Juru, your Destiny to Curry Fish Head

Are you a curry lover; a spicy lover? Then, you shouldn't miss to try the Curry Fish Head or what we call it as Kari Kepala Ikan in Malay or 咖哩鱼头 in Chinese; that is located at Juru.

Juru Curry Fish Head is famous for its spiciness and strong curry aroma. It’s a standard size that half of the curry fish head is served in a big metal plate whereby it’s enough for the portion of 3 to 4pax. Besides the big fish head, prawns or squids are also available for orders. It’s recommended to pre-order the menu in advanced to prevent out of stock on the particular day. This is because the owner does serve only limited numbers of fish head each day.

Our big plate of curry comes with the half fish head, prawns and squids, with some tomatoes and finger ladies. We’re surprised by the size of the big metal plate, but we’ve still able to finish the whole dish. Even though the size of the seafood is big, but the meat is not over-cooked that it’s still maintaining the freshness and tenderness. The curry sauce has been absorbed into the seafood completely and we can really smell the nice curry aroma upon serving. The first spoon, everyone starts to praise the spiciness; the second spoon, everyone starts to sweat… One specialty of the curry here is the bitterness at the end of the tongue that has balanced up the oiliness. I like the curry here as it’s not too milky or oily and the curry paste smells very nice that it has stimulated my hunger and appetite. Personally, I’ll ask for it to be spicier. To my colleagues, they think that this curry is more suitable to go with eggplants while some feel that it’s moderately delicious… To me, it has its own standard whereby it’s somehow one of the nice curry fish head that I can find at northern Malaysia.

If you’re hunting for a spicy curry fish head, it’s a must for you to pass by Juru Curry Fish Head for a meal. A simple curry with white rice, yet it has brought out a great satisfaction to my appetite.

Zi Wei Yuan; Charcoal Fish & Yam Steamboat

If talking about steamboat, my vote will definitely goes to Zi Wei Yuan紫薇园 at Raja Uda, Butterworth. Their steamboat is the most famous Charcoal Fish and Yam Steamboat碳炉芋头鱼火锅.

The owner is still insisting on using charcoal for their steamboat. As its name 碳炉芋头鱼火锅, the main ingredients for the steamboat are the yam and the fish besides the seaweed and fried tofu sheets. The soup here is more 'milky' but the taste is very sweet and refreshing that we can't stop it spoon by spoon. The longer that you're with your steamboat, the sweeter that you can find the soup is. I'm seriously still wondering on the secret of this tasty soup as it's sour from the plum, a little salty from the dried fish but where comes the sweetness and milkiness?

They serve various ingredients here that you can choose to go with your steamboat, for instance mushrooms, vegetable, meat balls, fish balls or even fresh seafood like prawn mantis and prawns. To start on the steamboat, you can choose either the fried fish or the fresh fish. This is much depending on your preference. I personally prefer the fresh fish as it won't make the soup to be too oily after our long hours on the steamboat. They do have a good service that you can ask to add on the soup from time to time. By the way, don't forget to dip your steamboat with the chili sauce here. I think they've added some lime or lemon juice that creates sourness that refreshes and opens up our appetite.

Don't miss out to try the 油炸糕 by the roadside opposite the steamboat. It is a type of snack that is made from mainly flour and being fried till golden crispy. It can be as normal as plain flour, to be coated with sesame or to be filled with red bean paste. I like the 油炸糕 here as it's crispy and it doesn't have the bad aroma of ammonia (it's being used to enhance the crispiness) that other stalls used to have.

I've been the customer for Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat since 5years ago and this is still the best steamboat restaurant that I'll revisit again and again...

Weld Quay Seafood Restaurant; The Big Tree

The Big Tree or 大树脚, a well-known name for seafood that is located nearby the Penang ferry port. The name comes from the big tree in front of the restaurant, a giant tree that has grown through the roof top. In fact, the restaurant is called Weld Quay Seafood Restaurant.

There's a lot of fresh seafood here, ranging from various types of fish, crab, prawn, squid to different shapes of clams. All the fresh ingredients are put inside the big trays, to ease the customers to make our choices. One of the specialty here is the welcoming snack; the small squares of papadum in the curry. I think it's fish curry as it turns out to be a little bit sour; a good appetizer to stimulate my hunger.

Our main character of the day is the Teow Chew Style Steamed Fish潮州蒸鱼. The fish is steamed together with tofu, tomato, mushroom, meat, plum and cili padi; that gives sourness and spiciness to the soup itself, very refreshing to open up our appetite. The soup is very sweet itself, till we can't stop if to lick the whole plate. Next big boss is the Pork Knuckle猪脚 that is boiled in dark soy sauce. It looks delicious? The dark soy sauce is having a nice aroma and on correct seasoning, but regretly to say that the pork knuckle is not boiled sufficiently. Both the meat and the skin are too hard, too chewy; imagining of chewing the rubber.

We've ordered their Herbal Steamed Chicken药材炖鸡 as well. The chicken is steamed with different types of herbs inside the tin paper. The soup is very clear yet very sweet. As well with the meat, it's soft and juicy as the herb taste has been absorbed into the meat.

I've ordered the Kung Po Style Prawn Mantis宫保虾羔. I've not much complaints as prawn mantis has always been my all-time favourite, but it's well expected that fried prawn mantis meat will not be so fresh. Anyway, the sauce is sour and sweet enough to go well with the white rice. Besides, here comes the Sambal Belacan Kangkong马来风光 and the Fried Egg with Mixed Vege芙蓉蛋. I personally think that the Sambal Belacan is a little bit too salty but luckily it's compensated by the fresh, green vegetable. 芙蓉蛋 is the fried egg with various chopped vege and sometimes with chopped prawn meat as well. This is a great disappointment to me as the egg has been over-cooked that it has the burnt smell.

Guess what, the whole meal costs us only RM90 for 9people; Very full and cheap ;)

(Left - Behind: Su, LP; Front: Me, Mei Ling, Kor Ying; Right - Behind: Foo, Lew; Front: Leow, CK)

1-Day Eating Trip, Part III: Kimberly Street

$$$; talking about cost, we've decided our dinner to be the hawker food at Kimberly Street汕头街. Kimberly Street is located around the Komtar area and it's so merrier with various food stalls at night; somewhere that is suitable for your taste of the localities of Penang.

Our first orders go to the most famous Deep Fried Salted Fish Tofu and Belacan Fried Chicken. People will normally dislike tofu as it's tasteless but I guarantee that this stall will definitely change your mind. The tofu is so soft to melt in my mouth and leaving behind the saltiness of the salted fish. The tofu is very smooth and I do enjoy the little salty taste in the tasteless tofu. The Belacan Fried Chicken is somehow just normal to me; I think it's because the Belacan taste is not strong and it doesn't give any additional deliciousness or aroma to the fried chicken.

The next recommended dish is the 天皇鸡脚粿條汤 whereby we've ordered their famous dishes of Kuey Tiao Soup, Chicken Feet and Drumstick. This is not my favourite bowl of Kuey Tiao Soup as the chicken broth is not strong and sweet enough, however I still quite enjoy this clear soup though. The chicken feet and drumstick are cooked till the sweetness of the dark soy sauce is absorbed completely. They're boiled to a correct timing that the skin is smooth and the meat is juicy and tender; just nice to be bitten and swallowed through the throat. I love especially the delicious chicken feet that I myself have at least finished up half of the big plate.

Additionally, we've ordered the Fried Kuey Tiao to fill our hunger. However, it's too oily and without sufficient 'fire' of frying, the soy sauce is not absorbed into the flat noodle and it doesn't have the aroma.

For our drink menu, we've chosen the 四果汤; a dessert that consists of various ingredients such as red bean, longan and ginkgo in the sugary soup. It chills us up after the hot day of walking; but the price of RM2.20 per small bowl, don't you think that it's too expensive?

Sitting by the roadside for our dinner, yet this has been a perfect meal that brings us the utmost satisfaction to our taste and hunger.

1-Day Eating Trip, Part II: BREEKS Cafe

We've so many words to talk... Continuing of our next round to BREEKS Cafe at Gurney Plaza. Partly is also the hot weather that we prefer to have a cold drink.

Red, black and white; to form the contrast inside BREEKS Cafe. The cozy ambient is nice and comfortable for us to have our long chat here...

Attracted by the size and color, we've chosen the Mighty Mango that should be served for 5people. I can still recall the facial expression of the waiter while taking order, 'This is the portion for 5, are you sure?'... The Mighty Mango is served in a big round cocktail glass of the layers starting with mango ice blended at the bottom, the vanilla ice-cream as the toppings and being garnished by the red cherries. Some mango slices have also been added into the ice blended, to enhance the fruity taste. We do enjoy the chilling of the ice but it appears to be too sweet for us. By the way, it's just too colorful; especially the red syrup.

Really 3 big eaters that we're still able to go for another Avocado ice blended. It's my mistake that I've forgotten the name of the drink but we like this signature drink a lot. This is the first time for me to learn that we can actually produce ice blended with Avocado. My personal view, the Avocado taste is not strong enough but it's not too sweet, especially with the mint chocolate rings around the tall glass; it's adding a refreshment that goes perfectly with the Avocado's taste.

A hot day with chilled drinks inside an air-conditioned restaurant; well, enjoying life ;)