went out for a drink last saturday with the boyf (yup! he was in town) and friends, JS and iforgot. we were famished after drinking and off we went supper-ing at 3am before heading home. or was it super early brekkie?i was amused by its moniker, Jiao Sai, which literally means bird shit. and apparently the night was still young, most of the patrons were youngsters.uncle doing his thang!Maggi Goreng Tom Yam
it comes with fried chicken cubes and a sunny side up!sinful yet tasty.

it might look unappealing but it actually tasted quite good. they use those instant noodle from Thailand, instead of maggi mee’s mee, which was just fine. the boyf ordered mee goreng original, i had a spoon and thought original one tasted better. JS insisted tomyam is the bomb though. you just have to go find out yourself which suits you best!

however, waiting time is subject to how crowded the night is. be patient ya.

i was running errand at Little India together with labmates cum lunchy buddies the other day. we were pondering what-to-mum for lunchy, and G suggested Chai Diam Ma and i quickly said YESH excitedly since i have not tried it before while ALL of them went without me some time ago tsk.i was enticed by the art piece displayed at the entrance. it’s so errrr raw.

they even DIY-ed their menu {Penang} Lunchy @ Chai Diam Ma, Queen Street

i couldn’t resist snapping around this cute lil’ cafe after ordering my food.handmade dolls for sale. keychains, accessories, clothing and some other knick-knack can be seen all around the cafe, which are up for sale too!

btw, chai diam ma means sundry shop in hokkien! i’m so used to chap fo pou (cantonese) though.the al-fresco area. it was a rather hot day, so we opted indoor, with comfy couch.

and i learned that most of the furnitures are actually recycled. that’s why they look run-down. but i can assure you they are sturdy!the menu is limited but they do have some daily specials which vary from day to day. and because the dishes are prepared fresh, hence the waiting time is slightly longer compared to other cafe.Watermelon Juice | RM 5; Honey Lemon | RM 6; Passion Fruit Milkshake; RM 8
Cele said the juice was tasteless. i looked back at the menu, it states ’100% fresh fruit & sugar free’. haiyo no wonder la :/.honey lemon was mediocre while the milkshake was decent, berry milky according to CC.Lasagna with Meat Sauce | RM 14
CC loves this to bits! i had a spoon and it’s actually berry tasty, berry cheesy too! the salad served consisted slices of tomato, zucchini, capsicum and rocket leaves, with balsamic vinegar dressing, i think.Baked Macaroni with Bacon & Mushroom | RM 14
mine! again, berry cheesy. taste wise, was a tad bland. but the bacon made it up! the strips are slightly crunchy, just the way i likey!

we would have enjoyed our quaint lunchy more if we weren’t summon back to lab.

whenever people mentions Penang char koay teow is mentioned, it automatically relates to Lorong Selamat (and also Siam Road). i have heard so muchy about it but never had the chance to try it, until my cousin, Diana and her friend, Jesmy came visit me end of last month!

at first D’s friend wanted to bring us to try Siam Road’s char koay teow. it’s fried by an old uncle using charcoal. i managed to watched him in action once, but too bad he ran out of koay teow that night, so i got char mee instead, had to share among three of us somemore, so cham. so i got really erratic when i thought i’m going to have a proper char koay teow from uncle, and damn uncle decided not to open his stall! what a bummer! and we left with 遗憾.

the next day, J’s friend brought us to Lorong Selamat’s! he said it’s berry really infamous one. tourist must try.here’s two CKT stalls along Lorong Selamat, just in case you donno which one, spot this aunty with red beret. it’s her signature accessory. the local calls her 红帽阿姨. netizen calls her by grumpy old lady/eyebrow-tattoed bitch cos apparently this CKT stall is notorious for its price and BAAAD attitude.at RM 7.50 for a small plate, it’s indeed pricey! but i also heard that, the prawn size is proportionate with the price. anyone one of you ordered RM 10 one before ar?

she used to be really grumpy , showing black face to the customers. during my visits (i went back few days later with another bunch of friends from Malacca!), i didn’t experience any inhospitable service, mainly because the lady next to her takes our orders, while the aunty just minds her business, tossing koay teow in the wok concentratedly, emotionlessly.the CKT stall is located at Kafe Heng Huat.similar to the Siam Road’s, instead of gas stove, aunty uses charcoal in her cooking. the only difference is, uncle manually fan the charcoal to keep the fire going while aunty has a fan to do the job haha.koay teow dancing vigorously in the wok.can’t wait.Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow | RM 7.50

you’ll get a plate of CKT full of wok hei with chives, chinese sausage, cockles, egg, a handful of bean sprouts and 3 prawns!

the prawns here were slightly larger than ordinary CKT. and i have to say, yeah, it’s the best CKT i had in Penang so far. it’s of course oily (only my mami serves the uber dry CKT), but no as oily as Siam Road’s. since i only have CKT whenever i have friends in town, i won’t be too calculative with the calories intake. eat now diet later, my philosophy.

okay, so if you don’t mind waiting and paying more, i would suggest you to try Lorong Selamat char koay teow!

i get really excited when there’s new eatery opening at Queensbay Mall aka AntzSecondHome! and one of it which opens its door to Penangites recently is Isaac Toast & Coffee!

located at LG floor of Queensbay Mall, few doors away from The Little Nyonya, opposite of Sticky, is this Isaac Toast & Coffee, originates from South Korea. Isaac Toast & Coffee is founded by a Korean lady, her business started with just a tiny stall to make ends meet when her hubby was ill. her hubby later recuperated and their business gradually blooms. now there’s more than 900 of Isaac Toast & Coffee outlets spreading all over South Korea and also worldwide and it’s still expanding.

and now you get to have a taste of Korean sandwich! this outlet is also the very first Isaac Toast & Coffee in Malaysia!

and NO, blogger Isaac Tan is not associated with this. haha.the interior is simple yet cosy, i would say. seems like a great place for brekkie (or brunch) or tea break. seating is limited though.

their walls are decorated with painting and their slogan, the happiness together {Penang} Isaac Toast & Coffee @ Queensbay Mall the whole environment oozes positive vibe {Penang} Isaac Toast & Coffee @ Queensbay Mall as red symbolizes vitality and energy and passion!

their one-page menu revolves around toast (or sandwich) and bagels and hot & cold beverage. their standard toast consists of two buttery bread, fluffy egg and topped with their special Isaac sauce. altogether there’s 8 different topping that you can add to your toast with price ranging RM 6.90 – RM 9.90.Ham Cheese Toast | RM 6.90 (Chicken); RM 7.30 (Turkey)
first one we had was Turkey Ham Cheese Toast, which obviously had ham & a slice of cheddar sandwiched between fragrant bread and egg. breads were pan-fried to golden brown and slightly charred at the edges. the special Isaac sauce tasted like.. French toast.. or sweetened light mayonnaise, instead of milky white, it’s translucent. every toast will be served in a paper envelop which makes devouring easy, without staining your hand.

some might find the toast a lil’ too sweet for your liking. i did reflect it to the person in charge, apparently they have localized the sweetness. once a real Korean dropped by this Penang outlet and had a toast, he grumbled that the sauce was not sweet enough for him =.= Korean can really handle sweet huh. i can imagine how sickly sweet the authentic one tastes. gosh.Chicken MVP | RM9.90
you know what MVP stands for? no don’t try to go too far, it’s just Meat & Vegetable Product, wtf.

and that says it all. chicken patty topped with shredded white and purple cabbage on top of the basics. suitable for health-conscious, like me ehehehehehe. i love how the cabbage gave it a crunchy texture, and it also balanced out the meaty patty and sweety sauce. you may opt for beef patty.

one thing i noticed is, they studded the fresh and fluffy egg with corn kernels! this also adds slight crunch texture in other toasts that without vegetable.

and toast is best paired with a cuppa coffee/chocolate!Cafe Mocha | RM 8.50
seriously, i judge a coffee by its art. yes i’m shallow liddat. and i’m pretty sure most of you do too {Penang} Isaac Toast & Coffee @ Queensbay Mall at only RM 8.50 and you’ll get a pretty hot (haha) cuppa coffee, good deal eh.

i don’t get any art at Mugshot Cafe even though i paid 10 buck. pfft.Cappucino | RM7.50
a 3D coffee art! or catppucino! it’s available upon request without any additional charges!

overall, Isaac Toast & Coffee is a place to get your toast craving fixed and a nicely-decorated coffee!

i actually rarely venture into Gurney Plaza as it’s quite a distant from my place. but an invitation managed to lure me there recently! it’s Tian Ding Xiang 天鼎香, a restaurant specializes in Chinese cuisine which located at 6th floor of Gurney Plaza. we were there to sample some of the new dishes on the new menu!

the ambiance is kinda sophisticatedly relaxing with hospitable wait staffs at your disposal LOL.Trio Platter 鼎香三拼 | RM 42.80

we started our lunchy with appetiser, a Trio Platter, which is a common dish you’ll find in a Chinese wedding, some might even offer up to penta small dishes! they get to play with the ingredients depending on the allocated budget of the wedding. here in Tian Ding Xiang, they offer three types of small dishes which comprises lobak thingy, baby octopus <3 and butter cereal chicken cubes.

the baby octopus is yum! the texture is not as rubbery as sotong, this one gives you more 咬劲 and it’s really 爽口! i have never seen any stall/restaurant outside of Penang serves this. the octopus was just blanched and then drizzled with some fragrant garlic oil and it’s so good on its own or with the condiment, if you need some kick.Peking Duck | RM 68.80 (whole bird); RM 38.80 (half bird)crispy Peking duck skin with scallion (ewww) and cucumber bandaged with a thin popiah skin smeared with special sauce. i am not a skin person because skin is fatty bom bom (the first skin i had was from Yung Kee, it was soooo gooooood and expensive!) but this was soooo good with minimum fat layer! of course i specially requested a non-scallion one. yeah, you don’t have to get your hands dirty, someone will slice the skin and wrap them for you.

and what they gonna do with the de-skinned duck? you can either have it that way (original) or..you can opt for ala kongpo, kamheong, black pepper or ginger & spring onion style.

we had kam heong duck! and personally i enjoy duck more than chicken so i liked this dish as well! although it was in wok for the second time, the meat still retained its tendernesssss.Crispy Pork Knuckle | RM 30.80

deep fried pork knuckle.
some find it too dry, but i like it dry rather than oily if that make any sense.Fresh Seafood Ramen | RM 20.80

colourful ramen drenched in spicy seafood broth. at only level 2 the spiciness is almost unbearable already, i am a berry can take spicy food kind (wah my broken engrish is getting broker LOL). the lady bossie said the spiciness can even go up to level 10 my goodness! i wonder who can survive the heatness.

of course, if you can’t take spicy, just tell the wait staff you want clear broth.

the ramen contains natural coloring from wheat, purple cabbage, black sesame, spinach and pumpkin! and you’ll get all five types of mee in your bowl of Fresh Seafood Ramen.

however, the mee was too soft for our liking. the blame was on us though as we took too long to photograph it :/. the price might be a lil’ steep but they were generous with the seafood!Deep-Fried Sliced Lotus Root with Salted Egg Yolk | RM 12.80

this was a crowd pleaser at our table! everyone love the crunchy bits coated nicely with salted egg yolk! nom! this makes a really good snake for movie wei, if you don’t mind the calories la.