ARABIAN NIGHT IN BATU FERRINGHI

HAD A FABULOUS NIGHT LAST NIGHT, and all courtesy of Sigi's at Golden Sands Resort. It was the first of what will hopefully be MANY special nights organised by John Brock, their Kiwi Executive Sous Chef. And the weather, thankfully, held off, although having said that it was just as well it rained during the day cos that cooled the evening down considerably.

If you'd seen them preparing during the day you would have marvelled at how much they achieved; they really put a lot of thought and imagination into the whole thing, and managed to achieve quite the right ambiance because it the transformation was amazing - it was like happening on an oasis in the middle of the desert! There were canopies above and colourful cushions and carpets on the floor you could loll on; low tables and loud Arab music.

The serving staff were all dressed quite imaginatively, although some were so authentic I wouldn't have liked to meet them in a dark alleyway ... I could almost see them chopping my head off with a silent swoop of their curved sword (OK, OK, my imagination is running a bit wild!). You could almost imagine you were a Bedouin in a desert somewhere in the Middle East ... and I almost expected to see a camel appear in the horizon ... except for the fact that the sea was splashing away just a few metres from where we were!

There were raffles, an amazing snake charmer who mesmerised not just the reptiles but also the audience I think, some fire eaters who were unfortunately too far away for us to see but who were I'm sure good; even a henna artist, magician and a great band from KL whose retro oldies got quite a few off their backsides to bop away - including moi who was trying to dance away some of the calories I had imbibed.

Because there was a LOT of food, all Middle Eastern: donner kebab (which was quite delish) and barbeques including a whole lamb on a spit, stuffed vine leaves, rice, an excellent Moussaka, some hummous and other dips, breads, baklavas and other sweet puddings. I think John and his fantastic crew outdid themselves. That together with the free-flow wine (which was good stuff and not the cheapo cheapo plonko one sometimes gets at dos like these) and beer really got the party spirit going, I can tell you that.

There was also an interesting "Best Dressed" prize and 4 ladies vied for the position: to be crowned, they had to do an individual dance in front of the audience. OMG I would sooner have died but they were all very game and in fact rather good, especially the first one - but the last contestant was absolutely fantastic and really should have won but it was all in good fun cos they all won some fabulous hotel stays. I was nowhere near winning although I did consider popping a teatowel on my head ... !!!

It was a great night, and I can safely say everyone had a ball.

If this is a sign of things to come - and they are planning at least 3 more before year end to which I hope to receive invites again (hint hint) - then I can hardly wait. Well done guys, and I look forward to the next one!

FOR ONCE WE HAD A NIGHT OFF, but as I still have a lot of work to do preparing for the launch of my book (and anyway I haven't cooked for quite a few months - my wok must be wondering how come it has been made redundant) it was out to dinner on our own for a change.

We thought we'd try the new YYU YUAN Restaurant in Jalan Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah which I'd been told was quite good and not too pricey. Now who can resist that?

It's on the newly opened block with the Maybank round the corner, and (at the moment anyway) parking is fairly convenient.

As is usual with Penang, it was quite packed, as everyone goes to try a newly opened place. It's clean, spacious and relatively "modern", with one side painted a trendy dark grey and the other bright yellow.

It's run by the friendly Looi Chan Leong and his wife, and it seems a whole host of other family, friends and relations.

The menu is large, as it's seafood and western, rather like the Pg Swimming Club kind of food - this was obvious because the other tables were full of members who had absconded from the club restaurant (can't blame them, the standard has really dropped despite James Foo coming back).

Anyway I digress. As there were just two of us my husband ordered his favourite : western, and I had a Wa Tan Hor which was supposed to be very good and indeed it was, full of "wok hei" and gooey "lor" with an egg beaten over it. Excellent with the sambal.

However, the "Chicken Breasts with Bacon" wasn't that brill. Granted there was a LOT - so much so we had to "da bao" half of it - but it cost RM25 so they had to give value. But, as I told Looi, he should have given less and reduced the price which would still have been acceptable to us price-conscious Penangites. It was also rather tasteless - just salty - and the gravy was a blob of thick brown sauce which had no discernible taste whatsoever. Disappointing really.

HOWEVER I also ordered a couple of veg dishes; the brocolli fried with garlic was OK - I mean what can go wrong with that right? But the Kang Kong Belacan was also not up to scratch; I've had better in a lot of other places.

So verdict? Only 2 out of 4 dishes were good, so I'd give them just a 5/10 for the moment. However they are new (only one month old) and will still be learning the ropes. The good news is that they intend to create some private rooms which will be great, and the middle and top floors will be kitted out for functions and meetings.

HARD ROCK BIRTHDAY HAMBURGERS

IT WAS QUITE FUN LAST NIGHT. I'd been invited, along with several other press members, to witness Hard Rock birthday - in this case the day it was founded in London 39 years ago rather than when it was opened in Penang which if you can cast your mind that far back was in December last year.

Anyway the whole day had been put aside to do funny things in house, like the employees had to swap places with Management - apparently GM John Primmer was pretty sporting, and was last seen in the role of kitchen stewart mopping the floor ... and they had lots of other events like a birthday cake shaped like a hamburger etc. They were also offering patrons a special set menu at RM19.71 nett for one day only - that's what an original HRC Hamburger served with Seasoned Fries, Apple Pie and Milk Shake would have cost in 1971!

Everything culminated in the Hamburger Eating Competition at the Hard Rock Cafe last night, and 20 people were down to take part in it. Not sure if all arrived cos I didn't stay till the end, but the first two rounds were hilarious: they had to finish off a Double Decker Cheeseburger ... as each was 7 0z it meant 14 0z of meat plus bun and salad to imbibe .. and as fast as you can. That's nearly a pound of meat, ie 1/2 a kg. As one of the other reporters put it, "Kua liao pun pa" ie just one look and I'm full.

They were at it hammer and tongs, but the 3 eventual winners who emerged were Jason Tiong, Clay Quinn and Howard Ooi: First prize went to Jason who did it in an amazing 3 mins and 18 secs: he must have really wolfed it down without chewing, which really is the secret as it's the only way to do it. Once you start chewing you’re done for. The hungry (or was it greedy?) guy won a 3 Day/2 Night Hillview Deluxe Room with breakfast for 2 and a dinner voucher worth RM150 at Hard Rock Café. If he can face going there again!

Interesting to note that two of the three winners were locals - most of the Matt Sallehs who took part were knocked out! Anyway well done to all of them. All in the spirit of things.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARD ROCK!

SIN KHENG AUN - Can do better

I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER BEEN SO BUSY IN ALL MY LIFE ... well certainly not in the past few years anyway. Apart from judging at cooking competitions and various dinners and birthday parties, I'd put aside a week to finish off my second restaurant guide to Penang, but in fact it's over run by another week, and even as I write (or, as is more accurate type), there are still a few more things to finish off.

HOWEVER, it is nearly done, and tomorrow, "Great Dining in Penang 2" will be going to the printer's - HALLELUJAH! - and it will be launched in time for my target date of 30 June.

So in between catching up with all the other things I've ignored including replying to emails and writing my other articles, there's a little bit of time for me to update this poor old blog, because last night I was asked to take 4 US food writers to Sin Kheng Aun in Chulia Lane. They had been flown in by MATRADE to promote Malaysian cooking in America.

Actually, it was my first time there since I was a little girl (and DON'T ask how long ago that was ... !) and it was a revelation. Obviously as everyone in Penang knows they're one of those old, old restaurants that serve colonial Hainanese food which the Brits used to like: Chicken Chops spring to mind, and as in Malaysia that includes a degree of nyonya dishes because many of them used to work for the more affluent households, it was the good old stuff like Assam Tumis. It was packed. In the evenings they only open from 5-8.30pm so people tend to squeeze in which is rather clever of the proprietors - he gets a life at night!

On 2nd generation proprietor the slightly eccentric Ong Chin Hong's suggestions (his father started the place in the 1940s with another man who was the chef), we ordered the must-have curry with pomfret (tow tay but of course), some assam prawns, fried bean sprouts with kiam hoo (salted fish), pork and liver with soya sauce, and trotter with salted veg soup.

The Fish Curry was OK, with the right amount of bungah kantan in it - an absolute must have, as far as I am concerned - but I'm not fond of their trademark coarse ground rempah.

The bean sprouts were rather oily, and the pork and liver was actually left relatively untouched cos not many of us really liked it: I prefer it without the ngor hiong hoon. We also had some Chicken Chop which was quite gooey, and the Fried Noodles were OK although the sambal belacan was a bit too wet and tasteless.

Presentation-wise, I think they could have done a bit better too; although I know we Malaysians don't care as long as the food is good, these dishes seemed to have almost been deliberately slapped on to the plates as haphazardly as possible. No effort was made to tidy up the plates before they were brought out at all.

However, before we ordered I made very clear to Ong that one of the journalists Joanna is allergic to MSG so NONE of the food had to contain any of it - he seemed to understand what I was saying, repeating that he would make sure none of the food would be prepared with it. Unfortunately Joanna seemed to think there was some, and I rather wondered how he could make the soup without MSG. I do hope she's OK.

One of the diners was Penang photographer extraordinaire Albert Foo who was busy snapping away for Matrade - that's him above next to Joanna - and as you can see from the two pixes below, one taken by me and one by him, why he's a photographer extraordinaire and not me!!

In my defense, I prefer not to use a flash!!

You can see how popular the place is though - their reputation precedes them - and like locusts hitting a wheat field, families just sweep in and clear them out. By 8 last night it had emptied out, leaving behind just blank plates for the staff to clear up behind them.

That lot plus 3 large bottles of Tiger Beer cost RM202. As I wasn't paying for it I didn't query it but I thought it was rather pricey for what we had had.

The journalists were suitably impressed with the food, with the exception of Joanna's reaction, which I was thankful for. However, next time round, I think I might recommend somewhere else.

BADMINTON STAR TURNS 80

THIS IS IN DANGER OF BECOMING A "Society" rather than food blog, but hey, at least it's free! That's cos only two nights ago we were one of the chosen few ... actually there must have been nigh on 500 people there that night ... to attend Dato' Eddie Choong's 80th birthday party at Jade Palace in Abu Siti Lane.

It was indeed a grand celebration indeed, with no less than the Chief Minister himself attending with his wife Betty Chew. Dato' Eddy (I call him DDE for short - Dear Dato Eddie) was in fine form, and for an 80 year old, incredibly fit and VERY with it - he can joke, eat and talk better than most younger people I meet, and definitely drink them under the table! Yes, our very own Badminton Grand Master is the bee's knees.

Anyone who was anyone was there - all the datos and datins, dato seris and datin seris, dato and datin wannabes, other former badminton champs from yesteryear, bankers and restaurateurs, society folk; even a humble old food writer like me had been invited ... and a lot of press. Poor old CM; he can't even go anywhere private although this occasion really wasn't supposed to be one because even Astro had been invited!

He also took the opportunity to launch his autobiography "Dato Eddy Choong Talk About History", which was being sold to raise money for charity. It's in Chinese translated into English which rather meant the wording was a bit strange, but it's in aid of a good cause and good of him to donate all the proceeds, and a wonderful way to capture history.

He is, after all, one of Penang's greats. There're some good black and white pics of him in action from before.

The food, considering how many people there were, was acceptable. One can only appreciate the mayhem that was going on behind the scenes in the kitchen; it must have been controlled chaos. Unfortunately the band was a little bit too loud; as the ceiling is very low there was a lot of resonance and it was sometimes ear-splitting. Old friend Marlene Fox rendered her usual "Yue Liang Tai Piao Wo Di Xin" which I must say she does very well for a Mat Salleh.

Dato Eddy gave his speech quite early on in the dinner, followed by the CM who was his usual energetic self - he spotted me in the crowd and told me that he has already written the preface to Great Dining in Penang 2 which is great news - and after a couple of courses they left, to great fanfare.

It was a great do, and they put a lot of effort into it; the but when the evening descends into karaoke you know it's time to leave so with that we sloped off quietly as Dato Eddy was still doing his rounds YUM SENGing with everyone else.

Happy Birthday DDE, and many more to come!