Lu Lu's Noodles - Pittsburgh, PA (Revisit)

We were back in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving last weekend. It's been a while (nearly a year) since we were back. Apart from spending time with the family as well as catching up with friends, we also managed to go out to eat at some of our favorite places in Pittsburgh. Some places were as good as we remembered them to be but some places were a total letdown. I will be writing more about those places in the coming posts.
The first place that I am going to write about is Lu Lu's Noodles. I have written a review about this place like two years ago and from that review, you can see that we truly adore this noodle house. It's located right in the middle of Oakland, somewhat close to the University of Pittsburgh. When we were still going to school in Indiana, PA, we would always visit Lu Lu's whenever we are back in Pittsburgh. We thought that they served the best noodles ever! When we walked into Lu Lu's last weekend, we were greeted by the familiar red walls and wacky black and white posters of people posing with noodles. Looks like nothing has changed....or has it?
We brought Kevin's mom along with us, since she has never eaten at Lu Lu's before. We have been raving about that place since forever, so we thought that she might like to try it. There were not that many people there and we didn't have to wait for a table (we did however have to wait quite a while before the server decided walk over and bring us to a table). After taking our orders, the food arrived rather quickly. However, we didn't have any cutlery set up. I had to actually walk over to ask them for some and it took quite a while for them to bring it over. Is it really that difficult to bring over 3 forks, 3 spoons and some napkins? Looks like the service is not as good as it used to be. Kevin's mom ordered a vegetable egg roll ($1.45) and the three of us shared a portion of Crab Rangoon ($2.95) as our appetizer. I didn't try the egg roll but it looks just like any other egg roll. The crab rangoon wasn't really the greatest. There wasn't any traces of crab in the stuffing. Out of the 5 pieces, I believe we only saw one tiny red speck of crab in one of them! Like seriously, only one? The rest of the filling was just some sweet mixture of mayo and errmm cream cheese I guess.
Since we were always raving about Lu Lu's Wonton Noodle Soup ($5.95), Kevin's mom decided to give that a try. She added on some extra shrimp ($1.75) to go along with it. The shrimp and pork wontons were good and but noodles were not as great as we remembered it to be.
Kevin also ordered the Wonton Noodle Soup and added on some Asian sausage slices ($1.75). He too agreed that the noodles were not as good as he remembered them to be. I wonder if they changed their noodle supplier (it's supposed to be flown in from San Francisco) or if our taste buds has changed over the years. The soup base wasn't that great either. It tasted like some MSG laden hot water soup.
I ordered the Wonton Braised Noodle ($6.75) and added on some Roast Duck ($1.75). Yes, I have to agree that the shrimp and pork wontons were still rather good but the noodles were horrible. My noodles were stuck together in a clump and I had quite a difficult time in trying to separate them. Also, there were not enough sauce on my noodles. I only wished they had poured on more sauce. The duck taste alright, nothing really to rave or complain about.
Our total bill came to $37.51. I guess that's rather affordable for all that food. However, we were really disappointed that the Lu Lu's that we went to that night wasn't the Lu Lu's that we remembered so fondly of. Mediocre tasting food coupled with mediocre service. I don't think we will be returning to Lu Lu's anytime soon. That's really sad though, cos we really did enjoy many lunches and dinners at Lu Lu's back in the day. Up til now, I cannot really place my finger on it. Have our taste buds really changed that much or has the quality of food in Lu Lu's really declined that much over the years? I really don't know.

Lu Lu's Noodles - Pittsburgh, PA
400 South Craig Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Tel: (412) 687 7777

Chinatown - Harrison, NJ

We have heard so much about Chinatown (the restaurant, not the neighborhood!) in Harrison but we never got around to checking it out up til a few weeks ago. From the reviews that we read, it seems that Chinatown serves some of the best Chinese food in this region, outside of Chinatown (the neighborhood, not the restaurant :P) in Manhattan, of course. We have probably driven past it like a million times and every time we go by, I would say that we should go check it out. When we finally decided to have lunch there one Saturday afternoon, you can imagine my excitement. At last we get to see if this place really lives up to it's fame.
Chinatown is a so called fine dining Chinese restaurant that also serves Japanese food. Located on Harrison Avenue, it's smack right in the center of the busy strip of restaurants and pubs in Harrison, NJ. Parking can be a problem, so be prepared to circle the block a couple of times to find a spot. Also, if there is a NY Red Bulls game going on that weekend, traffic can be really bad. It's really close to the Red Bull Arena, so try not to head out there whenever they are playing a home game.
I didn't manage to take any pictures of the interior while we were there, so I stole one off Yelp. With deep red walls and dark colored furniture, there is definitely an upmarket feel to the place. The ground floor consist of smaller tables and benches for walk in customers and the top floor is reserved for private functions (they have enough room for a quite few of those huge Chinese style round banquet tables).
After taking our order, they brought out a small plate of complimentary snacks for us to munch on, while waiting for our food. It reminds me of the crunchy chow mien from those Chinese take out restaurants. Of course, this is not that oily and way lighter. Rather addictive, I would say. Dipping those crunchy pieces of fried dough into the plum sauce that comes along with it makes it even yummier :P
For our appetizer, we shared an order of Pan Fried Pork Dumplings ($4.95 for 8 pieces). It was rather good. A little bit too oily for me, but yummy none the less. The filling tasted more like what you would get in a Japanese gyoza but the skin of the dumpling is of course Shanghainese style. It would have been totally awesome if it wasn't that oily.
After looking at the menu for a bit, something told us that the portions will be pretty large. So, we decided to share a noodle dish and a meat dish. There were quite a number of noodle dishes to choose from and we finally went with the Shanghai Pan Fired Noodles ($10.95). As expected, the portion was indeed huge! Pan fried noodles topped with a generous amount of beef, chicken, shrimp and a variety of vegetables in a thick brown gravy. The taste? Well, it was good. I wouldn't say that it was extraordinary or one of the best noodles that I have ever had, but it wasn't bad. For $10.95 a plate, it's definitely not cheap. I think I can get something equally (or maybe even better) as good, at probably half it's price, if I were to randomly enter any of the restaurants in Chinatown, NYC.
We initially wanted to try the Peking Duck but they only had it in full size. That would be way too much for us. Even half a duck was a little bit too much. Anyways, we settle with half a roast duck ($12) instead. Our server told us that it's actually the same thing except that the Peking Duck comes minus the bones and they serve it with some pancakes. Oh and of course the price is different too. I believe it's $28.95 for the Peking Duck and it comes with 8 pancakes. The duck was rather good. Nice crispy skin and more importantly, it didn't have that gamey smell that sometimes comes along with duck dishes. The only downside was that it too was a tad bit too oily :(
Our total bill came to $31.94 (not including tip). In my opinion, I feel that it's a little bit steep for lunch. All we had were some dumplings, noodles and some duck. The food was alright, but definitely not something I would shout about. Maybe I was expecting too much (due to all the raving reviews), who knows. However, I do not think that we will be returning in the near future. The next time we are in the mood for some authentic tasting Chinese food, I'd rather just hop onto the train and head out to Chinatown in Manhattan :P

Chinatown - Harrison, NJ
218 Harrison Avenue,
Harrison, NJ 07029
Tel: (973)483 1504
Web: http://www.njchinatownrestaurant.com

Simple & Quick Pancit Canton

Out of all the Filipino noodle dishes that I know of, I would have to say that the Pancit Canton has got to be the most popular. Noodles was introduced to the Filipinos by the Chinese way back when and since then, the Pancit Canton has fast become a favorite among the Filipinos. Since noodles symbolizes longevity, the Pancit Canton is usually cooked during birthdays, Christmas, New Year and other celebrations. However, the Pancit Canton is so easy to make and yummy to eat, you can pretty much make it anytime that you want. There is no need to wait for a special occasion :P So, here is a really simple Pancit Canton recipe that I tried out a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

Start off by heating up some vegetable oil in a large wok. Then, add in some minced garlic. Saute the garlic til it's almost light brown. Then, add in some thinly sliced chicken breast. I pre marinated the chicken slices with some light soy sauce, pepper and cornstarch about an hour or so earlier.
Once the chicken slices are almost cooked, add in some carrot slices and some straw mushrooms. Usually, Shitake/Chinese mushrooms are used but since Kevin is not a big fan of Shitake mushrooms, I used straw mushrooms instead.
Allow the ingredients to cook for a little bit then add in some cabbage and some sugar snap peas. Mix everything together and allow it to cook.
After the vegetables are almost cooked, add in some shrimp that has been peeled and cleaned. Stir fry that a little until the shrimp is cooked.
Next, add in some chicken broth and some oyster sauce. Some people would also add in some light soy sauce but I feel that the broth and oyster sauce combo is salty enough. You can add in a little bit of light soy sauce if you like.
Once the chicken broth comes to a rapid boil, add in the pancit noodles. The pancit noodles are somewhat like our Chinese 'yee mein' and can be bought at any Asian grocery store. Mix the noodles with the rest of the ingredients and allow it to soften in the chicken broth. Continue to let it simmer and when most of the chicken broth have reduced, the pancit canton is done!
A yummy large wok on pancit canton, all ready to be served. Wasn't that really simple to make? It doesn't require much prep and you can whip it up in minutes. So, the next time you are at an Asian grocery store, pick up a pack of pancit canton noodles and give this recipe a try!

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia

When you talk about Malaysian food, one would automatically think of Nasi Lemak, Char Koay Teow, Satay...things like that. You can pretty much find those delicacies anywhere in Malaysia. However, there are lesser known regional favorites that can only be found in certain areas in Malaysia. For example, there is the choon pneah (egg rolls), roti babi (stuffed deep fried bread), cheh hoo (a slightly spicy chinese salad) and my all time favorite, mee suah tow. Those dishes originate from Penang and you can pretty much only find it in Penang. In fact, unless you know somebody from Penang, there is a high chance you would not even have heard of those dishes before (yes, I am not just talking about foreigners but Malaysians from other states too!). As a little girl, I would look forward to lunches at the cafe in OFA with my parents. In my opinion, they made some really kick ass mee suah tow! Oh, sorry, for those of you who don't know, mee suah is flour vermicelli and mee suah tow is mee suah cooked in a starchy broth, somewhat like sharks fin soup.

After we moved to PJ, the only time we could get to eat mee suah tow was when we were back visiting Penang. You cannot believe our excitement when we saw a Teow Chew Meng branch in SS2! Yes, SS2! That's like 5 minutes away from my parents house in Damansara Jaya. Teow Chew Meng is well known for their uber yummy mee suah tow! They originally started selling their mee suah tow in a small shack somewhere in Butterworth and their children expended the business to an air conditioned shop in Pulau Tikus, Penang. From there, it continued to grow and they now have branches all over. This SS2 branch is not located in the main busy SS2 square but it's over on the quieter side of SS2, at the Seapark/SS2 border. It' faces the housing area and it's on the same row as Lobsterman.
Apart from the yummy mee suah tow, they have quite a lot of really good side dishes that you can order to share too. My favorite is the Apple Beancurd (RM10 = US$3.20). Deep fried beancurd topped with shredded granny smith apples, dried shrimp and a sweet thai influenced sauce. Really really good. The octopus with rojak sauce (RM10 = US$3.20 for small, RM15 = US$4.80 for regular) and seafood roll (RM10 small, RM15 regular) is good too.
My dad is not a big fan of mee suah tow (even though my mom, Ash and myself simply adores it). So, he would usually order the Seafood Fried Rice (RM10 = US$3.20). I tried a mouthful, it's not too bad. Nothing really to shout about though. It's just regular fried rice with some shrimp, squid, chicken and egg..topped with some spring onions. You could also order porridge, noodles as well as oyster noodles if you do not like mee suah tow.
Ahhhh here it is. A huge serving of Sharkfin Mee Suah Tow (RM11 = US$3.50 per person). This portion is for three people. Mee suah cooked with large shrimp, crabsticks, fish maw,fish slices, bamboo clams, squid in a flavorful thick seafood broth. It is then topped with sharkfin and fried garlic in oil. It is originally served with a whole bunch fresh cilantro and spring onions on top but we told them not to add that to ours (not a big cilantro fan :P). Mmmm mmm mmm, nothing beats a big bowl of piping hot mee suah tow, complete with black vinegar. So, the next time you are in SS2 and what to try something new, head over to Teow Chew Meng and order yourself a big bowl of Mee Suah Tow!

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia
33, Jalan SS2/30
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 7877 9298

Beef Noodles @ Kedai Kopi Lai Foong - KL, Malaysia

If you were to ask me where you can find the best beef noodles in KL, I would have to tell you that, in my opinion, nothing beats the beef noodles in Lai Foong. I know quite a few people who thinks that the Ngau Kee beef noodles in Tingkat Tong Shin is the best ever, but I beg to differ. Sure, it's good. In fact, better than good. We would usually head out there in the wee hours of the morning, right after a night of clubbing and partying. A big bowl of beef noodles usually hits the spot! However, I still firmly believe that the beef noodles in Lai Foong is way better than the Ngau Kee beef noodles. Yup, Lai Foong wins hands down! :D

Kedai Kopi Lai Foong (Lai Foong Coffee Shop) is located at the corner of Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Jalan Tan Cheng Lock, right smack in the heart of the city. Amidst all the smog, dust from the busy main roads and loud constant honking from the crazy KL traffic is where you will find this little piece of heaven. We would make it a point to head down to the city every time we are back home in KL, just for the beef noodles. Something like my very own beef noodles pilgrimage :P As you can imagine, parking can be a problem. So, there are two ways to go about it. One is to take the LRT (Putra Line) and get off at the Pasar Seni (Central Market) station. Just cross the road and walk up a few blocks and you are there. The other option is to drive to Central Market and park at the Central Market parking lot. Option two is a little bit more expensive, cos parking in the city doesn't come cheap. However, it's more convenient. What we would usually do is, drive to Central Market, walk around for a bit (while picking up a whole lot of souvenirs for the folks back in the States), walk over to Lai Foong for a late lunch and continue down the street to Chinatown/Petaling St after lunch. Yup, that's our usual "Beef Noodle Pilgrimage". LOL!
Kedai Kopi Lai Foong is a pretty cool coffee shop. Walking into that coffee shop is like taking a step back in time. With it's dated tile floors and wall to the marble table tops and wooden chairs, it's definitely from a whole different era. I was told that this historic coffee shop is almost 60 years old. Wow, it's even older than Malaysia! Even though it's really old, it's still bustling with activity. It gets really packed during lunch hour, so the best time to go would be just before lunch or after the lunch crowd. As you can see from the clock on the wall, we went around 2:20pm and managed to get a table without having to fight for one.
Ahhhh, this is the famous beef noodle stall. The guy with the hat and red apron is Thomas, the beef noodle man himself! His dad started the beef noodle stall in Lai Foong back in 1956 and he took over after his dad retired. After all this years, the beef noodles still remains as good as it was back then. The stock is still made with the same 80 year old Hainanese family recipe that was passed to his father from his grandfather. No wonder those beef noodles are so mmm mmm goood!!!
Here is it! The famous beef noodles from Lai Foong. Mannnn, what I would do for a bowl of that now! Tender slices of beef and tendon, yummy beef balls, chopped salted mustard greens, cilantro and noodles in a hearty flavorful stock. Soooooooooo goood! It also comes with a side of home made chili sauce. What I would do is just pour the whole dish of chili sauce into that big bowl of noodles. It definitely kicks it up a notch. The price starts at RM5 (approx US$1.50) for a medium size bowl and it goes up til RM8 (approx US$2.50) for an extra large with a whole lot of extra toppings. It's so good, it's worth every cent! Maybe even more :P So, the next time you are in KL, go check out the beef noodle stall in Lai Foong. Trust me, it's the best beef noodles in KL, hands down!

Kedai Kopi Lai Foong - KL, Malaysia
138 Jalan Tun HS Lee,
50150 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Tel: (603)2072 8123

New Malaysia - Chinatown, NYC

We were out shopping at the 33rd St Macys in Midtown til pretty late a few weekends ago. By the time we actually left Macys, it was already 9pm or so. We still haven't had our dinner, so our choices were to either settle for some bad greasy pizza in some random shop nearby, head over to Koreatown, walk uptown to Times Square (decided that it's a bad idea, too many tourist on a Saturday night) or take the train downtown to Chinatown. No prize for guessing where we ended up :P

Of course we ended up in Chinatown! Both Kevin and I totally loveeeee going to Chinatown. The good combo of cheap and yummy food always works for us :D By the time we got to Chinatown, it was way past 9:30pm. Most of the shops on Canal St were already closing for the day but we knew that if we walked along the smaller winding streets, we could find many all nighters still open. It was pretty cool actually (maybe a tad bit foolish too) and kinda exciting to walk along the dark, quiet and narrow streets of Chinatown in the middle of the night. It was a way different feeling than walking amidst the hustle and bustle during the day. It felt as if we might run into some Chinatown triad gang around the corner :P While walking down Elizabeth St, we saw a sign that caught my attention immediately. New Malaysia Restaurant. Hmmm, I wonder if it's even open.

We looked down the long dodgy looking alley way and saw some lights at the end. I guess it must be open. Wonder if it's safe? The alley way looks kinda errr scary :P We decided that it should be safe, putting into consideration the that 5th Precinct Police Department was just located directly opposite this Chinatown Arcade place. Oh and for those of you wondering where exactly this is, it's actually on the same road, just a few shops down from the super famous Jing Fung (some say it has the best dimsum in the whole of Chinatown) restaurant.

Ahhh, the restaurant at last. Looks pretty decent. In fact, it looks more than decent. There were all kinds of awards/articles/write ups pasted on the window, raving about how good this restaurant was. Hmmm, looks like we might have stumbled upon a hidden gem! You could actually also enter the alley that leads to the restaurant from the other end, via the 46-48 Bowery St entrance. I later found out that there is a little bit of history behind this particular address. It was actually the site of the 18th century Bulls Head Tavern. It is said that it was George Washington's regular watering hole, back when he was living at 3 Cherry St. In 1826, the Bowery Theater (America's first gas lit theater) opened at this site and in 1827, the first ballet performance ever to be held in America was performed here. Cool, eh?

When we walked in, we were surprised to find it packed! Let me remind you that it was already almost 10pm and the place was still packed! We were pretty lucky to get a small table by the side, cos the people that walked in a few minutes after us had to wait for a table for quite some time. About 90% of the customers were Malaysians (well, maybe Singaporeans too, I don't know...but definitely from South East Asia). The other 10% were either friends or spouses of the Malaysian customers :P The decor also reminded me of a typical Malaysian eating place. No frills, nothing. Just tables and chairs packed close to each other and a counter at the front of the shop. You can also see them making drinks there, just like a regular Malaysian coffee shop.

When we got the menu, I took a quick glance at it and was pretty impressed to find all types of Malaysian dishes that we usually cannot find in other Malaysian restaurants. The price were pretty reasonable too. I saw things like Grilled Stingray in Banana Leaf, Curry Noodles with Duck Blood, Sabah Mee, Yam Ring...just to name a few. I also checked out the Claypot Curry Fish Head that the guys from the next table ordered. It looked sooooo good. I must try to gather a bigger group of people and return the next time around to order rice and dishes. Since it was just the two of us, we shared a Pataya Fried Chicken (6.95) and had a noodle dish each. The Pataya Fried Chicken is actually mamak style fried chicken. Chicken pieces marinated with turmeric and deep fried. It was so so so goooooood. It really tasted like it was served fresh out from a Malay stall or mamak. Very very nice.

No prize for guessing what Kevin ordered. Yup, of course the Char Koay Teow inspector must order his Char Koay Teow ($6.50). Depending on how good the Char Koay Teow is, that will be his benchmark in rating how good a particular Malaysian restaurant is :P The CKT here didn't look all that yummy, so I initially didn't even bother to try it. Kevin asked me to try a mouthful and wow! It was good! It doesn't look that great but it tasted so good. Really really authentic.
If Kevin is known as the CKT inspector, then I would be known as the Fish Head Noodles ($6.95) inspector. First off, I must say that the portion was huge! Not only that, there were lots of fish and salted vegetables in the soup. Yummmmy yummy stuff! The noodles didn't really stand out as extraordinary but it was good. Nice creamy soup with the the right amount of saltiness from the salted vegetables. Definitely on par with the Fish Head Noodles from Penang Restaurant (currently my fav place to go for fishhead noodles). I am really glad that we found this hidden gem, deep in the heart of Chinatown. Authentic Malaysian food, at a reasonable price. Will definitely return to try their rice and dishes. The only downside was that the service was really slow. Oh well, maybe they were having a bad day. Who knows. I guess we would have to return to find out.

New Malaysia - Chinatown, NYC
46-48 Bowery Street
Chinatown Arcade #28
New York, Ny 10013
Tel: (212) 964 0284/2257

TaiTong Seafood - Penang, Malaysia

As promised, here is another review of one of the many restaurants that we went to during our trip back to Malaysia earlier this year. We had quite a lot of seafood when we were in Langkawi but we didn't really manage to eat much seafood while we were back in Penang (too busy spending time with the extended family and eating a whole lot of awesome home cooked food!). We were not going to leave Penang until we ate some seafood, so, for dinner during our last night in Penang, we headed out to Teluk Bahang. Teluk Bahang is a quaint little fishing village located on the Northwestern tip of Penang Island. Unlike Batu Feringghi (a major tourist destination and entertainment hub, just a mere 5KM away), Teluk Bahang is a sleepy, quiet, small town. Nothing much really happens in Teluk Bahang. One would say that it somewhat reminds you of Penang, say 20 years ago. However, Teluk Bahang is well known for one thing, and that is it's fresh seafood!

One of the most popular (if not, THE most popular) seafood restaurant in Teluk Bahang is the "End of the World" restaurant. It's been around for ages and people used to travel all the way to Teluk Bahang, just to eat there. Over the years, the quality of their food has declined. In fact, it is now not even located at it's original location and is under a new management. We decided not to eat at the End of the World but at TaiTong Seafood (located really close to the original location of the End of the World). TaiTong Seafood is actually a residential house that has been converted into a restaurant. Nothing really fancy, just a typical Chinese restaurant with handwritten menus and Carlsberg beer posters hanging on the wall :P It's usually at places like this where you can find the yummiest food. No frills, just good food.
After we sat down, they asked us what we wanted to drink. Of course they had the usual Chinese tea, sodas, fresh fruit juices, local coffee, Nescafe, Milo, Carlsberg beer...the usual stuff that you can find in Malaysian coffee shops. I then saw a banner for this drink called "Authentic 3 Layer Tea". I have actually seen that banner quite a number of times before but never got around to ordering it. I believe that it is originally from East Malaysia (Kuching, Sarawak to be exact)and it's really gaining popularity all across Malaysia. So, I decided to order one, just to say that I have tried it. From the photo, you can actually see the 3 layers. The bottom layer is gula melaka (local palm sugar) followed by a layer of evaporated milk and it's topped off with tea. Surprisingly, it tasted really really good. For only RM2.80 (approx US$0.90), it's really a bang for your buck!
Since we were planning on stuffing our faces with loads of seafood, we didn't order any steamed rice to go with the dishes. However, if you noticed, Malaysians NEED to have some sort of carbs with every meal. We believe that you will not be full unless you have some sort of carbs with your meal :P So, we ordered a large plate of Hokkien Char (RM 12 = US$ 3.80) to share. Hokkien Char is actually fried noodles with soy sauce, Hokkien style. It wasn't really the best, but it wasn't bad either. Yellow and rice noodles stir fried with a few pieces of chicken slices, fishcakes, small shrimp, beansprouts, mustard greens and topped with some fried onions. Nothing really to rave about. Oh, we also ordered a small portion of fried rice (RM5 = US$1.60) but I didn't managed to take a photo of it. I can't even remember if it was good or bad, so I would have to say that it was errrr, forgettable?
We also wanted to have some vegetables to go with our seafood.. The waitress suggested Thai Style Stir Fried Mix Vege (RM10 = US$3.20). Eggplant, okra and four angled beans, stir fried with some minced chicken and tom yum paste. It was a tad bit spicy (I expected it to be really spicy but was pleasantly surprised) and it tasted great!! I guess it must be one of the house specialities, since the waitress recommended this dish. Very nice.
Now it's time to bring on the seafood! First up is a type of shellfish called Bamboo shellfish (RM18 = US$5.70). I am not really sure what's the real name of this shellfish but it's commonly known as Bamboo shellfish in Malaysia. It's given that name for the mere reason that it's shell looks like bamboo. The Bamboo shellfish at TaiTong was really hugeee and juicy. It was lightly stir fried in some Chinese wine and topped with some cilantro, green onions, carrot shreds, ginger and red chillies. A really tasty and well balanced dish. Just the right amount of ginger and cilantro to balance out the fishy smell that sometimes comes along with this type of shellfish.

Next up is the the Steamed Sea Scallops (RM27 = US$8.60). A very simple dish actually. Fresh sea scallops steamed with some seasonings and topped with some ginger, spring onions, carrots and cilantro. You can taste that the scallops were really fresh. However, we were quite disappointed with this dish because the scallops were really small! We had hoped for bigger ones. It would have tasted so much better if the scallops were a tad bit bigger. Oh well :(
Ahhhhh Kevin and my mom's favorite dish. Sweet and Sour Chili Crabs (RM87 = US$28)!! This is seriously Kevin's all time favorite Malaysian seafood dish. Whenever we are back here in the States, he would go on and on and on about how yummy the Malaysian Sweet and Sour Crabs were and how he wished he could eat them again. If there is one dish that he really misses from the days when he was living in Malaysia, this is it (well, Char Koay Teow too I guess :P). The Sweet and Sour Crabs in TaiTong was alright. Nothing really great about it but it wasn't bad either. For Penang standards (since Penang is the food capital of Malaysia), I would say that it was only mediocre.

We also ordered some cute mantau buns to eat with the crabs. 5 fried buns and 5 steamed buns (RM6 = US$1.90). Yes, I know. There are only 4 fried buns in the photo. I think my dad (or was it Ashley??) ate one of the fried buns before I had a chance to take a photo of it :P

Now, the pièce de résistance of our meal. A yummy, creamy, cheesy serving of Lobster Thermidor (RM165 = US$52.70). Chunks of fresh lobster meat and an assortment of vegetables, cooked with cream sauce and stuffed backed into the lobster shell. It is then topped with cheese and baked. It tasted great but the downside was that there were a whole lot of vegetables and just a few pieces of lobster. I would say that it wasn't really worth the RM165. However, I would still have to say that it was really really really yuuummmmyyy!
Our total bill came up to RM337.60 (approx US$108) for 5 people. It's not too bad really, putting into consideration that about half of that bill already went to the lobster. Overall, it was a great night. We had a great time eating some really fresh (and relatively cheap) seafood and more importantly, spending time with my parents and Ashley. Ooooohhhh we can't wait to go home to Malaysia again and stuff our faces silly with all that yummy seafood! Oh and of course to see our family too :P

TaiTong Seafood - Penang, Malaysia
4 Jalan Hassan Abbas,
11050 Teluk Bahang,
Penang, Malaysia
Tel: (604)885 1693
Cell: (6019)417 7969/(6016)481 4789
Hours: Mon - Fri (3:00pm - 10:30pm), Sat & Sun (noon - 10:30pm)

Mamak Mee Goreng (Indian Fried Noodles)

I had a packet of yellow noodles and some fried tofu sitting in my refrigerator a while back, so I decided to try and cook up some Mamak Mee Goreng aka Indian Fried Noodles. Despite it's name, this dish didn't actually originate from India. It was created by the mamak (Tamil Muslims) community who migrated from South India to Malaysia (and other South East Asian countries) centuries ago. Sold mainly in mamak stalls all across Malaysia, the Mamak Mee Goreng has since become a favorite among Malaysians of all races. Here is my version of the Mamak Mee Goreng.

Start off by adding some oil into a wok or large pan. Once it's hot, add in some chopped garlic. Saute the garlic for a bit and when it starts to turn light brown, add in some chili paste. I have only added in a little because we are not really fans of super hot stuff. You can add in a little bit more, if you like.

Next, add in some fried tofu (taukua) that has been cut up into smaller pieces. You can easily find fried tofu in any Asian grocery store. If there are no Asian grocery stores near you, you might be able to find some in the produce section of your local grocery store. They should be by the chilled organic foods section.

After the fried tofu, add in some potatoes that have been boiled and cut up into smaller pieces. Then, in goes some tomatoes (that has also been cut up into smaller chunks). At this point, you can add in some mustard greens (sawi) is you like.

Stir everything together and allow it to cook for a bit. Then, add in some large white shrimp that has been peeled and clean. Apart from shrimp, you can also add in some squid that has been cut into rings.

Once the shrimp is almost cooked, throw in about a handful of yellow noodles.

Then, pour in some sauce to add flavor and color to the noodles. It's pretty easy to prepare the sauce. Just add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup. Then, add in some sugar and mix it all together.

Just stir fry everything together for a bit and it's ready to serve! At this point, you might want to add in some beansprouts. Since I didn't have any in hand, I just made do without. If you added in some beansprouts, just stir fry for a little bit longer and you are done. Remember, everything must be fried in really high heat. If not, it won't taste that authentic.

Now, if you would like to add in an egg to your noodles, this is what you should do. Make a hole in the middle of the noodles and add in a tiny bit of oil. Then, crack in one large egg and allow it to cook for a few seconds. Then, break the egg up and scramble it a little. Once its almost cooked, mix it with the rest of the noodles and stir fry everything together. Then it's ready to serve! You can serve the noodles with a few wedges of lime and some fried onions on top. Some people would also sprinkle on some fresh shredded lettuce on top. It's entirely up to you. Enjoy!