Irish Lamb Shank from Secret Recipe

This is the dish that I love most in Secret Recipe. The other dishes, I wouldn't recommend at all except for their cakes.

Food - 9/10 (Only for Irish Lamb Shank)

It is not cheap as you can see but it is really nice. Unfortunately many of the Secret Recipe branches in Malaysia don't sell this dish anymore. I"m not sure why, I suspect lamb is just not popular here or maybe it is simply too expensive? Or maybe they're waiting the lamb from Ireland? lol

Every time I just quit if they don't sell this dish although they have it in their menu. Trust me, other dishes that sold by secret recipes are not worth it at all.


Price - 7/10

Price is slightly expensive but it is worth it with such delicious dish. This maybe personal.


Location Information

Many places in Malaysia you can find secret recipe (e.g. shopping centers and shop lots).

Aquarium Restaurant - Pineapple Garden

I just feel like want to talk about this unique aquarium restaurant in Penang. It is a pretty innovative restaurant. :) An aquarium inside a TV!!! Have a look...

Food / Overall - 7/10

Not the food are supper good here, but I'm attracted by this unique aquarium. :)

The "balacan" fried chicken, most local people will order this. :)

Curry fish, and sorry, I don't really like it.

This grassy jerry (also known as"cincau") drink is the famous one and you MUST order this.

Location Information

 
View Pineapple Garden Restaurant in a larger map

Address 
1,Pesara Mahsuri 5,
SG. Nibong Kecil,
Bayan Lepas,
11900 Penang.

Business Hours
Lunch & Dinner (I assume everyday)

GPS Location
+5° 19' 51.55"
+100° 16' 55.43"

Best Fried Pork Leg in Gurun, Kedah

This is the best fried pork leg that I have tried so far. It is located in Gurun, Kedah. Good thing is not many people know about this place except the locals. Why? Because you don't need to wait for damn long for the food! :)

As you can see from these pictures, the restaurant's name is called "Xong Yuan Seafood" but it is parked in the "Ta Choong" coffee shop. You can look for this coffee shop first as it is easier to be seen.


Food (Fried Pork Leg) - 9/10

They fry it and it is very crispy. I like most about is it's gelatin. Some people call it pork collagen. It is in white color or colorless like a gel kind of thing beneath the pork's skins. You know what I mean?

If they know how to cook, it is very sticky one - really like a gel but for those who doesn't know how to cook, the stickiness is not that strong. Anyway, I love this pork leg very much! If you don't like too much of gelatin/collagen, try pork hand (i.e. the front legs) instead. It has more meat but less gelatin/collagen.

Food (Others) - 7/10

Other foods is like normal food at Chinese restaurant. It is really just normal to me.

Environment - 7/10

Just normal, quite clean :) No air conditioner.


Price - 8.5/10

Price to me is cheap because the food here is very big portion. I usually cannot finish the pork leg and pack it back for the next day homemade porridge cooking. Believe me, try to put the pork legs into your porridge cooking, it is so~~~~~ delicious!


Overall - 8.5/10

Have to give 8.5/10 because the fried pork leg / hand is really very nice! You must try it if you have chance travel to north or maybe on your way to Alor Star.


Location Information

Address
Xong Yuan Seafood,
Taman Suria,
08300 Gurun,
Kedah, Malaysia

Tel: +6016 4869729


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Business Hours
12 PM (Lunch), 7 PM (Dinner)
Close on Monday

Note: Don't go too early for dinner or else you need to wait till 7 PM.


GPS Location
+5° 48' 40.46", +100° 28' 40.58"

Homemade Pork Burger in Penang - 43 Cafe

It is located in Sungai Dua, Penang which opposite of University of Science, Malaysia (USM) but not many people know about this place. Probably only known by USM students, I think.

Food - 7.5/10

I don't really give a very high rating for the fact that I don't have a very strong feeling that I want to come back again very badly. Usually those that I rate food with  > 8/10, I have that feeling. Perhaps it is my own bias on western food because I"m not fan of it?

To be honest, the food is unique. You should give it a try and see whether you agree with my assessment. Other than burger, they also serve toast and satay, see the photo below.


Pork Burger (Owen Grilled)

EGG PECAH Toast

NoM NoM NOM (Penang Satay)

Soup of the Day

Environment - 7/10

Environment is considered clean and acceptable. See here...

Price - 7/10

To me, I think it is okay, not very cheap and not very expensive as compared to most western food.


Overall - 7.5/10

I think it is still worth a visit because of it's uniqueness. The pork burger is a must try because it is mentioned in their menu! :) I recommended this to a friend before and she likes it.


Location Information

Address
43 Cafe‎,
43, Jalan Sungai Dua,
Kampung Dua Bukit,
11700 Penang.

Tel: (+60)164307009


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Business Hours
5:30 pm - 10:00 pm (Open daily & dinner only)

GPS Location 
+5° 21' 11.68", +100° 18' 13.68"

Famous Homemade Laksa and Chai Kueh in Kulim

This is the very famous homemade "Laksa" and "Chai Kueh" that everyone knows in Kulim. It is located in Kilang Lama, Kulim.

In fact, the "Chai Kueh" is the best "Chai Kueh" that I have ever eaten. The skin is not thick. Somehow those not so nice "Chai Kueh" usually has a very thick skin and little vegetable. The "Laksa" there is not bad but I think "Penang Laksa" is better than this! :)

There are 2 houses side by side. The one on the right sells "Chai Kueh"

and the other on the left sells "Laksa".

Food (Chai Kueh) - 9/10

There are 2 types - green and yellow. I like the green one. I don't know how it is called in English. This vegetable is called "Ku Chai" in Hokkien.  The yellow one is called "Mengkuang" in Malay I think. :)

You can't eat there but only take away is allowed. :) So what I usually do is I take away and  just go to the next Laksa house on the left. Everyone does that actually. :)


Food (Laksa) - 7/10

As mentioned, I preferred the Penang Laksa than this but anyway if you want to try a different taste of Laksa, it is worth to try. It is kind of unique also. :)

Overall - 8/10

You must come here to try if you ever drop by Kulim or maybe when you're exploring the north. It is worth to try especially the Chai Kueh"! :)


Location Information


View Famous Homemade Laksa and Chai Kueh in Kulim in a larger map

Address
Jalan Maggis,
Kampung Baru Kilang Lama,
09000 Kulim, Kedah,
Malaysia.

Business Hours
11:00 am - 6:30 pm
Monday, Tuesday Off (for Chai Kueh)
Wednesday Off (for Laksa)

GPS Location
+5° 23' 23.39", +100° 34' 3.50"

Noodle Prawn at Pulau Aman is Very Nice

When you have nothing to do during weekend in Penang, probably is a good idea for you to pay a visit to Aman Island (Pulau Aman). The noodle prawn (Mee Udang) there is the best!

To go there, you need to take boat from the Batu Musang Jetty. The island is opposite of this jetty. When you reach there, you will see this restaurant called "Restaurant Terapung" - means floating restaurant.

They sell those live seafood before you enter the restaurant and you can ask them to cook for you after that. Most people buy the mantis prawn there.

But I do not recommend you guys to buy because I don't think they know how to cook it. They basically overcook it which I find it kind of very wasted with this kind fresh live seafood. My take is just don't buy live seafood, go to the restaurant directly and order the "Mee Udang". :)

Here you go the menu, just write to down to order!

Food - 9/10 (Mee Udang Kuah)

The is the best food here and what I really like is very unique special source (kuah) that you can only find it here. It is very spicy also!

Food - 7/10 (Mee Goreng Udang)

This is fried noodle prawn which I find it nothing special. So don't order this if you haven't tried out the above one. Probably the cook tried to fry the noodles for too many plates at the same time, that's why not so nice. I guess.

Food - 7/10 (Mantis Prawn)

This is what we bought just now and as I said it is very wasted because they don't know how to cook. They just steam it but the timing is not right. So I do not recommend this at all although it looks nice below. :D

Drink - 5/10

This is not a place for drink. Perhaps the coconut drink is the best drink here.


Environment - 6/10

Environment is okay and you shouldn't expect much here. At least, I think it is clean. Service is slightly arrogant but it is still acceptable. :)

Overall - 8.5/10

I like this place. The "Mee Udang Kuah" is a must try. By the way, there is one very unique fruit here and it is called "Sukun" fruit. It is like this:

It's tree is super huge by the way. These trees are everywhere here. :) They make it into "keropok" something like this and honestly it is not nice. Too hard for me...

Location Information

I put the Batu Masang Jetty here. You need to come here first:


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Address
Restaurant Terapung,
120 Pulau Aman,
14100 Simpang Ampat,
Penang, Malaysia.

Business Hours
9:30 pm - 5:30 pm (Daily)

GPS Location (Batu Musang Jetty)
+5° 15' 55.55", +100° 24' 24.55"

Best Indonesian Food at Malang - Inggil Rumah Makan

I visited East Java, Indonesia last month to climb 2 famous live volcano (i.e. Bromo and  Kawah Ijen) and if you ask me the best Indonesian food that I have tried is this "Inggil Rumah Makan" restaurant which is located at Malang.

FYI - Malang is the second large city after Surabaya in East Java province, Indonesia.

So if you have chance to visit Bromo, probably you can stop by this Malang city as well to try this best Indonesian food. :)

The spelling is similar to Malay but is different and you can still understand. Boeka instead of Buka. :) It means "Open" - business hours.


Environment - 8/10

Environment here is good and it is in fact a museum restaurant where you can find a lot of antiques stuff here.

Food - 8.5/10

The most delicious food here are Sambal and grilled chicken. The grilled chicken is the best chicken that I have tried in my entire life! lol I would rate it 9/10.

Same to the Sambal source here, there are many kind of Sambal and if you have chance to come to this restaurant again, you should try all of them.

These stuff are eat together with Sambal. It is called "ulam", kind of like salad.

This is Sambal. Sambal is homemade chili based source which are very popular in Asia. The white color one is raw mango slides.

Sorry, this is half-way eating, I forget to take the picture when it is served because we order another Sambal after finish the above one. :) This Sambal is a very spicy and hot as compared to above one.

Grilled fish is okay but normal in my opinion. Perhaps just 7/10.

This is called "Petai", every Malaysian knows this too. In English, it is called "Parkia speciosa". :) They don't really cook it here, but I prefer the cooked version.

Some menu that I took for your reference here:

Drink - 7/10

A lot of restaurants here serve Ginger drink and there are many kind of ginger drinks which make it unique. You seldom find it else where. The only I not so like about this drink is, some of it are just too sweet. So you need to probably ask them to put less sugar, then this drink will be perfect!

Price - 9/10

Price is cheap here and probably this is due to currency conversion. A high-class place to eat here for 2 person will not be more than RM 70.


Overall - 8.5/10

You must try this out if you ever come to Malang. 2 must try food is those Sambal and grilled chicken.

By the way, at Malang, you can try to eat the fresh apple too directly from the farm. There is an apple picking trip that allow you to eat as many as you can in the farm.  So don't just visit this restaurant, go for this apple picking trip too which I find it very fun!


Location Information


View Larger Map

Address
JL. Gajah Mada 4,
Malang,
65119 Indonesia

Business Hours
10 am - 11 pm

GPS Location
-7° 52' 12.41", +112° 31' 29.67"