Pasar Malam Brinchang @ Brinchang, Cameron Highlands

One thing that you should not miss out when you are at Cameron Highlands is their pasar malam (night market) in Brinchang. Located 1700 metres above sea level, it is dubbed to be the night market that operates at the highest altitude in Malaysia.

Brinchang Pasar Malam operates on every Saturday from 5pm onwards till late with stall vendors selling a range of goods from vegetables, food to decorative items.

Pasar Malam Brinchang, Cameron Highlands

If you are a food lover, you will have even more reasons to visit Brinchang night market as they have more vendors that sell a variety of different food, some in which you can't find in a normal night market.

A Fried Stuff stall

Thanks to the chilly weather of Cameron Highlands, fried foods are one of the most sought after. Thus, it is no surprise to see many of the vendors selling a variety of fried food.

Fried Yam and Fried Abalone Mushroom (RM 3 per plate)

Fried Cameron Asparagus (RM 3 per plate)
Not my cup of tea as I find the taste of the asparagus does not blends well with the fried flour.

The making of Fried Sweet Potatoes Ball

Fried Sweet Potatoes Ball (RM 3 for 10 )

This is my favourite! Full with the fragrant of sweet potatoes, mild crisp on the outside and spongy in the inside. Each bite is so orgasmic. Even better when it is hot from the wok. This is when you ask for more.

It is the norm here to keep walking forward while you are munching on your favourite food or else some people will remind you to do so. As you keep going forward, you will notice even more and more stalls, particularly on food.

Jambu Kahwin Epal (RM 5 for two)
Literally being translated as Apple Married to Guava, it is actually a preserved guava fruit with added preservatives of apple flavour.

Organic Honey Comb

Honey Comb (RM 2.50 per plate)
It tasted very pure and extremely OMG so sweet! Not to be consumed as snack I supposed.

And here we had Iris having almost the whole chunk by herself.

She seems to be enjoying it

Since Cameron Highlands have an abundant of strawberries supply, the vendors had been very creative over the years in coming up new food associated with strawberries. One which caught our attention was the Fried Strawberry Sorbet.

"Frying" of the strawberry sorbet
Basically, the sorbet is prepared by pouring the strawberry syrup onto a freezing pan. To prevent the syrup from being frozen, the vendor will keep stirring the syrup in a "frying" style while pouring on extra syrup until the quantity is enough to form a cup of sorbet.

Strawberry Sorbet (RM 2.50 per cup)
I would say it is a very smooth sorbet with a kick of strawberry taste. I just love strawberry stuff!

Ayam Percik in skewers

Roasted Chicken
It definitely looks good and smells good. But too bad I did not try them out as I was impatient with the long queue.

Ayam Goreng Berempah (RM 5 each with rice and sambal)
It is literally fried marinated chicken coated with spices. The chicken was well marinated and it offers a mild scent of spices, but the best part is to have them with some rice and their sambal belacan (chili sauce).

Roasted Sweetcorn (RM 3 each)

I'd always preferred steamed to roasted sweetcorn as I believe roasted sweetcorn will reduce the juiciness of a sweetcorn. It is important to note that genuine Cameron Highlands sweetcorn consists of yellow and whitish corn seed.

Steamed Sweetcorn (RM 3 each)
Try them without the butter to experience the juiciness and sweetness of Cameron Highlands sweetcorn.

Enjoyable steamed sweetcorn!

It seems that strawberry enjoy a good reception in Cameron Highlands to the extent that they even have strawberry pillows.

Strawberry shaped pillow (RM 35 for two)

If you are fan of preserved food, you will not definitely not want to miss out grabbing a few box. They have many preserved fruits namely bitter gourds, roses, strawberries and many more that you will not be able to find at your home area.

Variety of preserved fruits (Seasonal, remember to ask for bargain)

Due to the chilly weather, it definitely felt different when you are walking at the Brinchang night market. I did not feel sweaty or humid unlike the experience at a typical night market.

The pictures above are only a small fraction of what you see at the night market. It is definitely worth the visit and do remember to make sure you have some empty space in your stomach for some of the food at the night market!

Atmosphere: 5/10
Overall varieties: 7.5/10

Food: 6.5/10
Price: 5/10
Verdict: Sweet potatoes balls, strawberry sorbet ice cream and nasi ayam berempah are amongst the few that you should not miss out. You can try to bargain for some fresh strawberries as well.

Pasar Malam Brinchang
(in front of Brinchang police station)
Along Jalan Besar of Cameron Highlands
Cameron Highlands
Pahang
Malaysia

Asam Laksa & Homemade Durian Ice Cream Kek Seng Coffee Shop @ Penang Road, Penang

If you are a fan of asam laksa, you just can't have enough of it when you are Penang. With almost every coffee shop offering the famous Penang asam laksa, you must know where to get it to avoid disappointment.

Not many tourist may have heard of this coffee shop, but Kek Seng Coffee Shop hosts one of the better asam laksa you can find in the island. It might be hard to spot it's existence due to it's location along the main busy road of Penang Road.

Kek Seng Coffee Shop, Penang Road

There were other stalls that offers other Penang delicacy but you definitely would not want to miss out ordering a bowl of asam laksa if you happen to be here.

Kek Seng Asam Laksa Stall

The lady who operates the stall

It was 12 noon on my previous visit and understandably, the crowd were not there yet, hence my bowl of asam laksa was served almost instantly.

Kek Seng Asam Laksa (RM 3)
It was my first time being here, but from the look of it, I know I would not be disappointed.

One of the best Asam Laksa in Penang

Do not be deceived by the look of the soup diluteness, as it was brimming with flavour thanks to the perfectly perking up of tamarind stock and is enhanced by the shrimp paste. Spiciness level was as great, and it clearly did not disappoint. A two thumbs up asam laksa!

On their own, Kek Seng do serves their very own signature dessert of ais kacang that is topped off with their homemade durian ice cream.

You are forced to order a drink?

I was amazed by their ais kacang which was served on a plate rather than typically on a bowl. This is cute really.

Kek Seng Signature Ais Kacang (RM 3.50)
Consisted of the usual ingredients that you may find in a typical ice kacang, but this came with an extra jelly pudding and double scoop of ice cream. The shaved ice were very rough though. Personally, I do not find it of any special apart from the homemade durian ice cream, which tasted pretty decent.

The asam laksa soup version might be of the same as the one served in Joo Hooi Cafe, but personally, I think the Kek Seng asam laksa had the upper hand in term of the taste. I will definitely return for this newly found favourite asam laksa of mine.
Asam Laksa: 8.5/10
Ais Kacang: 5.5/10

Atmosphere: 4.5/10
Price: 7/10
Verdict: I have found a new place to savour my favourite asam laksa, but not the ais kacang.

Kek Seng Coffee Shop
382-384, Penang Road
10000, Georgetown
Penang
Malaysia
Business hours: 11am - 4pm daily

GPS Coordinates: N05 24.974' E100 19.759'

Fried Pancake Kedai Kopi New Cathay @ Pulau Tikus, Penang

Just right after the curry mee breakfast, I was told by Pei Yee that the coffee shop across the road serves really good fried pan cake. I was bemused as I have not come across such delicacy.

The fried pancake stall is located in Kedai Kopi New Cathay which is visible from the main road of Jalan Burma. The coffee shop occupied the corner lot and is situated by the junction of Lorong Kucing.

Kedai Kopi New Cathay, Pulau Tikus

Just like a normal coffee shop, it has many hawker stalls offering different type of food and is another popular stall among the Pulau Tikus folks.

Pretty crowded even on the weekday

Obviously, my attention are on the fried pancake stall. Upon ordering, I was told that the waiting time is 20 minutes. That even bemused me more, wondering how can pancake required such a long time to prepare and can be popular with the crowd.

Fried Pancake Stall, Kedai Kopi New Cathay

I observed how he pour the pancake dough onto a pan, leaving it for a while before breaking them into square pieces and frying them just like omelet. At this point of time, I was wondering how the pancake will taste alike. Salty, sweet or mixture of both?

It's banana flavoured

A glass of ambra juice while waiting for my fried pancake.

Ambra juice (RM 1.80)
A little bit diluted for me as I prefer the thicker taste of ambra juice.

After 20 minutes of wait, my fried pancake was served.

Pulau Tikus Fried Pancake (RM 2.50)
It has a strong banana fragrant. Crispy on the outside with some aromatic charred smell to offer while being soft and mushy inside. And yes, it tasted sweet just like a pancake but this is definitely a different version.

Definitely something new to me but I kinda like it, particularly on the unique texture of the fried pancake.

Fried Pancake: 7/10

Price: 7/10
Verdict: The fried pancake tasted very cute, I mean in a nice way!

Kedai Kopi New Cathay

Lorong Kucing
off Jalan Burma
10350, Pulau Tikus
Penang
Malaysia
Business hours: 7.30am - 3pm daily

Curry Mee Hup Kee Coffee Shop @ Pulau Tikus, Penang

It was my last day in Penang for my previous mid year holiday in Penang. Started the day by checking out from Tune Hotels before headed to Pulau Tikus for breakfast.

Heading to Pulau Tikus is easy, especially by car. Just travel along the Burma Road, and you will reach Pulau Tikus within 10 minutes from Tune Hotels. There are abundant of coffee shops here greeting you on both side, along the main road. As such, I tried my luck with Hup Kee coffee shop, hoping it does offer me some good breakfast before I headed home to KL.

Hup Kee Coffee Shop, off Lorong Leandro's

Popular with the old folks having their morning tea

Just like typical coffee shop, Hup Kee offers the usual hawker food such like fried and soup noodles. I was moved by the strong scent of curry mee and thus, I decided to order a small bowl for my breakfast.

Hup Kee Curry Laksa Stall, Pulau Tikus

Hup Kee Curry Mee (RM 2.50)
Just like a standard Penang Curry Mee, the soup is clear but it offered a decent curry taste that came with a spoonful of sambal to spice the soup up. With the generous servings of the accompaniments like prawn, tau pok, fish ball and pork blood cubes (chu hong), I thought it was a steal at it's price. Oh yes, I love the extra topping of the mint leaves too which adds in some minty taste to the soup.

Pei Yee did ordered a plate of fried koay teow from the auntie that operates this hawker stall.

Hup Kee Fried Koay Teow Stall, Pulau Tikus

Hup Kee Char Koay Teow, Pulau Tikus (RM 3)
There was hint of wok hei but overall it was lacking in flavour. It was near to tasteless and it makes me wonder was it fried without salt or soy sauce. Definitely not a standard of a decent Penang fried koay teow.

The curry mee is pretty enjoyable and I would not mind returning here for another bowl as my breakfast on my next Penang trip. Maybe I should try out some other stalls as well but definitely not on the fried koay teow stall.

Curry Mee: 7/10
Char Koay Teow: 4/10

Atmosphere: 4.5/10
Price: 7/10
Verdict: Curry mee was up to my expectation of Penang standard but the Char Koay Teow is forgettable.

Hup Kee Coffee Shop

Lorong Leandro's
off Jalan Burma
10250, Pulau Tikus
Penang
Malaysia
Business hours: 7am - 2pm daily

Kafe Goodall-2 Food Court @ Jalan Burma, Penang

Through reading some of the food blog, I got to know 127 Food Court which is located along Burma Road offers some pretty good Penang hawker delicacy.

On my previous Penang trip, just before some seafood dinner at Batu Maung, I stopped by the food court for some hawker delicacy. To my surprise, 127 Food Court has no longer existed and the name is replaced with Kafe Goodall-2. Initially I thought we reached a different food court, but Pei Yee confirmed to me that the change has taken place somewhere early this year.

Kafe Goodall-2, along Jalan Burma

It was 6pm by the time we reached there and there were only a few people dining in at the food court. I have no idea was it because of the time or food issue that caused the lack of crowd coming in.

Pretty big food court

The big food court failed to live up to it's billing by offering very few choices of hawker food at the time of my visit. Countable by fingers, there were only 4 food stalls in operation.

Char Koay Kak Stall at Kafe Goodall-2

Char Koay Kak (RM 2.50)
Pretty decent fried carrot cake with a some hint of wok hei.

Not having enough of curry laksa, I ordered a bowl of it from this food court.

Curry Mee at Kafe Goodall-2 (RM 3)
Lacking in flavour with a very diluted soup that consisted way too much of cocunut milk. Fail is the word to describe it.

I expected more variety and better food from this Kafe Goodall-2. It has been disappointing and perhaps that sums up the reason of the lacking in crowd.

Char Koay Kak: 6/10
Curry Mee: 2.5/10

Atmosphere: 4.5/10
Price: 6.5/10
Verdict: Not a food court that you want to visit to satisfy your craving for Penang hawker delicacy!

Kafe Goodall-2 Food Court

Jalan Burma
10500, Penang
Malaysia

Penang Lok Lok and Leng Chi Kang @ Pulau Tikus Market, Penang

If you are craving for something light as your supper during your stay in Penang, you would not want to miss out visiting Pulau Tikus market during the night time. Just like New Lane Hawker Centre, there are food stalls being setup by the road side offering an al-fresco dining experience.

The food variety here are no doubt lesser than of being offered by New Lane, but you will be thankful for the cooler air and a more peaceful ambiance while dining here.

Pulau Tikus Market Hawker Centre

One of my favourite stall here is the Lok Lok stall in the name of Celor-Celor. This stall has been in operation for many years and is one of the favourite stall amongst the Penangites for some Lok Lok.

Penang Lok Lok at Pulau Tikus Market

Just like Satay Celup Melaka, Penang Lok Lok offers similar semi-cooked food on skewers ranging from meat to vegetables to be dunked into the pot of soup base. The different however is on the soup base, where boiling water is used instead of the groundnut satay sauce.

Wide variety of Lok-Lok (RM 0.80 - RM 2 per skewer)
I would not say the Lok Lok is really spectacular but I would rate it as slightly above average, thanks to the tasty accompaniment chili sauce. The food skewers were fresh and it came in a wide variety.

It always feel good to have a cold icy drink after a steaming hot eating experience of Lok-Lok. I will not missed out ordering a bowl of Leng Chi Kang dessert from the desserts stall operated by a lady at this Pulau Tikus Market.

Pulau Tikus Market Leng Chi Kang Stall

Leng Chi Kang aka Si Kor Theng (RM 2.30 per bowl)
It was so icy cold, vanishing my sizzling temperature after the Lok-Lok. Not only that, the sweetness level was perfect and it came together with a generous servings of accompaniment ingredients. Simply refreshing!

These are the two delicacy that you should not missed out if you happened to be dining in Pulau Tikus wet market. Though there are other Penang delicacy being offered here as well, I was not moved to give them a try. Perhaps on my next visit to Penang, when I am looking for a heavier meal as my supper.

Penang Lok Lok: 6.5/10
Leng Chi Kang: 8/10

Atmosphere: Al-fresco dining
Price: 7.5/10
Verdict: Both the Lok Lok and Leng Chi Kang stall offer a very reasonable price on their food. It's like the experience of hot colliding with cold when you have them together, awesome!

Penang Lok Lok and Leng Chi Kang
Pulau Tikus Market
Jalan Pasar
Pulau Tikus
Penang
Business hours: 6pm - 12am daily, Closed on Wednesday.
Tel: +6016 - 4786083 (Mr Huang for Lok Lok Stall)

Grilled Chicken Wing and Pork Satay, New Lane Hawker Centre @ Lorong Baru, Penang

If you fancies grilled food and happened to be having your meal in New Lane Hawker Centre, remember not to miss out the grilled chicken wing and satay stall. Since they are a few stall selling the same food, I took some picture of the stall to avoid confusion on which stall to order from.

On my previous visit, I ordered the grilled chicken wing from the stall which is located on the same row with Penang Sunway Hotel.

The stall is located on the same row of Penang Sunway Hotel

New Lane Grilled Chicken Wing (RM 2 each)
The chicken wing was grilled perfectly without any over grilled spotted. First bite, unfolded the sweetness of the honey coating that followed swiftly by the juiciness of the well marinated chicken wing. This is where one is never enough.

Next, I'd ordered some Batu Maung satay as well from the stall located opposite the row of Penang Sunway Hotel.

The stall is located on the opposite row of Penang Sunway Hotel

Fanning for fire

Batu Maung satay is the type of satay that is eaten on it's own without any peanut gravy.

Batu Maung Pork Satay (RM 0.80 each)
The meat were all well marinated with the special seasoning, reflecting the true Batu Maung taste without the strong hint of kunyit. Not only that, the meat were lean, tender and juicy as a result of perfect grilling. Another two thumbs up delicacy that was bursting with flavour!

If you ask me on which both of the grilled food that I preferred, I will tell you that I cannot choose because both were equally lip smacking good! Don't miss it and you will agree with me once you've tried them.

Grilled Chicken Wing: 9/10
Batu Maung Pork Satay: 9/10

Atmosphere: Al-fresco dining
Price: 6/10
Verdict: Gotta be my favourite grilled chicken wing and pork satay to date.

Grilled Chicken Wing and Batu Maung Satay at New Lane
New Lane Hawker Street (The road along Penang Sunway Hotel)
Lorong Baru
off Jalan Mcalister
10400
Penang
Business hours: 5pm - 11pm daily