Thursday, August 30, 2012

Cicerellos Fish N Chips @ Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia.

In case you are not aware of, kindly refer to About Me column to know more on my current location. So Fremantle is known as one of the best places in Perth that offers fresh and affordable seafood (such as Oysters, Scallops, Mussels, Squids etc) and one of the most famous places amongst tourists and locals is this Cicerellos Fish N Chips (there are two outlets in total, one being Fremantle's and the other one is located at Mandurah). Claimed to be the first amongst equal in Western Australia, Ken had decided to have an impromptu visit to check their famous Fish N Chips out. Its very easy to locate Cicerellos, from Bus Station or Train Station, walk towards the esplanade area, where you will find deep blue sea behind some shop houses/ restaurants where Cicerellos is one of them. The place will normally be loaded with crowd (particularly tourists) especially during weekends, but the restaurant has sufficient seats and tables to accommodate the crowd, they do host private functions as well and the place is available for reservation. Price-wise, I find it okay by Australia (WA) standards and the quality will be guaranteed. 



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Tarbush Restaurant @ Batu Feringghi, Penang.

If you are finding something exquisite enough to suit your taste buds, you should at least give this restaurant a try. Finding Arabic and Lebanese cuisine has never been easy in Penang, one of the more well-known ones is being Tarbush Restaurant. Tarbush Restaurant has four branches in Malaysia in total, being Penang's branch situated at Batu Feringghi (right beside The Ship Western Food). Tarbush Restaurant has a lot to offer its customers, namely salads, main course (seafood, beef, chicken or even lamb), soups, and a variety of desserts/ beverages. Quoted from Tarbush Restaurant's website:

" TARBUSH's dedication to using only the freshest and finest ingredients and incessant passion of a man's love for authentic and fine Middle Eastern cuisine has undoubtedly rendered TARBUSH's incredible success and growth for all these years. "

Overall verdict: The foods were actually okay to my liking but they lacked of the authenticity. The heavily use of spices and herbs is essential in Lebanese cuisine, but unfortunately, we don't taste the strong aroma of those herbs. Price-wise, expensive for most dishes, despite of their big portion for most dishes, I still find most of them over-priced, especially with the additional 10% service charge and 6% government tax. There is a need for improvements on their services too, with many of the waiters/waitresses do not understand English, the process of ordering/ acquiring information was very troublesome for us (thank GOD the manager was kind and understands English). As for parking, one can simply park its car right in front of the restaurant, there were ample parking spaces available, but do beware of the night market happening every night there, make sure you do not reach the restaurant too late, else, you might face problems finding the parking.



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

CAB Western Food @ Air Itam, Penang.

I was really surprised to see that long queues were outside of this restaurant during weekends, to ease my curiosity, I've decided to check it out some day. Coincidentally, with some of my classmates, together we explored this place earlier ago. I was shocked to see that their menu and interior design of the restaurant are very similar to James Foo Western Food, not only as such, most of their dishes listed on the menu are pretty similar those those offered in James Foo Western Food too. I was skeptical right after looking at their menu, anyway, we do go on with our plans and decided to have our dinner there. CAB Western Food is situated at Air Itam, where Air Itam's Pizza Hut and KFC situated at (facing the main road), in fact, they are few doors away from CAB Western Food (Farlim Night Market/ Pasar Malam situated at there too). However, please beware of the long-queue during weekend nights. Price-wise, was okay only considering the portion and the food quality, as for service, there are still rooms of improvements as obviously most of their workers are not motivated (it took them more than 30 minutes to serve me my order). Ample parking spaces nearby the restaurant, but please beware of the directions as there are a lot of one-way street at that area. It was rather a disappointing dinner as my order served was not as shown in their picture displayed and the food quality was not impressive either (more information will be disclosed below on the specific dish).



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Lok Lok @ Padang Brown Hawker Center, Penang.

I've been visiting this Lok Lok stall very frequently since young, I am a big fan of fish balls and seafood, but I don't really drink the steamboat soup whenever I had steamboat. Hence, Lok Lok is a very good choice for me. This stall operates since noon until evening, and it has more than 30 types of Lok Lok choices for you to choose from. Price-wise, was okay, I would not say its cheap nor its expensive, just average Lok Lok price. To go to Padang Brown Hawker Center, locate the Police Station at Jalan Dato Keramat, turn left (you are heading to Jalan Dato Keramat/Georgetown/Komtar) into Perak Road (beside the Rumah Kelab). There are still other very delicious food in the hawker center too, namely Fried Oyster, Char Koay Teow, Tom Yam Bee Hoon, Yong Tau Foo and Pasembur, but my main focus of this post will be on the Lok Lok. Service provided was attentive, the Indonesian maid will constantly refill the food and the sauce.



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Petaling Street Famous Porridge @ Kuala Lumpur

During our previous visit to Malacca for the event-- A Date With Bloggers 2012, we actually stopped by at Kuala Lumpur for the transit. We arrived there too early for the LRT to operate and hence, we have decided to hunt for some food for our early breakfast. Criz from Crizfood.com suggested that we search around the Petaling Street area since its just a stone-throw distance away from Pudu Bus Terminal. The place should not be too hard to locate as the whole Petaling Street will basically be very quiet and dark except this stall. Ambiance-wise, please do not expect too much as this place is a market area, and you should expect it to be that range.



Sunday, August 5, 2012

42° La Bohéme @ Sri Bahari Road, Penang.

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

In the bustling heart of Georgetown area, there is this humble little French Bakery/Pastries opened few years ago, which serves authentic French pastries and desserts. The whole place is being operated a couple of husband (Mathieu) and wife (Huvi); 42° La Bohéme only opens at afternoon (from 10:30am to 6pm), making it a perfect place for afternoon tea and a light lunch/meal. This place has a homely ambiance too, wooden tables and classic chairs. Some magazines and antiques were spotted around the corner of the restaurant as well. You can find plenty of the French specialties here too, namely Pizzas, Quiches and Galettes. If you are someone who are always looking for something light, there are always a various choices of salads for you too. As for pastries, there were not a lot of choices during our visit, some of the notable ones are Apple Tarts, Pear Tarts, Pain Au Chocolat, Croissant etc. We did see some Crème brûlée in the fridge as well. Price-wise, I find most of them reasonable considering the huge portion we are getting but the price for the beverages will be on the steeper side tho they are still acceptable (prices are net). Service was a bit slow during our visit, probably due to there were just two of them working, so you have to bear with that if you are visiting during peak hours (particularly lunch hour). My overall experience on the food was very good, I will definitely come back for other dishes as well.