It's been a while since we went to Penang and the 'place' of the day now is still Straits Quay. This time we decided to do Mediterranean, something we've never had before. And we heard that this place is supposed to serve rather authentic Mediterranean fares.
Agua.. sounds like Ah Gua in Hokkien. In Urban Dictionary, it means a man acting like a woman; in other words...pondan. But Agua in Spanish has several meanings.
Anyway, ever since we heard of this Mediterranean place, we thought it'd be nice to give it a try. The first order was a starter... Agua Platter Tapas, made up a slices of sausages and ham, manchego cheese served with olives and hummus. I learned today that hummus is a Middle Eastern dip or spread made of mashed chick peas blended with olives and other herbs. In the picture above, it's the yellow mashed-up stuff in one of the smaller plates. I put them on the bread and it was not too bad. Nevertheless, it's still a taste to be acquired for us.
Next to come was the Sticky Spanish Ribs. These are pork ribs served on salad. The meat is a little tough for my liking but the dish feels light on the stomach. Son says it's a bit bland. Other Half and I think it's healthier. 8)
The main dish was this... paella. I've always seen paella being prepared on Astro's AFC. And I like this the most. The rest didn't like it as much as I did. Paella is actually a rice dish; rice cooked in a pan, with a stock. This one had seafood as well as chicken. I like the sticky taste of the rice, which the rest didn't fancy. They prefer their rice fluffy. I think I shall try to cook one of these days; quite an easy dish to prepare I should think.
I sapu bersih whatever was left on the pan...
This is a new experience. I think my Other Half and kids would prefer German food to this any time. But... we agree that it's always good to try something new. However, be prepared to pay more.. it's kinda pricey. The paella alone came up to RM85.80, portions for two... the minimal order. You can buy more than 2 bags of premium rice with that kind of money. And the prawns they served weren't that big either...
Oh ya! There is a new attraction at Straits Quay... the Royal Selangor Pewter Visitor Centre. It's supposed to be their flagship up north. We took our kids up there to see but ended up giving them an experience of hard knocks...
For a fee, they could experience The Royal Selangor's School of Hard Knocks. They taught them to imprint their names on round flat pewter pieces and then give them mallets to knock those flat pieces into bowl. Our lil gal made good progress until she hit her own finger... then the Papa took over! LOL! She was quite brave about it then until we went out of the Centre. And then when we asked her about it... the floodgates opened. LOL! We had to pay for our kids to learn how those hard knocks were actually a lot of hard work....
4 comments:
good stuff! when you make paella, remember to use short grain rather than long grain rice :)
and poor Princess Rainbow. Hope she got to take the pewterware away as a memento and not just the sore finger.....
Yup! For 50 bucks they came away with a pewter bowl (which they knocked themselves), the apron and a certificate... which she says her friends will say she made wan.... LOL! Thanks for the tip about the rice. Will remember that.
Speaking of hummus, maybe you can give Arabic food a try. Very flavourful with its spices. if there is Tarbush in Penang, you should go for it. A lil pricey but it serves good food.
Jian: Will look out for that. We're always game to try. 8)
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