Japanese Cuisine

Alor Setar has another new Japanese makan place!

Japanese Cuisine - the newest Japanese makan place in Alor Setar. It occupies what used to be Light and Easy Cafe, at Jalan Gangsa. I went on the second day of its opening. The place was just filling up when we arrived at almost 6 p.m.

Their menu looks and feels impressive.

But they only sell French Fried... such a pity that this was allowed to happen. We noticed another error at the back of the menu. My expectations went up a notch or two after looking at the menu. The food looks real good on the menu but their labelling wasn't all that great.

This was Other Half's order - Chicken Teriyaki Set. The chicken was well marinated and tasty. The rice tasted like normal rice. I think they don't use the usual Japanese rice. Miso soup was okay. They had this bamboo shoot to go with the rice and it complimented the rice. Unfortunately, the chawan mushi was rather runny. It would have been nicer had it been firmer.

Daughter had their Sweet Corn Butter Ramen. I didn't try it but Other Half did and he said it was okay. Our gal liked it.

My order of Seafood Tempura Set. This was a huge disappointment. The seafood was just prawns. Would have been nice if it had fish and squid. It had the usual tempura vegetables but the batter was really hard. I had a tough time chewing the almost rock-like tempura. This was the most expensive order of the day and it wasn't nice. I've always liked tempura cos they do it really light and crunchy. This one was a chore to eat.

Endamame... can't go wrong with these. Boil and sprinkle salt.

It's nice to have another Japanese outlet here. By the way, Green Tea is RM0.60 with free refill. Recently Kaede Restaurant (the other Japanese Restaurant) started charging green tea by the cup. Food is still better there, though. I hear that a well known Japanese Restaurant franchise will be opening at Alor Setar Mall soon. Am looking forward to that.

Mango..

It's this not so new makan place in Lorong Merpati. I've passed by that place many times but somehow never stepped into the place even though it's a huge place. This is a makan blog with no real food pics cos we were without our camera when we made a on the spur of the moment decision to give it a try.... after church.

The place is nice. At one corner you'll find some private air-conditioned rooms... actually they're not that private cos you can see clearly inside... all glass facade. The surrounding area feels nice and comfy. Comfy chairs with glass tables - you can see your feet as you makan! LOL!

The crowd was quite okay when we were there; made up of families and young people. But you get a feeling that this place is probably trying to rival Rock Cafe which opened last year in Simpang Kuala area.

We over ordered but their prawn salad was nice. The 3 flavoured fish was a disappointment; its sauce too goey and when it's cold it kinda loses its appeal. I enjoyed their claypot tauhu with egg quite a lot. The mixed vegetable was boleh tahan while their chicken stir fried in ginger was quite appetizing. Bill came up to about RM90.. which is a bit on the high side for Alor Setar.

This song was playing when we were paying our bills. Be totally prepared to be freaked out by the drinks prices. For 3 cups of what tasted more like flavoured drinks (probably from the box souped up with some pop), it was RM20!!! Blackcurrant, sour sop and orange juice (which tasted like it had been mixed from powder!) in plastic cups! Cheap soft plastic cups with a straw stuck in the middle!!! At that price, we were expecting drinks in tall glasses with some touch ups!!! Suffice to say, we were freaked out!

And after we finished paying, this song came into the air.... I supposed that's how the proprietor liked it. Maximum profit from their drinks!!!

Overall, Mango is a nice place with lots of potential. The space and their ambience would actually make a nice venue for a garden wedding reception with hawker style fare. But I hope they serve out their drinks in a real glasses. RM6.90 for a glass of drink (the kind they serve) in Alor Setar is a bit pricey. Put in some big screens at different corners, sports, movies, songs.... you might actually have a winner there!

Chinese Curry House

I noticed this house when it was first renovated some years ago. Since then, I had forgotten about it until my friend told me that they serve nice curry... Located opposite Allianz Insurance in Jalan Lumpur, which is off Jln Tambang Badak (in the vicinity of Sentosa Hotel), the place looks quite classy. Yesterday was Teacher's Day and Bee Lee had dropped by to see us at school and we decided to give this place a try. I couldn't find the name of the restaurant but when we walked in, the lunch crowd was still there. And it was already close to 2 p.m. by then. Anyway I shall just refer to this place as the Chinese curry house ala nasi kandar.

The interior has a woody feel. Even the ceiling looks woody... even though it's made of concrete. I think they've stained it woody style. Nice workmanship. When we entered, I noticed that everyone seemed to be eating almost the same food. You have to pick the dishes you want; very much like the nasi kandar style of serving. You choose and then they send it to your table. They serve quite many types of curries, from the the many trays that I noticed was there.

This is what we ordered. Actually we didn't have much choice as many dishes were already emptied out. We took the cuttle fish curry, mutton curry, crispy salted fish, fried egg and fish head curry.

The fish head curry is the only dish that is served piping hot. And the curry is quite flavourful, sourish and light; quite different from the other fish head curry that I've tried. It's quite appetizing.

The restaurant is airy and pleasant. I like the ambience. The plants made the surrounding quite comfortable. The decor is actually quite classy by Alor Setar standard but unfortunately, their tables smell. Wooden tables need more care if used as a makan table. They could use serai (lemon grass) spray to neutralize the 'rag cloth' smell actually. The place has a great potential to become a hit actually.

The outing was nice. We adjourned to the ais-kacang makan place in Tmn Lum Sum for some ice and to continue our conversation after this curry place with no name. I might go back there again another day; at an earlier time so that I can get to sample more of their dishes.

The feasting on the first day of fasting...

... 1st day of Ramadhan is a PH here. I welcome any PH(s). A day's break from work is always welcomed cos it gives time to catch up on a lot of things. First thing in the morning was breakfast with friends... and 2 kids in tow.

This is one of the newer dim sun joints in Alor Setar. Located near PMC, behind the derelict Tunku Yaakub building, this place is air-conditioned.

You find the normal dim sum fare. They taste like what dim sum should. Their loh-mai-kai wasn't too bad.

This pau is slightly different. In it, you find this soup-like filling. It literally oozes out. We thought we heard the waiter saying that the filling was clam... his pronunciation was so bad that 'cream' sounded like 'clam'. LOL!

Anyway, the watery filling tasted of butter and corn. Not bad. All of us found it nice.

After that it was back home for a short lesson with my gal and co, followed by a round of ironing. My day help has been MIA for the past 5 days! See why I think the robot vacuum is godsent? Robots don't get you all flustered up. People do! If the floor is not clean, just press a button and it does it all over again. With people, you have to watch what you say, how you say it.

And Wednesday being an off day... LF did a last minute tea thing. Was supposed to incorporate craft but I went for the company and also to help finish the food. 8) My gal invited herself cos she said she has not been to Aunty LF's house since she moved. We sat around and sembang... that's what ladies do best!

Before the day ended, I even managed to squeeze in some shopping for household stuff with my girl. Then I released my vacuum robot to prowl the floor while I blogged. I am liking it more by the day. Now to find a robot that can wipe the window panes and sliding doors....... 8)

New Restaurant @ RKC

Royal Kedah Club Restaurant has a new operator... friend belanja us dinner last week. There're only a fortnight into their operations... and already I miss the old operator...

First the menu was only 2 pages. They say they'll be adding more soon..

Two of us had their chicken chop. Nothing spectacular about this. Despite so few patrons, service was rather slow.

Another had their fish and chip. And it came out looking like the chicken chop.You can use these pics for a spot the difference game. Chicken and fish looking alike.

I had their steak. The first bite was okay, but as I cut into the meat, it got tougher and tougher. Definitely not for those without strong teeth.

We had iced coffee to go with our meal. The waiter heard wrongly and one glass came out 'gau' (extra thick) and even after diluting, the coffee was still bitter. But they were nice enough to take it back and replace it with apple juice without extra charge.

Anyway, since we eat here quite regularly, I have no choice but to hope the menu improves as the operator settles in. For now, there are many things of the old that I miss... the salad bar and ais kacang among others. 8(

Breakfast at ET...

Taman Golf which is located near the Taman Jubli Perak used to be an area with only one makan shop for years, a lady who sells noodles at the corner shop. Then she retired and somebody took over her shop. Now we have more variety. But this past one year has seen 2 new makan shops opening. And we're getting variety now... from roti canai to breakfast ala barat apart from the different types of mee, beehoon and kuey teow. 8)

The more recent addition; we can even get chicken porridge from E.T., an inconspicuous looking shop fronting the football field. You've got to look real hard cos there is no signboard. Set breakfast comes with free-flow coffee or tea.

And also set breakfast... the cook is still trying to get it right. It's been a while since he left the restaurant business... so he is a little 'rusty'. He asked me what to else to add to his breakfast set and I told him baked beans. It'll be featured in the near future. The set comes together with bread and real butter. He'll be adding jam in too he says. There's also fruit juice, as in real orange juice, actually blended there and then and not from the box! I find this a nice touch. Also free flow coffee and tea!

Breakfast time is from 7.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. They serve lunch and dinner too, more of Thai type of food and also some western dishes like chicken chop, steaks. I've been there a few times. Food seems to be improving with each visit. Their beef noodles saw improvement the second time I had it.

Update: 11.00 p.m.

Son took his sis for dinner at ET today and she came back saying that the picture of the set breakfast now has baked beans and jam. Wah! The proprietor very cepat and cekap! And she is expecting us to take her there this weekend. LOL!

Nasi 'ala kandar'...

This has got to be one of the better places to get nasi 'ala kandar'....

The curries look mengancam and they are. This is one place to go for curry rice at night in Alor Setar.... Opens after 8 p.m. but after 8.30 p.m. would be a safe time to go. The place is unostentatiously located; off Jln Stadium... there's a lane on the main road right after the traffic light with the turning leads to JPN Kedah and a complex of schools. Around 10m from the traffic light is a small lane which has semi-detached single storey houses lining both sides. Go a couple of metres down the lane and look out for a house on your left. Can't miss it as there'll be people lining up to buy their curry dinner.

There's no in-house dining for this one. You have to ta-pau home. It's a one-man small-time makan operation. But we found that he was in no short of 'fans' while we were waiting for our food to be packed. What is good? Well, practically everything! He has curry mutton, curry chicken feet, curry sotong, rendang chicken.... they're all quite yummy! My 2 friends who went with me concurred with me... and price wise, it's more reasonable than the mamak shops.

Pulut Udang

... or coconut shrimp rolled in glutinous rice, grilled, wrapped in banana leaf. Guess how much the bag below cost?

There are 10 pulut udang(s) inside. RM3.00! Lelong price! I think usually it's priced at 40 sen. This is Alor Setar, city with kampung prices for the kuih(s); where you still pay 30-40 sen for a pulut udang and one of the reason I think it's a good place to live. These were bought Jln Sultanah Sambungan, near the traffic lights just before the furniture shop, Classy Glory. Further down the same road is TESCO Alor Setar.

If you want to have a bite of local kuih and desserts in the afternoon, head for Pak Leman's kuih truck, now found at Jln Sultanah; right outside Sanusi Junid's house, quite empty from the looks of it... the house, I mean.

This was the original site from where he operated until Sanusi became MB. Then for security reasons, he was asked to move. So to Jln Tun Razak he went, just a short distance away from the Fire Station. That was until last year. This pakcik who has a valid hawker's license was asked to vacate his Jln Tun Razak location because the other traders who had set up stalls there left their rubbish behind. He's law abiding, and he still kena.

People complained and the MBAS came and chased them away. I feel sorry for this pakcik. He has a stern face but if you get to know him, he's actually quite a nice man. His kuih(s) are good and cheap! My boy likes his curry puffs and cucur udang. My favourite is the tepung talam, one of the nicer ones around.

Anyway, this Alor Setar where kuih(s) still come cheap!

Dinner @ Kaede Restaurant

This is one of my usual haunts for quite some time... the only proper Japanese restaurant in town; Kaede. It is located at Stesen Bas Baru (the row of shops at the Bulatan Teluk Wanjah). The bus station is no longer there, having been moved by the City Council to Shahab Perdana many years ago. But somehow we still refer to that area as the Stesen Bas Baru. There used to be another Japanese restaurant in Pekan Simpang Kuala but I think they've closed. Anyway, this is one place I'd go for dinner regularly.... I still prefer Asian to Western....

My Unagi ramen in light broth... thin version. I think I should have ordered my usual - salmon, tuna, cod bentos....

Other Half's ramen... fat version, sweet sour with a slightly sticky soup base. This is one of those very rare times when we ordered the ramen. I think we still have not totally acquired the taste for them. Still rice people, we are.

My girl's Gindara Box... one of my favourites actually. But since she wanted it, I decided to go for something different. This is cod fish. I always like the 'lemak' taste of it. And somehow, cooked this way always seem to make the rice more appetizing. I like Japanese style of food. Yesterday I had my own homemade version for dinner. Grilled bacon with onion and garlic topped with baby french beans in my tiny grill... with teriyaki sauce and pepper. Then served it on leftover rice from lunch steamed again. Simple meal, easy and quick to prepare.

This is the Chicken Bento... in teriyaki sauce. One reason why I like Japanese food is the way the food is lightly prepared with sauces. And even though they are 'dry', they always seem to go very well with the rice. The set comes with the usual miso soup.

I treated myself to a little of this... oysters! None of them likes it... less man more share. 8)

Also had this... the edamame or soy bean boiled in salt. Nice to eat as finger food.

Kaede's food is quite nice and very reasonable. They used to be located at the Sentosa Plaza along Jln Putra but those days, not very many people would go as it was hidden out of sight. They are doing a roaring business at their current place now. If you go past 7.00 p.m. the place is usually full. Best to go for early dinner. 8)

Midnight Curry Mee..

Some say this is the best place for curry mee. This is located in Pekan Cina. Take a drive there and you won't miss it. It's located in the alley where the morning market is.

This is dining @ midnight (into the wee hours of the morning) and the food of choice here is the curry mee. It opens at 11.00 pm and ends at 5.30 a.m. the following morning. This was before CNY.... we hardly go out for late night suppers now... too bushed and somehow the metabolism rate just doesn't seem to be able to keep up if we keep stuffing ourselves before we go to sleep. We were there at 10++ and the stall was already up.

I guess this is what makes it nice. The extras that you can add to your mee (or meehoon). They have quite a lot of other goodies you can throw into your curry mee.

While we were there, I noticed that there was no short of patrons. This is what some Alor Setarians do at night... eat curry mee into the wee hours of the morning, alfresco style.. LOL! Actually sometimes, one can smell the curry being prepared as early as 9 p.m. quite a distance away.

What do I think of the curry? Okay-lah but not to the point of must have for me. Nice enough but not one which I'll deprive myself of my beauty sleep cos it's just way too late for me. Still, it's worth a try... curry mee @ midnight in Alor Setar!

Restoran Dee Dee Thai...

The newest Thai restaurant in town. Newly 'minted' and located just diagonally opposite to Putra Medical Centre, near Star City, this was yesterday evening...

My friend and I brought our kids there at my suggestion, and I met another friend there also. Printed on the wall, opening hours is 6.00 p.m for the evening crowd. Lunch I think is from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

We got there at 6.10 p.m. and were the first to walk in an empty restaurant. First impression was good!

Service was prompt....waitresses quite good looking. 8) But that's where the good impression ended. We asked for a moment to check out the menu. By the time we ordered another table filled up. Soon a small crowd built up. In Alor Setar, a new restaurant should be exciting enough.

We waited.... and waited. Meanwhile, flies were buzzing around. They should do something about those pesky creatures. Our drinks came and the only thorn in our company complained that there was way too much ice in them. Pineapple juice tasted authentic enough but the ice diluted the taste, much to my chagrin.

Then... more waiting before this came; Deep Fried Minced Shrimp. They're not too bad. You eat with the plum sauce, tasted like there is a little lime in it as well. And we waited a while more for the rice. When it came, it dawned on us that we had to wait cos the rice had just cooked. They haven't got the timing quite right yet...

The rest of the dishes came soon enough.... this is the Fried Baby Coconut with Asparagus. It's a bit sweet but appetizing enough.

Then the Claypot Prawn with Tang Hoon came. I am a sucker for tang hoon but the portions were way too little. There were 2 big but not-so-fresh prawns which were sliced into 2. It's CNY season. Prawns cost an arm and a leg now. But this dish has its own unique flavour. It's a little wet at the bottom, unlike the drier feel of the fried tang hoon at 5 Utara in Jitra.

We ate... and waited for our pat-phek catfish. It still didn't appear by the time we sapu all the plates clean. I went to pay the bill and apparently they were just about to cook it.... must've been one slippery catfish. I cancelled my order as I was already running short of time cos I was expecting Jov who was coming to help Lil One with her work.

All the teething pains aside... their food is actually not too bad. Both my friend and I are itching to go back to try their Claypot Duck Feet.... LOL! And also some real spicy Thai food. With the kids around, we went for the 'bland' dishes. Anyway, Red Thai Village now has competition in Alor Setar; of the same comfy kinda dining. And hopefully too Dee Dee would buck up the next round, else it would be hard to want to go back for another visit.

Dinner at Jln Putera...

Jalan Putera is well-known for its hawker fare. You can find quite a number of hawker centres with quite nice food along the road, especially the section nearer to Masjid Zahir and Star City... Anyway this was after the hike up Pokok Sena.

Dining is alfresco, the Malaysian kind, complete with the blood suckers buzzing around! But because we were still reeking with the stuff that we sprayed to keep the mozzies off for the hike, they sort of steered clear. LOL! Anyway, we thought it'd be a nice experience for our very seldom exposed to such kind of place lil one... This is one of the 2 kuih-kak stalls. I ordered one to share with Other Half. Okay-lah.

It's this wantan mee at this stall that was surprisingly nice. Dining was under a big tree with the sky as our roof.

This is the type of wantan mee that is nicer if you pack it home and let the gravy soak into the mee. If you eat it there, it's a little hard. There are a few other places which serve such kinds of wantan mee, one being the shop in Taman Berjaya and the other, a stall under the flyover leading to Taman Saga. As you can see, the day was getting really dark by the time my order came. But we enjoyed this, just the the same.

This kuih stall is the rave for those who seek after them at night. Been there for as long as I can remember and people are usually there before the stall waiting. Some of the kuihs are actually quite nice. I've not bought for a long time. Must remember to go back and get some after CNY.

My boy simply loves this karipap, straight from the fryer, hot and crispy. The oil is of course a little overused; so we only indulge in these once in a while. This karipap is thinly crusted and is crunchy to bite with a slightly spicy potato filling.

This hawker place is also a place where you can find quite a few things at night.. CDs, DVDs and at this time of the year, firecrackers. We used to come here a lot early during our stay in Alor Setar for the cheap mee.... pure carbo fried with lard. Those days, it was 50 sen for a serving. Cheap food on a tight budget.... we survived! 8)

Up the hill...

Been almost a year since our last hike up the 8888 hills of Pokok Sena... but since we did not have anything in particular planned out last Saturday, we decided to pay our favourite hiking haunt a visit... Anyway, we thought it would be good for our lil one. Many kids find themselves in unfamiliar territories when it comes to such activities these days... in part because time for physical games and activities has been sucked up by the all-important and pervasive tuition.

I try to think back of my childhood and the things I remember are all those related to play and games. I used to follow my dad for tuitions - he was a good teacher but the memories etched in my mind are that of the times he took us to places like Lumut and challenging us to a race (our little legs could never quite catch up back then), trips to Simpang Tiga to visit grandma followed by a stop at the konlo mee shop, evening badminton with him and his friends. And also, how Audrey, Jean, Victor, Ko-Lyn and I used to play hide-n-seek before tuition at Ko-Lyn's place.... hiding on the roof, drain.... those are the memories I carry with me.... not much of the tuition. Then the afternoon Chinese school where we'd play 'ah-chi-lok' swinging from the monkey bar and all the way up (and down) the two trees beside the monkey bars. Those things I remember.....

I wonder what memories our kids will remember of their childhood..... theirs is a hard pressed gen, life evolving around tuition. Perhaps like the rise of the hippie culture of the 60s after post World War II which required lots of discipline and hard work (with great obsession), the generation that followed went the opposite direction.... and 'hell' did break lose with all the dope and the misunderstood mix of Eastern and Western philosophies. Sometimes, I feel we parents have lost the balance some where.... but that's just my opinion.

It was just the 3 of us but we met familiar faces at the foot of the hill. Lil One sobbed half the hike up. She was apprehensive about the tiring trip up but in the end, I think she found it rather easy. All the squash and swimming have paid off, I would say... her fitness level is definitely way up. 8) She'd probably be faster than me in a couple more runs...

The hill at this time of the year is like summer and spring lumped together. It's so hot that the trees are actually getting to be quite bare of leaves and the footpaths, layered with dried leaves; which can be quite slippery. But while we were there, I noticed that the leaves were slightly wet. It had rained..... it's been so hot that lots of vegetation is drying up. Regular gym visits and swims have also made the trek up rather relaxing for me. 8)

The journey home was interesting because of the changing skyscape. The sky was a golden hue just as we passed Pokok Sena town. The sky is always more colourful at this time of the year.... evenings and mornings now made up of vivid colours.

Five minutes down the road, and the sun had turned red; the clouds making it look like as though it was playing a game of hide and seek. The sky was really fun to watch cos you'd see cracks appearing in the cloud and suddenly rays of sunlight would burst forth. Then as suddenly as they appear, these cracks would seal themselves up and you're left with the gray again.

We had dinner at the stalls and was followed by this. We dropped by to collect some CNY goodies (pies and my favourite 'SCS' butter cake) and Ah Ho was baking this.... muffins, with jam inside and cinnamon sugar toppings at Other Half's suggestion. He had gotten her the recipe for this from the net. Because it's vegetable oil that is used, they're not buttery like the usual butter cupcakes that we're so used to...

Tis a blessing to be her friend, definitely... 8) My stomach says so.... LOL! And while we were there, it rained cats and dogs, the first in many weeks! Showers of blessing!