The Malaysian Food Review

Bonjour! Tongue of Fury here returning with my food notes from Penang.

My journey now takes me to Pulau Tikus, where the best Lok Lok in Penang, if not Malaysia, is located.

I was never a big fan of Lok Lok, in my mind it is notorious diarrhea causer. I have been visiting a Lok Lok place at the Uptown Area, at Kedai Kopi DU, where the stall is owned by a very gumpy uncle who will scold you if you eat very little and take up his table. He’ll ask you to move to another table and he’ll bring you the food. What the crap is the joy in that? Having Lok Lok without actually doing the Lok Lok yourself? I’ve since stop visiting uncle, I wish him the best of luck for his business.

So naturally, I was skeptical about visiting this place.

There are quite a few tables dedicated for Lok Lok, if you are new to the “sitting style” Lok Lok (as opposed to Fei Lou Lok Lok’s standing style), it is not uncommon for people to share tables here, as tables are limited during peak times. The owner will usually show you to your table.

There is a very good variety of food here. Cockles, fishballs, beefballs, crabstick, won ton, squid, quail’s egg, vegetables, prawns and my personal favourite, Taiwan Sausage.

I was told the key to a delicious Lok Lok is the freshness of the food, and also the sauces, in particular, the peanut sauce, similar to Satay Sauce. The boiling water here is also kept always boiling at a high temperature, so the food cooks quite swiftly.

The sauce is amazing, and it combines very well with the food. It is an instant thumbs up for me!

This place have since become a must visit whenever I’m in Penang, not only is the food good, the price is also very reasonable. I do not know exactly how much each stick costs, but I never pay more than RM12 for 2 persons. Very cheap compared to Fei Lou Lok Lok.

Special Mention:

While here, remember to check out this awesome drink called “Geng Geng”.

Aside from getting to say the catchy words “Geng Geng”, this is also a very good drink which is a combination of Loh Hon Kor and some jelly strip-like stuff in the drink, it is very satisfying.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):
Taste: Excellent
Ambience: Very Good (the open concept of the place makes it not warm even when facing a hot pot of boiling water)
Price: Cheap
Rating: 8.5/10

This place is a must try for fans of Lok Lok, remember to pay a visit the next time you’re in Penang.

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I am a big fan of prawn mee. Previously I used to think that Mee Yoke Lim, which is available all over PJ is the best, but that was until I tasted the Taman Paramount prawn mee. Eager to find something even better, I have been searching high and low for prawn mee specialists.

I found one that I thought had potential to beat Paramount. It is located along Jalan Pahang, directly opposite this big weird shopping complex that houses a weird cinema and a weird supermarket. It is on the side of the road that is heading towards Bulatan Pahang. There were quite a few prawn mee stalls there, so I had to choose carefully.

You will first have to order at the stall located outside the shop, and then go into the shop and take a seat. If I am not mistaken the shop is air-conditioned.

The food doesn’t take long to arrive. I ordered a large prawn mee with pork ribs, because I am greedy. The food actually looked quite presentable, and it even came on a porcelain bowl, so as to not cause me cancer. I thought that was very kind of them.

The food tasted reasonably good. It was slightly different from most other prawn mees that I have eaten. The soup had more of a seafood taste, and thus making it taste more authentic. The noodles tasted like any other noodles. But the soup was quite unique.

My lunch partner ordered a small bowl, and I was quite surprised by how small it was. I think I would need 3 of those to fill up.

All in all, it was a pretty decent bowl of prawn mee, and is quite nice especially if you feel like having something different. Please bear in mind that I am not a big seafood person, so maybe those who can’t live without seafood will like it more than I did. But I think a 7/10 will be fair. The whole meal came up to around RM12 for the 2 bowls above with 2 drinks.

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I rarely venture out to Cheras to whet my appetite. It just always seems a bit too far to go grab a quick lunch, and a bit too out of the way to go have dinner.

Even then, it was a surprise to my colleagues that I’d never heard of the famous Ong Kee Big Bun. “It’s THIS BIG!” he said, stretching his hands out to give me an idea of its size, which made me imagine it to be the size of a football.. “Inside you got chicken, pork, eggs, and some veggies.. come we go try it today”. So off we went.

Along the way he told me the story of how the pau maker came up with this oversized treat. Apparently some dude approached this simple pau maker and commended him on the quality of his paus, then asked him to create a big pau, as big as Amy Yip’s breasts! Amy Yip is some actress who was um… ‘blessed’ with a pair of enormous tits. Here’s a pic of her because I KNOW you all want it… courtesy of Wikipedia.

Ok back to the paus.

Above is the lineup of paus available at this stall, which sits just beside the main road. The prices are hard to read because Mr. Ong Kee has updated them with a pen over the years. I think it’s quite obvious that he’s very proud of his Big Bun creation.

These are the bamboo baskets where the big buns are made. I never knew paus were pink in colour before being cooked.

 Here is Ong Kee’s standard issue pau and loh mai kai display cabinet.

Back at the office, we unwrapped the big bun, to the wonderment and awe of bystanders in the pantry. The guy who held the pau in this picture was practically drooling all over it.

 The inside of the pau appeared to be exactly as my colleague described. Chicken, pork, eggs, and sengkuang (jicama).

 Personally, I didn’t think much of it, as it didn’t taste very good. The chicken was also still attached to the bones, which made it annoying to eat. Between 3 people, we couldn’t finish the bloody thing. I would therefore classify it as a novelty pau. It’s interesting to look at, and represents good value at RM4.50, but it tastewise it falters badly. But if you’re low on funds and really really hungry, go for it.

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