TOO LATE FOR '8'

I AM HEARTBROKEN ... well, at least a bit upset. Because no sooner have I been invited to try '8' in town, than I'm told it's about to close down at the end of this month due to various reasons.




It's tucked away in Lintang Burmah, right next to Alpha Reflexology, and run by my old mate Sunny Yeoh.





The inside is very plain and simple, rather like someone's living room, but that's good as far as I'm concerned, because that means they concentrate on serving GOOD FOOD. Along one wall there are specialist pastas and oils for sale.







 The menu is so simple there isn't even a menu; the dishes of the day - and they are the same every day! - are written up on a board placed in the middle.





















There's Nasi Lemak, but not really, because the rice is not made with coconut milk, which is of course where the 'lemak' element is supposed to be; but it's served with a piece of fried Yellow Tail, a piece of chicken curry, sambal belacan and other condiments.



Very tasty, and the rice, although not made with coconut milk, is great - it's cooked with olive oil, giving it rather a heavy aroma but delicious nevertheless, and healthy to boot. I've always said that food should look so good you just want to tuck in; they've definitely succeeded in this case.





The Spaghetti Bolognaise is good too, made with minced pork and anchovies, just like it is done in Italy; the pasta very slightly al dente. Only criticism here is the portion is overly generous; probably 3/4 of it would have more than sufficed.

They also do a Tau Eu Bak served again with the olive rice and sambal; not bad too, and although I didn't get a chance to try the Chicken Rice, it looked rather good.

All this was followed by home-made tiramisu and brewed coffee - both excellent, and you can see why the place is kept busy from the time they open (round about 11 I think) right through to about 4 or 5pm. It's not overly packed, which is how it should be otherwise service goes down the drain like in some places, but keeps them ticking over. Another of my wise sayings (eh hem) is that the menu needn't be too big (in fact, too big and I get suspicious) but what's there must be good - again, this is the case here.

It's not often I say this, but I am truly sad to say that due to the fact they don't really make too much, and Sunny is planning to move on to do other things, they are going to discontinue. Ai yo guys, I do hope you reconsider.

A-HANGZHOU WE WILL GO ...

  

OH DEAR ... I have so much to write nowadays, for my column in Star2 and The Malaysian Insider; I also write for the latest Penang magazine Where2, Essenze and of course the Visit Penang newsletter, that I have so little time to do this blog. However, there are things I like to put in it that don't fit in elsewhere, and it's all my personal experiences of course.

One of the is our recent trip to China, when we flew into Shanghai then took the high-speed rail link to Hangzhou.

Shanghai is so big we had to take a one-hour taxi ride from one airport to another to catch the train, and cost RMB300 or thereabouts - the first-class train tickets for both of us were cheaper than that! It's all very well run, and the train left on time.

It was so fast and smooth the 110km trip too just 45 mins. Luckily, of course, we didn't have a problem like another line did.



Hangzhou is a beautiful city which is situated on the famous West Lake, and it has just been awarded World Heritage Status by UNESCO. We stayed as guests of the gorgeous Shangri-La which is perched on the edge of the lake, and overlooks some gorgeous scenery, and our room was really quite superb.

 It was raining cats and dogs when we arrived, and it rained the day we left ... luckily in the two days in between it was dry, and we were able to see how gorgeous it is.

It's famous for its silks of course, and also the Longjin (dragon well) tea, which is picked very young and green then pan-fried over a low heat by hand. The tea which results is light and refreshing. Hangzhou scissors and knives are also very famous, and of excellent quality, and I carted home a boxed set of Zhang Xiao Qian chopper, sharpener, scissors and 3 different types of knives which cost just RMB350 (RM175). They are brilliant, very sharp and well made.

We also went to a few famous and very old temples, including the 1500-year old Ling Yin which is one of the most famous in China, and took a trip around the lake itself - both by boat and also by the little 3-carriage vehicles which go around the banks; we even managed to get a light tan. At night, we watched Impressions West Lake - a spectacular show with hundreds of actors using amazing lights, on the lake itself. Absolutely wonderful.





Food being my forte of course, I was interested to see some amazing street foods in the pedestrianised shopping area of Zing hefang, which is a bit like our Pasar Malam - and some parts smelt like it too, so I didn't really want to chance trying the food there - there is some skewered meat which is like an uber-long satay, but some of it didn't really look too appetising, so we tended to only eat at the hotel and restaurants.

They are famous for their Beggars Chicken, whole chicken braised in lotus leaves with herbs, and West Lake Vinegar Fish, not something I really thought too much of as lake fish I feel isn't as tasty as sea fish, and the flesh is too smooth. The sauce isn't too much to shout about either; it's basically vinegar cooked with soya sauce thickened with a bit of cornstarch then poured over the fish.

However, overall we had a great time, and I can see why Hangzhou is on of the most visited cities in China. It is also one of the richest. China is by no means a cheap place; it seems to me that the east is getting more expensive, and the west is gettng cheaper - in the UK you can buy stuff for one pound at the pound shop, which is about RM5 - in China, everything costs at least RMB20! Maybe the saying is true: one day Europe will become the world's playground.

CLASSICAL DINNER at the 1926 Heritage Hotel

REGULAR READERS WILL KNOW THAT although I am not exactly a culture vulture, I do like a bit of entertainment with my food (or is it the other way round) and last night was a typical example of the sort of thing that I love.

It was the finale to the month-long George Town Festival, during which there were many things happening in town. We opted for the small-scale High Winds Ensemble performance at the 1926 Heritage Hotel in Burmah Road, where the orchestra from KL performed movements from fairly well known pieces, including a rather cheeky one from Beethoven's 5th Symphony (or rather 4 1/2, as Mac puts it).

We were also served with a 6-course dinner whilst the music was going on, starting with Oyster Rockefeller, which was nothing to shout about, but the Cream of Broccoli Soup was good if a tad underheated.

After that e had Roast Prim Rib of Beef which again although it tasted quite good, was lukewarm again. As there were nearly 70 pax that evening, I think the kitchen struggled a bit to cope with the numbers, as they also had a function going on in the garden at the back. For dessert there was Trifle, although not a hint of sherry really, coffee and Petit Fours (we didn't get that either!).

HOWEVER for RM80 pp, it was really quite reasonable, and as it was their first time, they are still learning. However, the orchestra more than made up for it - they were really excellent although seating was not good as where we were we couldn't really see a thing nor hear the Conductor speak as he introduced each session. Usually with "youth" orchestras they tend to be slightly "pitchy" (this is of course Randy-Yo-Dawg's way of saying "out of tune") but this wasn't at all.

They were extremely professional, and very very smooth. And no wonder, as High Winds is the first classical ensemble in Malaysia whose 11 members are all Malaysians, founded in 2004 by Mr Joost C Flach, Co-Principal Oboist of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Makes you proud, doesn't it. Most of the soloists are professional or wannabe professional musicians. When you think I just about made it to Grade 5 on the piano (albeit with a DISTINCTION ahem ... ) I can tell you these people are seriously GOOD.


J P WONG of the 1926 Hotel assures me he intends to do this on a regular basis, and I will be more than happy to support him. A bit of koolcha combined with good food in Penang is only to be supported, and I hope to see you there. Watch this space for more news.