Love a Loaf Bakery

This is a bakery cum cafe which is always packed. They have very good breads and pastries. If you like buying the healthy series kind of bread *with lots of nuts* *with wheat germ* *grains* etc etc, this could possibly be your choice. Pretty good buns as well. The taste and choices of the breads and buns seem more 'homemade'. 

However, if you're more to the pastry/ cake kinda person instead of bread, do try as well. I'd always pop in after lunch whenever I have the chance so I can have a bite of something sweet OR maybe after dinner for a slice of cake and a pot of tea. 

The cakes are not too sweet. If you flavour more on thick cheese, buttery or really thick cream, then you might disagree with me that this is a good place for cakes. 

They have rather limited tables but doesn't seem to be an issue for the day as most people just do the take out. Some of the nights, having a table can be competitive ;) 

p/s: Operating hours 10am-10pm

Suffolk House Restaurant

This place not only provides you fine dining but it also gives you a posh feel. The restaurant in located in a heritage mansion which is believed to be owned previously by Sir Francis Light. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor. The outdoor view was great as it overlooked the big piece of garden. You definitely wont feel that this place is located alongside the main road of Ayer Itam. Worth to note that this is an award-wining restaurant ;)

We ordered the Aussie beef and salmon *sorry for not noting the names down*

The beef looks a tad dry in this picture but if you choose to believe me, it's not as dry as it looks like. It is tender and juicy. Even so, I prefer the salmon. I've tasted different types of fish at different places. This IS DEFINITELY one of the top! Most places overcooked the salmon which cause a very strong salmon-characteristic flavour and smell. Some may love it but I prefer the smell and taste to be lighter. This piece of salmon *as picture below* was cooked to perfect moisture and taste!

I am a fish lover- Once, when I was travelling with my friends. She asked me, "why do you always order fish whenever we have dinner? and even when we're here in the UK, you're ordering fish again.". So, I guess my comments on the salmon is valid. 

We wanted to order desserts but the two choices we made were unavailable. It's okay, I will be back. 

Seared Scallop Ayer Itam with compliments from the kitchen

p/s: they serve lunch and high tea too! also bar with alcoholic drinks available. Heard that the menu changes from time to time, so don't be surprise if you don't see what I ordered :)

China House, Penang

WHOAAAAAAA! JUST look at the number of types of cakes they have! The picture below is just part of it! At least 10 more choices in the chiller! It's like a perfect place for cake to me. They have all sorts of cake from Tiramisu to cheese cake to black forest to chocolate cake to homemade-style butter orange cake. 

Though they serve hot meals as well, I haven't got a chance to try yet. I'm usually there either for afternoon tea or after dinner. It is much easier to find a parking at night though. Prices range from RM7 to RM20. Sounds a bit pricey (RM20 for a piece of cake!) but it's really good plus it's really big. That's what we call value for money. Pay for what you get and get what you paid.

A place really suitable to say "Think of cakes, think of China House."

Heard that it is a good place to hangout with live band music, some beers or alcohol too! ;)

Song Kheng Hai, Kuching

Place where you can get half of you Kuching-Food-Cravings fixed! We get "Siew Mai" or 烧卖 almost everywhere, as long as there is Chinese food or any Dim Sum restaurant. Even in countries like Philippines and Vietnam where you don't get to see many Chinese residents, you CAN still find "Siew Mai" rather common.

This is rather traditional as it existed even in the Qing Dynasty. It was named as "捎卖" which means side dish since then. The name slowly transformed to names like 烧卖 which is commonly known in Malaysia. In Kuching, we call it "Sio Bee" which is translated to Hokkien from the word " 烧米". However, borned and raised in Kuching, I love how different the taste of Sio Bee is. There are a few places in Kuching where you can find really good Sio Bee (which will be blogged about soon). We usually have stuffed pork *usually non-halal but you can find some with stuffed chicken instead*, nothing else but just lots of meat. I rate "Sio Bee" as "Excellent" when it's chewy and when it has this amazing bland taste of sweetness. It is usually complimented with sweet chilli sauce which is actually a good combination :D

Sio Bee 烧米

Owwwkayyy. Back to this place- Song Kheng Hai @宋庆海. It's located at Pandungan or some say Ban Hock Road area, just right beside the rugby field. 

Remember to try the Kwong-Piah, traditionally from the Foochows. Can be found at Rihga (stall number 7). It is a savoury bun covered with lots of sesame *it's already good on its own* sandwiched with sweetened minced pork. Deep fried for several minutes and it's good to be served. Just try and you will not forget how good it is :) 

Do you see a small hole in every kwong-piah? My grandmother told me that during the war, the foochow-s used to string them into necklaces, put them over their necks while they run for their lives. Amazing idea isnt it. To date, they still maintain the shape of its origin. 

Kwong Piah 光饼

Other food to try if you're there for lunch are sweetened fried mee, tomato crispy noodle *sob, I can't find the photo I took* (by far my favourite from stall No3? Just a few stalls away from Rihga), nyonya foods are also sold here. If you want to have some homecooked food, they have very homey-taste of ngo-hiang 五香卷 and mani-cai @cangkuk manis too. 

This place is also famous for its freshly squeezed sugar cane juice either with coconut or with lemon. Definitely a good choice during a hot day. Also not to forget, drinks worth mentioning here are "white lady", "me-ta-horn", "mixed fruits special" and "ngo-mee-tng". You can find all these in the drinks stall with ice-shaving machine. 

Sweetened Fried Mee 炒甜面 @Tee-Mee

p/s: if you're there on Saturdays, around 12noon, try your luck to spot the auntie who carries "ham-chi-peng" 咸煎饼 around as it will be sold off within minutes. I dont really have to describe how good it is, it's freshly homemade from sweet potatoes :) *awesome!*

Ric's Burger

Was so hungry, roaming around, having no idea what to eat. We saw this place, out of the few shops opened on a late weekend morning. I went, "whoa, burgers, just meaty enough for someone really hungy". Saw the name of this place somewhere so it got me even more interested.

It is a simple shop but PACKED! It always tells me that it is either the good food or the fabulous service which keeps the business running good *since there no fancy/expensive design nor extra huge discount*

The person over the cashier was friendly enough to explain what's on the menu to a first-time customer. Apparently, the handsome guy doing the frying and cooking started with a stall in a pasar malam (night market) and now expanded to a shop-scaled. Definitely something worth trying. 

They have pork and beef patty. All homemade😱 180g Aussie beef, juicy and yummy, all I could say is that, "u must try!!" And for the pork burgers, some called it the best pork burger in Penang. The fries are of course homemade as well, cut fries. I always prefer cut fries as they are fat-ter and not too much of the taste of flour, just pure potatoes. 

They are also famous for their rice burger. Meaning homemade patty with homemade rice 'buns'. Didn't get to try it this round as I was looking for something to do with bread and pastry, maybe next time?

Good thing is that you can get a good set of burger from RM 11. That's really affordable! 😘

Location: Bayan Lepas 2-1-28, The One, Jalan Mahsuri, 11900, Penang.

I have been taking pictures of food and post them up once in a while, just like what most Asians do. My love for food has grown throughout my life. I've decided to start blogging mostly about food I've had so I can share all the goodness with people all around the world :) and bits and pieces of me and my life along the way.