River Prawns at House of Udang Galah (HUG), Penang

Penang’s latest eatery serving giant river prawn is House of Udang Galah (HUG). Located on Hutton Lane, the restaurant housed in two renovated heritage shop houses offers fresh udang galah (giant river prawn) cooked in many different ways. Italian, Western, Malay, Indian and Chinese method of cooking is offered. The prawns are cut into halves and cooked with the head and shell intact.

One of HUG specialties is the Udang Galah in Chef Specialty Lime Sauce. The prawns steamed with garlic, chilli and ginger, made up a perky and appetising dish. Garnished with Chinese parsley, the dish costs a little fortune at RM109 (730g at RM15/100g).



We ordered scallops in Mongolian brown sauce which has a piquant taste, and garnished with a mini happy Buddha and green parsley. This dish was tantalizing with the succulent scallops infused with the Mongolian sauce flavour.



The above is sweet and sour fish topped with cut vegetables and drizzled with a combination of sauces like tomato sauce, vinegar, a dash of sugar, salt to give its distinct flavour that complements the fish fillets.



The meal is not complete without an order of drinks with fresh watermelon juice for me and a cuppa of hot cappuccino for my friend.



To complete the meal, we had yam dessert with gingko. The texture was smooth, sweet and flavourful.



This is the front cover of the menu designed in Western Style. It is a fusion of east meets west in this upscale eatery.



Some of the popular dishes served as shown in the menu here.



This is the ambiance of the House of Udang Galah (HUG) restaurant. Udang Galah, also known as “Giant River Prawn” or “Malaysian” prawn, is native to Southeast Asia – typically in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Many years ago, Udang Galah was very common among the natives, who would capture and cook them fresh to preserve the aromatic taste and succulent texture of the flesh. Today, Udang Galah is no longer known to many Malaysians.

In fact, Udang Galah is part of our national food heritage. This large-sized fresh water prawn, which has a very big head in comparison to its entire body, can only be found in very few local menus. However, they are highly priced and hence, not a affordable choice to many. This is why we came up with this unique concept restaurant, the House of Udang Galah where everyone can see it, feel it, taste it and think of it always!

The House of Udang Galah is a unique concept restaurant that provides unrivaled fresh Udang Galah cuisine in a variety of styles you can choose, from an affordable price. Udang Galah served on your table are freshly cooked from live stock. Whether you prefer it in Italian, Western, Malay, Indian or Chinese, you will find their menu satisfying. If you have specific needs in your menu, do let them know! They are determined to provide you with high quality gourmet dishes in an affordable price.

Location of Restaurant:
House of Udang Galah Sdn Bhd
203 A&B, Hutton Lane, Georgetown
10050 Penang, Malaysia.
GPS: 5.421989,100.32699

Tel: (604)-226-4380

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday
11:00am to 11:00pm

Food from Various Places

 

Here is fish fillet braised with almond flakes and poured with lemon sauce from Mizi at Tesco outlet in Straits Quay. Veges such as sliced carrots, a floret of cauliflower, some green peas and steamed potato wedge are garnished to complement this delicious meal. I love patronizing Mizi Bistro for its very affordable and reasonably charged western food. They also offer a fusion of both western and eastern food and there are 3 branches in Penang - one in Prangin Mall, one in New World Park and the latest in Tesco, Straits Quay. The chain of food is owned by a former executive chef with working experience in a 5-star hotel.

 

This is my favorite dish of fish florentine which consists of dory fish fillets on top of braised spinach and topped with cheese powder. The white sauce was just pure ambrosia and heavenly!  I will always order my favorite fish and the waiter can already anticipate what I am going to order each time I come here.

 

As you have already guessed, the dish above comes from a Chinese restaurant - slices of fish stir-fried with chopped spring onions and garlic. It was ordered from Xuan Xin Restaurant in Gurney Plaza, an upmarket shopping mall in Penang which is currently undergoing renovation and expansion. You will be lucky if you can find a car parking bay during school holidays!

 

Also from Xuan Xin Restaurant, this is large prawn omelette and garnished with parsley. Though this meal looks appetizing, the doctor just advised me to cut down on seafood like prawns which has high cholesterol. I just went for a blood test last week and the results were not too good, I failed in 6 categories of the overall test which means that certain abbreviations like HDL, LDL, etc were above the normal range. So now I am taking 1,000mg of Omega-3 fatty acids 3 times a day to lower my blood cholesterol level and to prevent future heart attack or heart disease. My dad already has 3 clogged arteries and it seems this could be hereditary.

 

Here is stir-fried spinach with oyster sauce, from Xuan Xin Restaurant. You can choose a set meal for 2 persons with several choices of 2 main meals and a vegetable meal from a list of 6 to 7 vegetables and different sauces like garlic, oyster sauce, etc. There are 2 bowls of rice with 2 bowls of soup, a drink each for about RM 50 after tax (USD 16.70).

 

As my friend is a member of Chinese Recreation Club, we went to the Chinese restaurant with 10% discount using the member card. Above is steamed fish cooked in Teochew style which is sourish where slices of assam are added to add the zing. Black shitake mushrooms, straw mushrooms, preserved vegetables are added with slices of ginger and carrots and garnished with spring onions. The fish is garoupa and it is quite delicious in this cooking style. Don't throw away the soup as all the flavors are infused during the cooking and this makes it very delicious.

 

This is fried chicken coated with some batter for crunchyness and added with Thai chilly sauce. I have forgotten where I ordered this meal as I normally snap a lot of photos from the various places for posterity.

 

The set meal above was ordered from a Taiwanese Tea Restaurant in Queensbay Mall near Bayan Lepas. If I don't go to Gurney Plaza every night, then I will be at Queensbay Mall once in a while for a change of location. I love the blue champaign milk tea with brown sago pearls or also known as boba. 

 

 The meal above was part of the buffet breakfast in City Bayview Hotel in Kuah, Langkawi. I was in Langkawi last month for business. See the granite table top which makes the ambiance classy and elegant.

Food taken from Different Places

This was taken near the rented apartment in USJ 14, Subang Jaya at an eatery serving only Chinese food. Yam basket is my favorite with the steam and mashed yam deep fried in a tube and garnished with cubed stir-fried chicken, vegetables like onions, carrots, green pepper, red chillies, black shitake mushrooms and sprinkled with juliened carrots, fried vermicelli surrounding the yam basket, spring onions and parsley. I always patronise this place for its yam basket and delicious Chinese food.

This dish is known as sweet and sour fish for its taste. The fish is deep fried and then tomato sauce with added vegetables are sauteed together to make a sumptuous flavor and poured to the fish. Some vinegar is added too for the sour taste and extra zing!

This is sauteed sweet potato leaves with garlic. The stir-fried garlic brings out the aroma and tastiness of this simple dish that is easy to prepare. Sweet potato leaves are a common dish in Malaysia.

Here are combined food pictures with soup, chopped garlic, etc. This eatery tucked amongst the row of shop houses is very popular and is always packed with diners. They have 3 to 4 cooks working hard in the small kitchen so that food can be served quickly. During Chinese New Year, they also gave out free red packets or 'ang pows' albeit one year before from Guiness Stout during the year of the Tiger.



This is smoked salmon foccasia that was served in Tun Mahathir's The Loaf at Subang Shopping Gallery. The preparation is very simple and easy peasy. Just add some greens, potato chips and smoked salmon to the bread pocket. It is environmentally friendly since the food is served on a wooden plate.

On the right is my friend's order of chicken ham with grated cheese and croissant. Don't they look yummy together?

I stayed in Mandarin Oriental Hotel beside Suria KLCC last week. Upon checking in, an additional bed was in the room and not taken out. Feeling bad, the receptionist who took us to our room called for the extra bed to be removed while at the same time, gave us 2 large free chocolate chip cookies of smileys, 2 large dark chocolate bars (beneath the cookies) and 2 glasses of milk.



Here, you can see the chocolate bars that were hidden by the large cookies. The chocolate bars are specially made by the hotel and not bought from any supermarket as there were no wrappers. Besides, they tastes just right, not too sweet which may cause diabetes. Chocolates are rich in anti-oxidants to help prevent cancer.

Behind the dark chocolate bars are chopped dried peaches and almonds as you can see from the photo above.

During my business trip down south, we stopped in a R & R area (Rest and Recreation) and had some desserts like tarts, chocolate cake and tea. (see photo above). So, there you go, hope you like my food photos taken from the various places that I went to during my business trip in Malaysia.

Hei Yeong Seng Chinese Restaurant

 

More than one third of the people in the world eat Chinese food every day. This speaks volumes of the popularity and tastiness of Chinese food. Just last week, I stayed in Royal Hotel for the weekend and walked to Hei Yeong Seng Chinese Restaurant on the second floor of the newly refurbished Penang Plaza along Burmah Road for dinner. Above is a shot taken at the entrance of the Chinese restaurant with plenty of red cloth, red lanterns, etc. that is ubiquitous of things Chinese. And I am proud to be born a Chinese too. Not to put a feather on my cap, but wherever you place the Chinese around the world, they will most likely prosper because they are hard working, diligent and motivated. 

 

While waiting for my food, I took the opportunity to snap another photo right from my dining table. There are so many tables and chairs that can accommodate so many people with tables of 10 persons each. The ambience is pleasant with cream colored table cloth coverings and beige PVC chairs with cushion. There are also mirrors on the columns to make the place look even bigger. 

 

Fresh live lobsters and other seafood are also served here where you can pick and choose from this water tank. A place famous for lobster thermidor in Penang is in Teluk Bahang right inside the fishing village which is patronized by regular customers. 

 

I also ordered double-boiled sharks' fins soup with scallop amongst other usual ingredients.  The soup was flavorful and delicious. Being double boiled, most of the flavorful juices are already extracted in the soup. Hei Yeong Seng Chinese Restaurant was opened not too long ago and by the time I dined here, it was fully packed with diners, mostly Chinese and some Caucasians. 

 

This is fried marmite chicken which is one of my favorite dish sprinkled with sesame seed and garnished with lettuce leaf. There are two types of cooking here in this dish. One was deep fried with marmite and the other type is mixed with salted egg yolk and wrapped in chicken. 

 

This is steamed cod fish with scallion sauce and garnished with spring onions and parsley. Cod fish is also Singapore's Ministor Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew's favorite food. It is a bit pricier than the other ordinary fish but taste very sumptuous.

 

Broccoli is my other favorite vegetable. I usually order stir-fried brocolli with scallops, ginger and sometimes with prawns. Broccoli is rich in vitamins and helps to prevent cancer.  It is also rich in anti-oxidants. 

 

The photos above were taken for each individual dish and the above is the combined servings for dinner. If you would like to book a table for functions or just to have your usual fare of Chinese cuisine, below are the contact details.

Hei Yeong Seng Chinese Restaurant

Lot 207-221 & 231-245, 2nd Floor, Penang Plaza

No. 126 Burmah Road, 10050 Penang, Malaysia

Tel: 604-229 1623 / 229 3623

Fax: 604-226 6623

Delicious Food Photos in Stupeflix Video

Above are some of the previous photos taken since 2006 and added to Stupeflix video. You can choose the animations, theme and music to be added. You can also link to your Flickr account and add your old photos to the program. I love using Stupeflix as you can select to be a free user or a paid one with more features to use. Here is the free edition. Stupeflix is a Web 2.0 program with cool features. I love exploring the internet and try out new things. There are various ways to make money from the internet and I have been using the different methods to earn me some pocket money. That was why Best Asian Food was set up. This blog is coming to 1 year old and I have breakeven already with the paid domain in Google plus earning a little extra here and there. In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

Chinese Food and Buffet at E & O

I ordered this colorful dim sum of pandan green flavor, strawberry red, black sesame seed and yellow corn filled with meat and steamed with white chinese cabbage in a bamboo steamer. It looks appetising with the four different colors that make an eye candy.

This was ordered at Dragon-I Chinese Restaurant in Gurney Plaza, Penang. It consists of steamed brocolli with sliced abalone and black Shitake mushrooms. The gravy melts in my mouth and it was just as delicious as costly.

This was served at E & O hotel in town with small cups of black grass jelly topped with a flower fruit. Before they start disappearing one by one, I took the opportunity to snap this photo at the start of the buffet.

 

This is butter cake topped with sliced peaches, strawberries and blueberries. It was also sprinkled with almond flakes on the side with white cream. Icing sugar is then sprinkled to complete the serving. 

 

These are glasses of pudding with longan, cut dragon fruit and water melon. They certainly look tempting, don't they? I love dining at Sarkies Corner at E & O hotel.

 

This is the seafood corner with fresh prawns, raw salmon and raw oysters with lemon wedges. My second sister just loves fresh oysters and had 17 of them! Then she was down with flu the following day, but thank goodness she recovered quickly after a visit to the family doctor before she flew back to Suchou, China to continue lecturing as part of her job. 

Many Types of Desserts - Cakes, Cream Puffs, Jellies

 

Here are some cakes taken at a hotel buffet dinner recently. These are slices of melted butter cake topped with sinful chocolate, strawberries, green cherries and slices of grapes with rich white cream.  As it was still early when we entered the dining area, I took the liberty to snap some gorgeous photos of the cakes displayed on the buffet table.

 

Doesn't the picture above look tempting? I have removed the background noise using Photoshop so that the focal point is the plate of cheese cakes garnished with cut fruits of various types like oranges, strawberries and apples. The plate is also attractive and makes the food photo stands out.

 

This is a plate of cream puffs sprinkled with slices of strawberries and apples. For this set of dessert photos, I have taken quite a lot of time to remove the black dull background and fill it with white instead. 

This is rose flavored jelly garnished with cut fruits on a colorful dessert plate. The combination of colors from the fruits paired with jelly makes this dessert very tempting and sinful.

This is pandan green cake with yellow butter sponge cake. Pandan is a herbaceous tropical plant with long green leaves. In Southeast Asia, pandan leaves are used to lend a unique taste and aroma to many Thai desserts and some drinks. Pandan leaves can also be used to wrap savory foods, such as chicken. Pandan paste is used in cakes and desserts, as it is sweet and imbues foods with a bright green color. It can be purchased as a ready-to-use paste in Asian specialty stores. If purchased fresh, pandan leaves should be pounded into a paste for use in desserts, adding water sparingly.

This is another gorgeous photos of butter sponge cake covered with cream and garnished with bits of chocolate, cherries and other fruits. Hope you enjoy looking at my set of dessert photos taken recently at a local hotel in Penang during my dining pursuit for the weekend.

Fine Dining at Indulgence Designer-Eating Restaurant in Ipoh

Just last week, I went to Ipoh for the weekend with my 2 younger sisters and stayed in Impiana Casuarina Hotel, a 4-star hotel in the city. At night, we headed straight to Indulgence Fine Dining Restaurant that is nestled within the city of Ipoh. It is located in a large white colonial bungalow with ample car parking bays. A guard was stationed to take car of the cars and diners outside. According to my well-travelled second sister, Pellegrino is only served here in whole of Malaysia and cannot be found elsewhere. Pellegrino tastes like sparkling water for a whopping RM10 per bottle. Indulgence specially imported Pellegrino for its business - so you don't have middlemen to take profit.

For starter, I had wild mushroom soup served piping hot in red dining set with toasted garlic bread. Personally, I still think the mushroom soup in Mizzi Bistro in Penang is the best which is peppered with secret herbs and plenty of mushrooms blended in. This place in Indulgence, though it serves fine dining food, the service is lacklustre.

I had marche which is a selection of mini vegetables canopied by Manchego cheese, topped with arugula and edible nasturtium flowers. For this plate of mainly leaves, it cost RM29.00. Being a Penangite who is spoilt for choice, I think the food does not do justice to the money spent. And it was served in small portions, not enough to fill a hungry stomach. As all the photos were snapped in dim light, the pictures did not turn out great compared to my other posts.

My sister has Cocomo under the seafood selection which consists of kataifi wrapped prawns with honey coated walnuts, avocado dressing on torn chilli-ricotta baked rustic crouton and lobster glaze. The Cocomo was delicious and portions just right. We each (there were 3 of us sisters) divided our orders by a third and put them into smaller individual plates to savour all the dishes ordered.

This is Mooze which consists of orgo 'rice' pasta with calamari rings, crab, coriander and miso soup poured on. Surprisingly, the calamari rings tasted just right and not over cooked. As I went to the ladies, I noted photos of Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew together with the lady boss and chef in a photo framed up and hung on the wall of other photos of dignitaries as well.

Viola is under pasta in the menu and we also had this fine dish of alternating ravioli of porchini and spinach ricotta in an oyster cream with leafy flat parsley. It was delicious to the palate that makes me yearn for more.

Since I still had residual cough, I ordered hot chocolate or known as choco mellow for my drink that comes with marsh mellow and chocolate shads. This cost me RM15, but for the sake of fine dining, I guess, I cannot complain too much.

To finish off the main meals, we had chocolate cake for dessert. It came with strawberries and topped with white milk cream. For the 3 of us, the total bill came to RM221.00 with Cocomo costing RM42.00. For the Americans and Europeans, the conversion rate is so attractive and it stretches your moolah here in Malaysia. That is why, my youngest sister's USA company in Penang sent 4 of their American staff to Penang for a break and the following week, sent more employees here to enjoy the life in Malaysia at very affordable hotel rates.