Double Good Restaurant, What're they offering?

Double Good Restaurant好好冷气餐厅 is somewhere we’ve decided for our meet-up after the long working hour while preventing to trap ourselves in the traffic jams on Friday night. It’s a Chinese restaurant that serves variety of Oriental dishes while some appear to be a little Western though.
It’s always thankful to my friends whom will do the homework before our dinner; whereby we tend to direct to their famous dishes only. The first to come is the Fried Kai Lan炒芥兰. What is so special about this green vegetable? The Kai Lan is sliced thinly and then being fried till crisply, before it’s served with some crispy anchovies on top. I don’t really like the dish as the Kai Lan has been sliced to the extent that the frying is ‘killing’ the freshness of the vegetable. I think the normal frying Kai Lan with garlic appears to be more appealing. Next recommended is the New Zealand Cheese Mussels纽西兰海鸾. The sauce is not too greasy and the saltiness is just nice that we’re nearly to lick every single drops of the cheesy sauce inside the plate. I’ve to say that the sauce is more towards Oriental than the Western, but well… We like it ;)

Our next main course is the Indonesian Prawn in Claypot印尼虾煲; it's sort of a type of curry prawn. The curry looks delicious from its shining red color yet it doesn't taste very spicy. The herbs inside has created a nice aroma and smell that triggers my hunger. I think this curry is using dried shrimps paste and that gives the curry a little more saltiness that goes well with white rice. We've also asked for the Seafood in Claypot海味煲 with richly ingredients of sea cucumber, abalone slice, dried oyster and mushroom inside. The ingredients are cooked just nice on the wok, maintaining the freshness and juiciness. The sauce seems to be a little sticky as I think they've put in too much corn starch but luckily the saltiness is still just-to-taste.

A sweet ending to our meal, we're ordered the desserts of the day; Blended Peanut Paste花生糊, Iced Longan爱玉冰 and the Gui Ling Gao Jelly龟苓膏. Overall, the desserts taste normal as they're mainly prepared from the instant powder mix. My preference is always towards peanut but I'll be expecting stronger peanut aroma in the peanut paste.

Double Good is generally an Oriental Cuisine restaurant that can cater for big gathering. They do have some delicious dishes that are suitable for your meal of a day or to share it with your family and friends.

Tuk Tuk Thai Restaurant; Oh... Spicy Thai's Taste!

While we're wondering where to head for our dinner, we've decided to drop by Krystal Point. Randomly choosing, we've decided to try out the Tuk Tuk Thai Restaurant好运泰式美食馆.

I've never noticed about this Thai restaurant even though I've passed by Krystal Point for so many times. I think partly is due to their dim lighting that has hidden up the signboard. The owner has been so passionate to introduce their menu and specialty when we stand in front of the restaurant.

Undeniable that we've chosen to start our dinner with the Tomyam Seafood Soup. The soup seems to be a little milky but it's so-to-taste with sufficient Tomyam paste. The chef has put in a lot of chopped cili padi that has created a premium spiciness to the soup. It's somehow a pity to my boyfriend whom keeps on sweating. I'll prefer if the soup can be more sour.

I've ordered next the Papaya Kerabu or it's called Som Tham in Thai language. It's the mixture of papaya slices with dried shrimps, peanuts, tomatoes, chili and sauces whereby it tastes sour and a bit spicy. The papaya has been too ripe that it has lost its crispiness. I think it'll be more perfect if the dish is replaced with green papaya. Next order to compensate the suffering on the spiciness of my boyfriend has, we've ordered the Fried Squid. I don't like this kind of frying method as the squid has been coated with a thick flour that has hindered the freshness of squid itself.

Well, we can't compare the deliciousness of Thai food in Malaysia to Thailand. Anyway, in overall, the Thai food here is not bad and there's a large variety that you can choose from the menu.

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.