The Paris at the Cest La Vie

Looking for our dinner around the Queensbay and Summerton area, we've chosen the Cest La Vie by random options. The man-made field on the floor, the plenty of sticky notepads on the wall and the French words; this café & restaurant is indeed filled with nature and comfort. The whitish chairs and the bright lighting are somehow not creating the romance here.

 

I've decided to go for the set dinner of Grill Chicken Bagel with Cheese and Fries that comes with a soup, drink and ice-cream. The tomato soup tastes weird and it has been over seasoned with the pepper. Besides, I dislike the whitish granules that has not been blended well into the soup. For the main course, the bagel has been slightly over burnt that the top is indeed blackish and it's too crunchy. Luckily that the chicken meat is very juicy and I've enjoyed the special sauce that is not too creamy and the saltiness is just nice for the meat.

Attila has chosen the Pork Chop in Mushroom Sauce from the a-la cart menu. The pork meat is very tender and the topping sauce is really delicious. The 1st dip of the sauce tastes weird as the Chef has torched the sauce before serving, you can see the blackish dots on the whitish sauce. We both are not fancy over the cold mashed potatoes indeed.

I've taken the hot honey green tea while Attila has tried out a special bottled drink of soda that is called Grapefruit & Chamomile. This is my 1st time to know this brand "Tapping Tapir" and it tastes real refreshing.

I'm a little disappointed that the food is kind of cold while it's served to us yet the taste is totally good and delicious. We'll definitely try out the other menu again.

Blackwood or the "Kayu Hitam"

Leaving from Hatyai through the immigration at Bukit Kayu Hitam, I've suggested the idea about having our break for coffee and lunch at the Blackwood Coffee & Chocolate that is located at Changlun. This restaurant is just in front of the Kompleks Changlun. I'm at first attracted by the outlook of the restaurant, it's just too "outstanding" compared to the outskirt where it's located.

We've shared the Big Breakfast and the Signature Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang. The breakfast set comes with the fried sausage, scrambled egg, baked beans, sauteed button mushroom, baked tomato, wheat toast and some greens. I like the sausage as it's very succulent and it has sufficient saltiness to be delicious on its own, without any dipping sauce. The scrambled egg is just too buttery and I think the sugar has been added as it tastes indeed sweet. I've indulged completely into my plate of the coconut milk rice with chicken that is cooked in a thick curry gravy. The rice has a nice aroma while the chicken is so juicy and tender that it's ripped off from the bone easily. The thick Rendang sauce is just superb, with sufficient spiciness and deliciousness to stimulate my tastebud.

The coffee is just too thin and it doesn't have a nice aroma of the coffee beans.

I'm very satisfied with my food here. I think this will be my stop-by destination, on my way back from Hatyai in the future.

Official Homepage

WTD... What The Duck!

I've discovered this restaurant accidentally through the Facebook page of an old friend. I personally think that the name of "What The Duck" or WTD sounds very interesting. The restaurant is located at the Nagore Road, it's on the left while you enter this one-way road. I like the old house and especially the symbols that are drawn at the walkway of the entrance. The slogans are written on the wall, they claim themselves as the "Delectable, Unique Cuisines, Knowable".

We've shared the Duck Lover Platter of Trio and the Balinese Crispy Duck (Bek-Bek). The earlier is the appetizer that consists of a "glass" of duck chowder with a bread stick, the white toast that is topped with a slice of smoked duck meat and the Tomato Cilantro Salsa and also the Thai style duck roll. The thick chowder tastes alike vegetable and peanut-based and it'll filled with shredded duck meat. My advice is to eat the soup while it's hot or else it'll coagulate if it gets cold. The saltiness of the smoked duck is just perfect for the plain toast. I like the thinly sliced Kaffir Lime Leaf that has given a nice aroma and enhanced the deliciousness of the tortilla roll. It's a tiny disappointment that the duck meat is just too little compared to the thick wrap. Bek-Bek is a famous Indonesian dish whereby the crispy fried duck is served together with the white rice, some condiments and the chili-based sauce. I've really enjoyed the mixture of the chopped tomato, capsicum, onion with the Kaffir Lime Leaf as these toppings are really delicious with the sour dressing. The chili-based sauce that is slightly spicy is good yet it's not the most favourite of mine that I've ever eaten.

Su has decided to take the set lunch with beverage that comes with a soup of the day or the Shredded Confit Ducky Salad with Orange, Walnut and Greens. Either the soup or the salad; the winner is the salad and the fresh vegetable tastes really appetizing with the soft and juicy shredded duck. Out of the 3 choices of main course, Su has taken the Duck a-la Orange that is served on top of the mashed potato and being garnished with the caramel orange sauce. The duck meat is indeed too chewy yet the salty skin is very tasty. I wonder if the Chef is able to solve the chewiness of thick breast meat?

We're satisfied and indeed quite amazed by the food that we've decided to go for the dessert as well. We've ordered the Sizzling Brownies with the Special Ice-Cream and the Caramelized Banana Sauce and also the Salted Duck Egg Cotton Cheese Cake. The sweetness of the chocolate brownies is matching the saltiness of the special ice-cream perfectly and together with the thick sauce, this dessert is superb. The hot cake meets the cold ice, the taste is just "Wow"! Oppositely, we can't finish the cheesecake that is made of the salted duck egg. The taste doesn't seem to blend well that the whole sponge cake tastes just powdery and it smells alike the rotten egg.

The over all experience here is good whereby the price of the food is really reasonable. They're not really expertise in every dishes that are made of the duck yet they've done well on most of the dishes that we've tried out here.

Freshly Made... the Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake

The very latest hit topic in Malaysia and it's spread to Penang now, it's the Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake that is specialising in the freshly baked cheesecake現做起司蛋糕. Opening it's branch at the Summerton by Bayan Indah, the same virus from Kuala Lumpur is invading Penang whereby people are queuing and waiting just to buy a cheesecake of the day. The rule is only one cake per person. I've been lucky to get the one of the few last pieces for the round of the baking while Phui Yee and Elaine has to wait for another 2 hours indeed.

I've taken the Signature Cheesecake that comes with a small pressed mark of the Uncle Tetsu. As being claimed in the advertisement, the cake is very soft and fluffy. The cheesecake is so light and airy that it melts immediately in the mouth. Both of the smell and the taste of the cheese are not too strong that I don't get filling easily, it's a dessert that you can complete the whole cake without feeling over full. The cheesecake tastes good yet I dislike it as it's just too empty without any texture. It feels and tastes alike souffle instead.

For the price of RM 21, it's no doubt that Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake is really reasonable and on par with its deliciousness. Do try it out, you maybe the one whom falls in love with it.

Official Homepage

Nasi 7 Benua @ Koo Boo Kafe

This is the latest trend in Penang whereby everyone is talking about, the Nasi 7 Benua at the Koo Boo Kafe. They start the business from 11am till 11pm and people has started to queue in front of the stall before the business starts to operate.

7 Benua means 7 Continentals and they're presenting the rice in 7 different colours. The rice is given its own name that ranges from the Putih, Lemak, Tomato, Lamuni, Minyak, Kacang to the Hujan Panas. Basically, each rice has its special seasoning and taste respectively. By the same sequence earlier, the rice consists of plain white rice, coconut milk, tomato, black Lemuni Leaf, oil, lentils and the colourful rice. The seasoning is only at the very surface that I think the rice is neither awesome nor too delicious indeed. I personally prefer the Nasi Hujan Panas that is cooked with garlic, shallot and some spices that it has a nice aroma and it's more appealing in the taste. The price is indeed quite cheap whereby my plate of 7 scoops of rice, 1 fried chicken, 1 fried egg and some cucumbers cost me RM7 only. Besides, the meal comes with free drinks that you can choose between plain tea or sugar syrup.

The idea of putting 7 colours into the rice is really a good idea yet the taste is not really impressive though. We're indeed annoyed by the slow speed that the rice is served, being scooped one-by-one cup that we've waited 15 minutes just to get a plate of the complete rice.

Facebook