Monday, May 30, 2011

Face To Face Noodles House @ Times Square Penang

Face To Face Noodles House has more than 15 outlets in Malaysia and the one situated in Times Square Penang is their 1st outlet in Penang. They serve authentic Sarawak noodles-- Mee Kolok and handmade pan mee. They do provide their customers with a wide selection of ingredients and chili sauce to go with the noodles.

The photos shown above were about one of the chilies provided which i think its the perfect combination to go with the noodles, i think its something similar to szechuan peppercorn which gives a strong flavour of pepper but not too hot. These peppers are highly recommended for those who love spicy food.

Longan With Milk (Rm 3.80), seriously i found this drink a bit funny and weird. How can they mixed longan and milk together ? The taste was obviously not as good as what we expected but its perfectly fine for those who want to seek for new taste and new stuff.

Three Layers Milk Tea With Wheat Grass (Rm 5.00). It looks funny to me either but since it has the chef recommendation sign on the menu, so i just gave it a shot. It was decent overall. I do think that milk and wheat grass can be a pretty good combination. Try ask for less sugar if you can't take too sweet.

Chef's Special Pan Mee (Rm 6.90) As you can see from the photos, the bowl was loaded with chunks of meat and meat balls as well as fried fish cakes. The noodles were pretty chewy and I'd called it the perfect texture for pan mee. The soup was decent and it is best served with the peppers provided. Peppers enhance the flavour of the pan mee and the soup.

One of the Mee Kolok (there were three options which different ingredients, Rm 6.90 each). Personally i would prefer the soup version's pan mee. The noodles were abit too dry and lack of chewiness for me. Meats were decent, nothing special tho.

Chef's Special Dry Version (Rm 6.90), this is highly recommended. The noodles come with a lot of ingredients and the ever tastiest half boiled egg. For some reasons, half boiled eggs are perfect for pan mee especially with the semi-raw egg yolk. Scatter some peppercorns and here you go, a perfect pan mee that you could ever ask.

Chef's Special Dumplings (Rm 6.00 for 5), i have no idea why they like to name their dishes "chef's special", but oh well, this was a decent one, however, the taste of the scallions was slightly heavier, those who don't really take scallions might dislike this. They were okay for me tho. You can pick any chili sauce you prefer to go with these.

The restaurant has limited tables and its a bit warm to sit upstairs. No tax nor service charge. Taste was pretty decent but i adore the peppercorns. Will definitely come back to try on some other noodles.

Ratings:
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Price: 7/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)
Parking: 8/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Services: Very Good
Government Tax: Yes
Service Charge: Yes
Additional Information:
Address: 77-G-7, Ground Floor, Penang Times Square, 10150, Penang. (Few shops next to Taiwan Kochabi and it's facing the open air car park.)
Phone Number: 604- 226 2285
Business Hours: 11am to 9.30pm daily.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kang Beef House @ Jalan Jelutong, Penang

As the name of this restaurant suggested, this restaurant specialises in serving beef. It is rather uncommon to find such a restaurant that serves all beef. Situated at Jalan Jelutong, the place is a bit unfriendly in seeking parking spaces but if you are a big fan of beef, then you should pay a visit to this restaurant.

A small bowl of chili sauce will be served to each customer at the very beginning after you have placed your order. I adore the chili sauce, it was abit sourish but it wasn't too spicy. Perfect to go with beef balls.

Beef Noodles (Rm 6 for small). It depends on the size you would prefer. The ingredients used increase as the price. Do pay attention to the colour of the beef, which is abit red. The beef was thinly sliced and wasn't fully cooked to maintain the juiciness and the tenderness of the beef. The soup was okay but i would prefer heavier taste; the beef balls were superb. They came in a just nice portion where you can have one at a time and the texture was perfect as well. It was what a beef ball should have. Recommended.

The noodles used for the beef noodles. You can opt for kuey teow as well but this is more special to me. Both work well too. Depends on your own preferences.

Crystal beef fried rice and beef ball soup (Rm 12.80), its abit pricey for me as the fried rice was rather common and nothing special except for the beef slices. Only a few beef slices were given although the beef was perfectly cooked. I couldn't ask for more. It would be better if they are being generous and throw in more beef slices. =)

The beef ball soup that comes with the fried rice and dry fried hor fun set. Personally, i adore the soup more than the soup in the beef noodles. Surprisingly, this was much tastier than the one in beef noodles for no reasons. Beef balls were the same tho.

Dry Fried Hor Fun with beef ball soup (Rm 9.80). Same as the fried rice set, it comes together with a bowl of beef ball soup. The portion was rather large, but it was too oily for my appetite. It was a bit tasteless for my friends but it was perfectly okay for me. Nonetheless, beef still tender and juicy. Its good to go together with the chili sauce as well. But, just too oily.

Claypot Beef Soup (Rm 8 for small). Similar to bak kut teh, the soup and the ingredients were served in a claypot. Beef organs were also included. If you are not a big fan of those organs, you can always ask for just beef balls and the beef slices. Fresh and tasty.

Fried Beef Balls (6 for Rm 4.80). Personally, i would prefer the soup version over this. The beef balls were fried with bread crumbs and ended up taste like beef balls with bread. The beef balls were too dry for me although its always nice to dip them with the chili sauce.

This is a must visit place if you are a big fan of beef. The prices for the food are fair and reasonable. No service charge nor government tax. They do serve steamboat too. Its Rm20 per person for the steamboat and a minimum number of 2 person. Below are some information regarding the restaurant, for further information, please contact or ask them personally.

Ratings:
Taste: 6.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Price: 6/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)
Parking: 7/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Services: Good
Government Tax: No
Service Charge: Yes
Additional Information:
Business Hour: 12.00pm to 2.30pm / 4.30pm to 10.00pm (close on every Tuesday)
Phone Number: 04-281 0892
Address: 474, Jalan Jelutong, 11600 Jelutong Penang.
Kang Beef House's Facebook Page
Google Map Here

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Brewery Tap Bier Houz @ D Piazza Penang

Bought the online vouchers from ezivoucher.com, was planning to go with classmates, we were actually quite excited with the price the vouchers being sold which was Rm 11.50 for a set meal (dinner or lunch). The set meal comes with a bowl of soup, a main course, two side dishes, a cup of ice lemon tea and a pudding. It was a huge disappointment after all. We were expecting something better but unfortunately it wasn't what we wanted at first.
The disappointment starts with the mushroom soup. You can actually taste the soup that has the exactly taste with the Campbell instant mushroom soup. It wasn't freshly cooked. They just sprinkled some parsley on top of it. There wasn't any pepper provided or served on the table to go with the soup.

Half slice of garlic bread was given to each set meal ordered only. It was okay, garlic and buttery flavoured and a bit crispy. Frankly speaking, i found that the garlic bread was the best food ever served on that night.

Okay, so the set comes in a pathetically small portion which was different from the poster we saw on ezivoucher.com. Another amusing thing was one of the side dishes we ordered was the grill vegetables, unfortunately it comes with a sliced button mushrooms and two leaves of green vegetables only.

The portion of the pasta was rather small as well. Basically, you can finish them within few scoops. The pasta were tasteless and they were greedy in giving the pasta sauce. It ended up being a disastrous side dish. They do have a few kinds of main course, the one above was fried chicken topped with some sauce. The fried chicken doesn't changed, instead, they changed the sauce for you, depending on what you've ordered. The chicken was way too oily for me.

The upper photo was indiana chicken and the below was barbecue chicken. Unfortunately, both of them were the same thing before the sauce were added. The chicken chop was thinly sliced and ended up being too hard and overcooked. Worst part was the oil kept leaking out from the chicken. My lips were covered with oils the time i was finished with the chicken. Horrible.

Roast lamb, the presentation for the lamb was a failure as i would expect a roast lamb chop or at least something that comes in a whole piece but ended up I'm getting this chopped or sliced lamb. It was very dried the moment it was served. But the sauce wasn't too shabby and it was better than chicken.

Frankly speaking, it was a total disappointment, i wouldn't return to this restaurant anymore unless there are further compliments from my friends or readers. But of course, i shouldn't blame them for the portion as i bought them at a fairly low price but the service was horrible either. The waitresses were very confused with our orders until they had to verify with us. I don't really recommend but i shall post this and share with those who have bought the ezivouchers coupon online just like me. The place might be good for drinks but definitely not for a meal.

Ratings:
Taste: 4/10
Price: 7/10
Parking: 9/10
Services: Very Bad
Government Tax: No
Service Charge: No

Saturday, May 21, 2011

QQ Ramen House @ Vanda Business Park, Sg. Dua, Penang.

There are quite some restaurants and food outlet for me to explore in this place, and this is just the start of it. The place is actually quite good due to easy in finding parking and its very easy to locate the building as well. You've probably notice the building if you had drove through Sg. Dua or had been to the mcdonald's in Sg. dua. The building is directly opposite to the mcdonald's and RHB bank. So the as the restaurant's name suggested, they are specialised in serving ramen (japanese noodles). They offer a wide range of ramen which  also comes in a set.

Spicy QQ Ramen (Rm 6.20), it was pretty spicy so i suggest those who can't really take spicy food do not attempt on this. There weren't much ingredients inside tho. The texture of the ramen rules. It was smooth and perfectly nice. You can actually request for some chili oil too if it wasn't spicy enough for you.

Spicy Miso Ramen (Rm 6.50) This was more to the japanese kind of taste but the soup comes in rather a abit tasteless. You might need to ask for some chili oil to increase the flavour a bit. The portion was okay i supposed considering the price. The ramen was pretty much same as above.

Tom Yam Seafood Ramen (Rm 7.80). It was a pretty decent one. The sourness and spiciness were just perfectly okay though i would prefer a more spicy one.

Spicy Ramen Fried Chicken set (Rm 8.50) Highly recommended. The ramen and the fried chicken come in a set which i think its pretty worth as the portion for the fried chicken was pretty big. It was bigger than the one i had in Japin, queensbay mall. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything left for the ramen, they should have included some vegetables in the ramen. It was abit dull and unappealing to me when it was served. The fried chicken was very nice and the texture was crispy on the outside yet it was tender in the inside. The fried chicken is also available in ala carte which comes in Rm 5.50 each.

Aside from the main course, you can opt to pick for some side dishes or snacks too. The seasoning egg is priced at Rm 1 each. The flavour wasn't too strong but it was decent overall. They are pretty much the same served in the ramen above. Just something additional if you would prefer more.

Chicken dumplings (Rm 5 for 5 pieces) The skin of the dumplings were too thick. Vinegar and ginger slices were prepared to us the time it was served and we had to ask for them ourselves. It was such a waste that they were serving the dumplings with chili sauce.

Green Tea Milk Tea (Rm 4 with pearls/jelly; Rm 3.50 without pearls/jelly) This is highly recommended. Its cheap and good.  Unfortunately today the pearls were all sold out and we had to choose the jelly. You can also opt for the combination with pearls and jelly together.

The ramens are rather economical and it comes in a rather big portion. They also have a wide range of choices which include rice set or soba set. Wifi is also available which makes it a suitable place for chit chatting session as well. For those who prefer bigger portions, do ask for additional ramen for only Rm 1.

Ratings:
Taste: 6.5/10
Price: 7/10
Parking: 7/10
Services: 8/10
Government Tax: No
Service Charge: Yes
Additional Information:
Location: 723X-G Vanda Business Park, Jalan Sg. Dua, 11700 Gelugor, Penang. (opposite mcD Sg. Dua)
Business Hour: 11.30am - 3.30pm, 5.30pm - 10.00pm (Mon - Fri)
                       11.30am - 10.00pm ( Sat, Sun & Public Holiday)
For reservation: 012 4705583 (Ms. Janie Teh)