Haven Delights @ Penang Times Square

Thanks Kel for the awesome pics :D




Kel and I went for a very ad hoc and impulsive dinner one Saturday night as I was sick of staying home with no one but me and my work laptop (was on call what)

We (actually it was me) made a right decision to pig out at the newly established Haven Delights at the very new Penang Times Sqaure.




I've read many of the invited reviews from other food bloggers alike on this place and decided to check it out since the food all looked so tantalizing (albeit the ala carte prices being a little too steep for me)!

* but I didn't knew that they had the 'eat-all-you-can' concept just like Tao's though *

When we reached the restaurant, we were seated right in front of the Sashimi/Sushi bar (we're not complaining though) and the waitress explained to us that we can either opt for ala carte or buffet. We couldn't decide at first but after browsing through its menu we found that it'd be more 'value-for-money' to go for the buffet :P

Apart from the abundance of varieties in the ala carte menu to indulge in, we were also reminded of the basic hot items as well as drinks/fruits spread.

If my memory served me right - there were 3 options of refillable drinks to choose from, and it is on a self service basis from the drinks/fruit spread.

The hot items area housed items such as steamed buns, porridge and soup, spicy fish cake, to name a few.

Our drinks : Green Tea and Blackcurrant


Items that I took from the hot items buffet spread (gently reminded by Kel not to take too many for fear we couldn't finish them)

Clockwise from top : Pandan Chicken, Fried Mantou, Squid Salad


The Fried Mantou was pretty special as it had cheese strings on them, but because it was cold, I did not find out particularly tasty. Pandan Chicken was just mediocre and we both find it to be a tad hard and too oily. But I liked the Squid Salad a lot though! The taste was light and just right to fire up our appetites!

Order time from the buffet menu! :D :D

Cold Cuts..........

Unagi Tofu


This was actually recommended by the waitress and all I can say is they do put effort in the presentation itself. The ingredients e.g. sesame seed, Unagi, bonito flakes were not sparingly used as well which is always a plus factor for me. Tasty indeed as I like Unagi a lot

Hotzzz Abalone


This was also another recommended dish by the waitress and though Kel did not quite fancy spicy stuff, I find it very unique as I rarely come across spicy abalone - home made spicy paste was spread on top of the abalone slices topped with fragrant garlic flakes

Unagi Sushi


The rice was packed, portion was right, and the sesame seeds complemented the unagi well - nicely drenched Unagi - again, we like!

Baby Crabs


This was something new to us - also recommended by the waitress, but when it landed on the table, both of us looked at each other and I bet we were thinking the same thing : 'this huge portion is definitely not looking good for us!'

Anyway, we munched on it and it was pretty hard and lack of crunchiness. The shells though edible, they were pretty hard and not tongue nor teeth-friendly. We actually had a tough time finishing this one in the end.

Lamb Teriyaki


This was pretty good actually, grilled just right - not too hard, not too soft. The only feedback we had was that there were quite a fair bit of the oily portion and cutting this baby up was not easy at all as I had to hold my saliva from dripping! :P

Butter Fish


This doesn't look anywhere near appetizing does it? Looks simple right? Wrong... both Kel and I were soooooooooo into this butter fish as the taste was just out of this world-ly. Firstly, the fish did not smell fishy, the butter smelt frangrant and the taste was a mixture of sweetness - i guess from the fish and butter. The grilling was done perfectly as well since it was fully cooked yet not burnt

Tempura set


The set came with 2 fairly decent-sized prawns, carrot, broccoli and yam

Sashimi set


When we ordered this the first round, we were served Octopus, Salmon and White Tuna, but our second order came in Red Tuna instead :-

I guess they interchange the Red/White Tuna though we felt that the red tuna did not taste as good as the white.

Motoyaki Scallop



This looks very similar to the ones we had at Tao but trust me, the taste is much better! Both Kel and I love our scallops (it's pretty obvious since we had so many of 'em) but Kel eats it by first scraping off the spicy mayo sauce while I wallop the whole thing, not leaving any trace of sauce behind :D

I simply love the sauce! Don't ask me why, but I'm always up for strong tastes

Teriyaki Salmon


We did not fancy this too much - maybe because I could smell the fishy smell of salmon (I'm only a big fan of either smoked or raw salmon)

Mushrooms


I can't really recall the exact name of this dish but it was recommended by (yes, the) waitress (again) - we're not complaining at all since this is good service. The only reason we ordered this was because it was recommended and we were told that they are tiny.

The texture was kinda like black marshmallows actually - and the taste was pretty bland

Finally, how could we miss out on the dessert?

There were 3 ice cream flavors for us to choose from - so I opted for Chocolate + Raspberrywhile Kel went for Vanilla and Raspberry - we are such a good balance :P

Ice Cream - Vanilla, Chocolate, Raspberry


Total damage : RM 49.90 ++ (much more worth it compared to Tao)

Actually, a small 'drama' went on in the middle of our meal - we actually signalled '3' when we ordered the Sashimi and also the scallops because we wanted to make sure that we were served 1 portion of 3 pieces only and nothing more than that. And they ended up serving us 9 pieces of Salmon, 9 pieces of Octopus and 9 pieces of Tuna for the Sashimi; as well as 9 pieces of Scallops!

Imagine our horrified faces! :S :S :S

When we told the serving waitress that we only ordered 1 set = 3 pieces, she said that was not what was recorded in the order sheet, and we actually asked that if we could 'return' 2 out of the 3 'sets' served. After the waitress checked with the chef and then with the boss, the boss finally gave the green light. My face literally turned pale thinking how on earth can we finish all the food if they refused? Luckily the owner Mr. Ng agreed. We wouldn't want to waste food anyway.

Thanks so much!!! And this is what I call Customer Orientation :D

More shots of the interior....





Exterior...






Both Kel and myself were pretty much DELIGHTed with the food we ordered (and finished mind you), just for the exception of the baby crabs and Teriyaki Salmon.

We will definitely be coming back for more - We'll Be Back! :D

Haven Delights
77-L1-34 Jalan Dato Keramat
Penang Times Square
10150 Pulau Pinang

Tel: 04 2108855 & 04 2108856