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.

Glorious Food Pictures for the Week

I have decided to make the photos a little larger for clarity in this blog. By tweaking a little with the width of the main body and side bar, I managed to get what I wanted instead of spending too much time looking for a suitable food template. So what do you think of the pictures? The photo above shows the ambience of the dining area in Royal Hotel along Larut Road in Penang. It displays wall paper consisting of photos of collonial Chinese pre-war houses by the side with cloth covered chairs that make a contrast to the sight.

For the weekend, I stayed in Royal Hotel in the deluxe room with an additional room to work that comes with a fax machine and writing desk. The lounge chair here looks beckoning and comfortable withh plush cushion against the thick curtains.

Here comes the food where we had breakfast the following morning. It consists of toasted slices of bread spread with a myriad of jams and butter. In this close up photo, doesn't it look appetising?

While waiting for my colleague at Royal Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to take a little tea break and ordered black forrest cake and butter cake with hot chocolate. Decided to indulge myself a little after coming out from the library while he attended to the contractor for the synthetic turf tennis courts that are being installed by the company. Since my work requirement is to handle all the computer and administration work, I am not required to be physically present on site at the tennis courts.

This was my dinner of quiche that was ordered from Delifrance along Mont Kiara, an upmarket place with many high-end condominiums and many expatriates live here. The quiche was just so-so; I would have prefer if it has spinach in it like the one I have tried in Singapore which was tastier.

Recently, I went to Food & Tea Restaurant in Gurney Plaza and had prawn mayo with rice and soup set. The prawn mayo was mixed with cut honey dew melon and mixed with Thousand Island cream. I kind of patronize this place and will always order the same kind of food as it is quite delicious.

This is chicken lasagna from Delifrance but I find it too oily and did not finish it as I was too full. It looked scrumptious but since they did not have seafood croissant, I had no choice but to order what is available. This will be my last time going to Delifrance in Mont Kiara as the service was slow and bad, even though I love dining at Delifrance for their seafood croissant.

This salmon-egg croissant was ordered in Northern Beach Cafe in Penang from the French stall. It is not often to find a true French man to prepare food for you except for this stall here. The portions are adequate and just right - neither too much nor too little.

I had seafood lamien again in Dragon-i Restaurant in Gurney Plaza without calamari or sotong and extra fish slices to make up for it. It is like eating noodles in soup prepared by trained Chinese chef.

This was my friend's order of stir-fried seafood with pan fried Hong Kong noodles that are crunchy to taste - also ordered from Dragon-i. Gurney Plaza is the high end premier shopping mall that I visit often to dine and also to read books for free at MPH readers' circle since I am a member.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos as much as I enjoyed putting them together in this culinary journal of mine. You are free to comment as to how I can improve this blog while I read more food articles in the press to improve on my writing style and food vocabulary.

My Birthday Treat This Month

July is my birthday month and last week, I treated my family to a Chinese cuisine in Fong Wei Restaurant along Jalan Bahari, off the famous Penang Road. A must, I will always order sauteed brocolli with scallops which is my favorite dish. Green brocolli is rich in anti-oxidant and also helps to prevent cancer, as claimed in the news.

This is 'choong piah' or meat mixed with vegetables and spices and wrapped in thin batter which is then deep fried to taste. I also love this Chinese cuisine as there is crispy and crunchy feel to the mouthful of 'choong piah'.

I also ordered stir-fried pomfret with an assortment of veggies and it is know as 'tau teh nor bi' or simply translated to mean pomfret cooked in 2 styles - first is the sliced fish cooked with vegetables and secondly it includes the bones mixed with batter and fried till they are crispy which can be eaten as a whole. The picture is below.

The fried bones together with some batter is quite flavorful and crunchy. Not a single bit of the fish goes to waste and the different styles of cooking pomfret is simply fabulous.

This shot is taken with most of the dishes ordered that were served piping hot on the table covered with auspicious red table cloth. Fong Wei Restaurant is famous for its sumptious food that is affordable yet will not burn a hole in your wallet. That is why I love Penang for its economical food that is abundant everywhere. Malaysia is indeed a melting pot of cultures with the various cuisines to whet your appetite.

A birthday meal is not complete without 'lam mee' or simply known as birthday noodles for longevity. 'Lam mee' consists of meat stock boiled for a long time for the essence and flavor and mixed with crab meat, slivers of pork, prawns, shallots and spring onions in long yellow noodles.

This is a set meal from a Taiwanese restaurant in Queensbay Mall which consists of seafood broth, soup with some veggies and my favorite champaign turquoise blue boba drink. Bobas are brown tapioca pearls which are mixed into bubble teas and sucked up with a large straw.

This is a close up of the seafood broth from the Taiwanese restaurant. The unusual container looks interesting and creative but it may be a bit difficult to scoup up the broth from the small aluminium container placed in a wooden box. These are thre pictures for the week as I snap them during my culinery pursuits at dinner time around the various dining places.

Mix of Chinese, Japanese and Thai Cuisines in Penang

This photo was taken this afternoon during my lunch at a hawker food cafe along Penang Road which is famous for its wanton noodles. The are 2 types - dried as seen above with brown delicious soya sauce mixed with sesame seed oil or the soup type. This order was specially added with more vegetables for RM5 per plate. It has black shitake mushrooms, shredded chicken, 4 wanton sui-kow, green vegetables, char siew or barbequed red pigmented pork and a bowl of soup. The yellow noodles blend well with the sauce and it tasted scruptious yet enough to fill any stomachs.

This ala carte side dish was ordered from Sushi King consisting of my favorite red crab sticks lightly fried in Japanese batter for taste. I love the tangy seafood taste of the crab sticks that are a popular ingredient in sushi. There are several Sushi King outlets in Penang and this was taken at Gurney Plaza - an upmarket lifestyle shopping mall where I patronize frequently.

This is a pot of Japanese green tea with 2 beautiful small cups made from bone China. I sipped the warm green tea as I waiting for my main dish to arrive in Dragon-i restaurant that was just opened less than 1 month ago on the ground floor in Gurney Plaza.

This Hong Kong fried rice was ordered some time back at a popular food haunt in Northern Beach Cafe. The special fried rice has additional ingredients and vegetables to it which explains the higher price than normal for this tasty dish. This blog does not have any recipes as I don't cook even though I studied Home Science which includes sewing, cooking curries and baking cakes in my secondary school. I have the luxury not to cook and always dine out after work.

One of my favorite dishes is the pie tee (above) which is actually an edible small container made from fried batter that is filled with julienned turnips, carrots, shallots, dried shrimps and topped with eggs and chilly sauce for taste. The pie tee is enough for a delectable mouthful that melts in your mouth as you chew it. All the juices from the vegetables mix together to form a delicious meal together with the crunchyness of the fried batter container.

While sipping green tea at Dragon-i Chinese restaurant, my main order of seafood soup finally arrived with extra fish fillets without any calamari to reduce cholesterol intake. The soup was delicious and infused with all the flavors of the fish fillets, prawns, scallops with vegetables and sauces - that was brought to a constant boil before serving.

I simply love this Thai influenced flavored lorbak or marinated chicken with secret spices for that delicious bite in your mouth. This lorbak was ordered near Weld Quay in Penang at a Thai restaurant that is always full of regular patrons such as myself - simply for its affordable, fast service and delicious servings.

Variety of Cuisines from a Myriad of Restaurants

Before I proceed, do note that DianaTan.net is my main blog hosted on a personal domain since 2007. Hence, the photos here are my own and not copied. I have full rights to the images captured here for my gastronomical journal in Best Asian Food which is hosted on Blogger.com. The photo taken above is sauteed asparagus with lily bulb which I ordered from a popular Taiwanese restaurant in Queensbay Mall. The food was exquisite and crunchy to taste.

This is brocolli stir-fried with carrots and garlic. I like the texture of the brocolli and the dark green color that was preserved even after cooking with heat. If you over cook the brocolli, it may turn to light yellow in color and may not look so appetising.

This is champaign bubble tea that was especially recommended in the same Taiwanese restaurant that I patronized recently. Despite the name, it is not added with champaign but has a rather exquisite flavor that is unique and delectable. The sky blue color certainly stands out and makes the cool drink look desirable. It was added with brown pearls as you can see at the bottom of the cup.

Still the different dish ordered from the Taiwanese restaurant, this is deep fried prawn roll mixed with other recipes and wrapped up in tofu skin. The order was just right and not too much or overwhelming with big portion.

This photo was part of the collection taken during E & O buffet dinner at Sarkies Corner. There were a myriad of selections to choose from ranging from creme brulee, cakes, nonya kuih, etc. Each dessert was specially made with a personal touch from the professional chefs in E & O Hotel. That is why Sarkies Corner is mostly booked and full of patrons and diners. You may have to reserve for a table to get a chance to dine here on weekends.

I bought this orange sandwich roll sprinkled with raisins from Roti Boy outlet that was recently opened in Gurney Plaza. It has strawberry jam inside which makes it sweet and tangy with a soft texture.

I ordered this ala carte meal from Sushi King that has cheese, chicken on sticks, fully boiled eggs and topped with curry vegetables. The dish was scrumptious but I find the chicken a bit on the hard side but overall, it was a fine dish.

This dish was specially designed for Father's Day at Sushi King which was on 20th June. It was a set meal with some vegetables, noodles in soup, fried seaweed and rice wrapped with tofu skin. The dish was palatable and tasty as well, but you might find it a bit heavy with the noodles included.

About Me

Welcome to Best Asian Food! Discover a wealth of culinary inspirations, local reviews and gourmet dinings. I work at home and blog on a part time basis. While not working, I love to explore the internet and browse around. I also love to snap cuisines photos from the various dining places that I visit and compile them in this culinery journal of mine.

Best Asian Food encourages its readers to leave comments and ask questions. Have something to share? We’re happy to post articles on your own food-related experiences, suggestions, and recipes. Enjoy the site – we look forward to being a reliable source of culinary information for you!

Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures. This is where East meets West and everything in between. The result of this is a cornucopia of savouries, sights, sounds and sensation that are uniquely Malaysian. This blog attempts to chronicle the burst of colorful tastes and aromas of local cuisines from all over the country.

You can contact me at diana.tan(at)gmail(dot)com.

Set Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant

The photo above was taken during a set dinner for Chinese food in KL. It consists of prawn dipped in batter and deep fried till crispy and garnished with fruit salad on the bottom with a lovely purple orchid on the side of the plate. Incidentally, this purple orchid is most commonly sold freshly cut in Singapore and it is the national flower of the nation state. The serving was crisp and the prawn well cooked and not too hard on the inside. It was delicious!

This time round, I did not take loads of photos for each post to save my camera batteries which are rechargeable. I also save time from editing too many photos just to write a post here. As you can see here, I ordered fresh orange juice while waiting for the set Chinese dinner. You might think that I only dine in restaurants from the many photos taken here but mind you, I also dine in hawker's place just as much. The only thing is that I don't cook and don't have the time to cook either. My parents also buy back from outside and my mum has not cooked in many years already. She is taking a very good break and always drives out to buy us food. Hope you enjoyed this post!