manila place @ gurney plaza

We were planning to go to A&W for lunch but it looks like it was not meant to be. Gurney was under renovation and that whole restaurant wing was closed. Actually we looked at the new shop listing but A&W does not seem to be on the new list. Closed?

So anyway we walked around and decided on “manila place” as we’ve never been there before.

Quite cozy place and it was 60% packed.

Ry had the kid’s meal of boneless chicken with mushroom sauce and fries.

Elpea had the soup in a bun thing.

I had the fried soba noodle. Nothing very spectacular.

Elpea had the iced peach tea, I had the iced lemon tea and ry had the orange juice.

They actually had a separate menu for drinks and dessert. And they served pancake and crepes. Yummy.

We chose the mango crepe for dessert. It was choc full of mango slices which elpea said could be better.

We were too tham chiak that we forgot take more photos

We were served quite fast and overall food was average.

And this is the 1^st time ry finished the whole kids meal by himself.

Price was quite reasonable as well ~$70.

MACCALUM STREET ROJAK

We finally managed to buy the rojak from maccallum street. It only starts selling at 130pm onwards. Sold by a husband and wife team. Elpea said they worked very well together unlike other stalls :-)

We bought 2 packs.

One of the main difference “visually” is that It has a lot of nuts and deep fried shrimp.

But taste wise, it has too much shrimp paste. Overpowering, actually.

Now, some people may like it but we felt it was too much.

As soon as the rojak come into the car, ry nearly started puking and said the smell was bad. We just laughed at him and thought he was ‘drama’ as usual. Opened the window for him somemore..

But after elpea started eating it she said she didn’t like it as the shrimp paste was really just too much. And she was trying to get the taste off her mouth all the way back home.

My take? I kinda liked it, the squid was very fresh as was the fruits. The sauce was well… Different..

It was not bad, but it was only ok for me.. And I did feel there was just too much shrimp paste.

BUT I actually liked the load of peanuts and deep fried shrimp.

Well, Its just different. By the way, I finished the 2^nd pack as elpea wanted to give it away. :-P Hahaha..

I rated it 6/10 but only because my preference is still to the one in chai leng park and the one in the taman opp tesco extra...

BIG APPLE DONUTS @ gurney plaza

Was at gurney during the weekend and was surprised to see the “big apple donuts” where “pastasia” used to be.. Actually not very surprised as I was just waiting to see ”who” would replace “pastasia” as its business was not very good :-) We bought the 6pack…cost ~$12 (in pix, clockwise from top left) CHOCOHOLIC x1 (with choc stuffing..very nice) WIT NUT x1 (with peanut butter stuffing..my favourite) ALIEN x2 (this is the one with the chocolate shavings) KIWI x1 (ry had this as he requested it. It had green gooey kiwi jelly, which I don’t think I liked. Reminded me of ‘slimer’ from Ghostbusters, but ry enjoyed it and finished the whole donut by himself) CINNAMON x1 (surprisingly light and nice as well.) The doughnut base is different from “dunkin donuts”. It’s the bread/bun-base and not the cake base. It’s very light, soft and fluffy. Again, you need to consume it within 24 hours else it won’t taste that nice anymore. Can be refrigerated but take out 5-10mins before consuming. Do not recommend to microwave By the way, I used to “import” these donuts or the dunkin's everytime my sis comes home from KL… well, not anymore….. hehehe..The only other thing missing is “dunkin donuts”…I’m patient....

excuse, me, i have to make a call, "hello sis, eh, you got big apple donuts in KL or not...?..."

ramekins at last.

Found ramekins finally..

And where of all places but in the market

Not glass but the metal type.

Bought 6 big ones and 6 smaller ones (see pix from choc molten cake posting)

All for less than $20.

The glass ones cost $14-$20 per piece and I cant find them on the island anyway.

 

I also found the stainless steel metal mixing bowl in one of the malls on the mainland.

Looks very nice but its $109

A bit too expensive.

So we didn’t get it in the end.

The search continues…

 

fried rice at home

We had leftover rice and the stuff from the steamboat so elpea whipped up a very good dinner on Saturday. Simple and satisfying.

She made fried rice with eggs, Taiwan sausage and sliced cabbage.

The rice was just nice and I liked the crunchiness of the sliced cabbage. Taiwan sausaes taste great as well.

She also made soup with all the meatballs and dumplings. This was for ry as he needs soup with his rice. I didn’t go for the soup but instead ate the stuff in the soup.

I could not decide what to eat 1st as I love fried rice and I also love meatballs/dumplings. Very satisfied.. Thank you dear.. I can eat this everyday.

rojak at chai leng park

Elpea used to eat this every day after school she says. (this and the sugar cane water, which is now on her banned list but that is another story…)

Anyway, I only started eating the rojak after I got to know her and I must say its quite addictive. The rojak is very good actually And the sauce has a very unique taste as well. The rojak has got all the normal fruits (cucumber, pineapple, bangkuang, mango) and squid

BUT I like it because it has the additional ingredient of crunchy refried ”eu char koay” and you can also add the packet of fried/dry joohoo. These go really well with the fruits and the sauce.

The “push-cart” is next to the corner coffee shop on the intersection of jalan gan chai leng and tingkat kurau4. hes there from lunch time onwards.

We actually bought 2 pack home so some assembly is required.. Both packs finished before the day was done. Overall rating of 8/10

Chocolate molten cake

Was watching one episode of Ramsey’s kitchen and he was making this choc molten cake, where when you cut into the cake, melted choc ‘flows” out like lava and I was very intrigued.

Then I saw the recipe in a magazine and it was pretty simple: choc, sugar, eggs, flour and the overall process was not very complicated. Start to fin in 30minutes.

Filled up 3 big ramekins and 3 small ones. I didn’t grease the ramekins enough and some of the cakes actually stuck to the bottom of the ramekins so they didnt “pop” out nicely..

Texture wise, it was a 3 layer experience, the outer crust was a bit chewy, the inner part was quite soft and the middle was basically “melted choc’ and it did really ooze out when I cut into it.. cool

Taste wise, it was super sweet, even for me and I had to finish practically all of them. Also it was supposed to be served with vanilla ice cream and I believe the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream would have balanced out the sweetness of the cake. But I didn’t hv any ice cream so I don’t really know. I would make them again but with some changes. Things to remember the next time…

-Cut down sugar by 40% to 50% -Only cook it when i hv enough people to finish it, as it needs to be served fresh and hot. Does not taste good once in fridge and microwaved.. -Grease ramekins properly

Double choc donuts

I definitely did not make these.

Sadly there are no “dunkin donuts” on the island and these are regularly imported from KL every quarter

or every so often when my sister comes a visiting.

There are many many diff varieties of donuts but these are my all time favorite donuts from DD.

Double choc rules..!!!

BUT,

You have to eat them fresh or within 24hours.

After that they tend to harden and not really nice even if you microwave them.

steamboat

It was the raya holidays and my sis was back and elpea said ” lets do steamboat” Appetizers were the grilled Taiwan sausages and grilled crab balls.

The main steamboat consisted of Stock/soup boiled from pork bones/ribs.

And into it we threw: Taiwan sausages & normal sausage, Fish meat, chicken meat, Cauliflowers, carrots, baby corn, cabbage, mushrooms, Assortment of fish, meat, crab, squid balls… Assortment of Meat dumplings. Some brinjal/tauhu “yong tauhoo” stuff

Fish “stomach (??!!??)”… and quail eggs.

Fried rice as a backup for ry

Vibby chili sauce (essential component, cannot hv steamboat without it.)

Dessert was the crème caramel I think we only finished 60% of the food. And there were 8 of us. Those KL people were small eaters :- ) Anyway, I don’t think elpea will do this anytime soon again.. too much work to prep and cleanup. Thanks to my sis who did some cleanup as well after the dinner. We’ll probably hv this for CNY 2009 at her mums place.

sweets for my sweet

beautiful isnt it....

Elpea made Crème caramel for me…. well, I’ve been bugging her for quite a while already and she finally relented. She made this the same time I was doing my chocolate molten cake.

She was complaining about the sugar quality which was not very good and she had to redo the caramel part. Next time need to get the “koay-kang-prai” sugar. Better quality ..

It taste just as good as I remember it. Not soft like jelly but it has a firm smooth texture. And with a sweet creamy milky taste.

Overall rating of 9/10

Koay Teow Teng

I love Koay Teow Teng. Can have this anytime of the day and even everyday... heheheh that's my love for this food. According to E, he only eats Koay Teow Teng when he is sick. Hiyoh... mana boleh. Hanya bila sakit baru makan... cannot lah. Good food is to be savoured whenever we can.

Another good Koay Teow Teng is at Chai Leng Park. Well, I feel that the Koay Teow Teng there is better than Sg Nibong's. Here is my list of best Koay Teow Teng in Penang island:

1) Sg. Nibong

2) The shop (house) at Lip Sin (near super tanker)

3) Hmmm the one at Nagore's street (dont know if i get the street's name correct)

4) Lagi... ada lagi tak... need to discover more

Chicken Puffs

Looks good leh... I made that :) well, thanks to lilian (The Obnoxious 5xmom) for the recipe. The pastry is from Kawan's puff pastry. It was very difficult to find the pastry. We went to 5 supermarkets and finally found it at Giant Bayan Lepas.

For the fillings, I did not follow her recipe. I used fried chicken instead of cornbeef and carrots to replace sweet peas simply because I could not find the ingredients.

I would rate it as 6/10. Cant wait to try curry chicken fillings. These puffs need to be eaten hot or warm. Not so nice once it is cold.