Category Archives: Critique Ant

January 24th, 2013 [Thursday].

February is always a exciting month because it’s a month of prosperity and love! you get to catch up with relatives, cousins, and friends whom you don’t usually meet, and of course angpaosss that come with them (married ones) XD. And then it’s Valentine’s Day! Hopefully this year we get to spend the day together (we’re on a LDR yo!)!

This post was supposed to be up last week, but you know my middle name is procrastination. So yeah, now that I’m staying up late (some Chinese tradition saying that the longer you stay up late on CNY eve, the longer life your parents can live!), I better utilize the time for blogging. May this year of snake brings my lovely readers full of joy, prosperity, happiness and goooood luck! Gong hei fatt choi!

The whole Valentine’s dinner will be prepared by the skillful chef Daniel Tan!

The whole ambiance will be decorated romantically with pinky rose stalks and petals and candle lights! Eastin Hotel Penang makes sure you and your other half have a wonderful night over good food, quaint environment to tete-a-tete over good food and wine.

At only RM 238++ per couple, each of you get to enjoy a scrumptious dinner set inclusive of a appetizer, soup, main course of your choice, dessert, a glass of wine and a surprise gift (hint: bear wtf) for the both of you!

Appetizer - Duck Confit Lasagna and Lily Pulp, Spinach with Sun Dried Tomato Essence

This appetizer was done beautifully! The duck confit was marinated with herbs overnight and then braised in its own fat for 11 hours at 80 ‘C! It was so flavorful and tender! Definitely a great start of the romantic dinner! And those petals like pieces were lily pulp! I quite likey the subtle sweetness and crunchiness of it. Contrast to the soft duck confit, in a good way .

Soup - Seafood Consommé with Pearl Vegetables and Egg Custard

From afar, I thought the colorful pearls were the frozen vegetables!! Luckily they proved me wrong! They were zucchini (yellow), cucumber (green), and carrot (orange) swimming beautifully in the consommé with a cube of egg custard topped with beads of caviar. Somehow I find this consommé a little too bland for my liking. I understand that this dish is supposed to wash your palate to prep them for the next dish, hence the blandness. But, just a tad of salt and pepper would be fine.

Main Course 1 - Grilled Chicken Supreme rolled with Asparagus and Cheese served with Morels Cream Sauce

Chicken was prepped with paprika and mixed herbs before grilling to perfection. Three types of cheese ( cheddar, mozzarella and camembert) and asparagus were encased within the grilled chicken, drizzled with morels cream sauce. This was also my first encounter with morels. I thought it was some berry soft black fungus, excuse my bumpkiness. :/

Main Course 2 - Oven Roasted Sea Bass Rolled with Lobster Mousse served with Spicy Sauce

A rather huge slab of sea bass sitting on a bed of mushy mashed potato. I am a fish person, so this dish won my heart over!

Dessert - The ingredients of L.O.V.E

Spicy Mango Cheese Cake and Deep Fried Iced Chocolate

A pretty interesting dessert I would say. Which you get to taste the four distinct flavors – sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy in the layered mango cheese cake. This would be a perfect end to the tantalizing dinner, only if they tone down slightly on the spiciness of the cake.

Love Potion - 2 Glasses of House Wine & Pralines

and lastly, enjoy the night away with the glass of wine and praline! And if you wanted to spend the night intimately together, just head upstairs to the room, it’s just RM 120++ per night!

Swez Brasserie
GF Eastin Hotel,
1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queensbay
11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
+604 6121128
website

December 29th, 2012 [Saturday].

few weeks ago, i saw a huge banner being hung up at the second floor of Queensbay Mall (QBM) saying that Tong Pak Fu (TPF) outlet will be coming soon. i jotted down mental note that i will come for it because i missed it during my Hong Kong trip two years back (time really flies wei!). i managed to try Hui Lau Shan last-minutely at Hong Kong International Airport though, but didn’t quite likey, thought it’s mediocre. anyway…

fast forward few weeks later, the boyfie was in town to celebrate new year eve together. we went to QBM for a quick lunchy and did some window shopping. only then i knew that TPF’s outlet had already open! we walked in instantly. or more like me towing him in XD

it’s situated at second floor of the East Wing of QBM, on the same floor with Azuma Japanese Restaurant! not hard to locate it.

the indoor interior is pretty small (but cosy), so if you come in a bunch,

you might prefer seating at the spacious al-fresco area (although still indoor). since it’s only the boyfie and i, we chose indoor , because the décor is prettier in the inside

students are entitled for 10% discount on weekdays! too bad it was a Saturday! couldn’t make use of my student card.

Tracka Durian Snow Ice | RM 11.80 (Regular)

boyfie ordered this to satiate his durian’s craving since we didn’t have time for durian hunting at Balik Pulau, so yeah, this would do. boyfie enjoyed every bit of this finely shaved layered icy dessert! Apparently this is one of their best-seller! must bring daddy to TPF, i told boyfie!

Mango Napoleon with Vanilla Ice-cream | RM 10.80

While I ordered this! Love the mixed texture of crisp waffle and mushy custard cream and generous soft mango slices.

And this is why I lub my boyfie. He can cut perfectly. If I were to quarter it, it would be a mess on the plate, which is really unappealing to look at . he can be quite annoyingly meticulous some time I wanna strangle him.

2F-102 & k1, 2nd Floor, 100,
Queensbay mall,
Persiaran Bayan Lepas,
11900 Bayan Lepas Pulau Pinang

January 18th, 2013 [Friday].

And then a week later, I was invited for a food review courtesy of VBook Media! This time to the Burmah Road’s outlet!

It’s one of those house-turned-shop-lot unit.

If you notice, the whole shop is well-decorated. That’s because the owner, Mr Eugene owns a interior design firm too. And according to him, this is the one and only TPF outlet that deviated from others in term of design and decoration, food wise, he can’t variate too muchy cos after all, it’s a franchise business.

There’s a upper floor to cater larger crowd.

Love both the lamp and clock! They are from his shop too! okay enough with the decor, let’s move on to the desserts!

And this is Mr Eugene, the owner of TPF Queensbay Mall and Burmah Rod! He’s such a young, down-to-earth and humble chap (he’s taken btw)! You know what I love about attending food review (other than free food)? I get to know the story behind their success, and they are never stingy to share their knowledge and information. It’s so inspiring. We can chat on and on for hours. It’s more like a gathering with friends, because you feel so comfortable with the people and the environment at the premise.

of course i did ask him about the controversy last year. he said the havoc boosted his business! haha. but there’s also some jokers who vandalized on their menu saying things like, your Hong Kong food berry nice mer? =.= .

taste bud is a really personal thing in my opinion. everyone was born differently so one man’s meat might be another man’s poison. i guess he she tasted some nasty local food like shrimp paste/fish sauce? you either like it or hate it. and obviously he she hates it. but when you’re representing a brand/company, i think he she has to think before saying anything. anyway, he she no longer is the spokeperson now! phew!

Crème Brulee | RM 7.80

thin crisp caramel layer atop of rich custard. this was divine! one of my favourite here!

Hong Kong Crispy Deep Fried Fish Skin | RM 8.80

i don’t really eat skin. but i had a piece and boy it was so crispy! even after exposing to the air for some time. you know, bloggers at work, our guns (read: camera) get to devour the food first. you can either eat it on its way, or dip it into the broth given.

Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice-cream | RM 12.80

one of our favourite! premium Belgium choco oozing out from the warm soft moist cake, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! omg it’s was so rich! must let boyfie try this next time!

Black Sesame Cream with Glutinous Ball

crushed-peanut-filled bola-bola drenched in thick and smooth black sesame cream!

Double-boiled Snow Pear with Dried Citrus Peel | RM 8.80

whole pear boiled with dried citrus peel twice over slow fire. every gal will like this tongsui! it’s nourishing and soothing! and they use brown sugar instead of white refined sugar, the sweetness was just alright not cloying at all!

Mango Napoleon with Vanilla Ice-cream | RM 10.80

just had to order this again!

Chilled Mango Sago Creme with Pomelo and Mango Ice-cream | RM 10.80 (bowl/cup)

our favourite too! or was it three?

mango ice cream floating on a sea of mango sago and pomelo pulp! too good!

Tracka Durian Snow Ice | RM 14.80 (Large)

Black Sesame Snow Ice | RM 7.80 (Regular)

needless to say, my favourite was the durian one! Jacgy preferred the black sesame one though

Glutinous Rice Balls with Black Sesame & Peanut Toppings | RM 4.80

Curry Fish Balls | RM 6.50

besides dessert, they do serve snacks too! we got to sample their black and red balls LOL.

black ones were not my favourite kind of dessert. it feel like a giant pearl ball in 珍珠奶茶 :/ BUT. but the curry balls were really good. the balls were firm and springy! when i had a bite of one the curry fish ball at Hong Kong, i felt cheated instantly. you know how they always portrayed it like berry yummy liddat in Hong Kong drama? cheat one i tell you! it was limp and it feel like they were soaked in the curry gravy for days =.= so do try this local version of curry fish balls if you pop by TPF ya!

No.229-F,
Jalan Burma,
10050,Penang.

Gurney Plaza
Persiaran Gurney,
10250, Penang
+604 2290120