Pick n Brew (3rd Visit) @ Shah Alam

I was having lunch with a friend this afternoon at Pick n Brew again and I saw they are having this new set lunch displayed on the table. So I had ordered one of the set. This is the Prawn Aglio pasta. Enough spices and olive olive and the pasta isn't that soft but just nice to bite into. But I rather have a Spicy Aglio Oleo anytime. But still this is a good plate of pasta to have on a lunch. Portion was quite generous for the price. (RM15.00/Set)

My friend had ordered the Nasi Kerabu. I think I had post a blog bout this dish before. The rice was filled with herbs and spices which is good but sadly it's too dry. They used peanut gravy ala satey sauce for the topping on the chicken. Chicken was tender and nice. It come with Acar on the side but I am not so into it. (RM17.00)

This is the Blackcurrant Soda which I think it's blackcurrant syrup added into soda water. Don't get me wrong, I like this drink. Blackcurrant with gas, nice.

My friend had ordered the Hot Chocolate for her drink. It's nice and warm. Together with the ambiance over at the cafe, it's very soothing. The crowd started to come in after 1pm. The place was pack when we left. Business was really that good. (RM9.00)

Overall, other than the Nasi Kerabu, I am very satisfied with the meal I had. What they served other than the Prawn Aglio? Well they have Meatball Pasta, Scampi and Vongole with Basil & Tomato and Penne Arabiatta. All the set meal come with their soup of the day and blackcurrant soda. So if you're looking for a good place to sit back and have lunch with good coffee to drink, this would be one of the place. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Jalan Macalister @ Penang Island

The last stop for my makan trip up North would be the famous night spot along Jalan Macalister. I was afraid that no one would believe the name of the street so here it is, Lorong Baru.

It was raining when we arrived that night. So it was a bit troublesome to walk around holding our umbrella while checking up all the stalls. So what did I ordered that night? What else?

Lobak. I will not miss a chance on ordering this. Well actually my friend ordered this so I just wallop only. Not bad.

Found one of the stall selling Fried Oyster. Good news, oyster is large and a lot. But still a bit too starchy for me. But it's juicy and fresh though.

This is the Char Keuy Kak from the same stall as the Fried Oyster. I am not into this but according to my friends, it's damn good. They even ordered another two plates after the first.

This would be my forth and last plate of Char Kuey Teow in town. What is the different you ask. Well this time around, I had ordered Char Kuey Teow with Duck Egg. What's the different in taste? Nothing much. Just another plate of Char Kuey Teow. And I was hoping for something special. Disappointed again.

Actually we didn't just ordered fried chicken wings and liver, but Fried Chicken Skin but I didn't snap a picture of it. Couldn't resist not ordering this dish as I didn't see anyone selling it in KL. Not too bad if you like to eat those skins on KFC.

According to my friend, Macalister sells the best Fried Intestine Satey in town. Yes, this is definitely better than the first we had at Gurney Drive. We even managed to con a friend of ours to have one saying that it's chicken meat. Damn that was one funny sight.

Jalan Eng Kwee @ Penang Island

I am not too sure about the location of this shop too but I guess it's along Jalan Eng Kwee if I am not mistaken. It's famous for their Char Kuey Teow and also Cendol. I think this is gonna be my 3rd plate of Char Kuey Teow of the trip. Place was small and pack but luckily found a table to sit.

Walk over to the Char Kuey Teow Stall and order, and the guy give me a heads up as there is still 20 plates before mine. Since I am really looking forward to try this so I decided to wait and so did my other friends. Saw the lady cooking non stop the whole time and till one time, they ran out of kuey teow and calling it a day. Yes, business was really that good for them.

So here is my plate of Char Kuey Teow #3. Outlook is the best I saw from all the stall but I couldn't say the same bout the taste though. Taste was plain and nothing special. Was totally disappointed again. Has Penang's Char Kuey Teow really drop that much of it's quality?

Since I am waiting for my Char Kuey Teow, I had decided to order some side dishes to eat to ease my hungriness. Saw an old lady selling lobak. Yes, that is what I wanted to eat. Not too filling but just nice. Not much choices so I just choose the lobak.

Well I guess you can't really go wrong with Lobak. As long as it's hot and juicy, it's OK with me. But still they need to control the fire so that it won't over cook it.

To cleanse my thirst I had ordered their Cendol which I heard was superb. Or so I heard. People were queuing up to buy the drink. So I assume it would be true.

In came my cendol and I realized that we need to pay an extra 50 cents if you order in the cendol. There is two stall over there and the old lady serving drink will tell you that it's the same but trust me, it's not. Well that is what I heard from my friend at least.

Some of my friends decided to try out their Asam Laksa. Nothing much to brag about here. Just your typical Asam Laksa. And yes, I am not an Asam Laksa fans too. So don't expect me giving reviews on them in the future. :P

Overall the place was totally over rated and I am still not sure what is the buzz is all about. Char Kuey Teow was disappointing but people are still queueing up to take away and it was sold off even before dinner time. Weird~!

Jalan Jelutong @ Penang Island

Second day of my makan trip up North and the location that we 'invaded' this time around is located along Jalan Jelutong. I am not sure how to describe the location but it's located just next to the road. It's called Kafe Bamboo. Heard that their Curry Noodle is something to brag about.

Yes, they serve yellow noodle and not just kuey teow. This is my first bowl of Curry Noodle up North as I don't normally take curry noodle over here as it's not thick and spicy, the way I like it. But since, it's recommended, so I just try my luck.

The gravy wasn't that thick so logically I assumed that it's not that spicy. Hence, I added one BIG scoop of chilly paste on my bowl. Believe me when I say, BIG. Something I found out about Northern curry noodle, it's not thick, it's not spicy, lots of pig's blood, fish balls and squids. Well other than the pig's blood, this is an above average Curry Noodle. Not the best I had but still acceptable.

Found out that there is one stall selling Apong outside the restaurant. Wasn't that much into this 'snack' in the beginning but I was so into it later on. As it was really nice.

One of my friend was so into Apong and she bought so many to share with us. This had to be the best Apong I had over my trip up North. The middle portion is thick with flour but not too sweet, just nice.

I saw a stall selling Chicken and Pork Rice next to the Char Kuey Teow stall and decided to gave it a try. Since the Char Siew look so juicy and fresh. Nothing to brag about, just alright.

Just want to show what is the different in the amount of chilly paste I added into my bowl of curry noodle. On top is the one with the standard portion while mine is the one below which is dark red with oil in it. LOL! That is why I didn't finish the soup up or else I need to run to the nearby clinic to check my cholesterol level after that.

Gurney Drive @ Penang Island

This is the second makan location which we all 'hit' during our trip up North, Gurney Drive a.k.a Sun Kwan Chai Kok. The place as you can see is too pack with people as early as 6pm. This place is so commercialize because of their local foods and over rated by the patrons. But nevertheless, we give this place a try too since it's a must visit location for tourists. And well, we're tourist.

When I arrived, I saw this uncle was so busy cooking the Char Kuey Teow without stopping. I think we can't really order anything else but Char Kuey Teow. Well since it's a must order, so this would be my 2nd plate of Char Kuey Teow of the day.

So this is the Char Kuey Teow which so many people were so eager to try. There is not much color in it but plain red from the chilly paste. There is a lot of prawns in this plate (or rather plastic container), around 6 pieces I think. But the taste was totally disappointing. Sigh~! RM3.50/plate

Popiah from one of the stall nearby. The skin was really think and taste was on the plain side. RM2/plate

I was informed that there is only two stalls selling Muachi over here. And we had ordered the one from the 'uncle' rather from the 'auntie' which I heard was the right choice. And truly it's not bad to eat. I am not so into this food but still a good snack to munch once in a while.

We had also ordered the Steam Squids with Kangkung. This is not my favorite dish too as I am not so into it. But I heard that it wasn't that nice too.

The best Rojak stall over here would be called G.P but it wasn't open that day so we opted for another stall which was just alright. Please make sure that the sauce to be separated from the fruits when you order so that the sauce won't be watery before you finish the dish.

Tempted to try this one out as I heard it was something special over here (Penang). No, it's not Chicken Satey but look further down.

Yes, it's Satey Intestine. I think it's pork's intestine in this case. This is my first bite into spare parts. As I am not so into spare parts at all. Well how do I describe this, it's very soft and juicy. Very different from the chicken or beef which I tasted before this. New experience for me, not that bad. But I heard McCalister served a better choice of this dish.

Lorong Selamat @ Penang Island

This is the first location of my makan trip up North, the infamous Lorong Selamat. This place was so commercial that you can see everyone selling Char Kuey Teow in Klang Valley would say that they come from Lorong Selamat. So I was really excited to try this one out.

When we arrive, the place was totally pack with patrons. But we managed to secure a table for 9 of us at the back of the restaurant.

Heard that the ABC is a must order so I walk over and look at what they had to offer. Well it's the standard ABC we have over here with a scoop of ice cream on top.

ABC a.k.a air batu campur with everything and a scoop of ice cream on top. I am not sure if I am really that hungry or it was that good but I managed to finished off the bowl before the Char Keuy Teow arrive.

For appetizer, we had ordered one of the local delicacy, Penang Lobak. It looks so delicious and I am so into Lobak even before I come over to Penang. So this is definitely one of the must order for me during this trip. Freshly fried and not too over fried. Meat still juicy and the sauce was just nice.

For the main dish, I had ordered the Char Kuey Teow from this uncle with the sunglasses. They are the only stall around which offer me Char Kuey Teow in this restaurant. So it's him or asam laksa for me.

So here's the infamous Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow that I heard so much about. Big juicy prawns (3 of them) with fried lards and bean sprout. But no banana leave at the bottom? Taste was really over rated for me. I had better in KL. And it's not cheap too. One plate of this cost RM6.

Village Park Restaurant @ Uptown Damansara

Some of my friend did mentioned this place before to me while passing through a few times back. But didn't have the chance to really go in and have a try. The name of the place is called Village Park Restaurant at Damansara Uptown. I heard the place serves a good plate of nasi lemak. That I would like to try.

Walked in and the place is filled with people standing queuing to pay and waiting for tables and waiting for their foods. It was havoc. Typical old style kopitiam. They served a varieties of foods ranging from beef rendang, chicken rendang and also the special fried chicken.

One thing for sure, I could smell the scent of a good fried chicken when I smell one. This I will definitely like to try. Physical and smell had already pass my test. Next is the tasting.

Well since I can't decide between beef rendang and fried chicken, hence I had ordered both. Why choose when you can have both right? It took some time before our food arrive. Let's go to the beef rendang first. Looks like one good beef rendang but lack the rendang taste for me. Let's just say I had better. Fried chicken is above average but I still prefered my Darul Salam fried chicken at SS15 anytime. Nasi lemak definitely pack a lot of lemak hence the nice scent and taste. Sambal is very nice, better than the rendang gravvy. Weird~! RM10

Cleanse it all down with one cold glass of Sirap Ice. Sweet~!

Kitchen is small but the workers are very efficient and multitasking. But if you ask me, you will get your food faster if you walk over to the counter and wait for it rather than sitting on your seat. They do serve mee jawa, half boil eggs and etc like a kopitiam.

Overall, the food is above average, hence the pack crowd and all. I heard that the place is operated by nyonya folks. I know the cashier knows Chinese. So it's possible. Definitely going back for second and more to come. You have to queue up to the counter to pay your bill and yes the place is air condition inside so no worries of the sunny weather outside. Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0