Rocking out at Hard Rock Cafe, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

Hard Rock Cafe was established in 1971, and came to KL 20 years later in 1991. Yet I've somehow or other never gone to a Hard Rock Cafe, and that's even despite me spending the better part of the 200x decade in the U.S. So anyway since in my latest short makan trip to Penang I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, it was as good a time as any to pop my HRC cherry!

(That, and the darling was also a first-timer. So we both lost our Hard Rock Cafe virginity together :P)


Inside of HRC was actually quite dark. It's nicely decorated, though of course not in the 'fine dining' way, but rather in the 'rock n roll' way. There's rock n roll memorabilia everywhere, and LCD TVs blasting rock songs from the 60's all the way to modern rock. Oh, and a stage in the corner.


Speaking of memorabilia, we sat right next to an axe (that's slang term for electric guitar for all you classical music lovers) autographed by Weezer!


Incidentally, don't come here if you're looking to impress a first date on a romantic evening. Unless she's a rocker chick. The music is loud! Menu has nice rock touches as well:


So, does the food rock as hard as the ambience? The darling has the Legendary 10oz Burger ($42.00). Packed with fried onion ring, seasoned bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles and of course the patty, it's pretty delicious. However the bacon, being non-pork bacon, is a let down. Because eating turkey, beef or chicken bacon is the same thing as going to one of those Chinese vegan shops to eat fake meat made out of soy (or whatever). Pork or nothing!


I go for a 2-meat combo of Brisket and Ribs in the Hickory Smoked Bar-B-Que Combo (MYR58.00). There's a third choice - chicken - but I'm in a mooooo(d) for cow. The beef is BBQ'ed quite nicely, although some of the rib meat was perhaps a tad dry. And although the sauce is pretty nice, it does overpower the taste of the meat somewhat. Portion is huge, had lots of trouble finishing it.


I forgot what these desserts are! One of them was creme brulee, the other one, chocolate of some sort. To be honest they were just so-so only lah. Not bad, but also ultimately quite forgettable.


So that's that! Total bill was over a hundred after taxes and service charge. I'm not sure what the scheduling for the live band is, sees to be past 10.30 or 11.00pm, so unless you're here for a very late dinner you'll have to make do with rockin' music videos.

Hard Rock Cafe is located in Hard Rock Hotel, Penang - on the Batu Ferringhi Beach.

Penang Best Chicken Rice - Sky Restaurant, Lebuh Chulia

So anyway my dad read an article the other day in The Edge, about the best street food in Penang. The writer suggested that the best chicken rice is in Sky Hotel & Restaurant - so him, me, and the whole family take a drive to Lebuh Chulia to see just how good this chicken rice is.

First impressions are good. The 'restaurant' is in fact a typical coffee shop that serves only chicken (and other roast meats) rice. The place seems to sell out pretty quick - we were there at 1pm and they were almost sold out already. Definitely need to come here early.






Final thoughts:

- The chicken was very, very smooth. However it was also very, very oily. I honestly can't tell whether the chicken was smooth cos it was smooth, or smooth cos of all the oil swirling around my mouth.

- Roast Pork (siew yuk) was just OK. Skin wasn't that crispy and the meat wasn't fatty enough for me (haha I know I know, I'm a glutton for fatty siew yuk).

- Fork Roast (char siew) was nice tasting and nicely roasted but perhaps was a tad bit too 'burnt' for my liking. Wasn't as good as KL's ones though, haha.

- They were out of chicken (oiled) rice so we only had plain :(


Sky Restaurant (actually a coffee shop) and Hotel (actually a cheap motel) is in Lebuh Chulia, Penang. Come early! Seems to sell out not too far past 1pm.

CNY Set Dinner - Eden @ Hutton Lane, Penang

Happy (Chinese) New Year everybody! Haven't blogged in ages, but that changes today! Family went to one of our old-time favorite joints in Penang - Eden @ Hutton Lane for dinner. Eden opened its' doors way back in 1964. It's been renovated and refurbished fairly recently, I think, because the interior only really feels a couple of years old.


I decide to go for some variety this time, rather than stick to the standard ox-tail soup and rib-eye steak that I normally always go for, and go for the Chinese New Year set dinner. This starts off with a mini caesar salad ...


... followed by shark fin soup with crab meat. The chefs added seared garlic bits to the soup for a garlic'y touch. The fin, like most other non-premium-priced soups, was fake/jelly though.


For mains, there are a few choices. My middle sister goes for the roast chicken and fish combination, which comes with spaghetti and some veges. Nothing special, to be honest. The chicken is well cooked with decent tasting gravy, but fish in breadcrumbs went out of style years ago, beer batter is where it's at now.


I chose the assorted seafood platter which was a bit of a mistake. The spaghetti sauce is very weirdly seasoned. Kind of tasted like if you mixed a bottle of brown gravy and tomato ketchup. Prawns and Mussels were just average, and the fish fillet was also just acceptable.


The set meal also comes with coffee/tea and ice cream with lychees.


The rest of the family were lucky and decided to go alacarte. Although I don't eat escargots, I'm told they were delicious, if a tad bit strong on the garlic. May be a good or bad thing for you depending on your aversion towards vampires.


Mum has the sizzling steak medium rare. Steak came drenched in gravy which, although being pretty good-tasting, isn't the way I particularly like my meat :)


So, the meal for me was decidedly mediocre. Which is a shame, though, because the last time I visited Eden (which was a while ago), I remember the ox-tail soup and the rib-eye steak were still pretty delicious for the price. If you come here to eat, definitely skip the set meals and order off the menu instead!

Yyu Yuan Restaurant - Tanjung Bungah, Penang

Short short off-topic: Happy 100th birthday to my grandma! I don't actually know what her name is cos I only ever call her "ah-poh." Way to go perfect grandson! Anyway my grandma is damn strong for a 100-year old. Can walk can talk can hear can eat can sing!


Anyway we're in Penang, and we actually try out a new(ish) restaurant in Tanjung Bungah - Restoran Yyu Yuan. Don't have the address, but it's in a row of shophouses along Jalan Tanjung Bungah, I guess somewhat around the Penang Swimming Club.

Starting off the dinner is their four seasons. Just about average - the food is nice but not spectacular.


Shark-fin soup is also a bit average. It's got an interesting taste - not as bland as normal shark-fin soup, but it's also a tad bit too starchy for my tastes.


The herbal chicken is pretty good taste-wise, and the chicken is nicely infused with all the herbs. However the breast meat is surprisingly dry.


Steamed Fish. Forgot what kind of fish it was, hehe. Fish was fresh and was steamed quite well, too!


Curried fish slices was again, only average.


Mixed vegetable with (fake) abalone slices. Or should I say mushroom slices. Nothing spectacular about the dish.


Prawns ~ wasn't really blown away by this dish either. The prawns themselves were quite fresh, and the cooking style/taste isn't half bad.


Finally, the 'stomach filler' noodles. Starchy, unimpressive.


There was also a dessert - a kind of honeydew chunks in a sago pudding-like cold base. All this for about MYR300.00 per table of 10 people, means that the dinner was actually very very reasonably priced. Yes, I've mentioned that the dishes aren't special, but at this price range it's a pretty decent/solid price/quality ratio.

Conveyor Belt sushi - Sakae Sushi (Queensbay Mall outlet)

いらっしゃいませ～ (irasshaimase) is what most waiters/waitresses are supposed to greet you at the door at Japanese restaurants/eateries. Huge majority of them butcher the pronounciation like mad though, hehe, but that's a rant for another day.

The darling and I are big fans of Japanese food - sushi in particular. We drop by Sakae Sushi in Queensbay Mall, Penang, for a quick tea-time sushi snack.


Conveyor belt! I'm not exactly sure what the percentage of conveyor belt sushi actually gets eaten, but it has to be pretty low.


Ok, I know Sakae has been around a long time but for whatever reason this was my first trip - and my sisters call me out for being a bit sakai for being supremely amused by the high-tech ordering system. Everything on the menu is on the LCD screen, and you 'shop' for whatever food you want to eat.


Green tea is of the teabag variety which kind of sucks (cos you can't really get that many cups before it becomes too watery).


Anyway, crabmeat and avocado salad is a disappointment - comes with crabstick instead of real crab meat. And the choice of vegetables - lots of cabbage, carrots and brocolli - aren't really to my tastes. Prefer more 'leafy' vegetables in my salads.


Salmon Sushi is very cheap - MYR1.90 for two is cheaper than pretty much everywhere. You get what you pay for though - the fish is sliced very thinly.


I can't remember what this is called, but it's nice. Price is more premium though, at MYR5.90.


Overall, I find Sakae Sushi to be just only "OK." It's a little above the crappy fast-food sushi joints like Sushi King (which I will never willingly step foot into unless the meal is free). If you want quick sushi fix and don't care much about quality, it's a good place to eat at, but I'd rather just wait for 8pm and take advantage of the 20% discount off sushi you get at Jusco.

Photo Spam: Penang Road Trip - Hawker Food

Third post in the Photo Spam series! Took a trip back to Penang for Grandma's 100th birthday. Here's photo spam of some of the hawker food we ate!

Jalan Pasar Laksa in Air Itam:




Apom Manis Telor (name of shop ... Rasa Rasa Penang? Also in Air Itam)


40 sen each


Air Itam Mee Mamak.


Mee Goreng:


Mee Rebus:


Hokkien Mee (Penang Prawn Mee):


Wantan Mee:


Duck Egg Char Koay Teow (opposite Air Itam police station):


Returned to Kay-El with a big ulcer in my lip from all the heaty (but delicious) Penang food! Proper restaurant reviews will come in future posts.

Beach Corner Seafood - Cheap & Good food at Batu Feringgi, Penang.

The next time you're holidaying in Batu Feringgi, Penang, and are looking for good and reasonably cheap food without having to drive all the way to town (or you know ... if a rockslide blocked off the road), head to Beach Corner Seafood!


Our family dinner started off with these popiah. Nice mixture of vege and meat with a crispy deep-fried skin.


Definitely also try the Belacan Chicken. The belacan gives the skin of the chicken a great flavor.


The chef's are Hainanese, so here is the Hainan Vegetable.


Their Fu Yong Dan is ... a bit interesting. It isn't an omelette but more like scrambled eggs. So-So only lah


Must try is the Assam Fish. The Assam was delicious, with just the right mixture of sour and sweet. Two thumbs up.


Lemon Chicken was way too sweet. Give this one a miss.


Tofu chicken in claypot was pretty good, but nothing fancy.


Beach Corner seafood is located at the same stretch as Tarbush, Eden Seafood Village and The Ship. You shouldn't be able to miss the signboard once you're there.


Expect to pay no more than MYR20 per person - you get a lot of food (and great tasting, too) for your money. Recommended.