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Last night I decided to bring my family out for a dinner. Well, we usually cook at home. We were deciding on what to eat and at last, we decided to have Japanese food.

I saw there are a couple of new Japanese restaurants opened at the i-Avenue building near Bukit Jambul. So we decided to go there since it’s nearby. We dined at the Tsuruya Japanese Restaurant. When we’re there, we were greeted by the waitress outside the restaurant. We requested to be seated at a non-smoking area. Yup, this place has a smoking & non-smoking area.

The ambience was nice. You get to dine on a Japanese-like table (minus sitting on the floor) which is pretty comfortable.

I ordered a Chirashi set. It’s a mixture of raw fishes. Yup, I love raw fishes and a lots of wasabi (I’m a big fan of wasabi) .

We waited for a while and the dishes arrive. My Chirashi set was nicely served in a bowl having the vinegar rice covered by a combination of salmon, tuna and octopus. I requested extra wasabi from the waitress as usual … hehehe.

I enjoyed the dish like I always do with nice raw fishes. One thing, the Chirashi set only has 3 combinations of fishes in this place. I used to go to another place at Pulau Tikus which they offer 4-5 combinations of fishes which I enjoyed more.

Well, overall it was a nice dinner with a nice dining ambience. The items are reasonably priced. On average, a typical set of meal will cost you around RM25 - RM40 which is a norm for Japanese food. The price differ on locations but shouldn’t be a lot. After we’re done with our dinner, the owner of the restaurant hopped over to our table and asked our comments on the food which I commented that the Chirashi would be great if they have a little more varieties on the dish like 4-5 combinations. Overall was cool.

So, till the next time around.
Michael.

Curry noodles or better known as ‘curry mee’ which is similar to Lemak Laksa that is available is some other Peninsula state is another favourite local dish. A spicy dish consisting of yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, cubes of coagulated pig’s blood, dried tofu, prawns, cockles and mint leaves served in curry soup with thick coconut milk. For those who is into hot and spicy, you can add the special chilly paste to the soup for the extra ooOOMMPHH!

The chilly paste is what gives curry mee its special taste. In some stalls, they have a variety of chicken, curry squids, pork that can be added to make the dish tastier.

Pancake is one of the snacks available in Penang. It’s commonly available at roadside stalls as well as some hawkers centres.

Pancake are made from flour mixture with some sugar and salt added to the mixtures. It will then be pan-fried on a special flat pan. When the flour is partially cooked, the pancake will then be added with additional toppings which served as the inner fillings of the pancake.

Common standard fillings will be like peanuts, sweet corns and eggs. Certain stalls will also have more varieties of fillings like hams, cheese, peanut butter, bananas, strawberries jam just to name a few. Normally, a menu with combinations of fillings will be available for customers to choose from. Other fillings can also be added on customers’ request with additional cost.

Remember to get a bite on these pancakes when you are around Penang.

Another Penang’s delicious delicacy is fried oysters. Better known by the locals as ‘Oh Jian’.

Like it’s name sake, it’s main ingredient are oysters. Together with the oysters, other ingredients like starch(prepared using flour), eggs, a little soya sauce as well as some pepper. These ingredients are then mixed and fried together until the mixtures gives out a nice fragrance. The oysters are usually not overcooked to maintain it’s natural sweet taste. At different stalls, sometimes the sellers will also add in prawns as an additional ingredient.

The fried oysters dish is usually served together with some locally made chilly sauce. Having the fried oysters dipped with a little chilly sauce, it will further enhance the taste of the oysters.

This dish is widely available in most hawkers’ centres as well as local coffee shops. Be sure you give it a try if you spot one around when you are in Penang. It’s normally costs between RM6.00 to RM10.00 depending on the size of the dish that you desire.

One of Penang’s famous dish is fried kuey teow which also happened to be one of our favourite dish too.

Typically, it consist of mainly kuey teow(a flat and white type of noodle), prawns, cockles and beansprouts. All the ingredients are fried together with some chilli sauce. Certain stalls might add in additional ingredients like Chinese sausages or even squids.

You can find fried kuey teow commonly available in most coffee shops around Penang as it’s a popular dish among Penangites. It should cost between RM2.00 to RM3.50 which depends on the ingredients that the seller is putting into the dish.

When you are around Penang, this is definitely a MUST TRY dish in your list.