Wan Tan Mee at Lye Lye Food Court

It was one of the moments where we were literally in the middle of nowhere, and just being thirsty for liquid after our morning walk, we chanced upon this coffee shop, Lye Lye Food Court. But to our surprise, it turned out that this place is a popularity among residents in the area. Initially we were only there for a drink but somehow we got caught up with the crowd and tagged along with their interesting occurrence of eating penangite's all time favourite Cantonese noddles, Wan Tan Mee.

 

I have grown up alongside with this food, and it proved to be a good companion whenever I'm hungry. Ever since then I started to develop a particular fondness towards this noodles, probably very much due to its simplicity and availability. Fortunate enough, now it seemed like I'd found myself another reliable place for my Wan Tan Mee list.

 

While most of the stalls are still sleeping away, this one made it a point to start its business early. It wasn't that early though, as it was already close to 12.00pm . This food court usually peaks at night, with more than twenty over stalls competing for business, but ironically at noon, there was barely a few stalls opened.

This Wan Tan Mee had a spell on me upon first sight. I always like food that looks good, because naturally food that is tantalizing to our eyes, is also delightful for both our tastebuds and stomachs, well that's often my theory. And in this case, I was right about the noodles as they were definitely more slender and was very much to our liking. The black soy sauce had a delicate sweetness and complemented the noddles very well.

On the other hand, the fried dumplings were warm and crispy, with a generous stuffing of minced meat inside. Although I still prefer steamed dumplings at times, the dumplings were very much satisfactory. It all looked too simple with all the ingredients in place, yet the taste was far from simple and indeed it was unrelentingly good. Definitely a place worth returning and spending for a simple Cantonese delicacy.  9.0

Prices .

Wan Tan Mee - RM 2.70

Bonus .

This stall opens from 11.30am to 3.30pm .

Located off Terengganu Road just after the small roundabout.


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Food Gallery at Times Square

This was probably my fifth time reading this brochure and I'd hope I wouldn't be reading this brochure again, it's not because I'm a slow reader, but due to the array of captivating food shown on the brochure, well I would just put it this way, it's very hard to ignore.



Finally after almost half a year since the opening of Food Gallery in Times Square, and after somewhat 3 years of not going to Times Square (blame it on Gurney and Queens), we found ourselves parking our car opposite to the majestic mall, and climbing up the long (probably longest in Penang) escalator in mid-air.

 

 

 
We weren't really sure about this place at first, but as we walked into the mall, banners after banners started greeting us. I must say the officials did a fantastic job on promoting this place, as the brochures/banners/signboards were very enticing.

Soon enough, I realized I was brought into another dimension, as I didn't very least expect this place to be so breathtaking. Probably because I always expect for the worst, and which was why I sounded like a caveman there, awing all the time.





The ambience was incredible, furnished with modern-looking chairs and it even took us a while to choose which chair to be seated, foolish right ?

 

Not just the food, but even the chairs offered us varieties to choose from. And eventually we went for the outdoors, preferring cool breeze over air-cons.

 


 
 

According to the brochure, this place offers around 200 over choices of food, and delicacies from over 15 different countries. Cool huh, but it was because of this that it took us literally 15 minutes just to make up our mind over which food to order. It here, you have to be independent because they're all self-service, and this is what we got for ourselves.

 
 
  
These orders were from the Pasta Fusion kiosk. The Mushroom Soup was way better than I thought, which had a very distinctive oat and mushroom taste.   8.0

The Spaghetti Carbonara with Chicken had a nothing-to-shout about first look. Looks are always deceiving, don't you think ? The chunk of chicken meat was bigger than I thought, seasoned with cheesy carbonara condiment and sprinkled herbs. It was deceiving after all, as it was really appetizing, did I mention that we were here for breakfast ? The only thing short from this Italian cuisine was probably its presentation, but too bad as all the cutlery and silverware used here were the same.   8.0

 
Next up was my Claypot Chicken Rice from Hot Pot. As far as the price was concerned, it was no concern at all as the price for this bowl of sizzling hot rice is considerably cheap. Not bad at all as it tasted similar with the ones you usually find elsewhere.   8.0



This Char Siew (roasted pork) Wan Tan Mee was more pricey and in terms of taste, the noodles actually lack of something, which I think is the springy sensation. The char siew was well roasted, but I would definitely prefer them in thinner slices, which would in turn made them more crispy.   6.5

 

The service was really good, as this Ice Lemon Tea I ordered wasn't self-service at all. Definitely a good way to chill out with this drink while surfing the net on your mobile, as this place offers wifi as well.

 
 
Topped with a ice cream of your choice, and armed with six different kind of fruits, this is one good way to beat things down. The Mixed Fruit was a good refreshment but when different degrees of sweetness all mixed up, I guess it had a somewhat peculiar flavour.   7.0



Prices .
Mushroom Soup with Bun - RM 3.50
Spaghetti Carbonara with Chicken - RM 7.90
Claypot Chicken Rice - RM 4.50
Char Siew Wan Tan Mee - RM 6.90
Mixed Fruit - RM 5.50

Bonus .
77-4B-1, Penang Times Square, Georgetown, 10150 George Town.
Opens from 10.30am to 11.00pm

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Jawa Mee at Seasons (Vegetarian)

The 1st and 15th day during each month of the Lunar calendar is celebrated by the Chinese simply by visiting temples, praying or practicing vegetarianism. The enigma in many people is that vegetarian food does not taste good or at least not as good as non-vegetarian food, and therefore people only eat vegetarian food when they need, especially during auspicious occasions. But one thing I noticed is the mindset of the people has changed ever since the vegetarian food industry bloomed in Penang years ago.

Believe it or not, I used to patronize this particular vegetarian restaurant, be it an auspicious day or not. It's simply because the food here, so basically nowadays people prefer to eat vegetarian food not because they need to, but because they like to.

 

 

This stall sells a great variety of local delicacies, comprising food like Wan Tan Mee, Jawa Mee, Curry Mee and also Chee Cheong Fan. I have always wondered how a small kiosk like this alone can sell such variety of food, but somehow they (the husband and wife) still managed to do just that.

 

   soup for both curry mee and jawa mee

The alleged rumour was that the prices of vegetarian food are always expensive and sometimes throat-cutting. But in this place, this is never the case as the food here is priced reasonably (as below).

 



While waiting for my food, I ordered a bowl of Almond with White Fungus Soup. This nourishing dessert is a very good way to start the day with the nutrients prescribed by the Chinese which also contains red dates and longans.It tasted average probably since it was meant to be herbal, but nevertheless I enjoyed it.

wan tan mee

The Wan Tan Mee was served in a short 10 minutes. Apart from comparing it to it's non-vegetarian cousin which contains real pork meat, I think the taste was good and everything was just in place. There were pinches of small pork meat cubes (literally) which added more munch to the noodles. The fried wan tan (friend dumpling) was indeed crunchy and if you would to be eating this blindfold, you would never guess they were actually made from vegetables or vegan recipes. Now that's another reason why vegetarian food is getting more popular.

jawa mee

The best of all is none other than the Jawa Mee. First impression, it does already look like the real thing. First bite, it still tastes like the real thing. Amazingly, this jawa mee is capable of making you reconsider whether is it really a vegetarian dish. I think the taste is really good and might even surpass some of the famous jawa mee(s) out there. The fact that this jawa mee has no prawns or egg may sound disappointing, but the use of crispy vegetarian fritters (prawn crackers) and fresh orange potatoes had actually compensated the use of poultry. The gravy itself is fantastic with a little bit of spiciness, blending together with the noodles, making each bite so rewarding.

The one thing I don't fancy about this place is the unfriendliness of the hawkers (both husband and wife). But if you're in for the food, there is much to fancy.

Prices .

Almond with White Fungus Soup - RM 2.00

Wan Tan Mee - RM 2.70

Jawa Mee - RM 2.70

Bonus .

16-G, Medan Angsana 4, Bandar Baru Farlim, Ayer Itam, Penang.

It is located in Farlim Business Centre on the row opposite to Shell's Laksa or directly behind Farlim's KFC.

Business hours are from morning 7.30am to 11am .


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Genting Wan Tan Mee

It was early Friday morning and the night before, my aunt and I planned to have our breakfast at our usual place. We have been customers - regular customers for Genting Kopitiam for a long time, dating back to the time when I was still in primary school.



People used to say habits are always hard to change. Having breakfast here is a habit :)

The thing about this place is that it feels very comfy, probably because of the years that I've been here, or probably because of the people who comes here often. This kopitiam has only a few stalls, but it's business is good enough to cater a big crowd.



Most of the customers here are either young working people in their uniforms or old people with their gossip gang members. Although there is other food which is relatively good as well, but I always prefer to order the same-ol'-thing, Wan Tan Mee ta ta (dry Dumpling Noodles). While waiting, we usually order a set of Kaya Toast Bread which is really tasty as appetizer.

kaya toast bread

I was first introduced to this food by my aunt, who is also an expert in cooking and food tasting. And I remember she told me this, "I think in the world of Wan Tan Mee, the hardest challenge a hawker could get is when a customer orders dry Wan Tan Mee".
This is because it takes great skills to produce this kind of Wan Tan Mee, and most hawkers fail to perfectionate this Cantonese dish because a little too often, the noodels is too dry (without enough soy sauce) or too wet (which defeats the purpose of ordering a dry one).

husband and wife in action


dry wan tan mee

We usually order our dry Wan Tan Mee without sio bak (roasted meat) because .. err I think it's just a habit also. :)

dumpling soup

It was probably habit that always brings us back here, simply because the food is affordable (very affordable in fact) and taste is averagely-good .

Prices .
Toast Bread - RM 1.40 a set
Wan Tan Mee - RM 2.10 a plate (without roasted meat)

Bonus .
This shop is located at the end of the row of Bandar Baru Supermarket, Farlim.
It only closes on Sundays, opens from 7.30am to 11.00am for breakfast, and if you would like to join the crowd, please reach around 9.00am .

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