It was all those insidous ‘marketing’ by people I know. Every once in a while, I’d hear someone rave on and on about how great the food at Miss Saigon is. So, in the end, we gave in and went there to try for ourselves.

The ambience is good enough, considering it is one of a row of restaurants at E-Gate.

I ordered tea and I like it that they serve it in a mini tea pot and in a thin heart-shaped china cup. Cute.

We took the lazy way out and ordered one of the huge sets for four which practically contained everything from fish to chicken to egg to vegetables to spring rolls. I’ll have to say one thing though, the waiters aren’t local and their English aren’t very good either SO there is plenty of room for misunderstanding. We specifically said we don’t eat beef (due to religious reasons) and told them to replace the beef on this set with something else. Well, it came without the beef although I had suspiciously sniffed at every dark-coloured meat just to be sure.

BUT.

We also ordered a bowl of rice noodles soup.

It came with beef in it. That is despite our repeated reminders that we don’t eat beef! Fortunately, the waiter was kind enough to change it for us after we explained it to him for several painful minutes of gestures and broken English mixed with Bahasa.

We also ordered a plate of rice with grilled chicken for Mr Picky:

Well, I have to say, Vietnamese food is not as strange as I thought it would be although it too has quite a number of beef dishes. Surprisingly, I liked the food there and though not exceptionally good, it passed muster. However, I’d prefer that their waiters learn more English.

Not exactly cheap, mind you, but still, quite reasonably priced.

Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Miss Saigon Restaurant

E-Gate

Tel: 04-3776083

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Now, before I start, I’d like to tell you readers that after today, I’d be away for a short holiday in Bangkok so my posts will all be time-stamped posts until next month. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a close up look at what we ate (including any creepy crawlies) in Bangkok once I get back.

Okay, now, let’s move on to the spicy taste of Mexican food. I’ve always loved mexican food because of all the spices! I remember when we went to LA, we particularly tried out some of the mexican fast foods there too and though, those probably can’t compare to the real thing, I love them no less.

When Traders Hotel invited me over for some Mexican food, I jumped at it. What can I say? Who could resist burritos, fajitas and chili the mexican style? I can only hope that they won’t have too many beef dishes…

Although it’s supposed to be a Mexican buffet dinner, The Islander is known to have some international dishes so the starters, appetizers and desserts are quite varied:

They have sushi…

They have salads…

A bed of shrimps, crabs and oysters on ice.

Of course, they have a mexican style soup: Pinto Bean Soup

If you like pinto beans, you will like this. Furthermore it is creamy and quite, quite rich. I’m not a pinto bean fan so I gave this a miss while The Food Critic finished it. Mr Picky didn’t want to even touch it but that’s just him being typically picky. To him, soups are all supposed to be clear soup.

The last time I had a burrito was years and years ago so I had to give it a try. A note to all: don’t take too long photographing the burritos or else it will become sorta limp and chewy instead of when it is freshly made. The burritos are pretty simple creations, it is tortilla wraps stuffed with vegetables and chicken and loaded up with sauces, although I’d prefer they use salsa.

The other thing, the ones that look like karipaps, I don’t know what they are called but they tasted like a mexican version of our local currypuffs. It is stuffed with meat, beans and vegetables.

Mexican food is not complete without chili con carne which they have a plenty. Again, we have to give this a miss since it is ground beef with chili and beans. Sigh. And it does look so inviting.

So, we went for the lamb which is tender and cooked just nice.

One thing though, this buffet is great for fish lovers because they have at least three different types of fish. Grilled fish, fish tamales and lime fish. Above is the fish tamales, which is the mexican style fish curry. No bones for you to pick through too because they use fish fillets. How very convenient.

They have a big huge grilled fish topped with a tomato-chili type of paste, so you have to cut out a small piece for yourself to try:

Other than that, they have chili roast duck, picante de mariscos (mixed seafood in chili tomato sauce), roast chicken, chili stir fried beef, coriander rice, cheesy vegetables, mashed potatoes and a load of different international dishes. So, it may be a Mexican theme buffet but I’d say it is more international than anything with quite a variety to choose from.

Here are some of the things we ate:

As you can see, we have sushi and sashimi, steamed shrimps, roast duck, the different types of fish, lamb and rice. The roast duck is a must-try. It has crispy skin and damn delicious.

Next, the desserts…

They have an array of ice cream, cakes, local kuih and this weird UFO-lookalike. I don’t know what it’s called and don’t know what’s inside so I took one out of curiosity.

It’s some mango paste inside. The pastry is saltish and inside is sweet mango. Not bad.

All in, the Taste of Mexico is worth a try if you want to try out mexican food (without needing to book a flight to Mexico). The best part about buffet dinners in The Islander is that if you go in a group and someone in your group is not that into mexican food, they can still go for the other international-style fare while you tuck into the chili dishes, burritos and such. I also understand that they change the menu every Sunday so when you go, some of the dishes may be different.

Taste of Mexico

The Islander, Traders Hotel

Price: RM66nett (adult) RM33nett (children below 12 and senior citizens)

Promotion period: March & April 2009

For reservations: 04- 2622622

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So, let’s take a look:

Ambiance is nice enough. Very Japanese and very comfortable. Now, on to the food…

Chawanmunshi has to be one of Mr Picky’s favourite Japanese food so we had to order one for him and surprisingly, Kirishima has a list of different flavoured chawanmunshi. Talk about dressing up your steamed egg! We ordered the one with Salmon roe and though I am not one to go for fish roes much, this is really good.

Yummy, soft shell crabs in a roll….

Okay, so I had to order something different and decided to try the cold green tea noodles. And it is really, really cold. Brrrr….Much as I am used to food hot from the stove, this is a refreshing cool change. And it goes very well with the sauce although for the life of me, I don’t even know how I am supposed to eat it with the raw bird egg so I gave the egg a miss. Heck I don’t even know how I am supposed to eat the noodles. Do I dip it in the sauce? Pour the sauce over it? How? I dipped it in the sauce anyway and it tasted good enough. Strangely cold but it’s okay.

We ordered one of the large sets of stone-grilled chicken with loads of other side dishes. I have to say, the chicken has been marinated to within an inch of its skin so it is full of flavours and worth burning your lips on…err..that is if you forgot that it’s burning hot and gobble a piece without testing it…From icy cold to burning hot, this meal is getting interesting.

Yes, despite the huge big set, we ordered more food. Don’t you dare judge me. I can’t go to a Japanese restaurant with soft shell crabs staring at me from the menu daring me to order them and then NOT order them, can I?  I mean, you can’t expect me to survive only on icy cold green noodles, right? I know these soft shell crabs look disturbingly like deep fried tarantulas but heck, they are damn good and I’d swallow every single bite even if these are really tarantulas in which they are not, of course. This is a Japanese restaurant, not Fear Factor.

These are actually upon Mr Picky’s insistent request that he wants ‘balls’ so he gets ‘balls’. Oh, they are chicken meatballs on a stick and also marinated to within an inch of their..err…balls…heheh…So, naturally, they are full of flavours and very, very tasty.

I swear, this is the last thing we ordered. I was tempted about ordering some macha ice cream for dessert but these chewy octopus made me change my mind. Yes, these are octopus tempura. Mr Picky had wanted octopus and we forgot to check whether this dish is baby octopus or big, huge chewy, rubbery octopus and so we got the latter. Naturally, Mr Picky refused to even touch it. He wanted baby octopus with the tiny tentacles (simply because it looks like aliens and he so want to eat aliens…boys..) not this chewy, rubbery thing coated in deep fried flour. Needless to say, we regretted ordering this but choke it down we must since we will be paying for it!

Verdict: We went with not so high expectations thinking all those hype about this place are just that – hype. However, I am quite pleasantly surprised that the food is quite good (except for the chewy rubbery octopus). The menu has a wide selection too.

Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$$

Kirishima Japanese Restaurant

Ground Floor

Cititel Penang

Penang Road

Tel: 04- 3701188

Opening hours: 11am – 2.30pm, 6pm – 10.30pm.

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So, we gave in to our curiousity and plunge right in to give it a try. Since there are so many food reviews about this place, I think I will just post up the pictures of what we ate and give a brief review of it all. No point writing a 1000-word review when so many others have waxed lyrical about the food there. Okay, I admit, I was just being lazy but well…it’s not like I cooked these food. I tend to feel less passionate about outside food nowadays compared to my own *ahem* delicious cooking.

A Review of Mizi Bistro, New World Park

Something to take the edge off your hunger as you wait for the food to be served…

Over at Mizi’s, they have this wonderful selection of value-for-money set meals that comes with drinks, soup, main course and free-flow of ice cream for dessert. All for RM19.90 only. And when I say wonderful selection, I meant the whole menu. As in you can choose any main course in the menu. A word of caution though, some of the main course may mean you need to add RM6 to the original price.

The above is the soup of the day, pumpkin soup. I am not really a pumpkin person but surprisingly, I do like the soup. Not too cloying or sweet as I’d thought it would be.

This is what I ordered, roast chicken breast with apples. Yes, they did this quite perfectly too, balancing the sweet flavours of cooked apples with the savoury sauces.

I can’t remember what The Food Critic’s dish is called but it’s basically roast chicken in a tomato-based sauce that complements the chicken pretty well. Nothing really to shout about but it still do have loads of great flavors. Like roast chicken in tomato-based pasta sauce.

Finally, there’s the free-flow of ice cream. I LOVE ice cream especially on hot humid days so I helped myself to three scoops and topped it up with chocolate rice and chocolate sauce. I even went for a second helping…mmmm…..

Final note: Food is reasonably good and it is worth the price. They have a nice relaxed ambiance and yes, this is a great place for some casual lunch or dinner. And by the way, if you can’t have enough of their food, you can try the original restaurant, JL Gourmet Corner at Prangin Mall, which was opened years before they open Mizi as a sort of branch.

Rating: 7/10

Price: $$

Mizi Bistro

New World Park

Burmah Road

04-2272921

tarmeezee15@gmail.com

Opening hours: 11am – midnight daily

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Here’s the restaurant review:

Salsas Restaurant

Now, on to the food… We ordered the set lunch (@RM15 per set) so here’s what the set has

We started with soup, some bread and butter and salad

It’s the usual mushroom soup but at least they didn’t fully use canned soup like some establishments like to do. As for the salad, I love it! Instead of any of the creamy salad dressing, it has the vinegar and olive oil dressing: refreshing and great as a starter.

This is my son's set, double jumbo sausages

I ordered grilled fish

The Food Critic ordered roast chicken

The jumbo sausages are pretty basic and there is really nothing to shout about although it is pretty salty (probably due to their supply of sausages). In the end Mr Picky refused to eat it and I had to exchange with him. Anyway, he usually can’t finish whatever we ordered for him and we’d end up eating his leftovers (and I wonder why I kept growing..sideways). Now, for my grilled fish, it was lightly floured and pan fried and served with some salsa, mashed potatoes and a creamy tartare sauce with some fresh herbs. It is pretty good and not salty at all. I’ll have to say I love their salsa. Now we know why it’s called Salsas. The Food Critic’s roast chicken is pretty good too and it is served with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. It is covered in some slighty creamy sauce and fresh herbs.

Now, on to dessert:

Mini mouthfuls dessert

I love their presentation. And yes, this comes with the set too. We get four tiny mouthfuls of different desserts. A spoonful of vanilla ice cream, a piece of carrot cake, a piece of chocolate sponge cake and a tiny glass of fruits in syrup. Yummy.

My verdict: The food is good, the price is reasonable, the ambiance is great and the choices are varied.What’s there not to like about Salsas?

Rating: 8/10

Price: $$$ (lunch sets @ RM15 each / dinner sets @ RM30 each)

Salsas Restaurant

@ Continental Hotel Ground Floor

Penang Road

Tel: 04-2633923

Opening hours: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 11pm.

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Since we’ve never tried the Miraku Restaurant over at G Hotel, we went there for their set lunch.

The Miraku Restaurant at G Hotel

The ambiance is very warm and cosy. The decor, simple and elegant.

Though it looks like a really expensive place, we were pleasantly surprised to find the prices quite reasonable. Here’s a look at the prices..

The Miraku restaurant set lunch menu

These are what we ordered…

We ordered the sets circled in red

And we also ordered some ala carte items of softshell crab tempura and deepfried squids.

I know it looks like we are a couple of greedy hungry ghosts but we expected small portions, as is usual at some Japanese restaurants. We never trust the pictures in the menus and expect portions of be only 1/10th of what was shown in the pictures. So, we ordered the large Lunch Set B and the udon set and those extras thinking it’d all be only bite-size portions.

The squids are Mr Picky’s favourite ever since he took a liking to steamed baby octopuses and eating anything with tentacles so we had to order that or face being ‘nagged’ by him throughout the meal.

Here are the appetizers; braised soy beans and some weird bite-size thingies...

We get a plate of braised soy beans (bottom) each and the top picture of three hors d’ouvres-lookalikes comes with the Set B. I think.

Turns out the soy beans are great! But those hors d’ouvres-thingies are something else. It’s not exactly horrid or anything, just different. And it comes with a tiny glass of some orange-flavoured alcohol.

Since we’ve never seen anything like it (hey, we only frequent Japanese fast-food joints and Japanese food buffets so we hardly know about all these weird Japanese high class stuff, okay?) we don’t know we are supposed to eat those and then drink that nasty glass of orangey thing or to dip those food in it before eating it or to pour the liquid on the food before consuming. So, I tried dipping the food in the liquid before eating. It tasted weird. I ate the food and then took a sip of the liquid, it still tasted weird. Oh well. What I can gather is that the brownish pieces on the left are some sort of fishy smelling fishcake, the centre is just plain old egg and the one on the right is braised pungent tiny fishes.

Then comes the sets proper…

The Nabeyaki Udon Set which comes with two rolls

I’ll have to say, I don’t usually like udon due to a bad experience I had as a child when travelling in Japan with my father. Till now, the smell of udon just puts me off. So, this set is The Food Critic’s. He love Japanese noodles.

A closer look at the udon

I took a mouthful so that I could write a full review of the food (see? the sacrifices I made for this blog..). Surprisingly, the noodles are smooth and the soup delicious. None of those salty, ajinomoto-laden concoctions you will find at certain Japanese restaurants. I even took a second mouthful of those noodles.

Then, here’s the Set B which is supposed to be shared amongst the three of us…

Lunch Set B and the extras we ordered

I was quite, quite surprised by the portion. It is big. The set has grilled unagi, miso soup, chawan munshi, sashimi, tempura, steamed vegetables, salad, dessert and rice. That’s quite a lot. The best part is that the unagi is quite big too. The moment I saw this, I regretted ordering the extras…

The fried stuff we ordered

The top left is the softshell crab tempura, the two pictures on the right are the deepfried squids. The bottom left is the tempura that comes with the set.

Here's the sashimi that comes with the set..no Japanese food is complete without sashimi!

And…

Here's a closer look at the grilled unagi

My verdict:

The meal is worth every sen and then some. Portions are big, sashimi is fresh and the cooked food is flavourful and painstakingly prepared to almost-perfection (not to mention nice presentation too!). It is one of the best Japanese food I’ve tasted in a long time. Oh and I love the ambiance and great service.

Rating: 8/10

Price:$$$

Here are the restaurant details:

Miraku Restaurant

Level One, G Hotel, Gurney Drive

Daily Lunch
12.00pm to 2.30pm

Daily Dinner
6.00pm to 10.30pm

For reservations: 04-229 8702

Note: Do go early, especially for lunch, as they sometimes close by 2pm.

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It is amazing to think that I’ve been together with my Personal Chef for a decade, half of it getting to know each other and another half as husband and wife. We’ve been through a birth of a child, two deaths, heart-stopping moments, terrible illnesses, through bad and good and hopefully, we will continue to be together till we are both doddering around toothless, wrinkly and taking ‘revenge’ on our children by spoiling their children. ;D

Alright, let’s get to the food post. I’ve been meaning to blog about this little known wonderful restaurant based in a tiny island off our main Penang island. Yes, we need to take a short boat ride to get there but it is really worth the effort.

For the longest time ever, I’ve heard about the really good Mee Udang (shrimp noodles) over at Pulau Aman but we never did get around to trying it out until recently. So, on a weekday when we both are able to coordinate days off together, we took a boat ride over to Pulau Aman together with some relatives.

Here's the banner welcoming us at the new jetty where we took a boat to Pulau Aman

It looks like they have a homestay programme for tourists but we have no intention of staying. We just want to go there for the food!

Anyway, the jetty is so new that the road leading to it is not on Google Maps so, sorry, I couldn’t give you the exact directions to it. However, you can call the number on the banner to get directions. Since we ended up making a few wrong turns before finally finding the jetty in Batu Kawan, I’d better not give you directions here or else, you may end up somewhere else. Lol.

However, here’s as close a direction as I can give you. Get to this roundabout and then follow the signboards to Pulau Aman jetty. You won’t go wrong. It is a winding road going past a quarry and hilly land so don’t worry, you are on the right path. It is at the end and you’d see the jetty after passing the quarry on your left and after a hill rise.

This is the boat we took to go to Pulau Aman

The boat ride costs us RM6 per person. It is only a 15 minutes ride to Pulau Aman.

Here's a look at the Batu Kawan jetty from the boat as we head to Pulau Aman

Our first glimpse of Pulau Aman as the boat approaches the tiny island which is mainly a fishing village

I’ve stayed in Penang for the whole of my life and though I’ve heard of Pulau Aman, I’ve never been there! So, I didn’t know what to expect as we slowly approach the tiny island off our coast.

This is the Pulau Aman floating restaurant with the super-delicious Mee Udang

Here's a closer look at the restaurant

They only have three types of dishes to order: Mee Udang, Mee Goreng and Nasi Goreng. (Shrimp Noodles, Fried Noodles and Fried Rice) Since it is operated by Muslims, it is a halal restaurant. The one common thing about its dishes is that all of it comes with large fresh prawns!

Here's the two main chefs preparing the food in the open plan kitchen

The scenery in this sleepy little fishing village is so beautiful

Okay, okay, I know you’re impatiently waiting for the food! Here they are…

Mee Udang

Just look at the size of the prawns and eating this with such beautiful scenery around us

I can't help it, the noodles are so good, I need to put up another shot of it

This is by far the best Mee Udang I’ve tasted EVER. Seriously. Not because of the sea air or the boat ride or the anticipation. In fact, I went with such high expectations, I thought I’d probably end up getting disappointed. Instead I was wowed by the exceptional taste.

Instead of tasting like they slop together some ketchup and chilli sauce to make it, this tastes like it is lovingly prepared (although the two ladies who cooked this pure bit of heaven have sour expressions the whole time). It has just the right amount of tomato-flavour with a mixture of salty, sourness, spicyness and sweetness all combined. The prawns, obviously fresh from the sea, are large and added more sweetness and a taste of the sea to the dish to make it truly exceptional!

Fried rice with prawns for Mr Picky who MUST have his rice

Since I was wowed by the Mee Udang, I didn’t expect much from the fried rice and once again, I was pleasantly surprised. Mr Picky ate almost the whole plate of rice which is something considering he always spit out rice that is not cooked to his liking. He’s a Food Critic in the making, I tell you. Like father, like son.

Fried noodles (Mee Goreng) with prawns

I love mee goreng. More than I like char koay teow. I’ve tried quite a lot of mee goreng everywhere and I can tell you, this is one of the best mee goreng I’ve tasted. Of course, the prawns do give it an added flavour!

Now, right before walking into the restaurant, we saw a sort of a station outside where the fishermen drop off their fresh fishes, crabs and prawns.

Here's the fishermen coming in with the fresh catch of the day

Here's the small station handled by the fishermen where they also sell some of their fresh catch to people who passes by before they bring the catch to sell it off to the middleman.

Being a through and through greedy foodie, we learnt that we could buy from this station and then get the restaurant to cook the seafood for us! So, we bought these…

Sea crabs and mantis prawns

The restaurant steamed it for us. For three sea crabs and two mantis prawns, it costs us around RM70. Remember, these are fresh and still alive when we chose them.

This is the size of the mantis prawn

The restaurant even supplied us with 'equipment' to deal with the shells

I’ll have to say that with such fresh seafood, steaming it is probably the best way to eat it! It is SO sweet and tasty, I think I’d never eat another sea crab that’s not freshly caught from the sea.

At the end of our meal, we noticed this huge bee buzzing around and then grabbing our leftovers straight from the discarded shells!

So, my final verdict: This place is a MUST TRY. The boat ride is worth it. The drive to the jetty is worth it. The half day trip there is worth it. Oh, by the way, each plate of noodles or rice comes with 5 large prawns!

Rating: 9/10

Price: $$ (RM5 per plate of noodles / fried rice)

Here’s the details of the restaurant:

Restoran Terapung Pulau Aman

120, Pulau Aman,

Simpang Ampat,

SPS.

Tel: 016-4955125 / 019-4766125

Opening hours (daily): 11am – 9pm

After that splendid meal, we took a walk around the tiny island and find it peaceful and quiet. A great place for some relaxing stroll by the beach.

A relaxing retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city

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Anyway, Thanksgiving is very much an American tradition so over here in Malaysia, we don’t really celebrate it or even know much about it. Still, some establishments seemed to get into the whole Thanksgiving spirit and so, I got invited to a Thanksgiving lunch at The Brasserie at Traders Hotel.

I’ve only been to this restaurant a few times in my life (mostly because I couldn’t really afford to eat there all the time!) but the few times I ate there, I came away happy and full. It is one of those places where quality of food is almost to perfection and of course, the ambiance is great too.

So, why is the Thanksgiving lunch Christmas-themed? I guess maybe they wanted to incorporate a thanksgiving meal to their invited guests with an introduction to their Christmas menu. They sure do make it seemed more like Christmas than Thanksgiving…

Now, let’s get to the food. As is usual at The Brasserie, the starters, appetizers and desserts are buffet style. Let’s take a look at the starters and appetizers…

And the best part about this is that if you want them to throw together a salad for you, say Ceasar’s Salad, and they will do it for you! Next…

Sushi

Sashimi (Tuna, Salmon and White Tuna)

Smoked salmon

Oysters, shrimps and unagi

These are cheese-baked oysters, grilled shrimps and grilled unagi.

Did I mention that I simply LOVE unagi?

On top of all these, they even have a

Pasta station

Where a chef will whip up any pasta you want! Isn’t that cool or what? Of course, I didn’t order any. After stuffing myself silly with sashimi, unagi and salad, I had to leave some space for the mains and the delectable oh-so-tempting desserts!

I have to say one thing about their vast choices of starters and appetizers, fresh and good enough without even the need of mains! If I was told that these would be my meal, I’d still be happy. Yep, that’s right. When it comes to sashimi, as long as it is sliced right and the fish is fresh (well, as fresh as possible considering it is all imported fish) I am really, really happy.

Now, let’s get on to the main course. They have seven choices and I chose the Steamed Cod Fish with king prawn, lobster, vegetables and pepper coulis. Here it is:

Actually, the cod fish is not really steamed. It is steam-baked so the flesh is buttery soft with a crispy outer layer. I like that the teamed it with the vegetables and pepper coulis as it gave it a burst of flavours although the whole dish is really aromatic what with the rich sea scent of the baked (or is it grilled? Couldn’t really figure it out) lobster and king prawn.

Then, our host ordered the traditional roast turkey served with carrot and pumpkin mash, brussel sprouts, cranberry and red wine juice for all of us at the table to share.

Perhaps after the buttery softness of the codfish, when I tried the turkey I find it a bit tough. Or is it supposed to be like that? However, the cranberry and red wine juice makes up for it as I find the sourish and sweetness of it really do gave the turkey some ‘live’ flavours.

Other than these, the other main courses they have are ‘Miso marinated salmon’, ‘Fillet of Beef Wellington’, ‘Traditionally prepared Penang Prawn Mee, Grilled Lobster, Jumbo Tiger Prawn, Cod Fish’, ‘Slow braised beef ribs’ and Australian chilled lamb rump.

The choices are rather surprising considering The Brasserie is essentially a French restaurant. But then, I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised considering the buffet spread aren’t really French food too! Anyway, these are all part of the restaurant’s Christmas lunch specials (RM55 nett / RM88nett per pax) which is available from Dec 1 – 25.

Finally, we come to the desserts. Ahhh…my favourite part.

Desserts on sticks to go with chocolate dip

Row after row of cakes, tarts, mousse, puddings, sweet stuff to suit your sweet tooth

A special dessert station where a chef could whip up some special sweet creations

And here's the chef whipping up Bomb Alaska

The Bomb Alaska

I don’t know where I find space to tuck this in after all the food I had earlier but I sure did finish it! It’s strawberry ice cream covered in meringue with brandy and fresh strawberries. Ah, heaven. Wish I could have another one but I was about to burst from all the food so I refrained from trying out anymore desserts…sigh.

Now, my verdict: For RM55nett (or even RM88nett) I’d say it is worth every single sen and more! The food are fresh. The buffet spread are varied. The main course is exceptionally good (except for the turkey, which is quite okay but not exceptional). The dessert, a bomb to my senses. I’m even thinking of going back with The Food Critic for another round. Need I say more?

Rating: 8/10

Price:$$$$

Details:

The Brasserie

Traders Hotel

Magazine Road

Tel: 04-262 2622

Website: www.tradershotels.com

Christmas Lunch Promotion

Dec 1 – 25, 2008 (Noon – 2.30pm)

RM55 nett per person

Free flow of wines and beer at RM29 nett per person

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The Senior Citizen's Association at 7, D.S. Ramanathan

Now, although the cafetaria has signs proclaiming ‘member only’, it is open to the public. So, you don’t have to be a senior citizen who’s a member of the association to eat there. I may not be young anymore but I sure as heck am not a senior citizen yet!

The Senior Citizen Association cafetaria is surrounded by lush greenery

Now, let’s get on with their signature dishes…

Mee Sua Tau

The only way to describe the Mee Sua Tau (RM10) is that it is almost like Shark Fin’s Soup except that it contains mostly chicken, mushrooms, crabmeat, egg and rice noodles. The soup base is starchy and quite thick. Here’s a closer look:

Mee Sua Tau

For a medium bowl of this, the portion is pretty big and this being more than merely soup as it is generously full of rice noodles, it is very filling too. I only ate one tiny bowl of this as I am not really a big fan of mee sua tau. Nevertheless, I still like theirs. It is thick and yet not too sticky and yes, it is tasty because it has so many different ingredients.

Fried rice

Not all that remarkable since it is just plain fried rice with the usual ingredients of shrimps, egg, chicken. Still, it is good enough for Mr Picky who ate almost half of the amount!

Roti Babi (right) and Spring Roll

It may look almost similar and it’s ingredients are a tad similar but it is actually different. Both contained chicken, carrots, crabmeat and some jicama (mangkuang).  The only difference is that one is a spring roll while the other one is bread with the ingredients sandwiched between two slices of bread and then the bread fried to a crispiness.

Spring roll and roti babi best eaten with some sauce and chillies

Their spring rolls are simply the best as the skin is very crispy and they don’t stinge on the ingredients too. The best part is the chili laced sauce with generous amount of Worchestershire Sauce.

Quarter roast chicken

I absolutely love their roast chicken although it is not really roasted! The chicken was deepfried before it was served. It is darn good, I tell you.

The prices here are pretty reasonable. Check out the menu:

The menu

So, my final verdict is that it is really worth the price to eat there. For one thing, the ‘chefs’ are definitely really good. This place is like the senior citizen’s best kept secret!

Rating: 8/10

Price:$$

Here are the cafetaria opening hours:

And here’s the location map to the place.

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That was quite a long time ago and then one day, they closed down. I didn’t know what happened to them until in recent years, I heard that they are operating out of their home in the same area. Now, hearing about it does not make it easy for me to find the place. Then my personal chef (aka The Food Critic aka The Food Hunter) found out the location and we went there for dinner.

It was still as good and in quite a cosy atmosphere despite it being based in the ‘restaurant’ owner’s home. So, here’s introducing Top Top Restaurant, now known as Yaw’s Roast and Grill.

The 'kitchen' is outside in a corner of their house compound

They filled up the rest of their compound with plastic tables and chairs and even placed some tables and chairs inside their living room. And no, there is no signboard outside the house. That’s why it wasn’t easy for us to trace them until we were specifically given the address!

A view from inside the living room, looking out to more seating outside

Now, let’s get on to the menu and food, eh?

Here's a menu of the food offered here

And here are the food we ordered…

Grilled giant sausage which is the specialty of the day

They have specialty dishes on different days and on the day we went, they have giant sausage so we ordered that. Nothing really all that great about it since it is just sausage they probably got from somewhere to be grilled and served.

Mixed grill

Their mixed grill consists of lamb chops, sausage, bacon and grilled chicken breast meat. It is served with a small serving of fries and some fresh greens. It is practically meat galore with a dusting of black pepper. Considering the different types of meat on this plate, all of it are grilled to perfection and in quite a good portion size. The Food Critic could finish this whole plate of meat but he didn’t and shared it with me instead.

Chicken Maryland

We went there with another couple and one of them ordered chicken maryland. I can vouch for the chicken maryland as I’ve ordered it the first time we came here.

I ordered the fish version this time around. Of course, I shared my fish maryland with The Food Critic and my picky toddler. Here’s a closer look…

The fish is deep fried with a crispy, crunchy crust and since it’s maryland, naturally it has a sausage and a slice of ham with the fish. The fish was not bland and is rather tasty as it was probably seasoned before it was deep fried. What’s more, it is quite a big portion too…that’s why I was able to share it with my son and The Food Critic.

My other friend ordered chicken chop and it looks pretty good too. I’ve tried their chicken maryland before and since the chicken is probably fried the same way, I can safely say it is crunchy and good. As usual, the chicken is the deboned chicken thigh so the meat is tender.

I don’t know about the chicken chop sauce though.

My verdict: the overall experience of eating at Yaw’s is that of cosyness and far from being a quiet place, it is often packed with most tables occupied. So, be prepared to enjoy great western style food in the midst of chatter from the crowds there. However, it is a great place to hang out with friends and catch up while waiting for the food to be served.

The prices are pretty reasonable and I could say it goes with the portion. I would not say that it is really good food but it is good enough for me to want to go back there again. Only problem is that parking space is not easy to find as you will have to park along the roadside. It is located within a residential area after all.

Rating: 6/10

Price:$$$

Yaw’s Grill and Roast

1, Gerbang Midlands

Tel: 04-2276273 / 012-4848178

Here’s the location of this restaurant within a house.

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