stuffed with their home-made sambal – a Must Try!

Cincaru Sambal Fish



Nasi Lemak with Curry Lemak Prawn set



Watermelon juice


Longan Jelly


Beef Rendang Nasi Lemak


Laksa


Poh Piah Chee



Would really like to thank Mr. Tan who had been nothing but a good host - not only during this invited review but also during my personal visit. His passion in the restaurant and the food shows from his attentiveness as well as the conversations he exchanged with us. Not forgetting Ivy for dishing out all the yummy dishes for us too!


Ivy’s Kicthen
58, Jalan Chow Thye, 10250 Penang
Business Hours : Mon – Fri, Sun 9am – 9pm; Saturdays 12noon– 9pm

Mr. Tan 013-433 7878
Ivy 016-433 7130

List of bloggers who attended:-

Criz Lai - http://crizfood.com/
Jane - http://duckies-food-blog.blogspot.com/
Mary - http://reginatravel-foodparadise.blogspot.com/
Allen - http://yummy-station.com/
Chee Wah - http://www.noweating.com/
Cynthia (NKOTB) - http://mylovemyfood.blogspot.com/

Hameediyah Restaurant @ Campbell Street

Hameediyah restaurant holds a very strong place within the 'Wee' family - it's one of my dad's favourite places to makan and since young my dad used to bring us here for dinner, and we'd have Murtabak with Curry Kapitan Chicken and their signature bawang (onions); ais manis - and there's our meal.

My uncle Hooi and cousin Dennis never miss this place whenever they come to visit - so just imagine how far up the scale this place is within us :)

The place will forever be packed with people and securing a seat had never been an easy chore. Back then, there used to be one shoplot only with a very long table downstairs and upstairs where there is air-conditioning. But we'd always sit downstairs - probably for the 'authentic' feel of it :)

I remember I used to be mesmerised by the murtabak-maker on his speedy-and-super-efficient-hands from oiling the pan, spreading the dough, breaking eggs, scraping the ingredients off containers, mixing them up in a cup, pouring them onto the pan, frying the murtabak up to cutting them up before placing them onto plates. Very impressive.

Fast-forward 10-odd years and Hameediyah has now occupied 3 shoplots - one being an extension of the old one; and another located 2-3 shoplots away - the Tandoori House


We initially wanted to have the beef soup noodle opposite the Fire Station but being a Penang holiday, it was not open. KW suddenly thought of Hameediyah and so off we went to Campbell Street!

The last time we patronised this place - we had Murtabak and something else that's not on their menu - Kambing Goreng (my friend Amir highly recommended) and it was pretty good to my standards.

This round, we had...

Murtabak Mutton


My must-order - murtabak kambing! It never disappoints - just one complaint on the murtabak skin being slightly too thick this round

Onions


Nobody, I repeat, NOBODY should take their Hameediyah Murtabak without its signature onions ok! It's just so WRONGGGGG... coz their bawangs are damn good!

Nasi Briyani


Nasi Briyani was not oily at all and was very fragrant with herbs and spices - no wonder it's on every table and every take-away!

Chicken Briyani


I've learnt over the years that the Curry Kapitan Chicken's kuah is always oilier and thicker; and the distinct difference lies in the chicken - the chicken is fairly hard especially on the skin as they're being fried prior to cooking in the curry.

As for Chicken Briyani, it is extremely tender and juicy; and the kuah being much more dilute yet not so oily - that's why our family too have kinda 'switched' to opting for this type whenever we take-away.

Mutton - 2 pieces


Though the meat was tender, the kuah was just ordinary - maybe because I never specified which particular type of 'kambing' I wanted - I should have ordered Kurma instead since I like it cooked that way. Well, definitely no match compared to Kambing Goreng of course.

Papadum


Very nice and crunchy papadums to complement our meal

Half-way through our meal, KW suddenly asked 'do they have papadums?' So I said 'they should have, all mamaks do what' And off he went to ask for some - and came back with more than a handful of 'em! I was like 'Why'd you ask so much for?' 'It's ok - we can finish - and did you know how huge the tin can is? It's filled with papadums - there were pleeennntyyyyyyyyyyyy!'

Our meal cost us RM 19.60 (inslusive of drinks) - well..... to us, it's not too expensive and we wouldn't say it's cheap either. For a satisfying meal as such we still thought it was OK :D