Hokkien Mee @ One Corner Cafe

A bowl of Hokkien Mee @ RM 4.00

Hokkien Mee or known to most non-Penangites as Penang Prawn Mee consists of a mixture of yellow noodles and rice noodles (known to many as bee hoon); garnished with beansprouts, thin slices of meat, prawns and hard boiled egg served in a fragrant prawn broth. Some stalls may include other toppings like pork ribs, small intestines, prawn mantis and fish balls for an extra charge.

For many, the key to a good bowl of Hokkien Mee lies within the broth itself. One of the best Hokkien Mee I’ve found in Penang is in One Corner Cafe. The soup is extremely rich with the taste of prawns and spices. Besides, the garnishing is relatively generous with a big chuck of prawns and meat. The deep fried lard which is given upon request gives this bowl of Hokkien Mee an additional aroma and adds taste to the soup. However for RM4 a bowl, it can be considered as quite pricy amongst other hawker food in Penang.

The stall opens in the morning from about 7.30am and is usually sold out by 10.30am.

Clockwise from back; Fried spring onion, Deep fried lard, chilli paste

TAKE NOTE: This is probably the most pompous Hokkien Mee seller in Penang! Be ready for a rude treatment and at least 45 minutes to an hour wait before your bowl of noodles is served. Escape the queue by going really early when the stall opens.

From experience; I ordered at about 8.30am and the seller rudely told me (in Hokkien) “ji tiam cheng, ji tiam cheng ka uu” which meant the waiting time is one hour. After about 30 minutes of waiting, politely I asked if it was about to be my turn and the seller took a small clock and pointed to it while saying (in Hokkien) “lu eh tiam sia ah boi kau” meaning it’s not your time yet.

On another experience; to escape the long wait, I went with several friends at 7.30am so that I would be the first few customers. To my disappointment, upon calling out for the seller to order, I was told “Bo koh! Bo koh! 8.30 ka uu!” which meant that they would only start selling at 8.30am.

In conclusion, this Hokkien Mee is one of the best in town but this had probably boosted the ego of the seller. Be ready for a rude treatment.

One Corner Cafe is located in Jalan Bawasah, behind Penang Plaza. There are several off street parking along the road which operates on meter.

One Corner Cafe is noted by the green arrow

Food rating: 9/10
Service rating: 5/10
Overall rating: 7/10

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Little Cottage

Beginning with a humble existences in Burma Road, Little Cottage has now grown to two outlets; one located in its original lot in Burma Road and the other beside Waterfall Hotel in Gottlieb Road. For years, Little Cottage provides reasonably cheap set lunch and dinner throughout the week.

A 5-course set lunch consisting of Soup of the Day, bread roll, a main course, dessert and coffee or tea starts from RM9.90. Definitely a worthy bargain! The range of set lunches are at RM9.90, RM12.90, RM15.90 and RM19.90 with other specials priced slightly higher at RM23.90 and RM29.90. With more than 20 choices of main course ranging from different type of poultry and seafood, customers were definitely spoilt for choices. In my numerous visits there, choosing my main course is one difficult task.

A peek at the set lunches as below:

 

 Soup of the Day and Bread Roll

Pumpkin Soup

Grilled Turkey Harm @ RM12.90

Reasonably thick slice of turkey ham grilled and garnished with pineapple and tartar sauce. Taste well and the pineapple gives a sour punch to wash down the ham.

Grilled Almond Fish @ RM 15.90

 Fish fillet grilled with almond served with tartar sauce. The taste of almond penetrated the fish and it was amazingly done.

Black Pepper Chicken @ RM15.90

Grilled chicken topped with black pepper sauce. Quite an ordinary chicken dish but the black pepper sauce was superb.

Chicken Chop Little Cottage Style @ RM15.90

Deep fried boneless chicken fillet with Little Cottage sauce. The sauce resembles that of a sweet and sour sauce and was quite pleasant with the chicken.

Grilled Fish Little Cottage Style @ RM19.90

 Fish fillet pan grilled and served with the similar sauce as Chicken Chop Little Cottage Style. Quite an interesting combination.

Minute Rib Eye Steak @ RM19.90

 Rib eye steak grilled and served with black pepper sauce. Since I do not consume beef, opinion from a fellow friend on this main course was it was done amazingly well.

Grilled Fish in Oregano Sauce @ RM19.90

Pan grilled fish served with oregano sauce and tartar sauce. The tartar sauce was a little bit of redundancy as the oregano sauce goes amazingly well with the fillet. Another worth trying choice.

Monte Cristo Chicken @ RM19.90

Grilled chicken and frankfurters topped with gravy. A bigger portion compared to the rest of the choices. The gravy was a job well done by the chef.

Dessert (Mango Jelly)

In addition to the set lunch, add on including desserts and drinks are available. Below are the picks of my favourite add on desserts. A MUST TRY!



Raspberry Cheese Cake @ RM5.90

Spectacular piece of culinary work! The combination of cheese, raspberry and the cookie base is just heavenly. A sinful indulgence which is definitely worth the calories.




Tiramisu @ RM4.90

Layers of coffee flavoured cake put together with fresh cream and topped with cocoa powder. Another sinful indulgence worth trying.

Dining in Little Cottage is a wonderful experience, the atmosphere suits those looking for a place to savour lunch and take the day at a slower pace to those looking for a place to date or meet up over lunch. The best part of my dining experience here is that the staff do not rush you into finishing your soup so that they could serve your main course etc. It's ambiance is a bliss with songs from the 70's and 80's filling the air.

Getting there is easy. Little Cottage 1 is located along Jalan Burma while Little Cottage 2 is in Jalan Gottlieb. Get the exact location here at My Maps or simply log on to the Little Cottage Cafe website for more info and promotion.

Location of Little Cottage Cafe 1 on Google Maps

Overall Rating: 9/10

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AH’ BASRI Restaurant Satay

A couple of weeks ago together with my family, I went for satay at AH’ Basri which is located in D’Piazza, Jalan Mahsuri in Bayan Baru. The most unique feature of this restaurant is the various flavours and type of meat available.

Satay is a skewer of marinated meat barbequed over charcoal fire to perfection. Commonly served with peanut sauce dip alongside with cucumber and fresh onion pieces.

A simple menu (reminds me of those in McDonalds)

Nasi Impit with Peanut Sauce @ RM 2.20 (A traditional dish where rice is being compacted into cubes and eaten together with peanut sauce.)

The rice was quite bland and had little flavour but it goes well with the peanut sauce. Since the rice had been compacted into cube, little of the sauce could be absorbed into the rice.

 

Popiah Satay @ RM 4.50

Quite disappointed with this dish. Just a stick of satay wrapped in spring roll/popiah skin and deep fried together. The satay inside the wrap taste normal and there is nothing special as compared to the normal satay.

 

Deer and Ostrich Satay @ RM 1.80 each

The meat was well marinated but it was a little chewy and difficult to chew down. The deer and ostrich meat was a little overcooked and was cut into too big a piece making it a little difficult to eat. Overall, it is still quite tasty.
 

 

Chicken Satay (Original) @ RM 1.00 each

The chicken satay came in a few flavours. We tried the original and tomyam flavour. The original chicken satay was one of the best I had tasted thus far. The meat was well marinated and barbequed; soft and well cooked. Definitely recommended!

The tomyam flavoured chicken satay was a little peculiar. Tomyam seasoning gave a pinch of sour taste which did not go quite well with barbequed meat. When dipped into peanut sauce, the mixture of tomyam and peanut sauce was a little peculiar.

 

Calamari Satay @ RM 2.50 each

The best satay in the store and my personal favourite. Though having some burnt parts, the calamari was juicy, soft and not overcooked, tasted well on its own. DEFINITELY A MUST-TRY!!

Getting there is easy. It is located near Sunshine Square. Get the exact location at My Map on Google maps.
 

A snap shot from Google Maps

Overall rating: 7/10

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Quenching Your Thrist @ New World Park

An ordinary bowl of ice kacang

New World Park or Sin Seh Kai as known to many Penangites house a variety of hawker stalls, restaurants and retail shops. When a couple of my friends from other states visited Penang, we went for the famous ice kacang in New World Park after a hot day in Kek Lok Si.

Besides the famous ice kacang, there are numerous hawker delicacies too. The Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng too dine here in New World Park.

The most unique feature of ice kacang in New World is the fruits that come along with it. A bowl of ordinary ice kacang topped with papaya, banana, watermelon and etc besides the traditional red bean, cincau (grass jelly), atapchi, and jagung (corn); not forgetting sugar syrup and condensed milk.

Rating: 9/10

Together with ice kacang, not too be missed is cendol, ice shaving topped with gula melaka syrup, red beans and cendol strips.

Rating: 8/10

In addition to dessert, we had a little snack, cucur udang (prawn fritters). Light batter topped with small prawns deep fried to perfection served with peanut sauce dip.

Rating: 7/10 (Prawn fritters lack of crispiness and is rather oily though the peanut sauce dip was spectacular)

Getting to New World Park is easy as you would not miss the large building with numerous cafe and restaurants. Parking is easy with many lots in the parking area with a small charge.

A- New World Park Parking Entrance

B- New World Park

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Dinner @ New Lane, Penang

New Lane or also known as Lorong Baru in the national language of BM is famous for its long stretch of hawker stalls selling the best of Penang’s food. Located in the heart of Penang, Georgetown; New Lane is a famous attraction for tourist especially those seeking for a culinary escapade.

Of recent, myself and a couple of friends took a ride through this wonderful street of food. Here’s a little insight on what is a MUST TRY…

The ever famous Chee Cheong Chuk (Pork Intestine Porridge). This stall has been around for decades and it serves one of the best porridge in town. Thick porridge garnished with slices of char siew (roasted BBQ pork), pig’s stomach, small intestine, liver and crispy deep fried pig’s intestine. Truly a yummy entree though it may sound a little peculiar. Remember to give it a try.

Price: RM 4.00/bowl (small)

Rating: 8/10

Chee Cheong Fun. Rolled flat rice noodle cut into small pieces, garnished with chilli sauce, tee chieo (a type of sweet sauce) and haew kow (a type of savoury sauce made from prawn paste) and sesame seeds. Yummy and really suitable for those with a small appetite.

Price: RM 2.00/plate (small), RM3.00/plate (big)

Rating: 9/10Fried Oyster… Fresh oyster fried with egg and starch, accompanied by a chilli dip. The fried oyster here in New Lane is rather good. Worth a try.

Price: RM7 onwards

Rating: 8/10  Char Koay Kak, radish cake pan fried with soya sauce and special sauce depending on each hawker. Fried with egg and bean sprout. The Char Koay Kak in New Lane is a little too salty. However, it is still worth a try. Also available is Seafood Char Koay Kak that comes with assorted seafood. Nevertheless, the original one still taste better.

Price: RM 2.50/plate (small)

Rating: 8/10

 

Loh Bak, an assortment of deep fried snacks served with chilli dip and a starchy sauce. Amongst snacks up for selection are beancurd. loh bak (pork roll wrapped with beancurd skin), prawn fritters (thin layer of dough with prawns fried to prefect crispiness), century egg, Taiwanese sausage, octopus and many more. Worth a try but is a little pricey.

Price: Depending on items selected, all items are priced individually

Rating: 7/10

Clockwise from top left: Loh Mee (noodles in a starchy soup garnished with pork slice, egg and vegetable topped with chilli and blended garlic), Curry Mee (noodles in a coconut milk based soup and topped with various seafood like prawns, squid and frozen pig’s blood/ tu huek)  Jiu Hu Eng Chai (Squid and water crest in a specially mixed sauce topped with peanuts and sesame), Laksa (Rice noodle in a sour savoury soup with various spice, cucumber, lettuce and pineapple)

Parking is really a nuisance with limited parking available by the roadside.

Happy Feasting! =)

New Lane is noted in red.

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