Hawker Food at Hong Kong Tea Garden Cafe (Georgetown)

I was at Hong Kong Tea Garden coffee shop a few weeks ago while on the way to Lorong Susu to buy some durians. It's located along Macalister Road just directly opposite the petrol station and Court's Mammoth. We normally stopped by at Hong Kong Tea Garden every time when we are at this area. It is an extremely popular eatery as the coffee shop itself is decorated with marble top tables and even offers air conditioned dinning experience within the premises. For those of you who like to slot it out in the hot air and prefer a close and personal dining experience with the hawkers, there is an open section too. The food hawker delights ranges from the all time favourite fried koay teow, fried oyster, clay pot noodles, grilled seafood, roasted duck, western food, dim sum and many more.

The Western food is nice and reasonable too. The toast bread that comes with it is uniquely done and the coleslaw is freshly made. This cost RM6 which I thought was acceptable. Nonetheless, I still prefer the Western food at Esplanade's food court.

The duck rice stall also sell koay chap. Besides the koay teow, it comes with a generous helping of duck meat and innards and what not. This is certainly a dish for those with an adventurous spirit.

For those less adventurous, you can get the usual sar hor fun with egg. This one is rather nice.

If you like some variety, you can also order the loh bak.



The wantan mee is reasonably ok and slightly on the expensive side.



Another hawker food that is popular here is the clay pot noodles.

During the day, Hong Kong Tea Garden offer dim sum from 5.30 am to 12 pm. On the other hand, in the evenings, it offers a selection of hawker delight from 6pm till 3am. For directions and more about their food offerings, please visit their website.

Tu Kar Chor (Pig's Trotter Vineger) at Teik Seng Coffee Shop

Every time when I look at my sister's in-laws son, it reminds me of pig's trotter. He's about one year old and chubby all over especially the legs and hands. Perhaps his lower torso does resembles tu kar ( pig's leg in Hokkien). I don't have a good photo of him showing his lower torso but this picture should give you a fair idea of him. Sometimes, I just call him tu kar chor just for kicks.

If you do occasionally have this craving for tu ka chor (pig's trotter cooked in vinegar and black sauce), I recommend that you try Teik Seng coffee shop at Georgetown. It's located at Carnarvon Lane off Chulia Street. If you are coming from Chulia Street, it's the lane on the right just opposite to Love Lane. For those of you coming from Campbell Street, it's the turning of the left just immediately after the market. You could also come from Carnarvon Street. Just drive straight on till you reach the market. Do not turn right. The road ahead of you is Carnarvon Lane. Easy peasy.

While the coffee shop is quite hidden, it's extremely popular with office workers during lunch time. I suggest coming here during the weekends as parking is a real problem during weekdays. Alternatively, you can park at the end of Campbell Street near the Kapitan Keling mosque and walk.

I was at Teik Seng with my father last Friday so the food items which we are allowed to order is somewhat limited. With his age, he prefers to watch his diet. And so he ordered spinach soup, stir fried bean curd and out of no where...tu kar chor. I thought I heard wrongly. However, the owner's daughter repeated the order. After a moments silence which was followed by an exchange of glances, my dad abashedly muttered to the young lady "Not so fat..can ah?

Tu kar chor in vinegar and light black sauce making a grand entrance. However, the pork was stripped of it's "glory" and we ended up with just lean pork.

Spinach soup with anchovies and century eggs. Simple yet delicious.





Bean curd with prawns and pork.

Apart from the tu kar chor, Teik Seng makes some kick ass fish curry (promfret with lady's fingers), siu bak (roasted pork) in thick black soy sauce, steamed egg, butter prawns and many more which I haven't tried. Pay Teik Seng a visit if you like chu char. Besides the food, you will find Teik Seng coffee shop quite interesting. I wont tell you but check out what's on the wall.

Mr.Pot Cafe Along Gurney Drive (Georgetown)

I have heard from a friend that there is a new cafe in town. He recommended that I try it since he's been there and enjoyed the food. He was actually refering to Mr. Pot cafe which is located along Persiaran Gurney. Last Saturday morning, we crammed ourselves into two cars and made our way there. It was such a relief when we reached Mr.Pot since the kids were all restless and blabbing non stop in the car. Tranquility at last! The food will keep them distracted for a while.

While waiting for our food, I decided to take a look at the menu again. A great selection of sandwiches and toasted bread. They even got boiled eggs too.

Hey, they have got catchy menus. Perhaps this one is appropriate for our PM. If I were in his shoes, I'll be really depressed too!

We are concerned with your intake of fatty oil. I don't think so. I also see belacan chicken in this menu......

This one is suitable for those partying the whole night. Light and refreshing.

Who says that if you are fat you can't enjoy food? I'm already salivating over the burger.

They also serve an assorted variety of cocktails and hard liquors.

Finally, our toasted bread and sandwiches arrived. I managed to take a few shots before they quickly disappeared.

Toasted bread with kaya.

Toasted bread with cheese.

Toasted bread with tuna.

Tuna sandwiches.

Chicken with cheese sandwiches.

French toast with kaya spread.

I had the ice coffee. Strong and kau (thick).

Mr.Pot is an equivalent to an upscale trendy cafe. Be prepared to pay more than your ordinary cafe. Having said this, it's comfortable and the ambience is great since it's located by the beach front. While the food we ordered were quite ordinary, it made this up by providing a nice spread of choices. An excellent place to chill out after work or during the weekends.

Maria's Wantan Mee (Georgetown)

For those of you who are into wantan mee and mee goreng, I suggest that you try the coffee shop located by the side of the main entrance of New World Park. It's located along Burma Road just opposite Lai Lai supermarket. We were at New World Park one day , scouting for new places to eat and stumbled accidentally upon this coffee shop.

Here's a photo shot of Old Town and StarBucks at the main entrance of New World Park. This shot was taken from where I was standing at the coffee shop.

While the coffee shop consists of only two stalls; wan tan mee and mee goreng, business is very good. Most of the time its jam packed and you might have to wait in order to find a seat.

Here's the famous Maria's wantan mee stall. Try the siu kow or dumplings. Your meal wont feel complete without it.

We decided to have only mee goreng and mee rebus that night. I would normally order siu kow as well but I was saving extra space for dessert. Notice how I couldn't wait for the picture to be taken and started ahead with the mee rebus.

All in all, I was a satisfied camper although I did regret not having the siu kow. After all, its famous for its siu kow.

Roti Bakar at Toh Soon Cafe (Georgetown)

I happened to discover a new place for good roti bakar recently. It was purely by chance. A few weeks back, I had to chaffeur my wife to look for locally designed T-shirts around Georgetown for her nieces and nephews. We stopped by at one of the shops at the entrance of Campbell Street which sold quite a variety of clothes. While waiting impatiently for her to select the designs of her choice, I noticed that not far from where I was, there was a crowd building up along one of the side lane. Upon closer inspection on what I thought was a dodgy alley, there's actually a shop inside the lane selling roti bakar. Its called Toh Soon Cafe.

From one glance, this place looks anything but dodgy. It triving and lively. There is a mix crowd of Ah Mahs, Ah Peks, Ah Bengs etc, sipping their tea and coffee away or reading the main headlines from their newspapers, all completely oblivious to their surrounding. I decided to join the crowd and ordered some roti bakar to blend in. They have got a few types of bread to order from. The bread selection consists of whole wheat, chocolate, coffee marble, Hainan, sandwich and even low calories bread for the health conscious folks.

I ordered the whole wheat and the chocolate bread. And of course, tea and coffee. The way the toasts are prepared is quite unique. Its toasted over charcoal fire. Now, that's not something you see everyday. These days not many coffee shops use this method anymore. They also serve half boiled eggs something which isnt too appealing to my taste.

I went for second round; this time the Hainan bread plus extra tea. The Hainan toast tasted the best among the three I ordered. The aroma which consisted of a blend of melted butter and grilled charcoal was just tantalising.

I recommend that if you are into roti bakar, do give Toh Soon Cafe a try. However, be prepared to wait as this place is popular and pack most of the time. Its no surprise that they sometimes miss out on your order so be warned. They forgot my change!