Mee Udang Selera Sri Tambang

Address – Selera Sri Tambang
No1 Pengkalan Tambang
13500 Permatang Pasir
Bukit Mertajam

Tel: 04 3971918, 012 5759662 & 017 4633944

Penang’s Chief Minister Y.A.B Lim Guan Eng invites all Penangites regardless of background to a Chinese New Year Open House on the 23rd of January 2011 at PISA.

Enjoy delicious Penang cuisines while enjoying the special performances lined up. This includes Lion Dance, Cultural Dance, Choir and a special Boria performance from Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam Pulau Pinang.

Event: Penang Chief Minister Y.A.B Lim Guan Eng’s Chinese New Year Open House
Date: 23rd January 2011
Venue: PISA
Time: 10.00 am – 1.00p.m

On the 28th of January 2012, there will be another open house, organized by the Penang State Government. This open house will be held at Padang MPSP, Butterworth from 6.00pm- 11.00pm.

Everyone is welcomed to join the festivities.

Event: Penang State Chinese New Year Open House
Date: 28th January 2011
Venue: Padang MPSP, Butterworth
Time: 6.00pm- 11.00pm

Make your way to Yeng Keng Cafe & Bar on Chulia Street. This cafe is located in Yeng Keng Hotel, a heritage boutique hotel. In addition to Western cuisine, Yeng Keng Cafe & Bar has a selection of classic
Hainanese dishes such as Hainanese Mushroom soup, Curry Tumis White Pomfret, Chicken Pie and Bomb Alaska.

The deep-fried Spring Rolls (choon-pieh) is a must try for choon-pieh lovers. The skin of the roll is crispy and the filling is a mixture of crabmeat, prawns, chicken and mushroom. The accompanying dipping sauce made from HP, A1 and tomato sauce plus other seasonings and red chilies complements this dish.

The cafe serves both thick and clear soups. The Hainanese Mushroom Soup comes with button mushroom, chicken, liver, gizzard and glass noodle.

Yeng Keng Cafe & Bar
Yeng Keng Hotel
362 Chulia Street
10200 Penang

Recently opened in Straits Quay, Nyonya Breeze Desire carries on the tradition of Peranakan cuisine associated with Penang. The menu offers dishes of large and small portions which include nasi ulam, inche kabin, sambal goreng, asam pedas and braised meat.

Nyonya Breeze Desire had the food prepared with great attention to detail, balancing flavours and taste. The jiu hu char or stir-fried sengkuang had mushroom, carrot and dried squid. It is served with fresh lettuce and sambal belacan.

Kari Kapitan is a classic chicken curry with emphasis on lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. The rich full-bodied gravy was not too spicy.

Nyonya Breeze Desire
3A-1-7 Straits Quay
Tanjung Tokong
Penang

See Kong Ooi Restaurant along Transfer Road Penang which specializes in Hainanese and Hokkien chu char dishes, is fondly referred to as Sai Kong Huin by the Penangites. The restaurant has been around for several decades now and diners continue to frequent the place.

It would be very easy making your selection at See Kong Ooi as most of the dishes have been on the menu since the very start. The dishes are featured on the board hung on the wall for convenient viewing.

Among their selection of seafood is the Black Promphet in three flavours, which is better known as “sar bee” (three flavours) in Hokkien. The gravy mixed with the cut red chillies is very appetizing.

The Assam Curry Fish topped with plenty of onions, tomatoes and lady fingers has the sourish taste and freshness of the fish. The gravy is darker in colour as compared to many Assam Curry Fish around George Town.

See Kong Ooi
9 Transfer Road
Penang

Food enthusiasts are welcomed to try out newly opened “The Little Nyonya Cuisine”, Gurney Plaza, a restaurant that specializes in Penang Peranakan cuisines.

This ‘kopitiam’ styled restaurant serves affordable and Halal Peranakan cuisines that ranges from RM 10 to RM 40 per dish, available in both ala carte and set menus. For starters, one can try the restaurant’s speciality, Nyonya Otak Beancurd (RM12) per plate or Chicken Satay (RM 9.80).

Some suggestions for main course includes Claypot Nyonya Curry Fish Head (princes ranges depending on size of fish) and Stir Fried Nyonya Squid (RM16). The traditional Peranakan Pengat Pisang (RM3.50) is a must try for desert, as it is rarely served in Penang restaurants.

The Little Nyonya Cuisine
Basement 1, Gurney Plaza

The aptly-named Main Street Café is situated in the Cititel Hotel in Penang Road, otherwise known in the local vernacular as “Tua Tiao Lor” (The Big Road). It reopened last year after a full renovation, turning the ground floor outlet into a more contemporary bistro rather than a traditional hotel coffee house.

Together with the new, trendier image, it has also introduced a new a la carte menu which includes a range of local and western favourites like Hainanese Chicken Rice and Penang Assam Laksa, the only food from Malaysia to make the CNNGo Top 50 Foods to eat, together with their award-winning Char Kuey Teow. Western treats are their Lamb Shank, Salmon and Chicken Chop, and they also offer a set lunch every day.

Main Street Café
Cititel Hotel
66 Jalan Penang
10000 Penang

The cavernous Wang Chao in Gurney Drive has undergone several name and style changes in the past few years. It is now, as its name would imply, a Chinese restaurant offering live seafood, and is headed by award-winning chef Kevin Chang, who also runs another restaurant of the same name in Pekaka Square in Bayan Baru.

The menu is not extensive, but lists items like Sharks’ Fin Soup, Cheese Butter Crab and other Cantonese favourites. Being a chef also means Kevin Chang has had the skill to experiment, and he’s come out with a few unique and tasty dishes, like the Chin Bi Ji or Beijing Crispy Chicken, something he adapted from the traditional Suckling Pig recipe.

Wang Chao Restaurant
104 Gurney Drive
10250 Penang
Tel: 016 557 7268

If you’re after some traditional Japanese food , you probably won’t find it here or anywhere else in the Batu Ferringhi area, for that matter. However, what you will find at the recently-renovated Lone Pine Hotel is what Hotel Manager Khoo Boo Lin describes as “modern Japanese” cuisine.

“Not all fusion dishes need to be European-influenced,” he explains, “and ours has Asian overtones.”

Neither is the aptly-named Matsu, which means “Pine” in Japanese (methinks it should be Lone Matsu in that case – joke) designed in the simple Zen style so typical of more traditional outlets; the interior is modern and casual, its glass walls allowing a stunning view of the gorgeous sunset if you are there at the right time. It is even kitted out with clean and comfortable pinewood furniture.

Located at the heart of the UNESCO heritage zone in George Town Penang is Muntri Mews. This beautifully refurbished boutique hotel on narrow Muntri Street is home to Mews Cafe, an air-conditioned café which serves Asian and international specialties.

The cafe offers breakfasts and lunches, all prepared with sauces and spices, without the usage of MSG. The breakfast list has offerings of sandwiches, croissant, toast, muesli, fruit platter and egg prepared in several variants. I tried the croissant filled with wonderful slices of ham served with tomato and vegetables. There is also the beverage menu with freshly squeezed juices, fruit frappes, mocktails, tea, freshly ground coffee and delightfully refreshing float.

A lunch visit had me sampling several dishes. I first tried the Mixed Mesclun & Rocket Salad, a mix of greens with thick pieces of nicely charred smoked duck.

Mews Café
Muntri Mews
77 Lebuh Muntri
10050 Georgetown
Penang