DATO' KERAMAT PADANG

ONE AFTERNOON I WAS DRIVING BACK FROM the other side of town and felt a bit peckish, so decided to do something I've been meaning to for a while: stop by the eating stalls at The Padang just off Jalan Dato' Keramat. It's a good place to pop into for hawker food in the afternoons, as not many hawker centres are open that time of day.

Floods of nostalgia swept through me as I approached: as a kid, it was the place to go for "Ch'neh Hoo" (Raw Fish), nowadays known as "Pasembor" - the lines between the two local salads have blurred so much they seem to be one and the same dish now; but please correct me if I am wrong (even older Penangites I spoke to seem to equate the two now). However, the CH my mother used to love was called that for a reason: the salad used to have bits of raw fish in it. I'm not sure, but there don't seem to be any now.

Anyway it hasn't changed much, if at all: there are still the two semi-circle of shops opposite each other; the Chinese one is open from lunchtime-ish through to early evening, and the Muslim cum Malay food from late afternoon through to night. There's a playground in the middle which I must have played in although I can't remember doing so! Some of the tables must date back to that time too, they seem so old and decrepit.

Some of the stallholders seem to have been there since then too: the Ice Kacang (delish and refreshing especially that hot sunny afternoon) seller apparently (although I think the woman who was in charge that day is a second or even third generation).

; the Hokkien Mee which was OK, the laksa and others. The Char Kuey Teow stall was doing a roaring trade, but I was a bit disappointed to see that to cope with the orders during peak times (weekends and public holidays) he fries up a large basic batch first then refries each plate as and when the order comes in. The Popiah Seller was something else: she is typical of those who have become very successful and made a name for themselves with people are queueing up for their food, so her attitude seemed to be, "You could take it or leave it". So I left it.

The nyonya kueh seller is also very popular.

Across the way the pasembur, mee goreng and mee rebus all seemed fairly authentic; cheerful 27-year old Mohd Ubai Ghani and his brother are the third generation of his family to sell there. My only slight concern is the colours: the reds seem slightly too vibrant to be all natural, not that they are claiming to be so of course.

As it was mid-afternoon, most of the other stalls were either not open or just preparing for their evening trade, many boiling up huge vats of Sup Kambing or Ayam (Mutton or Chicken Soup, a la Malay style).

Despite some negative aspects (but then which place hasn't) it really is worth paying a visit if you fancy some fairly authentic hawker or Mamak food.

KHONG KHONG LAK PEYK ...

... otherwise known as 0068 in Hokkien, is one of the tea houses I wrote about in my Sunday Metro column yesterday. But because there were other tea houses in the article, it stands to reason that there wasn't much detail, so I wanted to add a bit more here.

Formerly the Shui Xiang, this unpretentious little place is small but friendly, and tea aside, they used to have a really great menu of which my favourite was their Vietnamese Beef Pho - kuey teow to you and me. The brisket was simmered with spices (notably star anise), roasted onions and rock sugar, resulting in a dark and delicious full-bodied aniseedy soup with large chunks of tender, soft as butter beef which was served with kuey teow and a huge handful of fresh green coriander, mint and spring onions. And obligatory chilli padi of course. It was fantastic, and at RM8 or so one of the best in town.

UNFORTUNATELY with new management, they recently decided to revamp the menu and although they have kept some of their other popular dishes (like their Indonesian Fried Rice and Ikan Tiga Rasa), this one they did not, because apparently it wasn't that popular and takes an awful lot of work to prepare. What a shame. That is one dish I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone.

The menu is now more Chinese, because the wife of new partner Darren Tan is from mainland, and does most of the cooking. Apart from her special xiang la xia (fragrant spicy prawns) steamboat, she's now offering quite a few new dishes, as you can see, mostly home-cooking "choo char" from Szechuan as she is from around that region. It's non halal.

There's even a fried julienned potato dish. It's all quite tasty, if a tad salty, but well worth a visit, if only just to see the restored shop house alone. because it's not too pricey, and the food is quite different from the usual that you have here in Penang. And of course, there's always the wonderful selection of tea available to try!

THE VIEW's really fantastic from here...

I'VE ALWAYS LIKED THE EQUATORIAL HOTEL PENANG. From its commanding position on top of Bukit Jambul, it is a real haven - for once this is the correct usage of the word; quite often it is incorrectly used to describe Penang as somewhere with good food when the word should be HEAVEN and not a SAFE place, protected from the rest of the world - because as soon as you walk in, you literally leave the noisy hustle and bustle behind.

Every time I go there I delight in its four f&b outlets, and the other evening was no exception, when I was invited to try the new menu at their aptly-named "The View" Restaurant. There are not many places left in Penang where you can tuck into some good French/Mediterranean food courtesy of Executive Chef Junious and his local Sous Chef Looi , and yet be able to enjoy gorgeous scenery at the same time.

Whether you go for lunch or dinner, it's the same excellent standard. However, at night the view is stunning - it really lives up to its name then - and there's a muted elegance about the place which the efficient service enhances, and the pianist tinkling on the ivories just adds that much more charm.

I particularly delight in the fact that it is a semi-buffet, so you can have a selection of starters (salads and seafood etc) to put you in the right mood. After a light cleansing sorbet, a "soup of the day" is served a table, then your main course is brought to you.

There's a good but not overly large choice, which is important because too big and I start to wonder how they cope. There's Les Poissons, fish, but of course, as France is famous for its seafood, Les Grillades (grilled items), and some hand-made pasta - the Foie Gras Ravioli, a sort of very upmarket wantan, is well worth a try.

Apart from the popular steaks and cod, they're very proud of their L'Assiette de Canard: duo of braised duck confit with smoked duck breast served on mashed potatoes flavoured with truffle oil and quite rightly so - it was delicious (I had to try it of course after such recommendation): crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

Desserts are also served buffet style, again an excellent idea as far as I am concerned - how could one limit oneself to just one sweet when there are so many delicious ones to try! The price depends on which main coursse you go for.

The key word here is semi - the choice is not huge, but what there is is good. I definitely recommend it especially if you want to go somewhere for a special night out. Come Valentine's Night, they're offering a romantic six-course dinner. It will be heavenly. Hmmm ... I wonder how I'm going to hint to my Old Man about it ...

Daorae - Korean BBQ

ONE NICE THING ABOUT GROWING OLDER (if there are any) is that people tend to spoil you more for your birthday - as I will attest. The celebrations (or should that be commiserations) are not yet over for the year: a friend took me to lunch at Daorae in Tg Tokong today. It was actually supposed to be Korean Palace but it was shut being a Wednesday.

However that was probably a good thing, because this smart newly-opened place (formerly a tau sar peah place) was quite impressive. Partly new broom and all that I'm sure, but the waiters were very keen to please, and service was prompt and friendly. I think parking may become a problem in the evening, as it's along the busy main road, but it wasn't today.

I'm not a real fan of Korean food if I'm honest; all that kimchi is a bit much for me; and most dishes seem to include it. However, once in a while it does make a change from the same old, same old, and we were quite impressed with the food. It was tasty and there were plenty of side dishes and condiments accompanying the Pork and Chicken BBQ including .... kimchi, but of course.

It's rather like eating a form of spring roll except there's no wrapper ... and no bangkwang ... but, as the friendly chef showed us, you get a piece of fresh lettuce leaf, put in a piece of barbequed meat, a piece of garlic dipped in sesame oil and salt mix, a dab of chilli paste and their spring onion salad of sorts. Then you fold it up and munch on it. Quite a nice way of combining protein with fresh vegetables.

We left quite stuffed to the gills, as you can see from the empty plates. I'm not sure how pricey it was as it was, after all, a birthday treat!

My only problem with BBQ a table is that no matter how good the extractor fan is (and this was not bad), one still gets remnants of smoke and grease on one's hair and clothes. But the good thing was the chef cooked the food for us, so at least we were spared the bulk of it.

ROLL ON next birthday ... I quite like this being spoilt lark ... But come to think of it maybe not cos it means ANOTHER YEAR OLDER!!!

SUFFOLK HOUSE, Penang's 200-year old grand old late-Georgian mansion set along the banks of the Ayer Itam River, was all aglow last week. The earliest earliest surviving “Great House of Penang” and considered the purest example of Anglo-Indian architecture outside India, it was the scene of a reception hosted by His Excellency W Boyd McCleary CVO, British High Commissioner to Malaysia and Mandy Johnson, Director of the British Council, Malaysia.

The event was held in honour of Donald Hyslop, Head of Regeneration and Community Partnerships, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, and Chair of Better Bankside.

Amongst the VIPs there were Ooi Geok Ling, Managing Director of Penang Global Tourism, together with YB Danny Law and many other dignitaries. Representing the Chief Minister was YB Chow Kon Yeow, who replied to McLeary's short and humorous speech welcoming Hyslop. The pix is of McLeary presenting YB Chow with a copy of the lease of Penang to give to the CM.

Wine flowed freely, but best of all was the feeling in everyone's mind that they were actually in an historical site: one which, despite its dubious beginnings (the house is built on land once owned by Captain Francis Light; upon his death his executors cheated his common-law wife Martina Rozells of her inheritance and instead sold it to William Edwards Phillip who subsequently became a Governor of Penang. Hence began Suffolk House's connection with the seat of government: the founding of Singapore was apparently discussed here, when Sir Stamford Raffles and his wife had dinner in the Marble Hall, which was where the dining room would have been), there is a certain somber grandeur that Heritage Architect Lawrence Loh did a great job in retaining. The whole restoration has been wonderfully and lovingly carried out. Kudos to the activists who worked hard by lobbying local government to not just prevent it from being torn down (it was sealed off in the '70s as it was considered a dangerous structure) BUT also successfully raising funds for its restoration.

The restaurant there is run by the same people who own No32 and Bagan, so well worth a visit, and I'm delighted that we have yet another fine-dining place to go to when we want a special evening out. With so many places closing down, we need a few more to take their places.

FOOD FORUM

YESTERDAY was my birthday proper, so had dinner with family members at a place I have not frequented for a while, partly because the last time we were there the food was, if I'm frank, not that brill.

THE FORUM CHINESE RESTAURANT on the 3rd floor of Island Plaza in Tg Tokong was full that night because they had a wedding on. That made it quite lau juak but rather noisy, even despite the fact that we had a private room. But as it was mainly because of the fact that we were able to book a private room, as you will understand from my previous oft-heard lament, that we were there in the first place. However, it actually added a bit of free background music except for a few terrible moments when some young kids had appropriated the mike and were hollering "Dancing Queen" and other songs into it at the top of their voices. Thankfully, the professional singer (I think anyway, she was quite good but maybe it was only in comparison to the god-awful kids) managed to grab it back.

ANYWAY I digress. This time round, I was delighted to say, the food was mostly very good - and despite having to cater for a wedding dinner outside, they delivered it hot. BUT I had to go out and throw a bit of a wobbly cos I'd told them to HOLD the food halfway through as we wanted to play a game (that's another reason I like having a private room) and they said, "Yes, yes, yes," and continued serving the food. They soon stopped, and only served up when I gave them the nod. One of my biggest problems about dining in Malaysia is dinner can start at 730pm and finish by 8.30 - hey! I'm paying all this money and I'd like to enjoy it slowly and at my leisure! We're also with friends and family we may not have seen for a while so it's nice to be able to chat to them and not have our mouths stuffed full all the time as they keep bringing course after course before we've even finished what's on the table!!

THE Four Seasons was very tasty, great Salad Prawns, Kerabu and Taufu but I didn't actually try the Spring Rolls.

The Tau Tay was cooked two ways: fins and other extremities including the head deep-fried to such crispiness not one bit remained, and the flesh stir-fried: very fresh. I also liked the Spare Ribs and Mixed Veg which was sort of in a soup there was so much gravy! Of course being a BIRTHDAY dinner had to have LAM MEE which was OK - but have to say it was not as good as MINE as I would have used a lot more crab meat and pee hu (dried plaice). Still, the sambal was delish.

Finally we each had a piece of Strawberry and Mandarin Cheesecake from Traders Hotel - it was very good, but I could only have a teeny piece cos much much too full by then!

It was an excellent night; thanks everyone for coming. One of course has a reputation to upkeep, so the place I choose to not just eat at but invite others to partake of food with me must really live up to a standard, so thank you too to The Forum for doing me proud. Citibank cardholders get a 10% discount btw - although sadly this did not apply to the drinks which cost an arm and a leg!

HYDRO HAILS

THERE'S A REALLY NICE LITTLE PLACE which people have heard about but not many frequent, a shame because it's got good food and lovely surrounds: Palms Coffee House of the Hydro Hotel (formerly Hydro Majestic and Feringghi Beach). It's situated on the ground floor right next to the deep-blue swimming pool, and you can dine semi-alfresco with a view of the beautiful grounds. We were invited there last night to sample some of their new menu, and the breezes blowing in from the sea were really quite refreshing.

Save for the occasional roar of the traffic which whizzed by on the busy Batu Feringghi Road, it is a very pleasant place, and you even get entertained by the music from the all-girl Filipina band "D'Electric Blue' in the Sea Lounge upstairs!

As Executive Chef Zakaria (affectionately known as Zak) used to cook for no less exalted personage than the Sultan of Brunei himself, you can imagine his forte: yes, Malay food, and as he is from Johor, it covers a large range of fantastic curries and rices. Last night was no exception: the Nasi Kandar dishes which came out were excellent (a word I seldom use), particularly the Beef Rendang and Fish Curry.

From his Chinese chef came some delicious Chinese Ravioli soup and Shanghai Noodles (the only thing I can fault that with is it had a bit too much mushroom in it - not my favourite thing as you know - and a large dollop of chilli oil would have gone perfectly with it!).

HAVING SAID THAT, the reasonably-priced western dishes were and not to be sniffed at either. The Rack of Lamb was tender and tasty, as was the Beef. Good try with the lasagna but it was a tad dry and could have done with a bit more tomato puree. The Mixed Grill would have been my son's idea of heaven: a HUGE platter of steak, sausage and chicken sat on top of a MOUNTAIN of mash, covered with gravy.

Their nightly buffet is great value at just RM30++ and their Saturday BBQ is RM49++; they must be one of the cheapest in town! I was quite disappointed to hear that they'd stopped their Friday Night freeflow buffet due to lack of demand. Such things take years to build up - witness the E&O's very popular Friday and Saturday nights and of course the Rasa Sayang's Spice Market Cafe - and if you don't persevere it will never take off properly. And we can do with a cheap buffet this part of town really.

HOWEVER what I'd really like to try is their LADIES NIGHT on Thursdays where there's a 50% discount on all drinks for women (actually they say ladies but to be honest might be difficult to define one ... !!!). They should throw in a Chippendale or two ...

MAY your year be wonderful

RECENTLY A FRIEND kindly invited us to dinner at a little Chinese restaurant in town called the May Garden. It's the sort of place which serves traditional Cantonese food, and it was also nice to see they have something available there which not that plentiful anymore: private rooms. This is a real shame, because for a special occasion it's quite nice to be able to eat in a relaxed environment with friends, and there's nothing nicer than a private room in which to do it.

DURING THE DAY they are quite well-known for their Char Siew and Siew Yoke, and the Roast Ducks which hang from the front of the shop. However, unfortunately that evening they'd already run out, and anyway it was a typical course dinner. One can hardly request extras when the host has already put a lot of trouble and thought, not to mention money, into planning the meal can one!

The food was quite tasty, prettily presented in conventional style, and the steamed fish was fresh, as was the noodles with crab. But surprisingly for a Cantonese restaurant part of their Four Season starters included sashimi - yes, fresh salmon and tuna with wasabi and soya sauce for dipping in. The dessert was pretty good too.

I also like the fact that there's plenty of parking available either at the back (not many people know this) or opposite (expensive) or a short walk away in the Red Garden Hawker Centre.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ... to ME!

HOPE YOU HAD AS GOOD A NEW YEAR AS I DID ... in fact, it was so good I didn't really feel like getting back to work at all bar the COMPULSORY articles I had to write ie my fortnightly column for Star Sunday Metro and The Expat's monthly article about Penang.

So that's why there's been not much posting done - humble apologies - but I didn't think you wanted to read yet more about the partying and drinking ... except for the fact that last weekend we were in KL and celebrated my birthday about ten days early with my family there. Yes you may well ask how old are you? Well that's for me to know and for you to find out!

The dinner was held at Imperial Gardens, a fairly new classy Chinese restaurant in PJ. The food was served a la modern style ie in small helpings per person, so it was a good time to start my diet, especially with my new year's resolution! Although I was the birthday gal, I wasn't hosting the dinner - that was left to my bro and partner who very generously paid for the whole thing. Thank goodness, is all I can say, because at about RM80 for a small bowl of Shark's Fin Soup (which I didn't have btw cos I don't approve of it - just had Double-Boiled Old Cucumber Soup with scallops which was excellent) the bill for just 8 of us must have come to four figures. We tight-fisted Penangites aren't used to that kind of money, especially poor food writers!

It's back to earth with a bang though as I get into the swing of work once more, with preparation for the next edition of my book which is due out mid this year. Wish me luck everyone!