Vogue For Virtue 2013 Charity Fashion Show @ Queensbay Mall, Penang.

As many of you might be aware of, Vogue For Virtue has been around for few years and this is the 5th year in running of the event. Vogue for Virtue is a Corporate Social Responsibility program by CapitaMalls Asia, where all the proceeds from registration fees and ticketing will be channeled to some of the charitable organizations. This year, the year of 2013, Vogue For Virtue was once again, being held successfully in center atrium of Queensbay Mall, Penang. It was my honor to be invited to this event. The Fashion Show was divided in two parts on Saturday (27th of April, 2013), the Celebrity Charity Fashion Show was arranged to be at 7pm. Participating brands include Nichii, Kitschen, Dressing Paula, Forever 21, Esprit, G2000, Springfield, French Connection and Uniqlo. Models were there to demonstrate and showing off the meticulously-designed latest collections from all these participating brands (spring/summer 2013). Photos with better resolutions can be found on my Facebook Page.

Blooms Restaurant @ The One Terrace Plus, Bayan Baru, Penang.

Since my office is at Bayan Baru area, this entire area has been my “usual place” during lunch hour, many new restaurants are mushrooming and Blooms is being one of them. The word hanging outside of the restaurant caught my attention, it says “offering fine dining at affordable prices” where they are having this lunch promotion from Rm 8.30. Diners can choose their own desired main course from the menu and simply top up Rm 1 for a cup of Honey Green Tea or Peach Tea or Kam Quet Tea. It should be easy to locate the place if you are familiar with this new place- The One which is strategically located at Bayan Baru, right beside PISA or opposite to D’ Piazza. There are limited tables in the restaurant and would require a short-wait during lunch hours. Parking has never been easy for this place but you may park your car right beside the road (not advisable as you might be caught for traffic summons). Service was okay and the foods were okay too (although there are rooms of improvements) during my visit but do note that their serving portion will be a bit small but it should work fine for small eaters.

Water Drop TeaHouse (滴水坊) @ Lebuh Penang, Penang.

Hidden in one of the streets in Penang's Heritage area, Water Drop TeaHouse (滴水坊) is a place shall not be missed by Vegetarians. Walking into the place calms one's senses as the front area is filled with Buddhist-religious books, as well as some inspirational quotations, educating the public about lives and how the way they ought to act. Apart from the vegetarian dishes, Water Drop TeaHouse offers some delicate coffees. Their menu changes daily but no worries, some of their best-selling items are made available throughout the week. The servicing speed was slow during my visit due to lack of manpower and diners will be asked to have their orders ordered at the counter by themselves. Price-wise, was definitely very affordable and economical but the parking could be a big issue as the area around Penang Street is known to be very limited in terms of parking. As far as the taste and price are concerned, I would strongly recommend my readers to try this place out.

i-Steamboat CIty 壹鍋豐 @ Lorong Selamat, Penang.

Operating in the bustling street of Lorong Selamat Penang, i-steamboat city is a new eatery set up not long ago which situated right opposite the famous Red Hat Char Koay Teow. As the name suggested, it offers steamboat, be it buffet style or ala carte. Ambiance-wise, the place is air-conditioned and they are using the induction cooker for the steamboat. There could be some improvements needed for their service due to a lack of man power. Overall, I find it a good place for gathering but it was just okay in terms of value in return. If you are a steamboat lover, try it out and let me know in the comments!

For more information, please visit <http://www.tourdirections.com.my/directory/>. Planning your Penang food tour? TourDirections Penang helps you discover Penang cafes and restaurants, Penang hawker food, Penang budget hotel and Penang homestay at TourDirections.com.my.

Moo Cow Frozen Yogurt @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

The trend of savoring Frozen Yogurt is fading faster than I thought unfortunately, youngsters were eagerly looking for Frozen Yogurt booths/kiosks everywhere after meal few months back in Penang but with all the fancy desserts mushrooming recently such as Tong Pak Fu, The Twelve Cups and even some creative twist on Frozen Yogurt like D' Fahrenheit Yogurt are sharing the "pie" right now. Since I haven't had my Frozen Yogurt for quite some time, my friends and I have decided to grab some for ourselves. Happened to be in Gurney Paragon Mall, we had this refreshing dessert at Moo Cow, ground floor of Moo Cow (beside Pacific Coffee and Morganfield's). Unlike Tutti Fruitti, the prices here are pre-fixed instead of depending on the weight.

Irrawaddy Fine Foods @ Chow Thye Road, Penang.

Hidden in one of the small roads near Pulau Tikus/ Burmah Road, one can find a decent restaurant named Irrawaddy Fine Foods, said to be Penang's first New York style delicatessen but at the same time, offering some unique yet delectable dishes to the public. Bread lovers should particularly try to look for this place as they do bake and sell breads (Focaccia bread, French Baguette, Semolina Bread, Oregano Bread, Pretzel and even the rarely seen bread in Penang- Sourdough!) fresh on a daily basis (except Sunday). Apart from that, they do sell some imported goods such as jams, pickles and even their home made sausages (kindly refer to their website or contact them for more information). Another thing which surprised me was the price, everything seemed to be so economically priced, yet, the dishes come with a huge portion. Since the place has a very homely ambiance, I just know where I should head to if I were to look for a place to spend my lazy afternoon with my friends and family. I also like the fact that this place serves some really healthy but delicious foods and the service was very impressive. It should not be too hard to locate Irrawaddy Fine Foods, kindly turn into Chow Thye Road and you should be able to find this place (a stone throw distance from Harvest Inn and Isaribi Tei Japanese Restaurant).

Kurtos Spiroll @ Queensbay Mall, Penang.

If you have ever made an effort to walk until the very end of level 3, Queensbay Mall, you would have noticed this humble stall selling Kurtos at the newly created place in the mall- Queen Street.

 “Originally known as Kürtőskalács, Kurtos is a type of Hungarian snack/pastry which comes in a Chimney-shape. The pastry itself is sweet and often known as milk-loaf too.” –Quoted from Wikipedia.

In Kurtos Spiroll, there are quite a number of flavors which can be chosen, namely Cinnamon Sugar, Original Hungarian, Sesame Seeds, Nutella Chips etc… Most of them are priced reasonably. It was my first time savoring the similar pastry so I would not tell if the taste was authentic but a friend of mine whom just came back from Germany told me it was more or less the same. They will be a bit slow during weekends due to the high customer traffic but what you can expect is a hot, crispy and freshly baked pastry. Mind you… Kurtos is best served and savored while it’s still hot. Despite the fact that this pastry is unique here, but it was decent “bread” to me, no, not that it was horrible but rather, it tasted like original sweetened bread to me.

Sandwhich @ I-Avenue, Penang.

I have been a fan of healthy sandwiches and I always hope that we could get something unique and good beside the boring Subway sandwiches (which I’m pretty bored of since I’ll be having Subway at least once in a week). If you are a person whom has more concern about the ingredients, you should probably read on and check out this place. Sandwhich had its grand opening a couple months back (19^th of January 2013); what makes Sandwhich unique is that the use of nutritious premium grade ingredients such as Antibiotic Free Enzyme Chicken, Antibiotic Free Enzyme Pork, Fresh Tuna from Bali, Antibiotic Free Eggs as well as some freshly home-made Soy Milk/ Yogurt. Fellow bloggers were honored to be invited by the founder of Sandwhich- Mr. Fong, to sample some of their healthy and delicate sandwiches the other night. It should not be too tricky to locate this place, Sandwhich is strategically located at I-Avenue, Bukit Jambul, where the previous JPJ had their office set up there or a stone-throw away from Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, as well as Subway. The shop is also facing Perodua show room at Bukit Jambul. They are still having their opening promotion, grab this opportunity and try it out yourself!

7 Village Noodle House @ Abu Siti Lane, Penang.

I am pretty sure that most of the Penangites staying in mainland (be it Butterworth or Bukit Mertajam) will at least heard of this restaurant- 7 Village before. It has a total of 4 branches in Penang where the newly opened 4th branch is located at Penang island (the rest are based in mainland). 7 Village Noodle House is famous for its Koay Teow Th'ng (flat rice noodles with specially made broth) and La Mian/ Ramen. Not only these but they do serve other delicacies such as Spring Rolls, Loh Bak, De-boned Chicken, Chicken Feet, Blanched Vegetables as well as some traditional Malaysian breakfast staples- Roti Toast/ Toasted Bread and Half Boiled Egg. I like the environment being clean and cozy, they do provide some reading materials/ magazines for their diners to flip with while waiting for the orders to be served. It should be rather easy to find 7 Village Noodle House, a stone-throw distance from Choo Plaza at Abu Siti Lane, Georgetown. A very big blue sign board has been erected at the main entrance which can be easily seen from far. Prices are okay and affordable, definitely more worth it as compared to the Old Town Coffee House which offers some horrible foods to scam the public. 

Qian Ri Ramen (千日拉面) @ Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

Experts believed colors do help to trigger one's appetite, probably inspired by this, the owner of Qian Ri Ramen has came out with various kinds of colored as well as flavored Ramen. Diners are given the freedom to mix and match the chosen soup base with their own desired flavored Ramen. The flavored Ramen are available in Spinach, Beetroot, Wheat Flour, Black Sesame, Chili, Green Tea as well as the traditional Chinese Herbs infused Ramen (Dang Gui/ Radix Sinensis and Shou Wu/ Radix Polygoni Multiflori). It should not be too hard to locate Qian Ri Ramen if you know where is Bukit Minyak's Carefour (probably less than 10 minutes drive away from Autocity) located at as Qian Ri Ramen is just right opposite to Carefour. Prices-wise, I  find most of the dishes here economical and worth of trying.

Seafood Extravaganza Buffet @ Sarkies, E&O Hotel, Penang.

In conjunction with Penang E&O Hotel’s buffet promotion, themed Petr’s Catch Seafood Extravaganza, fellow bloggers were invited to sample some of their palatable dishes and seafood offered. Diners can only enjoy this special theme on every Wednesday night, at Sarkies, E&O Hotel, Penang (please do note that the promotion ends at the end of April, 2013). Prices are pre-fixed to be at Rm 110++ for adults and your children get to enjoy the buffet at Rm48++ (subject to prevailing government tax and service charge) but as Kenhuntfood’s readers, you guys get to enjoy an extra discount of Rm30! (which reduces the price to Rm80++ for adults, Rm 38++ for children, please do note that the voucher/banner is only available for the FIRST 80 REDEMPTION). Simply print out the voucher which can be found under this post and present to the staff in Sarkies, E&O Hotel to enjoy the discount. Under this themed buffet, diners are given the opportunity to savor some of the imported seafood which rarely be seen in Penang, Alaskan Snow Crab Claws, Poached Black Mussels and Boiled River Cray Fish just to name a few. Overall, I would say that the price is worth the value and it’s a very good opportunity for seafood lovers to ease their cravings.

Azuma Japanese Restaurant @ Queensbay Mall, Penang.

I am pretty sure many have walked pass or at least have seen this eatery located on second floor of Queensbay Mall Penang (right beside Harvey Norman). It was "Chap Goh Meh" the other night and naturally we had planned for a family dinner. To my surprise, the place was very crowded and some diners were even queuing up for the numbers by the time of 6:30pm (for dinner). Azuma offers authentic Japanese cuisine, one may requests for a table near the Kaiser belt should you have any interests on their Sushi displayed. I would not say they have too much of variety but should be decent. We did make a list to try their Uni but we were told that it was not available on that night. What a disappointment! Nevertheless, Edo Ichi will be still on my top list although both of these restaurants are being managed under the same management company. Price-wise, I'd say affordable and service was great. My only complaint is about their seating, where three of us were escorted to a tiny table (barely can fit in with extra orders apart from mains), they should literally take note of this since diners these days are looking for a more comfortable environment and sufficiency of spaces does play an important role.

Ben's @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

I've received quite an amount of positive comments from my readers and friends regarding this newly opened restaurant at Gurney Paragon Mall- Ben's. Ben's is being managed under the BIG Group and has been serving some gloriously good food in Kuala Lumpur. I was rather surprised that there were not any signs indicating the exact location of Ben's, which I've found it later on... at ground floor of St. Jo's at Gurney Paragon Mall. Diners are given the options to choose whether to dine in at their European style homely ambiance setting or al-fresco (only available at night). Ben's offers their diners a wide variety of delectable dishes from Salads, Soups, Sandwiches, Pies, Pasta, Mains and Desserts. Surely there'd be Coffees, Teas, Juices and Milkshakes etc.... I had my lunch and I was hoping to hunt for their desserts only... portions were  big and sharing is highly recommended. Very good service with decent food quality. A very good place to spend an hour or two with your friends and family. We were rather unlucky on that day, we had opted to order their desserts but we were told that the desserts chosen were unavailable (ALL of them). Left with no options, we had to choose for some of their "available" desserts........

Churros Royale @ Tropicana City Mall, Petaling Jaya.

Churros, Spanish Fried Fritters or Doughnuts are not easy to find in Malaysia. I once had Churros at San Churros back in Perth and it was so good. Hence, I was thinking to hunt for some in my recent Kuala Lumpur day trip. It seems like Churros Royale has two outlets in Malaysia, one at Puchong and the other one at Tropicana City Mall. The exact location at Tropicana City Mall is a bit tedious, where it is situated at the mall's Lower Ground Floor, nearby Carefour. We were wondering what should we order and try and the friendly staff offered us two types of Churros (2 sticks each) at the price of Rm 8.90 nett.

Spanish Splendor @ Swez Brasserie, Eastin Hotel Penang.

In conjunction with Penang Eastin Hotel's upcoming buffet promotion in the coming month of March, themed Spanish Splendor, the media was invited to sample some of their unique dishes that about to be offered. This themed buffet (Spanish Splendor) will be available from 1st of March until 31st of March, 2013 at Swez Brasserie (Ground Floor of Eastin Hotel, Penang.)

Prices for the buffets are as follow:

Lunch: Monday - Friday

12:00pm - 2:30pm

Rm 48++ (adult) Rm 24++ (child)

Hi-Tea: Saturday and Sunday

12:00pm - 3:00pm

Rm 55++ (adult) Rm 28++ (child)

Hi-Tea: Festive Occasions
12:00pm - 3:00pm

Rm 68++ (adult) Rm 34++ (child)

Semi Buffet Dinner: Sunday - Thursday

6:30pm - 10:00pm

From Rm48++ per person

March Credit Card Promotions:

MAYBANKAD, Standard Chartered Bank, OCBC Bank, CIMB Bank, Citibank and VISA card members, guests can enjoy 15% discount for Spanish Splendor Semi Buffet Dinner (Monday to Thursday) and Weekend Buffet Dinner (Friday and Saturday) from 6:30pm to 10:00pm.

For inquiries or reservations, kindly contact Eastin Hotel Penang, Swez Brasserie at +04- 612 1128.