Western Diner's @ The CEO, Penang.

While having my second visit back to Formosa Taiwanese Cuisine, I realized there is this newly opened restaurant that serves western food. and it has came to my attention that they are offering set lunch at affordable prices, where one can choose from the wide selection of dishes offered. Western Diner's is located at The CEO, a building next to Vistana Hotel, Bukit Jambul. Set lunch will only be served on weekdays and set dinners are available daily. There are a lot to choose from their menu, they even have local cuisine for set lunch too, however, my experience at Western Diner's was rather a disappointment, mainly due to their service. We had placed our orders earlier ago, some of us waited for more than half an hour, the staff approached us telling us that he took the wrong orders and suggested we take his suggested order, else, we have to wait for quite some time. It was very unprofessional to ask their customers to choose according to their suggested orders and I was not too happy with this. Price-wise, was just okay considering most of their portion was rather small.

Kong Bee Lee (广美利) Noodle Station (Pan Mee) @ Taman Kheng Tian, Penang.

Pan Mee has always been one of my all time favorites, reason was due to the springiness of the noodles and the sweetness incorporated into the soup from one of the main ingredients- anchovies. Simplicity is the best right ? Anyway, Kong Bee Lee Noodle Station is a newly opened restaurant situated at Jalan Van Praagh, Taman Kheng Tian (Old Town Perak Road is just a stone-throw distance away), it offers a wide variety of Pan Mee at very economical prices, some of the more notable and unique ones are Curry Chicken Pan Mee, Dumplings Pan Mee, Black Pepper Pan Mee and their signature Pan Mee- Fried Pork Pan Mee. Kong Bee Lee was previously a food stall located near to Pulau Tikus wet market, I was also being told that all of their noodles do not contain Lye-water (碱水). Price-wise, I would say that most of the noodles here are pretty cheap and reasonably priced. Ample parking spaces will be available at the area (although some walking might be required) but please beware of the Night Market/Pasar Malam which will be held at this area on every Friday night. The entire area will be flooded with regular night market patrons, hence, finding parkings will be very troublesome.

Nyonya Curry Steamboat @ Sri Batik Nyonya Cafe, New World Park, Penang.

 ** This place has since ceased its operation.**

Steamboat ? Curry ? Bored of eating these two separately ? Now you can have all of them together at once ! Sri Batik Nyonya cafe is offering Nyonya Curry Steamboat for Rm88 which serves a good portion for four. I would also like to make a disclosure here, my visitation to this restaurant for their Nyonya Curry Steamboat dinner was using online vouchers bought on Groupon.com. Out of curiosity, I've decided to give it a shot on their creative invention, which was, to use Nyonya Assam Curry as steamboat soup base. The price is a bit expensive (if I were to pay Rm88) in my opinion and the service was not attentive enough, we were not given any bowls, there were only plates given to us, which I find it a bit inappropriate when eating steamboat. To find Sri Batik Nyona, find Old Town (Sri Batik Nyonya is right beside Old Town) at New World Park, or opposite to Kuchi, the Japanese restaurant in New World Park.

Hainanese Food @ Malacca Hainan Association, Malacca.

Continued from my previous visit to Malacca, under the event of A Date With Bloggers 2012, we were invited to this Malacca Hainan Association nearby Jonker Walk for a scrumptious traditional Hainanese lunch with the Chief Minister of Malacca-- Datuk Seri Mohammad Ali Rustam. A lot of activities were planned for the bloggers, including to witness and participate in the making of the Malacca Chicken Rice Balls, biscuit-making demo by Mei Zhong Yuan confectioneries, new product introduction fruit tea by Jonker Gallery and food tasting on the various kinds of traditional Hainanese food. Most of us in our group agreed that it was definitely one of the best meal we've had in Malacca.

A guest-welcoming speech given by the person in charge of the Malacca Hainanese Association and a brief introduction on the food about to serve to us.

Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup @ Malacca

I am pretty sure that there will be no objections that Satay Celup (Satay Steamboat) is one of the most famous and must-try local delicacies in the historical state of Malacca. I was able to meet up with my friend- K. Chen., lucky me, he brought me to this place for our supper. Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup is definitely one of the places to savor satay celup which will be recommended/preferred by most Malacans, reason was because there usually be a very long queue in the famous Capitol Satay Celup, especially weekends and public holidays, yet, the taste is pretty much the same. In fact, Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup is much cheaper compared to Capitol's and the shop has more than 21 years of history. With the price of Rm 0.60 per stick, its definitely very cheap and worth of trying. The place is not too far away from the famous tourist attraction-- Jonker Walk. This was actually my first attempt on Satay Celup, it smells like Sze Chuan Spicy Steamboat soup to me, with extra sweetness and crunchiness from the peanuts. No extra dipping sauce will be given.

Edo Ichi Japanese Cuisine (江户一) @ Island Plaza, Penang.

If you happened to pass by or a regular patron nearby Tanjung Bungah or Island Plaza area, you should not be too unfamiliar with this Japanese Restaurant which has the same management as Azuma Japanese Restaurant in Queensbay Mall. I did some research online and found out that this restaurant was highly rated by some of the bloggers, with high expectations, I get the chance to visit this restaurant earlier ago. Situated at Island Plaza, Edo Ichi serves authentic and quality Japanese food, although the price might be on the steeper side, but its definitely worth of trying. Do opt for their set dinner as I find them more worth the value compared to ala-carte orders. A thick book of menu was given to us, on the good side, it shows that Edo Ichi has a lot to offer to their customers, they do offer some exquisite dishes such as their Premium Sashimi Moriawase (Rm180) which consists of 9 types of sashimi and Wagyu Beef (depending on the weight), however, I find it a bit troublesome whenever I browse through their menu, its too bulky and too many pages to flip. The service was attentive, the staff was superbly polite to us during our visit, they even asked for permission if they could help us on the refilling of Ocha (Rm1 per head/refillable). Do note that Edo Ichi serves no pork (halal).

Sulaiman's Chapati @ Taman Tun Sardon, Gelugor, Penang.

I was quite surprised that some of my friends do not even know what is Chapati (a type of roti made from flour by our Indian friends), from this, we can roughly know how hard it is to even find a decent chapati in Penang. Introduced by Criz from Crizfood.com, I came across this chapati stall which can be found at a secretly place at Gelugor-- the Pasar & Balai of Rakyat Gelugor. Its a bit tricky to find this place if you are unfamiliar with the area. From Jalan Yap Chor Ee, drive to the traffic light where you are about to turn into Taman Tun Sardon, take left turn into the small and narrow road, drive straight until you hit a junction which allows you to turn right, take the right route and drive for approximately 3 minutes, you will find this place on your left. Sulaiman sells freshly made chapati, Roti Jala (net bread) and some desserts such as Bubur Kacang (Sweet Mung Beans Desserts). I am not going to post/comment on their Roti Jala as I personally feel that they were just okay, as in nothing special enough to shout over but their Chapati is seriously a must-try. You will be amazed by how soft and fluffy their chapati can be and how delicious is their home made curry. It just makes a light and perfect tea-time snack for me. A friendly reminder, do try to come as early as possible just to avoid disappointment, especially if you wish to savor their curry chicken as they will be selling like hot cakes.

Reflections Art and Nature Foods @ Burmah Road, Penang.

Hidden in a small road right beside one of the busiest streets in Penang- Burmah Road, the name of the road is Jalan Phuah Hin Leong which is right in front/opposite to SJK Union Primary school. Reflections serve lunch only and they do not actually have a menu, everything will be fixed (they will be changing their menu everyday, but the menu will be pre-fixed). You will be served a 3-course lunch which costs Rm11 (no service charge nor government tax), the best part is they only use organic ingredients and no MSG will be used. The portion was just good enough for me until the next meal but I am not sure if you can ask for a bigger portion. The 3-course meal will consists of a starter, mostly fresh greens salad; a main course, mostly brown/healthy rice served with three dishes; and a dessert. The restaurant does not have a very sophisticated setting but it feels so homely and comfortable. It might take a longer time for them to serve the food due to lack of man power, but its definitely worth the wait. Parking can be troublesome but try to park your car right in front of the restaurant since its nearly impossible to find any parking along the road.