Nasi Padang, Jusco Food Court, Queensbay Mall

A good friend introduced me to the nasi padang from the Nasi Campur corner at the Jusco Food court, and he claimed it’s very nice. But not wanting to have too much rice, I thought I’ll just pass and eat my typical and defaulted food court order, the sizzling hot plate chicken noodles.

He however insisted I should try a little, so he ordered his with additional rice so I can have some too :D There are a long list of selections, on how you want the rice to be accompanied with. They offer other dishes like grilled chicken(ayam panggang), stir fry spicy chili squid rings( sambal sotong), grilled squid (sotong panggang), grilled fish (ikan panggang) and much more.

I could remember one set, rice with ayam panggang (grilled/bbq-ed chicken) with sambal sotong (spicy chili squid rings) with rice, some stir fry vegetables and omelette slice, topped with curry gravy cost around MYR13.90. Suitable for big eater or even for sharing basis.

He took the sambal sotong set, with additional rice accompanied by stir fry vegetable and omelette slice @ MYR8.90+MYR1 for the additional rice.. pretty expensive for little additional rice.

The sambal squid though came with generous portion and on the rice, you can have as much of lemak/creamy curry gravy as you want. The nose piercing aroma of the gravy is just.. ahh.. i can’t find the word to describe but it’s just really yummy… and sinful too… cause it’s it’s rich with coconut milk… you might find yourself constantly swallowing your saliva and all you want to do is just to dig in! The vegetable is just normal stir fry cabbage and plain omelette with some spring onions. I had my first spoonful and all i can say is.. uhmm.. so sedap! (delicious!)

The sambal squid is also really good, the squid is tender and not too chewy and the flavour is strong and aromatic. It’s cooked with small little anchovies for the extra oomph fragrant and taste. Goes really well with the rice… The portion is really big and if you are not a big eater, this one plate can be shared among 2 person, or maybe even 3 person with additional rice. My friend who is also a big eater could not finish his meal too, despite already feeding me with few spoonful of rice already. Shouldn’t have add rice ler.. haha….

The sizzling hot plate chicken noodles MYR5.50 or MYR6.30 with egg added.. MYR0.80 per egg!.. anyhow, this will rarely go wrong… haha.. but perhaps I should widen up my selections instead of the defaulted order every time I pay a visit to any food court.

Full house during dinner time, the crowd is always there during peak hours but will slightly slow down after that..

I noticed that in this Food Court, they actually have really large food selections… you will be spoilt with loadful of choices from different cuisines and you might even ended up standing for few minutes in front of each stall to study their menu while trying real hard to decide on what to go for. Only one problem here is that you will smell like food court when you exit the place.. haha… but if the food is good, I don’t see any issue to smell like it too :D and to compare with other food outlets around, the price is of course much reasonable.

Sweet Soup Desserts (Thong Sui) from Bukit Jambul Hill

Last Saturday, after sending my clothes to my regular laundry place near Desa Golf, on the way driving up the slope along the old International college, suddenly thought of buying bananas at the Bukit Jambul Hill. So far, only there I can find this type of banana easily.. It’s sold at the foot of the hill, at a small fresh vegetable stall… they have few types of vegetables and it’s usually fresh looking with leaves size bigger than the normal ones.. the seller said their vegetables are not sprayed with fertilizer or any chemicals. I can’t remember the name of the banana, must go home and ask my mom :D but it’s usually fat looking, white flesh, smooth and sweet, perfect for pisang goreng or to just eat it like that. It’s not like some which is dry or “siap siap” taste. Sometimes you will find one or 2 seeds inside but this batch i bought so far, seedless.

The fresh vegetables are also very tempting, but since I have no plans cooking this week, I didn’t buy them. Next week perhaps… usually they will have few stalls in the late afternoon, one selling vegetables and some fruits, one selling purely fruits, on durian season, you can see durian stalls and there’s a laksa and drinks stall as well.

While walking back to my car i noticed this auntie with her little stalls selling few types of sweet soup desserts, like sweet potato in mild ginger soup, glutinous rice balls in mild ginger soup, mung bean dessert soup, not sure if there was red bean, gingko longan and white fungus dessert and i think there’s a couple more. She have few small pots and desserts pre packed in transparent plastic containers. So happen I intended to cook sweet potato ginger soup dessert the next day, so i thought why not just buy them since it’s already well prepared.

Some of the desserts are still hot and some getting warm, i bought 3 types in the end :P

The sweet potato in mild ginger soup dessert, glutinous rice balls in mild ginger soup dessert and the white fungus with gingko nuts and longan dessert.

The glutinous rice balls in mild ginger soup dessert @ MYR2.00. With generous amount of the glutinous rice balls which are soft and chewy. I would prefer stronger ginger taste though, but i think she done it mild to just cater to generally fit everyone’s taste. And it’s not too sweet, just nice to my palate.

Sweet potato in mild ginger soup dessert also @ MYR2.00. The sweet potatoes are cooked just perfectly with the outer later of the sweet potato cubes slightly hard but very soft once you give it a bite and chew. Also prefer with slightly stronger ginger taste in the soup and perhaps some sago would be nice :D It’s also not too sweet, just nice.

White fungus with gingko nuts and longans dessert @ MYR 2.50. It has got a generous amount of white fungus, gingko nuts and longans. I personally is not a gingko nut fan but sometimes I just eat it for health sake. The gingko nuts are pretty large in size and good thing it’s not bitter. all three ingredients complements each other very well. This is slightly sweeter than the earlier both, but it’s not called “thong sui” (direct translation, sugar water) for nothing right?

The gingko nut and longan…

Look at that…. very generous amount of ingredients…

Auntie said she only cook limited only, all in the small pots… guess she’s just doing like small business and of course to prevent leftovers. I asked her if she sells there everyday, if I hear her correctly, she said she only sells on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, if I am not mistaken la.. :D

Harvest In Cafe, Irrawaddy Road

Hear about this place form a friend and she recommended this place for it's nice decor, good ambiance and afforadability of the food offered. I went for dinner with Goh last Saturday, since we have not meet and catch up for nearly a couple of months. We actually went out quite late, leaving home around 9:00pm with no directions of where to eat until suddenly, Harvest In just popped into mind and I drove all the way there, well, hoping we’re not too late for last call at least, cause they are closed at 10:00pm.

Arrived there to find a VIP car park spot right in front of the entrance.. haha… not many people already that time… walked in and greeted by a lady and guided us to out seat, it’s a small room with around 4 to 5 tables. The main dining area was pretty empty already. And we’re lucky they still serve us rather than telling us they’re closing already… it was around 9:30pm that time. But noticed that the couple on the next table has also just started with their soup when our order was taken.

The cashier counter view from my seat, at the corner of the room.. the chairs are really cute..

The main dining area with black and white concept. Harvest In’s interior is pretty much emphasizing on classy with simplicity and not overdoing it.. they have loads of wall clocks though, and it’s for sale.

These wall clocks are made of class which is unique on its own way. Besides wall clocks, wall decorations and many more also available. It’s all from i-box design. They have a shop in Kelawei Road. These clocks is selling at MYR 139.90 if I saw it correctly.

They will send you your utensils and sauce and pepper after you are seated

The view from my seat, overseeing Chow Thye Road

We ordered set meal and how set meals work here is, you choose any of the main course, then you add up MYR 4.90 to entitle for a cup of coffee/tea or peach/lemon tea, cold or hot is up to your preference. We both chose peach tea, hot and cold.

With the upgrade to set, we’re also entitled for a soup of the day with soft bun and butter. Soup is generous portion of creamy mushroom soup which is not bad to my liking, creamy with tiny mushroom bits.

My choice of main course was the fish, Catch of the Day, MYR 13.90. It’s grilled fillet of fish marinated in Cajun and some other spices I could not remember, served with sauce (tasted like satay sauce+mayonnaise), accompanied by buttered rice and daily fresh vegetables. I asked what fish it’s going to be and if I heard correctly, she said it’s sole fish. Cos if she said it’s the so called dory fish, like the sutchi fish, I would not want to have it… I would prefer fresh fish fillet.. one thing with sutchi fish besides the scary emails they sent on how contaminated sutchi fishes are, it actually tasted weird… it has the.. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like fishy and chlorine like taste. Very unfortunate that this piece of fish had that taste, no matter how heavily spiced it is. Else it would taste so much better. The rice is good and the sauce is special in it’s own way.

Goh’s Chicken Corden Bleu MYR 12.90, deep fried boneless chicken stuffed with chicken ham and cheese, served with brown sauce, mashed potatoes and daily fresh vegetables (coleslaw on bed of lettuces with broccoli florets and julienned carrots. She seems to enjoy the meal but since she was having sore throat, she removed the crispy bread crumbed layer coating the chicken piece. Portions of our main courses are just nice for us but for the ones with big appetite, you might consider on extra snacks.

Dessert is also part of the MYR 4.90 top up entitlement. A small piece of cheese cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The view outside the premise.. pretty isn't it... On overall, I would say the ambiance is good, and the price of the food is affordable. Menu selections is not huge but sufficient enough for you to crack your head, just to make a choice. They have around 11 choice of poultry, 1 jumbo sausage, 6 choice of fish, 2 selections of lamb and 1 steak choice. It’s a pork free dining place. I’ve not really manage to browse more on the menu cause i was busy talking :D They serve combination of both western and oriental cuisine, with affordable and reasonable price tags.

Harvest In address as above with map. It’s easy to find actually as it’s not hidden and visible, at the corner lot.

Azuma Japanese Restaurant, Queensbay Mall

My colleague told me she wanted to have Japanese food after our half day work last Saturday, and asked me if I wanted to join her for lunch.. Since I have all the time in the world, I agreed and off we go to Queensbay mall. Initially she wanted to go Yataimura, but since we have not tried Azuma yet since the day they open their doors to customers, I suggested we go and try instead.

Entrance of Azuma, nicely designed.

The menu opens up to a large selection of dishes and meals, and the price is pretty reasonable. Of course it’s more expensive than the franchised and overrated outlets like Sushi King and Sakae Sushi, but I personally feel it’s pretty affordable if we are to compare with other Japanese restaurants out there.. I’ve read many that have complained about the service, but good thing I do not have to go though any service nightmare throughout my dining experience there.. Maybe lunch time is not the peak hours for Azuma… cause i can see many empty tables available…

Green tea, available in hot or cold, MYR1 each, refillable

We chose the seat at the counter with the kaiten/conveyer belt… Initially wanted to try some of the sushi but I got all full after consuming my set meal…

My colleague’s Shake(Salmon) Teriyaki Set @ MYR 28.00

Served with 2 piece of salmon

The set consist of white rice, upgradable to garlic rice @ MYR2.00 and others at different amount chargeable. Also chawanmushi, salad, pickles, miso soup and fruit slices. She commented that the food is not bad and very much value for money.

I ordered Chicken Teriyaki Set @ MYR18.00

Served with 4 medium sized pieces of deep-fried chicken coated with teriyaki sauce..

All sets consist the same items, which are the rice(upgradable), chawanmushi, salad, pickles, miso soup and fruits slices.. The chicken is juicy and tender although deep fried and the sauce taste good with the rice..

Yaki Gyuza @ MYR8.00 served with Gyoza sauce, slighly different with others that serves with black vinegar and ginger

We find that the gyoza is also not bad, juicy in the inside and blends well with the sauce… The waitress actually recommended few other dishes like the cheese maki that comes in pieces and we could opt for half of the portion at around 60% or was is 50% of the original price, if i hear her correctly. But afraid that we are unable to finish, we decided to try them on the next visit.

Interior nearby the counter seats…

Another dining area overseeing the view of the Penang bridge

Dining booth for couples are also available…

Counter seats by the kaiten/conveyer belt.. the sushi selections moving around the belt are actually very tempting.. they all look very fresh, appetizing and prices varies from MYR2, MYR3, MYR4, MYR6 and MYR8, all colour coded by plates.

The drinks counter with seats for waiting customers

And our meal was completed with one small scoop of green tea ice cream… it’s very nice and could be better if it’s topped with Azuki beans… and bigger scoop :P hahahaha…

We both overall felt that the dining experience is pleasant, the food and the ambiance is good, affordable with ample selections and the service is not that bad :D. Anyways, we’ll go back again to try other dishes we did not manage to. Will post more up after the next visit.