Glennis and CC (her nerdy bf) are going for attachment at oversea (France and Japan respectively). she came up to me one noon and asked, “do you all wanna have a farewell dinner for us?”. i was like “yer why so behpaiseh one!” but what came out from my mouth was “YEAH WHAT ARE YOU TOKKING ABOUT!”

they asked me for recommendation, just because i blog about food, so i’m supposingly berry good at sourcing good makan place. half true. most of time i recommend what I wanted to try! hehe. so Ben’s we went! have heard so muchy about it and glad that they finally invade Penang.

i have read reviews saying that it’s hard to locate Ben’s in Gurney Paragon. yes, more so at night. there’s no visible signage at the front. asked around only to know that it’s situated at the ground floor of St. Jo’s, opposite of Goku Raku Ramen and Meet Fresh. there’s an al fresco dining area but it’s unavailable that night cos it seemed like it’s going to rain.we went there without doing reservation (so smartass!) cos i thought it’s a weekday, won’t fully packed one lar. oh boy i was so wrong! it’s almost packed to the brim! reservation IS berry muchy needed when you’re coming in a group of 4 or more!

one of the wait staff asked me to leave my number and they would call me whenever there’s a table for us. i didn’t wait too long for it. got a call in merely 5 mins! two thumbs up for their service!

i love their rustic ambiance. with some homey touches here and there.this would be great if you’re just having drink with your buddies. it’s comfy!

the menu is pretty simple and straight-forward. but we had a hard time choosing our mains! partly because of the cursive wordings.

service was brisk and we didn’t wait long for our to serve even though it’s packed!Golden soft-shell Crab Spaghettini | RM 23.90
with curry & cili padi

i had this dish at Plan B and thought it was good! recommended it to them and Winnie had it and she loved it too! both Plan B and Ben’s are owned by The Big Group, hence the similar menu!Chan-grilled Seafood Spaghettini | RM 25.90
with chilli flakes & wilted spinach

they were pretty generous with the seafood i must say!Crispy Duck Confit Spaghettini | RM 25.90
with sun-dried tomatoes and rocket

mine! it’s a oriental style spaghetti i would say. the meat was flavourful and tender (not crispy as written in the menu) goes really well together with rocket and the al dente pasta! and again generous serving of liao (ingredient)!Macaroni Cheese | RM 23.90
with three cheeses & smoked chicken sausage

i loved the salad too. it’s layers of lettuce, rocket, sunflower seeds ans some other nuts (?) drizzled with a appetising dressing.Home made Salt Beef Sandwich | RM 25.90
with sliced cheddar cheese, spicy mustard on country bread & 4 colour chips

as CC was eating it, i asked him “how’s it?”
“it’s salty…”
“what you ordered again?” i asked while looking at the menu.
it’s salt beef man. of course la salty duh!

he also commented it’s a tad dry. seemed like the mustard is not saucy enough. chips were a let down too. they are not as crunchy as they supposed to be. perhaps they had been exposed to air for awhile before serving to us.Ben's Cheeseburger on Sesame Seed Bun | RM 25.90
with cheddar cheese & French fries

recommended this to LC!

she raved at how THICK the patty was! and juicy too!

the drinks were pretty diluted. and my friend was not pleased to see there’s no drawing on her Cappuccino haha. we ordered three dishes to be shared among five of us as we told the portion is huge. and then we knew that students are entitled to order a set meal which consists of a soup of the day, a main course, a dessert and a beverage at RM 31++! we could not resist to not order! perk of being a student hehe. remember to bring your student card along if you were to dine here!started the dinner with this platter of Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken, served with four different sauces, blue cheese, mayonnaise and the other two which i forgot the tastes =.=

the wings were our favourite! slightly spicy, different from what we normally have. onion rings and potato skins were just mediocre though. the portion was huge enough for five of us.it was a Southern style chicken, grilled and basted with the special Hickory Bar-b-que sauce, served with fries, ranch beans and coleslaw.

i thought the the meat was juicy and soft and tender. however it’s opposite case for my friend who took the breast part, tad hard and dry to her liking.i donno why it’s called sandwich when it looks exactly like a burger, with the same sides too. the meat comes in compact shredded form was so juicy and tender! it’s an inch thick and it can get really messy after a few bites. and you know how lamb has this gamey smell/taste which i’m really afraid of, but this one was acceptable.

if beef is not your thing, can consider to order this!unlike our beverages, this soup was thick and smooth. dipped with the complementary toasts, hmmmm.plain beef burger. literally. patty sandwiched between two buns. but my friends improvised it, by adding some sauces from the Jumbo Combo and complimentary coleslaw. the patty was succulent too.

http://constance-ant.com/2012/06/dinner-hard-rock-cafe-batu-ferringhi-penang/
Hard Rock Cafe Penang
(c/o Hard Rock Hotel Penang)
Jalan Batu Feringghi
11100, Penang
Malaysia.
Sunday to Thursday 11:30AM to 02:00AM
Friday, Saturday and eve of Public Holiday 11.30AM to 2.30AM
+604 8811711

last time i tried the Lorong Selamat’s. this time i was introduced to Tiger Char Koay Teow by Ken (by now you should who’s he la, lazy to link :/), which is located at the junction of Carnarvon Street and Melayu Street (Lebuh Melayu). he will only have like one plate of char koay teow per year, and 2013′s quota is 献给了我 XD awwwww.

we had lunchy together few doors away from this Tiger Char Koay Teow, another koay teow, but soupy version. since we were here just to taste it, we ordered one ‘keh liao‘ edition with minimal koay teow.Tiger Char Koay Teow | RM 10
okay, this plate of char koay teow certainly doesn’t come cheap at RM 10, but you get 6 HUGE fresh and succulent prawns! as well as the usual ingredients like cockles, bean sprout and chives. i think they skimp on Chinese sausage, don’t remember i ate any.

anyway, i heard that Lorong Selamat’s has recently marked up their price, RM 10! and 3 prawns only! last time used to be only RM 7.50? my god.my Sulley cute mou ehehehehehe
how does this fares? sorry, i still find Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow tasted better. i guess the wok hei produced via charcoal cooking is more intense.

however, if you do not want to queue and tolerate bad customer service, i would recommend Tiger Char Koay Teow. and it’s cheaper too, from RM 4. they offer duck egg char koay teow too! do keep in mind that the plate you see in this post is keh liao, we wanted more prawns, less koay teow. if you’re ordering normal version, please don’t expect to see as muchy prawns ar.

have to warn first, later you say food blogger is con(wo)man, berry pandai exaggerate. :/lai, open your mouth, annant feeds you (virtual) char koay teow XD

i was there for brekkie many months ago. friends told me that this Super Hokkien Mee is super ho chiak! the boyfie and i wanted to order a bowl for ourselves only to be told that it’s all sold out! and it’s only 9ish am. damn. apparently some joker tapao-ed 70+ packets =.=. another friend of mine advised me to be a earlier bird next time =.=

so when my family was in town, i told them the night before that we had to wake up a lil’ earlier tomorrow, for brekkie. cos my brother is notoriously terrible in waking up early during his off days! waking him up is such a chore i tell you! and of course he didn’t managed to wake up in time, as predicted >.< and by the time we reached it’s already 10 am. i was chanting “no people come tapao purleeese purleeese purleeese” on the way there. =.=

by the time we reached One Corner Cafe which is located behind Penang Plaza, i quickly zoomed to the stall and ordered two bowls. uncle showed me a ‘i’m sorry face’, “it’s sold out, somebody tapao-ed, don’t think it’s enough (for you) la”.

*wails*

“uncle, i purposely come from berry far away, Malacca, to eat your Hokkien Mee le, purleeese give me a bowl la, one is enough jor purleeese~~~,” i tried to cajole uncle into selling me a bowl. #thingidoforhokkienmee

“i try la har, if got extra then i give you”.

“TENKIU UNCLE!”

and guess what wtf.

apparently this Super Hokkien Mee is notorious for its long wait. mine came in 10 mins though.

okay enough of nonsense.

how’s the taste?

it’s a humble bowl of meehoon & mee drenched in flavourful broth, boiled with shrimp heads and stock and probably shells too, topped with the usual ingredients like slices of meat, shrimp, bean sprout and fried fragrant shallot, served with homemade chili sauce.

nothing over the top, but we finish everything, not even a drip of broth left. approved by daddy and brother! both berry particular when it comes to food!

Sarkies Corner is one of the dining area of the renowned Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang. i was there for their seafood buffet, and i must say i am impressed! with the food variety and quality!

and here's some of my favourites!Alaska crabbies.succulent oysters. i love it with just some lemon juice drizzled on.

they were my target that night. i gulp them down one by one. slimy but yummy!salmon ala tapas style.sushi is also available at Japanese Corner!and glorious sashimi too!

the salmon slices were thick and oh-so-fresh! my second favourite dish after oyster.sizzling lamb, salmon, seafoods, or satay..

chefs will be there to grill them to perfection for you.

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crispy fragrant roasted duck.

you get to enjoy all these at SARKIES of E&O Hotel at RM 110++ for adult and RM 48++ for children.