BAD OUTLETS

OK so sorry but so much has been happening I haven't known what to write about - so ended up writing NOTHING!

It was interesting meeting up with Penangtuapui and exchanging the different facets of being a food writer. One thing was clear though - unlike me, they started off with the pure intention of telling people their honest opinion of the particular outlet they were visiting. And interestingly enough, found that they just could not do it. Maybe it's not in their character (they are really quite nice people whose main interest is in places which serve good food, not lambasting those who don't); maybe it's also not a very Malaysian thing - telling the truth. Not because we are an untruthful people but because we have been brought up to not criticise so succinctly.

In the UK there are a few food critics (and in this case they really are CRITICS) who take pride on being as nasty to the restaurant or outlet they are reviewing as possible. And the more people who write in to disagree with them the better. Their interest is in being read and not helping the restaurant. Like I always say, Penang is too small. I would like to be welcomed when I go to an outlet, not have the door slammed on my face ... or worse!

Still, I was interested to receive an email about a website called:

http://not2eat.blogspot.com/

which encourages people to write in about places they were not satisfied with. Personally, I think this is not a bad idea, as I have sometimes felt the need to point out certain shortfalls in some outlets but have refrained from for the reasons mentioned above. HOWEVER a site like this can be misused, and therefore must be strictly policed. ANYONE could write in with false information about a competitor's outlet - what is there to stop this sort of thing from happening?

So please, much as I know it's bad for your blood pressure, take the entries that you read about with a big pinch of salt.

Bloggers Meet Up

One day last week I had a very pleasant outing: to meet up with fellow bloggers Penangtuapui. Our small inaugural get-together was held at the delightful Saigon Kitchen (formerly known as Com Viet) in Lintang Burmah, Pulau Tikus.









It was certainly a pleasure meeting with them, and we had many interesting anecdotes to exchange with each other. More about that another time (or place), but it was good to know that we are equally passionate about eating and Penang, and all face similar problems when we write about food. However, what made it even better was tucking into the Vietnamese street and home-cooked food that proprietor Lesley Loh and sister Louis had organised for us.







There was an unusual and colourful "Vietnamese Platter" of fresh julienned vegetables wrapped in rice paper with some lai fun (laksa noodles) and a "fragrant" belacan and chili padi sauce. Although a spring roll of sorts, it reminded me of our sour laksa, probably because of the noodles, mint and belacan.

After that we had various dishes with rice: a tender fatty pork braised in coconut water, prawns with lemongrass and chilli (similar to prawn sambal but lighter); fried bitter gourd, and a "Chicken Pie". This was followed by a sweet home-made cinnamon ice cream with their famous apple pie, redolent with a light springkling of cinnamon powder.

All in all, an interesting and wonderful afternoon.

Service Without a Smile

The other day I was attracted by TM’s latest offer of unlimited local and nationwise calls for just RM10 a month if you have a Streamyx (broadband) line, and rushed to register my number, probably along with several thousand other subscribers. It is, after all, a pretty good offer, and will save me a significant sum monthly, as, despite the Internet, I still have to use the phone a lot in my job (if you can call it one).

Part of the offer included a free cordless phone, which the person I spoke to told me I had to collect from my nearest TM point. However, as the offer would only start from my next billing date, the phone would only be available then. All I had to do was to trot along and collect it any time after that date with proof of identity.

Obviously, no Penangite worth his salt, honorary or not, will turn down a free phone, so off I did trot, a few days after said date. No easy task as it involved driving all the way to town, parking the car, feeding the meter then walking under the blazing sun to the one in Burmah Road. Only to be asked, “Have you received a phone call to tell you to collect the phone?” No, I replied; I am only doing what I had been told to do. “Were you told by us?” No, I replied. “Ah then you were misinformed. There is no stock available, and you have to wait for a call.”

When I asked, quite reasonably I felt, why I hadn’t been told this on the phone, her response was basically “Nothing to do with us”. So much for customer service.

Annoying though the experience was, it was compounded by the fact that she did not even once apologise. Although it wasn’t her fault personally, she represents the company, and a simple, “I’m really sorry; you have been misinformed” would have defused the situation.

As it is, I am now blogging this to tell the entire world .. well my reader anyway(!) about their inept and incompetent service. About par for the course - their broadband service is about the same level - poor, and nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it.

What makes it even more irritating is that they are still advertising this offer, and of course more and more people will sign up for it, but all will be making that journey to their nearest TM point for nothing.

QUICK RENDANG PIZZA

As I've mentioned before, my boys love curry (which is strange as No2 wouldn't touch it as a child; then one day whilst on an Outward Bound course in Lumut, he had no choice but to eat it as the only meal available was tinned Chicken Curry - he's been hooked ever since!); in particular BEEF RENDANG.

Last week, whilst researching my (to be written) article for Star Sunday Metro's 2nd Anniversary in May, I was speaking to Eurasian cook Cora Capell whom I had featured before previously. Apparently after my article on her (and Lina) their business boomed (catch her at Little Penang Street Market last Sunday of every month). Anyway I digress - she was telling me her most popular dishes are Salt Fish Pickle (deaf coot that I am I thought she said "Sausage Pickle" and thought, "Hmm, sounds rather interesting. My kids may go for that!) and Beef Rendang. You know one of those occasions when a bell rings in your head? Well, it did in mine so I thought, "Why not save yourself some bother Helen - instead of cooking it, ORDER some from her?" So I did - two sort of 300-400gm containers for RM40. Not too cheap but not expensive either, considering the trouble of making the rempah, frying it then simmering it etc.

We had that for dinner last night after returning from Taiping, and No.1 Son cooked the rice (ya, it is after all just using rice cooker - but it does take some knack to add just the right amount of water!) and we all tucked in. Not bad at all, but not Malay Beef Rendang - after all, it's Eurasian! But delicious.

There was some left-over this morning and guess what No.2 son did? Toasted some sliced muffins, lined each with cheddar and piled the rendang on top. It doesn't look that great, but he absolutely adores the stuff, and in fact, it's really just like a quick Rendang Pizza! (Make it even more so by giving it a quick zap in the microwave oven.)

Chee Cheong Fun and Cheng Beng

It's that time of year again, when Chinese families gather from far and near, to remember our dear departed. And it is no different for me, hence the long silence, as my bro and Dad (who's 86 - long may he keep going) came up from KL to join us for a couple of nights before we headed back down to Taiping (where he's from) for the annual ritual. With guests and the boys, I've not had much chance to update this blog!

This morning we drove down without TOO much hassle waking the boys up (they're not too bad if warned with dire threats) and left the house just ten minutes later than our self-appointed time of 8, and arrived at my cuz's house in Taiping about 9.45am.

After a quick breakfast of Taiping Chee Cheong Fun (pix taken when I wrote about it for Star Sunday Metro a year or two ago) this is MY idea of nursery food - what I used to tuck into it from the same stall even as a child when visiting this very cousin's own mother), from the Hawker Centre, the soft steamed rice flour went down a treat with a good dose of chilli and tee cheow sauces, we headed for the cemetery.

As there were 8 of us it went quite fast, although admittedly we only "cheng benged" at grandparents' and one great-grandmother's graves and neither are we a particularly religious family, so we were done by noon! With so many of us, it's actually quite "lau juak", and not sad or depressing. The boys are used to it now - I've been insisting on their helping out every year and they don't moan. Although it's a simple ritual, I believe by observing it they "honour" their dead ancestors. And I also like to think that one day they might do the same for me and insist their own children come and pray at my plaque (probably no more space for me by then!).

HOWEVER enough of the macabre; after a quick wash and change, we headed for Ayer Kacang (Tau Chooi) in town, where we tucked into some of their great chicken rice (sorry no pix) - really "koot" (smooth). The Hokkien Mee was OK but I think we can better it here in Penang.

The drive back was uneventful, but traffic was quite heavy.

Another Busy Day ...

A few months ago when I was lunching with some friends, we were discussing a topic close to my heart ... yes, you've guessed it - food, and in particular Penang food (but of course), and one favourite that we all love is good ole LAM MEE.

My take on it is that I don't really think much of those that are "store bought" as such, because, with apologies to our Muslim readers, a REAL Lam Mee stock must have pork in it. And not just any ordinary pork but BELLY of Pork. The other VITAL ingredient (apart from the crab meat and prawns) is PEE HU (dried plaice), and it must be served with kuchai and fresh coriander leaves, and a spoonful of home-made eu chang (fried onions). Of course the whole must be eaten with a good dollop of SAMBAL BELACAN.

However, when you are preparing it for a couple of hundred customers it's a bit expensive to include all these ingredients, so what you tend to get instead is some watered-down soup served with coloured omelette strips (as though that makes any difference to the taste!), and it's usually flavoured primarily by the sambal, although often that also tends to be quite insipid.

Someone in the group disagreed, saying he knew somewhere which served good Lam Mee, so (sorry about the digression but had to explain the background ma) this morning I had to get up particularly early (745am - ai yo that's like the middle of the night) to meet a couple of them at a coffee shop in Island Glades.

Verdict? Prettily presented - see pix - but suffice it to say that out of the three of us, two left half of ours uneaten, and only one finished his down to the last drop - guess who. He asked me, "You obviously didn't think much of it." I sort of murmured some nicety, then he insisted, "You didn't like it did you?". He deserved an honest answer, so I finally said, "Well, let me put it this way - it's OK, but not good enough to waste my stomach space on." The other friend, when asked her opinion, replied, "I liked the prawns ..."! Wimp!

I proceeded to brag about how I could cook it better (pee hu, belly of pork, blah blah blah). So guess what? My bluff has now been called, and in order not to have to eat my words (better to eat good Lam Mee) I will have to cook it for these (so-called?) friends to prove my point!



So watch this space for the next part of "Hunt the Elusive Good Penang Lam Mee". (Although I WILL say that the last time I cooked it a few months ago another friend - see, I have at least three - enjoyed it so much she said she drank up every last drop of the soup ... but she could have just been saying that, although if that was the case she soon lived to regret it cos she got ANOTHER helping!)

By the way I'm delighted that I'm starting to really get hits on this website, especially as I couldn't keep it updated because of technical problems (and my inability to resolve them) before. A friend told me today, "I prefer your blog to your newspaper articles. It's funnier!" Gives you an idea of the restrictions I have to write within. But thank you dear friend! However, a few comments would make it even better so please do leave me some!

PS I'm also delighted to say that No1 Son finally decided to remove his tongue pierce - HALLELUJAH!

A Great Eye Deer

I'm a full time mother again, as both my boys are back for the Easter Hols. It's a strange but wonderful and fulfilling time, although I've often thought that although I look forward to seeing them again, I don't really miss them when they are away. I think that implies a GOOD and HEALTHY relationship: I have my own busy life to lead, and don't pine for them when they are not here.

So last night, together with Mom and No1 Son, we picked the younger one up at the airport, and headed back into town where, because he wanted some RENDANG for his first meal back here, we went to the NO EYE DEER in Tanjung Tokong. Usual friendly proprietor KEN was there, trying to keep his head above water because despite it being a wet and rainy Saturday night they were quite busy.

As I'd had a full lunch (took my cousin SUZE who was here for a flying visit from KL for Cheng Beng to my favourite THAI STATION and we really indulged ... yumm!!) I refrained from ordering a meal for myself, but as Ken is well aware, I like to pick so he put a spare set of cutlery in front of me.

Both boys opted for the briyani, one with rendang and the other mutton curry. Both plates were cleared in record time. Mom had a steak which was unfortunately rather overdone but surprisingly not too tough - although I've only just been told we weren't charged for it. Husband MacD had a Chicken Parmigiana which he really enjoyed.

I like the place - it's friendly and unpretentious, with a well-thought out, reasonably-priced menu of local and western favourites; not haute cuisine and not the best in the world but good enough, hence his many regular clients. The beer is great value too - just RM35++ for a bucket of five bottles!

It was quite exciting to be invited to meet Eddie Jordan and The Robbers, who were performing at the Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa's posh Feringgi Grill last night.

I would have loved to interview him about his short stay in Penang, but unfortunately there wasn't time, although he did give some entertaining insight into his life in the fast lane during his time in Formula 1 racing.

The dinner was a simple 3-course meal consisting of good basic ingredients: their famous home-made tomato soup came with a dribble of pandan oil, which gave it a subtle quite [Photo]fragrant aftertaste, although it wasn't a "sweet" flavour as one would expect.

This was followed by lamb or cod (I chose the latter) which was served on a wooden chopping board (hence the name "Wood Plank Cod, although to be frank I didn't see what difference that made to it!), and a Chocolate Volcano without the lava - it was a bit dry, and would have made a world of difference if served with a molten centre or a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Still, one can't complain too much as I was an invited guest!

In between courses, Eddie kept diners entertained with some anecdotes and trivia about the famous race, and after that we adjourned to the Feringgi Lounge where we were treated to a loud but good bit of music from his four piece band, of which he is the drummer. For geriatric rockers they weren't bad at all. However, it's pretty sad but oldies like me found it a bit much (on top of the fact that I wasn't feeling too good and still aren't brill now) so I left at that point. They are off to KL today to perform at the Hard Rock Cafe for the next 2 nights, so do catch them if you can.

Last night my elder boy Tom returned for the first time since he started uni in UK in October, where he's for reasons unfathomable to me reading Chemistry. It's not that he's not bright - he is - but he isn't the most "with it" boy. Case in point being that I received an sms (I insist he does that every leg of the journey, OAOM that I am - in case you don't know what that stands for see previous blog) when he arrived at Dubai to say that he'd left the champagne on the plane. And oh by the way he was sorry. That's all!! I could have x**!@@#$ him quite happily.

On the way to the airport to pick him up we stopped at the Ubi Food Court in Tanjung Tokong to have a bite. It's by the traffic lights, one of the new ones which opened up a few years ago and closed down again cos the food was really quite inedible (I remember trying the lor bak which was abysmal and saying, "I give them six months if this is the standard of their food" - my prophesy came true - they closed down not long after). However, they reopened under new management a couple of years ago. I have to say the Kuey Teow T'ng I had was not bad at all. It cost RM3, but had two sizeable chunks of minced pork together with three firm and tasty fishballs and a couple of slices of pork. Well worth it.

The Kangkong Sotong however was a disappointment. It was RM6 for a small portion, but not very tasty. Still, you can't win them all. I will gladly go back for the Kueh Teow T'ng.

Anyway we got to the airport at about midnight to find out the plane had landed 10 mins before, so it wasn't too long a wait before my No.1 son came out. It was good to see him, even if he had done what I consider a relatively stupid thing: pierced not just his right ear lobe and bottom lip, but also his TONGUE! Oh my did I freak out. Still, at 19 he is an adult. However I did put my foot down - I'm not paying for any more.