Fish Head Bee Hoon and Tom Yam, Village Coffee Shop, Weld Quay

I basically only eat tom yam noodles/bee hoon from only 2 places, one is Sin Hwa Lam and another one near my house. Then I got to know about this place! When my friend told me that she’s craving for tom yam noodles, I took the opportunity the bring her there as I wanted to give it a try too. It is along Weld Quay opposite off Gat Lebuh Melayu, opposite a building selling incense sticks and praying materials.

Both of us ordered bee hoon(vermicelli) that day… with fish meat… fish meat are fresh fried fish meat pieces… with bones though… it came in a big bowl.. if I’m not mistaken, it’s MYR6 per bowl. Soup is thick, spicy and sour, just nice.

My friend ordered with extra spicy (notice the cili padi) and extra fish balls.. i think hers is MYR7.00.. with extra spicy soup, she still eat with sliced cili padi.. her mouth is made of steel… Her verdict.. she liked it a lot.. and you know why… we had this on a Thursday.. she went back again for  tom yam maggi noodles and bee hoon on Friday and Sunday… so you tell me… :P

The place is usually packed by by 7:30pm to 8:00pm. That is what I noticed when i usually drove past.

Besides tom yam, they mainly also offer clear soup fish head bee hoon too with extra ingredients like fish balls, fresh fish meat and others to choose from and to add in. The shop is easily noticed by the green light board with the name of the coffee shop…

Village Coffee Shop
107-A Weld Quay, 10300 Penang.
Tel: 6012 - 482 8867, 012 - 477 8867
Business Hours: 11.30am - 11.30pm

Sumptuous Beriani Kambing (Mutton Briyani) at Puncak Mutiara Cafe, Kampung Pelet, Bukit Mertajam

I never knew about this place until my boss suggested that we go for a dinner trip there after work one day with few of my colleagues… as some could not make it, we proceeded with the plan and drove across the bridge heading towards BKE (Kulim) highway.. She heard about this place from a friend and it was very much recommended for the mutton dishes offered.

We left the office slightly after 6:45pm, and the journey was a breeze.. no jam on a Monday evening! I could not remember in exact on the directions, but it was like head thru BKE toll, pay MYR 1.60.. take the left lane right after, you’ll see a big sign stating Kubang Semang, up to the sorta flyover, take the right turn….and down from the flyover.. then a few number of left turns.. hahaha… you’ll pass few malay eateries offering tom yam and sorts… then there’s chinese grave yards on the right hand side… some shophouses… there was like pasar malam on that day.. and one of the shophouses on the left.. there’s this shop name Butik Ina.. it’s easy to notice because of the big shop banner sign.. urm.. but 3 of us noticed it like separately and were puzzled on the choice of graphic… anyways, then you will see another sign to another seafood restaurant.. “Zhu Ling Village Centre”.. apparently, it’s a Thai food place which also comes recommended.. Will go try there one day… and right after that you will see a big sign stating “Kampung Palet”, turn left and go all the way through the narrow road, you will then reach the destination… hohoho… there’s a big parking space and there weren’t many cars when we arrived at 7:20pm.

It’s a big place with different types of seatings available… huts with tables and chairs… huts with platform and a table where patron get to dine malay style.. sitting on the platform floor instead of chairs… air conditioned area… function rooms…

Individual huts….

  The platform, verandah style for the malay kampung dining experience…

I went for a fast stroll after placing our orders… only managed to get few photos before the sky turns to dark…

Pathway from the entrance… with individual huts.. many of them! Banners of their dishes were displayed as well..

They have few farms, the rabbit, goat and the ostrich farm in which I did not manage to visit as it was getting dark.. another round perhaps…

Entrance to the air conditioned area…

Shortly after, food was served… first up was the Nasi Beriani Kambing Grill (Grilled Mutton) MYR23.00.. don’t be fooled by the photo cos the serving was not as small as it looks.. the rice portion was big.. with 4 pieces of grilled mutton… served with dalca and air asam… It does look a little dry though.. my colleague who had it commented that it was okay, but there were some part of the meat that were a little overcooked and hard…

But as for the mutton, it was fresh, the rice is slightly different with the other beriani I’ve had because of the stronger taste of the spices used.

Next up was the Nasi Beriani Paha Kambing (mutton/goat’s thigh) MYR18.80, also served with dalca and air asam… my boss had this and she commented that the thigh was very soft and tender… she does not need to struggle with the thigh and by only pulling the bone, it comes off easily, clean.. that’s how tender it was.. and good thing it does not have that smell….

And again, like I said earlier, don’t be fooled by the photos… I’m not sure why the portion looks smaller but the fact that it can feed 2 person… it’s very filling…

I wanted to try the best of both world… so I ordered the Puncak Mutiara Special MYR 19.90. And yes we all ordered briyani.. the menu was very friendly.. it has photos and description of the food and we basically stopped at the first page and started ordering…and there were still a lot of other fares available.. in which we shall leave for another round… anyways, back to my beriani… it comes with ayam kampung kismis (dry curry-like chicken with raisins), kambing masalla (mutton masala), hard boiled egg, dalca and air asam… and it’s a set that comes with fruit juice… A worthy set! :D

The mutton was my favourite… it was really tender..and yummy too.. the chicken was not bad too, and the generous amount of my favourite air asam.. and this is more of like a drier version of air asam with more tomatoes, onions and all.. compared to the usual more finely chopped ingredients type of air asam we see in nasi melayu stall/ikan bakar.

For sides, we ordered 2 deep fried quails… (burung puyuh)  .. not sure how much it was…

Satay Set Special… comes with 7 types of satay, 2 of each flavour (ayam, daging, perut, kambing rusa, ostrich and arnab)..we change the arnab though… because we all just couldn’t bear eating those cutu poor bunnies… MYR 24.50 based on the online menu… I noticed that the online menu differs slightly on the pricing… perhaps not a very updated one… oh ya.. they have their own website.. Will share it at the end of this post… satay was good… if only the satay sauce was thicker…

Yummy satay with succulent meat…

Patrons starts to come in only slightly after 8… visited by people of various races…

The place is clean, nicely maintained and all lit up during the night.. each hut has a little fan as well…

The drinks preparation counter.. nice, big and clean… chek out their drinks menu… it’s a whole long list!

Dine, kampung style.. on a verandah with atap roofs..

Fish pond filled with koi-s…

Cashier counter…

So, check out their website for more information. Be warned.. it it filled with mouth watering photos… and oh ya.. they also have Ramadhan Buffet promotion voucher that entitle a 20% off per pax at MYR39.90.  Normal walk in customers are charged MYR49.90. Delivery and catering service also available, for wedding, parties and functions as affordable price.

Puncak Mutiara Cafe
Lot 179, MK 3, Kampung Pelet,
14400 Bukit Mertajam,
Pulau Pinang.
Tel No: 604 - 522 8502 / 522 8503
Fax No: 604 – 5228501
H/P No: 012 - 5175503 / 012 - 206 5003 /012 - 286 5363
Email: query@puncakmutiara.com
Website: www.puncakmutiara.com
Business Hours: 10:00am to 2:00am

*just in case my directions explanation were not that good, here’s the GPS coordinate :P
N5.41517° E100.45613°

Nyonya Kuih & Supper Snacks, Gurney Drive, Penang

If you past by this stall, you will be lured to buy each and every colourful and mouth watering kuih available. It caters both for the sweet tooth and also to the ones who prefers savoury kuih-s. Nyonya kuih-s, pastries, biscuits, cake and even prawn crackers are for sale in this stall. The selections are more and they are look just oh-so-tempting….

  

Curry puffs, mini kay nui koh (egg cake.. something like that), poh piah, chai tau kuih (radish cake kuih), or kuih (yam cake), tau sar pneah (mung bean biscuit), heonh pneah (biscuit is caramelized molasses), or thng pneah (brown sugar fillings biscuit), and various types of nyonya kuih-s…

Delish!

Egg tarts, coconut puffs and siew pau-s….

Pepper biscuits, soft chiffon cakes and prawn crackers too..

Go to:-
Gurney Drive Kuih Stall (Next to Muhibah Fried Chicken Stall)

Buffet Breakfast at Lee Garden Plaza Hotel

One thing I like about Thailand hotels, even the cheap and affordable ones usually includes buffet breakfast, although it’s more of like simple spreads la.. but at least something.. :P

We woke up and head to the Coffee Shop to find loads of other Malaysians already swarming the buffet spread… I kid you not.. Hatyai is filled with Malaysians during weekends or public holidays… everyone speaks hokkien there… it’s like a Thai operated getaway typically for Malaysians! Anyways, spreads are very basic… sunny side ups, cocktails, fried rice that were a little mushy… tempura vegetables and again, deep fried chicken drummets..

and some crinkle cut fries too….

They also have bee hoon soup, thai style… with fish cakes and fish balls… topped with chili flakes..

Also available is minced chicken porridge.. with condiments such as thinly sliced ginger strips, fried garlic with oil, some pickled radish and sliced spring onion…

Toasts and waffles available too, with marmalade and butter… and as for drinks.. an array of choices, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fresh juices, cold milk and more….

It’s a huge place and full house early in the morning… as many of them followed tour and they had to wake up early for breakfast before moving on to their itinerary for the day… Overall, food is okay… not bad… after all, it comes as complimentary with the room… :D

Hatyai Street Food Scenes…

Just to share some photos of the street food scenes in Hatyai. There are a lot of stall selling foodstuffs, and they are everywhere…

Stalls selling food skewers, durian and mango sticky rice….

Stalls selling aromatic humungous deep fried prawns and fried chicken..

Steam soft fluffy bread with fillings…

Fresh fruits… Thai longans and huge tempting lychees…

Mango sticky rice to be eaten with coconut milk…rich and heavenly…

Deep Fried chicken… in Dannok, it’s called ayam pulut…

Fresh cut fruit stalls selling various types of cut fruits like papayas, watermelon, dyed apples, Thai pineapples… and also these cute little pineapples… THB 20 each leh… but I bought it still, because it’s cuteeee…. juicy and sweet too…

Missed taking photos of a lot of stalls selling nuts like cashews, almond, cuttle fish and snacks.. also those roadside koay teow thng, som tam (papaya salad) and many others… leaving if for the next round :D

Seafood Dinner, Hatyai

Well, not exactly fully seafood.. because there’s only 2 of us, we could not order fish, crabs or so as we fear that we will not be able to finish them. We even have to forego the tom yam! (Giving ourself an excuse to go another round :D)

There are a lot of these seafood restaurant… basically, you just go in whichever you feel comfortable with.. those by the main road are usually packed… so we walked into the alley and found another one which was not that full yet when we arrived, but by the time we leave, it was already full house..

Fresh seafood on display…  loads of them, everywhere…

We ordered some fresh juicy oysters…. not the cheapest though… it’s THB40 per piece.. got ourselves 2 each…

Fresh juicy oyster on a bed of crushed ice… THB 160

The Thai condiments to go with the oysters.. i’m not sure what the green leafy thing are.. those are like ground chilli+garlic sambal, fresh limes and fried shallots… and it taste so much better than eating it with lemon juice and Tabasco sauce:) well, I like it this way..

Fat juicy fresh oyster….

Topped with the condiments and slurp!

and another one! yummy!

Crab meat fried rice… kinda regret that we ordered all the dishes for 2 person… not because it’s not good.. but it’s so much we had to stuff ourselves silly! Burp! the fried rice came like mountain.. and thai fried rice usually don’t go wrong..  ice.. not sure how must was it.. but i guess it was around THB 80 to 100.

Chicken Feet Kerabu (Salad) also came a big portion we could not finish…. also not bad.. around THB 80 to 100 (i think)

Spicy srit fried squid.. if not mistaken also costing us around THB 80 to 100. The more you eat, the spicier it gets! Nice chewy fresh squid…but spicy!

I’m not sure how much the dishes were cos in total we paid THB 490 for all inclusive a 100 plus and a nescafe ice… we should have ordered the sugar cane drink though… next round perhaps! The only price I’m sure of is for the oysters… so I guess averagely, the other dishes should cost around THB 80 to 100.

And there’s no name of this shop.. I mean.. it’s only in Thai and Chinese… and I can’t read both.. haha… anyhow, most of them serve the same thing.. There are many of these restaurants around along the road… just ask and go in whichever you are comfortable with… early dinner will be good… so you don’t have to wait for long.. and more time to shop after that :D