FEELING SPICY?

THE SHANGRI-LA'S RASA SAYANG RESORT AND SPA invited a group of journalists and food writers/bloggers to try out their Spice Market Cafe's evening buffet last week, as they've just introduced a revamped offer; instead of the BOGOF offer (Buy One Get One Free) it's now buy TWO and get one free. Still a pretty good offer I think.

Unfortunately I couldn't make the press evening, but they did host me to one a couple of nights ago, and I was really delighted to see that they are now one of the most popular buffets in town - and I'm not just saying this because they invited me. Believe me, I've been known to give them my frank unadulterated opinion about the taste and quality (never quantity, which is always amazing) of the food there, and it's not always been positive, especially when they first started three years ago. However, they are well aware of one thing: my carping has always been with their interests at heart. For that price, BOGOF or not, they MUST give the best. And they ARE really now one of the best in town. Not many other places give you such good quality food.

And giving credit where it's due, they have taken my comments to heart, and I'm delighted to report that the other night was just as good. Their fresh seafood is second to none - stacks of prawns and slipper lobster, literally - and there is a good choice of sashimi, Indian, local, and western, not to mention their "Theatre Kitchen", where you can select whatever is on offer for your delectation and have it wok'ed or fried up in front of you, all washed down with freshly-squeezed juice (although this costs extra).

Their satay is not bad, and the northern Indian curries are quite authentic. Of course their desserts are outstanding, and it's even got a die-hard pudding fan like me beat, there's just so much of it! I'm delighted to be able to be so whole-hearted in my praise for them, and I think they have become one of those places Penangites head for when they want a really special buffet.

The Spice Market Cafe's Buy 2 get one free is available until 17 December at RM104++ per adult (RM52++ per child), 6.30-10.30pm Mondays to Thursdays, so take advantage of this while you can - we are! This is in conjunction with the Feringgi Grill and their poolside Pinang Bar where if you order two mains you'll get a third on the house.

OOH LA LA!

ONE OF THE THINGS I FORGOT TO mention that we did to keep our guests entertained was to attend the Alliance Francaise's "Cheese and Wine Evening" last Friday night. It's quite a nice thing to do, and gives visitors the impression (just that, unfortunately), that we are fairly civilised here ... ! A bit of "koolcha" like, you know wot I mean?

Indeed, when we are sitting there enjoying the alfresco evening, gently perspiring in the sweltering humidity, a glass of wine in your hand (or two ... ), even down to the French "waiter" and "waitress" (members of the AF). Those things combined with the chatter of rapid fire French all around really bring me back to our times spent in France - both when we visited as tourists (short hop via the Chunnel) and also the three years we spent there when my husband was transferred there in the early 90s. It was a wonderful time of my life, and I look back on it with fond affection. In fact, we came back with an unforgettable memento ...

HOWEVER, despite having lived there and in Europe for over two decades, one of the (many) things I am not fond of is cheese, especially the pungent ones which the French love (Brie for instance smells like condensed milk gone off to me - yukh! As for chevre (goat's cheese) - boy, it's like someone's unwashed armpit ... not that I have smelt many but I think that's what it smells like ... !!!). But I guess they may not be too fond of our belacan either yeah?

In fact, it is one of my little anecdotes: when we moved out to Tourrettes-sur-Loup in the South of France, although I didn't eat cheese, I could at least indulge in a glass or two (or more) of the other thing they are famous for: wine. Then I went and fell pregnant with our second boy so that put paid to that because of course one shouldn't drink at all when expecting! Great timing!!

So although I enjoy these evenings, it is more to see my husband enjoying himself tucking into the 12 or so cheeses that are specially brought in by hand all the way from France, and the social part of the evening, meeting other people and chatting to them.

It was a good opportunity for Bro-in-law and wife to see a few of the different nationalities we have here, and gave them a break from eating yet more local/Chinese food which of course has been on the menu rather a lot since they arrived!

It's good value too, RM60 for non-members, which includes a salad with a great French vinaigrette dressing, lots of bread - essential for the cheese I'm told - and the cheeses themselves, and a quite tasty strawberry tart with frangipanni flavour. I HAD to sneak a taste lah ... all in the name of duty of course. No corkage if you bring your own wines, or you can buy some there.

I WAS GUTTED ....

... that I couldn't make it to the launch of the Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday night, because of a dinner we were hosting in town which had been planned long before I got the invitation. However, I gather it all went quite well, and many congratulations to HRC for rocking Penang. I can't wait for the next invitation to eat there (hint hint).

HOWEVER our dinner at the East Hokkaido in Jalan Bagan Jermal (again) was very successful, not least because of the food which was tasty and plentiful. I love the fact that their private rooms have karaoke sets in them, so we were able to sing along (although my Brit bro-in-law was aghast at the thought of having to get up and perform, which is not the case at all; it's just nice to be able to belt out old favourites with everyone else). And of course one doesn't scare the other patrons away cos you're safely tucked out of sight.

It's really been all go, with dinners and/or (mostly and) drinks every night, and more to come before they leave next week. Once they have gone I am DEFINITELY going to have to detox and fast for a week ... or well, at least a day anyway. The old weight is piling on, and my liver is probably saying, "Hmm, this old gal is giving me a run for my money."

Last night, for instance, we were invited to the RED ROCK HOTEL's Chinese Restaurant, and the food was typically Cantonese eaten banquet-style ie by course. There was masses of food which was well presented BUT I get the feeling the restaurant just want folks to eat up and go home, cos the food kept coming halfway through the previous course, so there seemed to be considerable pressure for you to finish up asap as the next dish was there, served up into small plates, and waiting.

There was a good "4 seasons" to start with, and the "Seafood Soup" was excellent - it tasted just like shark's fin, esp with a dash of black vinegar, so much so I wonder WHY people bother to kill the poor old shark just for their fins when this will do just as well - I'm really glad to see hostesses are ordering this delicacy less and less now). Same went for the Fried Scampi which was done the same way as "Hoo Chee" - fried foo yong style with egg served wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves. Very tasty.

The "8 Treasure" Braised Duck was not really my favourite, because the filling was a bit too stodgy, but if I'm honest it was also because I was, by this stage, getting quite full. After that came a Prawn Curry eaten with bread, followed by Brocolli and Mushroom (token vegetable dish), and Tau Tay cooked in two ways - I think this was a defrosted fish as, although the flesh was fresh, it had that certain aroma that only frozen fish has.

Desserts were Mua Chi, Pancake and red dates in syrup baked in a whole coconut. Our host and hostess P&W really did us proud, esp as everything was accompanied by some palatable wines and ended with a splash of Macallan's, that very Scottish whisky. Thanks P&W, for another great meal. AI YO how not to put on weight?!! The gym beckons ...

I'D RATHER PLAY GOLF ...

than go to Ingolf's in Hillside again, to be honest. And anyone who knows me knows I'd rather be hung by my thumbs and tickled than play that "sport", as I'm not one of those, like my husband (mad dogs and Englishmen and all that) who can spend a few days a week traipsing up and down this HUGE green chasing after this little white ball and trying to ensure it gets into a tiny hole from a few hundred yards away. And of course the sun beating down turning me dark in 5 mins doesn't help.

So bro-in-law and his mrs kindly offered to take all of us out, including Mom et al, and as bro-in-law had been there before (last time he came here - 5 years ago), he thought that would be a nice place to go.

Me, I'm personally not that fond of that kind of Northern European food, but went along. It was, after all, their treat. I had rung up to book during the day, and had been asked whether I wanted "smoking or non-smoking" to which the obvious answer was, "Non." "Then that means a table on the top floor," she replied.

Little did I know that the top floor ONLY serves a very expensive German beer - no local beers at all. If you wanted that, it had to be on the GROUND and "mezzanine" floors. ONLY after we had sat down and were enquiring about drinks were we told that. When I complained about this (that's called a SITTING DUCK in case you wondered why) I was told, "The entire floor was sponsored by the beer company".

"So why wasn't this mentioned when I rang up to book?"

"Because you said no smoking." "

"Why didn't you also mention that we could only order this expensive beer if we were on this floor then?"

"Look," the less-than-courteous reply came, "if you want to move down it's no problem."

In other words, you're being difficult, but we are so nice here we are prepared to accommodate your request to move downstairs where you CAN get local beer, you CHEAPSKATE. No apology, and spoken as though WE were the pain in the asses who SHOULD HAVE READ HER MIND and KNOWN that the top floor only served imported beer. So it's me who should apologise I guess - so sorry I am not a clairvoyant. I am only a poor, stupid food writer who can't afford to pay for expensive imported beer. So so sorry. Tabek Tuan. Entshuldigen Sie.

So the six of us trooped back downstairs, where we got a fairly reasonable table right at the front of the place.

I ordered a "Pork Belly" which was beautifully presented but hard and dry, and tasted more like cardboard with a bit of lard. Definitely not something I'd order again for sure.

To give them their due everything does come with a good helping of fresh salad, and the others had Chicken Schnitzel (the waiter couldn't even pronounce it) and a Beef Roll which were all OK but looked rather similar as everything was covered with a greyish sauce which could have come out of a box.

They probably nuked my dish deliberately cos I was the difficult ___ who had complained and didn't want to pay RM18++ for a small glass of imported beer. Their prices are quite reasonable (except for imported beer ... !! - had to get that in), and their Set Lunches are good value for money. Service overall was OK except for that waitress's poor attitude.

However, I felt that the special occasion was soured by what had been an unreasonable situation to place us in. A simple apology would have sufficed.

LIVING IT UP AT THE PARKROYAL PENANG

HAVING A RIGHT ROYAL ... OR RATHER PARKROYAL TIME. Not me so much as my brother-in-law and his wife, newly arrived from UK last week.

We've been doing a few things with them, showing them round Penang, and why we have chosen to live here instead of cold, expensive, UK, where the most popular weekend pasttime is ... wait for it ... supermarket shopping, because most people have not the money nor inclination to do REAL things. Which, even if they did, are so crowded that you can't be bothered anyway.

So we've done the usual: dinner at Northam Beach Cafe the night they arrived. "What would you like?" "Noodles would be nice." "What sort of noodles?" As we only have a few varieties, right? Fried, souped, claypotted, sizzling, then the various subcategories of course. In the end I recommended a Sizzling Noodle dish which she quite enjoyed I think, and bro-in-law had some Thai Pineapple Fried Rice and grilled fish. It was rather an eye opener for them.

The next day we took them for a drive up to Teluk Bahang to see the Tropical Fruit Farm, when we were lucky enough to come by, of all things, some tail end wild durians for sale! We decided to stop and try some but of course as soon as they caught sight of Mat Sallehs these canny vendors were more than happy to supply them at probably double the price. Still it was worth it, as sis-in-law had never tried them before - she devoured them quite happily. They're not as stinky as when they're in full season though, but still quite tasty.

That night it was Long Beach for more noodles. Bro-in-law tucked into a plate of prawns which he adores, then a quick walk to see the things you can live without in the stalls.

The weekend was spent more or less chilling out both to avoid the crowds (Deepavali of course) and to get over their jetlag.

Today, they're living it up at the Parkroyal, albeit sharing the pool (and gorgeous grounds) with some showers which appear to be abating even as I type - the sun is poking its head out. However, their Day Membership is really quite worth it, at RM35++ and you are allowed use of the pool just to R&R, get a bit of the old 4-5 Star treatment without paying through the nose to stay in a hotel. On top of that you get RM20 back towards F&B at Cool Bananas, who do some quite passable food. I'd recommend it to friends who visit any time. It's also a good opportunity for them to enjoy some pool time away from us.

Ho hum, back to Long Beach tonight as sis-in-law fancies some prawns!

NYONYA DELIGHTS

PENANG IS ALREADY CHOCK-A-BLOCK WITH RESTAURANTS, so it takes guts to open one. It takes even more guts in my mind to open a NYONYA restaurant, seeing as that is the sort of food many Penangites eat at home! That is why there really aren't that many in town.

KENNETH YIP is the brave lad who is proprietor of the SRI BATIK NYONYA CAFE in New World Park. It's the little place next to Star View, the interior an eclectic mix of Chinese and Peranakan artefacts - he loves his antiques, does Kenneth - and despite all odds has survived and is now well on its way to becoming one of Penang's stalwarts.

When I first reviewed it for Star Metro North's Gourmet Guide a few years ago, he was based in Bukit Jambul. That one has since closed down as he has decided, wisely, to concentrate on one good one instead of two mediocre ones. This said, it was not fantastically brilliant then, and throughout the years as I've gone back either as a guest or a reviewer it has had its ups and downs. HOWEVER, I am glad to see that he has persevered, and been prepared to listen to comments (primarily from me!) about the quality, taste, and authenticity of his dishes, and it is definitely on the up and up.

One of his best is his Lemak Perut Ikan, but it really should be eaten with rice as it can be quite tart. However, the other day he asked me to try a few new dishes: Yam Pork, Kiam Hu Kut Tng and his very own home-made nyonya sausages.

Hate to think of the state of my cholesterol but they were all really quite palatable, particularly the soup - delish, full-bodied and fragrant with "dan lau kiam hu". And big chunks of belly of pork ... hmmmm ... And he's FINALLY got his Prawn Sambal Goreng right, flavourwise, as it really was not very good before, and I took him to task over it several times. It's almost there - really delicious combination of coconut and belacan with a hint of bruised lemon grass - although it was still a tad too creamy for my taste - can be a bit "jelak" so he has to tone that down slightly.

I also like his RED BEAN ICE BLENDED, a concoction he came up with which is very tasty and refreshing. And oh btw - he's moving across the way to bigger premises still within New World Park so well done to him for staying the course, and I really wish him all the best.

By the hair of my CHINNY CHIN'S CHIN'S ...

AND NO, IT'S NOT MENOPAUSE MAKING ITS PRESENCE FELT ... I WAS HONOURED TO BE INVITED TO one of the newest restaurants in town last night - in fact, it's so new it's not even open to the public yet! Only private bookings are being taken at the moment, which is a great idea as it gets the staff up and running without overwhelming them.

CHIN'S is based in Weld Quay directly opposite the hip QEII; both are owned by proprietor David Chin, who used to run a similar restaurant in London in the 80s and 90s.

The dark interior is cosy and quite classy, if you'll pardon the alliteration; shades of Soho in Penang Road, and so it should be, as both were done up by David himself, a UK-trained graphics designer. As you enter, a large colourful wall mural consisting of icons through the years, greets you - Chairman Mao, Marilyn Munroe, Michael Jackson, etc - it was commissioned by David and hand painted for him in China, as were all the plates which mark each placing at the tables.

Inside, chandeliers dangle down from the ceiling, each one unique, although I fell in love with the gorgeous round ones which hang over the bar, shaped like traditional Chinese lanterns but made of red glass which glint as they swivel. Several of the round tables give you a fantastic view of the sea, which is particularly beautiful at night as the lights reflect on the water.

As for the food, every dish has been chosen for its uniqueness: the cuisine, though primarily Chinese (hence his tagline Stylish Chinese Cuisine), is a mix of Szechuan and Cantonese with a dash of Beijing and other mainland Chinese influences. Many ingredients, he assured me, have to be specially imported from China - a case in point is the spicy, aromatic Szechuan peppers which are used in the Spicy and Hot Poached Fish. The fish is sliced so thinly that it cooks as soon as it is dunked into the scalding soup-like sauce, but I don't think any boiling is involved so it is as smooth as silk. But be warned - it is rather spicy.

We started with some cold appetisers which include Sweet Sliced Lotus Root, Hunan Seaweed, and Century Egg with Grilled Red Peppers, then a hot Diced Venison in Spicy Drip - quite tasty, but my favourite was the speciality he used to serve in his London restaurant: Chin's Aromatic Crispy Duck, served with tiny home-made pancakes into which you place the shredded duck, adding some slivers of cucumber and spring onions, together with some hoi sin sauce and, for chili addicts, some chili padi. Mmmm ... really reminded me of Chinese restaurants in London.

The next course was a real treat: real French Foie Gras - Goose Liver - and although I'm not a real fan of it myself, had to try some - it was really smooth and creamy; tres delicieux with the pear and laurel blossom, and probably tres expensive too.

I thought the Cang Jin Tau was excellent, although that was probably because I didn't have a chance to try the Beef Tenderloin in Hot Stone Oil cooked a table cos it disappeared almost as soon as it was put on the table. The savouries ended with crunchy and healthy "5-coloured Organic Fried Rice" because, according to David, "we must have our five colours a day"!

One would have thought we'd be full up by now but no - dessert was a rather unusual Pumpkin Cake with some sort of dark tao sar filling. Service was excellent, but that could have had something to do with the fact that the boss was eating with us. And there weren't many other patrons there that night!

They only open in earnest at the end of November, when the menu proper will be decided - and with such avant garde dishes, he is definitely setting out to attract the sort of set who don't want just the same-old same-old plonk everything on a plate in the middle, help yourself typically Cantonese dishes. Apart froM Sesame+Soy at the g Hotel, I think CHIN'S is set to be the Chinese fine dining place in town. Can't wait for the opening ... !!

SEA BREEZES NOTWITHSTANDING

IT'S SAD, BUT IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO GET ME EXCITED! Just show me a place where I can take a few friends, has reasonably-priced tasty food with a good choice of dishes, and I'm happy. Of course it musn't charge corkage either - or at least not much.

SO when I was told about the Sea Breeze in Tanjung Bungah, situated next to the Naza Hotel, I thought, "Great!" And along we trot to try it out, cos my bro-in-law and his wife are coming out here this week, and I'm putting together a list of places to take them.

First impression wasn't too brilliant if I'm honest - it's a bit haphazard, there are several names displayed so it's difficult to tell which is which, and the people didn't seem to know what was going on.

That should really have given me an inkling of what was to come, but those minor problems aside, I thought the place had potential. It is almost right by the sea - just a small stretch of beach between that and the waves, which were beating on the shore as it was quite windy that night, living up to its name, and gave it a really fantastic background sound - and the beer was reasonable - RM45+ (I think - can't remember!) for a bucket of 6 bottles of Carlsberg.

The menu seemed quite good too - it's one of those old-fashioned "choo char" places which does seafood and a range of western dishes, and even better, had some ice cream sundaes for dessert, all fairly reasonably-priced. In fact, I was really quite excited that I'd found somewhere I could bring friends and family for a nice pleasant evening out. See, I told you it doesn't take much to get me going!

HOWEVER from there on everything ground to a halt. The Chicken Cordon Bleu (probably frozen ready-made stuff) was a disaster - my husband is not, unlike me, a fussy eater, and whatever you put in front of him he generally polishes off with nary a complaint. However he thought it was disappointing and as even our son said, "If Dad says it's bad, it must be pretty awful!"

My son's steak wasn't that much better either - at RM20+ it isn't expensive, but when it came it was rather a small piece. Everything was coated in a thick bland sauce.

OK so maybe they weren't good at western. Maybe we should just stick to what we should be good at - local dishes. Uhhhh ... the crab "sui luak" (sour hot) that I had ordered was a mild sweet and sour rather than sour hot, and this was the first time I'd ever had crab which had first been deep-fried (personally I think it may have been to mask the fact that it was frozen but then I may be wrong) which dried out the flesh and made it difficult to extract, although this may have been because it had been frozen then defrosted quickly) making it very difficult to eat, so a lot of it was wasted. The fried rice was OK, but the beef and brocolli was disappointing too.

As for the sundae, not great either - the Nutty Professor was just two scoops of cheap ice cream with some chopped nuts sprinkled over.

TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, the total bill despite a 10% discount came to RM124 for 3 of us - the wasted crabs cost RM32 (RM16 each). Not worth the money, methinks. However, if you're just after somewhere to sit and have a natter over fairly cheap beer and perhaps some snacks, then it's worth paying a visit.

AI YO YO ... ASTERO ...

IT'S BEEN A QUIET WEEK with not much to report, so I'm taking this opportunity to write about something which has been bugging me for a while ... ASTRO TV!

Whilst acknowledging that as a result of their company we now have much more choice on TV channel-wise than before, it is nevertheless really ANNOYING and IRRITATING that they repeat so many programmes that I've ended up not watching anything now. On top of that there doesn't seem to be any beginning or ending for series.

A case in point is what was a favourite - BBCE. When it was announced that at last we would get it here a few years ago, I was ecstatic - I'd had enough of Star World with its American humour and canned laughter (granted there WERE some good ones - FRIENDS is an eternal favourite. Great writing, great acting, great characters, great everything. Loved them, and soooooo sad when the series ended. However, most were pretty DUH.) At last here was a bit of KOOLCHA (culture) and good TV, bringing back memories of when I lived there, catching up on actors and programmes, and happenings in Old Blighty.

And indeed, at the start, we were able to watch many programmes that were not available before, many of them serials which I'd missed from oh so long ago. So you get engrossed in a series, and watch it for a few weeks. Only to find that there's no ending, because with no warning, the programme disappears into, literally, thin air. You don't hear anything about it again.

(The sexy Martin Shaw as the "maverick" judge - image from internet)

They've all been like that - Dalziel and Pascoe, Silent Witness, Hotel Babylon, Judge John Deed etc etc. Yet others that I cannot imagine anyone enjoying after the first viewing are repeated so often that one can practically say the words along with the actor I think - especially those that are on what seems like five times a day. Take "My Family", "Strictly Come Dancing" and others of similar ilk. Yuk.

It's got to the stage that apart from The Weakest Link (many of the programmes have been repeated COUNTLESS times - the only reason I watch it is I can't remember the answers ... however, the old brain isn't THAT far gone yet - I can however remember the faces of the participants ... well, you would, after they've been on ten times!) we more or less switch off the TV now. It reminds me of that old saying, "Television is very educational. Whenever the TV is switched on, I go to another room to read."

I'm not sure why Astro does this to its customers. After all, it's not that cheap. And surely it cannot be that difficult to have an organised serial complete with beginning and end ... ? Instead of bringing out more and more channels (and by definition more and more repeats), please get your existing ones up to scratch first.

AI YO YO

ASTERO

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

NO REPEATS

Can you try and bring us complete serials and let's not have so many repeats.

HARD ROCK ROCKS!

OK THEY'VE BEEN OPEN FOR two weeks now, so what is the state of play at Penang's hottest happening place?

"It's been a bit busier than we anticipated," said the dry-humoured GM John Primmer, who has lost some weight since I last saw him, making his six foot something frame even taller. (He doesn't even have time to eat, it's been THAT busy!) And of course he's being modest - the novelty value of Hard Rock Hotel, which opened on 19 September, has not died down. They are packed, especially at weekends, when occupancy is practically 100%. In fact, the first few days they even had to turn people away!

As for the Hard Rock Cafe, their flagship f&b outlet, one has to practically book several days in advance, it's been that popular. On top of that, they are already catering for corporate and private functions. Last night when I was there they had THREE on. It's a bit tough for a very new outfit to handle, and would account for some delay in the food we had ordered from their seafront pizzeria, but I can appreciate the sorts of things they have to tackle. Even the Rasa Sayang had teething problems when they reopened 3 years ago.

In the hotel itself, they've tried for a chic and contemporary ambiance which has been quite successful: everything is white and modern. The ground-floor rooms have direct access to the long pool (longest in Penang) so families with children under 14 can't book them - I can understand why. Original items which used to belong to famous (and not so famous) rock stars line some walls and the cafe itself, including Madonna's famous bustier which is "priceless", according to Elisa Saw, their Communications Manager. In fact, their warehouse in the US stocks some 70,000 original items which they have been collecting since the 1970s! Hmmm ... I wonder if they want an original Helen Ong bra ... comes a lot cheaper. In fact, it will be priceless too ... but only cos no one will want to pay anything for it!!!!!

The pizzeria serves pizza and pastas, and Hard Rock Cafe the typical iconic menu which has made it such a famous name: burgers, chicken wings, potato skins and such like. Today I was there - again - for the launch of "Pinktober", the continuation of a 10-year worldwide campaign to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.

They will be selling t-shirts and pins at the hotel - I've rather got my eye on the dangling pink ribbon adorned with pink rhinestones ... but a bit pricey at RM75. However, 75% will go towards charity. Throughout October, they will also be holding a charity auction for a "Hello Kitty" Special Edition Fender electric guitar. Can't quite see my son playing on it somehow, as it's all pink ... ! There will be various smoothies and mocktails available, alcoholic and otherwise. It's a great cause, and it's great to see our latest hotel doing things for the good of society almost as soon as they open.

It's early days yet, but already I can see that they will be rocking Penang. Just a few minor things to iron out, but knowing John, it shouldn't be a problem. Rock on, Hard Rock!