Chu Char at De Lai Sang Ding Seafood Restaurant (Greenlane)

It never fails to amaze me that Penang seems to be overrun with places to eat. The food and dining landscape in Penang changes so often that it's hard to keep track of what's new. For instance, we recently discovered a seafood restaurant hidden amidst the residential area in Batu Lanchang. To be more precise, it's located behind the Convent Greenland School at Taman Hijau Tiga. To get there, you can drive to along Leburaya Batu Lanchang and then as you approach the traffic lights, take the left turning to Jalan Sri Ibrahim. Look for Jalan Hijau Tiga on the left and turn inside. Proceed straight on till you see the turning on your right with a sign board stating Taman Hijau 3. Take that turning and look for De Lai San Ding seafood restaurant.

As the name of the restaurant suggests, it's primarily a seafood cum chu char restaurant. We decided to order a couple of dishes minus the seafood. First to arrive was the egg and prawns in sizzling hot plate and followed by the rest of them as shown below:

Slice lotus and kachang botol fried with chilly paste.



Stir fry vegetables in garlic.



Deep fried pork belly in Thai sauce.



Crispy lemon chicken.



Fried bean curd in clay pot.



Desserts - this one is on the house.

Truthfully, the food here is really quite average. None of the dishes are outstanding and deserves further mentioning. Nonetheless, it's still a popular restaurant and would be a viable option if you run out of places to eat.

Dim Sum At De Tai Tong (Georgetown)

For most Penangnites, De Tai Tong needs no introduction. Tai Tong as it is more commonly referred to, is located at 45 Cintra Street and is well known for its heavenly dim sum. It is located amid the historic and central part of Georgetown and nestles together with some of the old buildings at the end of Cintra Street.

What makes Tai Tong stands out is that is still preserves the tradition of serving dims sums through traditional push carts. Like some dim sum places within this area, it is solely operated by elderly women in their 60s and above whom had acquired the crafty skills of maneuvering the push carts in tight and difficult corners. While it's hilarious enough to see them engross in their own grand prix, it makes me wonder whether this tradition would continue once this generation passes on. The additional uniqueness that these elderly waitresses bring with them to these rustic dim sum places are they are always loud and brash which makes places like Tai Tong interesting to dine in.

Like most days, Tai Tong is always pack especially on weekends. While most patrons comes here mainly for the dim sum, it is also well known for whipping up good chinese local dishes like assorted noodles and other local delights. I have been told that the 'oh chein' or oyster omelette is good although I have yet to try it.

While the dim sum are considered good by most standards, it lacks in variety. They have the usual suspects like har gau, egg tart, char siu sow, chee cheong fun and a few other variety of dims sums. My wife nieces love the raisin and peanut cupcake while I like the char siew bun for it's softness.

If you do come here for dinner or lunch, you can also order different types of noodles besides dim sum. The sar hor fun and crispy noodles are highly recommended.

For more information about Tai Tong, please see below:

De Tai Tong

45 Cintra Street

Penang 10100

Tel: 04-263 6625

Hong Kong Cuisine At Kim Gary (Gurney Drive)

When one thinks about Hong Kong cuisine in Malaysia, it's normally associated with Kim Gary. Kim Gary is a a chain of restaurants in Asia which positioned itself as serving Hong Kong style cuisine such as a variety of toast, noodles and other fusion food associated with that province. There is currently an outlet on the island and is located at the 3rd level of Gurney Plaza. The restaurant is constantly full throughout the day so it is quite common to see patrons queuing up. It's certainly a testament that some people find the food cheap and good.

On a personal basis, I can certainly vouch for the fact that some of the food portion is humongous. It's not uncommon to see noodles being served in over sized bowls. For instance, the nissin noodles here is probably more appropriate for 2 person. What's also famous here are the coffee and tea. The ying yong which is a blend of coffee and tea mixture is extremely popular here. The same goes for the ice milk tea.

Kim Gary also offers a variety of set meals all which could consist of a soup (usually Borsh or mushroom), main course, drink and dessert. Prices for these set meals are quite reasonable. I had the western selection some time back which consists of black pepper chicken, sausages, a perfectly fried egg and assorted vegetables. It also came with a good serving of fries.

The pork with nissin noodles is my wife's favourite dish. However, she always never manage to finish the noodles. Let's just say her loss is my gain. Additionally, the pork chop that comes with the noodles deserves to be mention as it's well marinated and very tasty.

While you can make this at home, I usually order the Korea noodles mainly because it comes with well marinated strips of pork. It goes well with the spiciness of the soup.

Kim Gary is definitely an attractive place to dine because it has got such an extensive menu. There's something for everyone and it will take quite a while for you to try out every item in their menu. Additionally, the service at the outlet at Gurney Plaza is prompt and efficient as they constantly check on your orders. As such, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are waiting to queue to dine at this place.

Chinese Restaurant At Red Rock Hotel (Georgetown)

For those of you who aren't aware of Red Rock Hotel, it's actually the old Agora Hotel. The newly renovated 3-star business hotel is now run by the same family operating the budget Hotel Hong Ping in Chulia Street. Hong Ping is well known since it is a favourite choice by back packers. What make Red Rock unique is that it's strategically located in the heart of historic Georgetown and walking distance to the Penang famous hawker food center along Macalister Road.

While there are numerous places around this area to get great food, one should not overlook the Chinese restaurant from the hotel. Tien Tien Chinese restaurant serves a mixture of regional Chinese cuisine and is located on the 1st floor. The restaurant has a sitting capacity of up to 1000 guests and as well as 12 private rooms. It's therefore no surprise that the restaurant is a favourite choice for weddings and private functions. Although I have been here a few times before, we normally order the same dishes as it's only usual for us to be drawn into our comfort zone. When you know these dishes are good, why venture out and risk unpleasant surprises? Here are some of the recommended dishes.

Pork belly in sweet bean sauce. For those of you who are not too conscious with your cholesterol level, this is a must try. The wonderful sauce goes well with the white rice.

Chicken in sweet and spicy mayo sauce with nuts. Contrasting flavours and quite unique.

Kar Heong tofu or bean curd with dice pork and salted fish. The thick black sauce and the flavours from the salted fish bring much needed dimension to the taste of the otherwise blend homemade bean curd. The contrasting saltiness of the salted fish, the softness of the bean curd and the flavourful sauce will tantalise any taste buds.

As with the tofu, the stir fried brinjal with shrimps rocks! I dont really like brinjal but I have made this dish an exception. This dish brings another dimension to cooking. Wonderful.

By now some of you probably notice that the dishes look similar like those at CRC (Chinese Recreation Club). That's because the chefs used to cook there. As a whole, Tian Tian is quite a nice restaurant as the food and atmosphere are truely a class above the rest. Additionally, prices are quite reasonable depending what you order. For the full address of Red Rock Hotel, please see below for details:

Red Rock Hotel

202A, Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang

Tel: 04-2266060

For additional review of this restaurant by other foodies, please food hop to LingZie's Tummy Treat.

Double Good Restaurant (Bayan Lepas)

If you think you have tasted some of the best prawn curries in Penang or Malaysia, do consider this. Your gastronomic repertoire wont be complete without ever trying the prawn curry at Double Good restaurant. Or cheesy mussels. Or the roasted chicken. The list goes on. Double Good restaurant specialises in Chinese cuisine. It is located close to Bukit Jambul complex at the shop lots along Jalan Tun Dr.Awang (Sg.Nibong Kecil) in Bayan Lepas.

I would certainly recommend the prawn curry as this dish certainly stands out. It's thick and creamy unlike most prawn curries in Penang and more importantly, the prawns are big and fresh. Fried salted fish are added in too to give added flavour.

The mussels in bake cheese is another dish that you do not want to miss. It's baked in such a way that the cheese wasn't burnt or browned. It retains the right viscosity so that the cheese melts straight in your mouth. Like most dishes here, fried salted fish is added on top as a final garnish.

The fried kai lan is also very nice. It's deep fried and then diced into small pieces. Finally, fried anchovies are generously sprinkled on top.

I also like the roasted chicken which needs to be order as least a day before hand. It's roasted till the skin is completely crispy but at the same time, it still retains the tenderness of the chicken meat.

Another all time favourite is the bean curd in soy sauce and fried salted fish. This adds another dimension in taste to the white rice.

The stir fried vegetables is very nice too. It's cooked with lots of chopped garlic which gives it quite a wonderful flavour.

This dish is probably the first time I tried at this restaurant. It's actually marinated pork coated in nestum. Most people will find this slightly dry.

As a summary, the food at Double Good is really good. We enjoyed every dish that we ordered and the price is just right. For those of you interested to make a visit there soon, here are the details of the restaurant:

Double Good (Penang Island)
26, Jalan Tun Dr Awang, Sg. Nibong Kecil,
Bayan Lepas, Penang
Tel: 04-6434188
Business hours: 11 am to 3 pm, 6 pm to 10 pm


Double Good (Mainland)
1681-F2, Jalan Perusahaan,
Auto-City North-South Highway Juru Interchange,
13600 Prai, Penang
Tel: 04-5014188


For further information, please contact Simon Lim at 012-4080412.