Roomies Penang: Boutique Bed & Breakfast

Many of my friends know that I enjoy visiting the island we call the Pearl of the Orient, so much so that I visit almost every year. During one of my random browsing of Penang places to explore, I came across a place called Roomies. They were only renovating when I found out about them. Intrigued, I liked their Facebook page to keep track because who knows, I may pay them a visit one day. And visit them I did!

I went with a group of friends - 6 of us girls in total. It was an easy trek from the Penang Airport. We took the Rapid Penang #101 that goes all the way to Teluk Bahang, pressed the bell as we noticed the police station and thanked the friendly bus driver.

For those thinking of traveling with a 20kg luggage bag, please be informed that they are located on the 4th floor of a row of shops without elevators. We packed light and so the climb up the stairs was not too bad for us. 

We were greeted by a panel of planks with a transparent case in the middle showcasing a statue of the head of the Buddha - unique but a little confronting. 

The panel of planks also functioned as a divider that shields their Perfect 10 dorm beds from the main entrance. How clever.

After checking-in, the first request all of us had was for the washroom, as the bus ride had taken longer than expected. The washroom is a combination of the toilet and shower. They are located right at the end of the premises and could do with a few more hooks for clothes. For most of my friends, this was their first time using an accommodation with shared bathroom facilities and so were pretty impressed with the clean and simple layout. I, too, was impressed, and found them to be better than some of the more established B&Bs I have stayed at in Australia and New Zealand.

We took two rooms - the Studio Suite and the Cinema Room. Two of my friends and I opted to spend the night in the latter. First thing we did was to allocate beds and as they were both afraid to climb that high up, I volunteered to take the highest loft bed. Quite fun an experience to sleep that close to the ceiling, I thought, but boy did I regret my choice after a day at Escape. As I was aching every where, climbing up those steps was nothing short of painful and once I made it up there, I refused to climb back down!

However, it was convenient that this room is located just before the washrooms - made it easy to wash our hands, freshen up and to use the toilet. The downside of this was that we could hear footsteps throughout the evening and in the morning, as other people walked past to use the toilets.

You can't have a 32" LCD screen with free in-room HD blockbuster movies on demand with no snack, can you? Fret not, there is a whole basketful prepared but do check the expiry dates of each packet - one of my friends had one that was expired.

The Studio Suite is more spacious and has double room configurations - mini bar, ensuite bathroom and a window for fresh air (our Cinema Room didn't have windows).

 

Having checked out our rooms, we explored the rest of the place. I really appreciate their efforts in introducing Batu Ferringhi. They had a "Roomies Guide to Batu Ferringhi" in the reception area.

They even had a few bags of homemade cookies for sale.

As mentioned previously, behind the reception area are the dorm beds, which they claim to be "shake-proof". I like how they provide each bed with a curtain to provide some privacy - something I have not seen in the dorms I have been to. And should you worry about snoring or someone chatting on the phone/Facetime/Skype/, they provide complimentary Bose "QuietComfort" 20i Noise Cancelling plugs.

In addition to a sun deck and roof terrace (where we had our breakfast the next morning), they also have a lounge for guests to chillax and socialise. 

And of course they are on TripAdvisor. Not only are they on there but they are also ranked the best B&B in Batu Ferringhi, so what's your reason not to choose them?

Roomies Penang
76C-4 Jalan Batu Ferringhi, 1110 Batu Ferringhi, Penang.
Tel: +60 4 881 1378; Mob: +60 12 474 1869, +60 16 477 5227
E-mail: stayatroomies@gmail.com

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Restoran Hock Kee Ulu Yam Loh Mee, Seri Kembangan

We all know that there is a place that does awesome loh mee in Ulu Yam but when we think of how far the drive is, we'd rather not despite how much we love our food. However, not too long ago, this problem was solved with them opening their 3rd branch here in Seri Kembangan!

With decent pricing and huge portions, they prove to be popular even though they are situated along the busy main street of town. I normally park in the public parking lot across the road because the pedestrian crossing is just like right there.

What to have here? Most of their dishes are noodle dishes and needless to say, their loh mee (RM6.50  small; RM12.00 medium, RM17.00 large) is a must have!

If you are a person who enjoys the heat of pepper, I think you would enjoy their exciting pepper meehoon soup (RM6.50  small; RM12.00 medium, RM17.00 large).

Their homemade Hokkien mee (RM6.50  small; RM12.00 medium, RM17.00 large) does not disappoint, either. Sufficient wok hei.

If you prefer an afternoon or late night snack, I thought their spicy chee cheong fun (RM6.50  small; RM12.00 medium, RM17.00 large) had an interesting taste. I took me some getting used to, as it did not taste like the usual sweet sauce with chilli mixed into it.

The place is reasonably clean and service is quick. Even loh mee can be franchised now... hehe...

Restoran Hock Kee Ulu Yam Loh Mee, Seri Kembangan

1584B Jalan Besar, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 8940 5945

Open daily 11:30am to 10:00pm

D'Cuisine

When I received an e-mail from a 'D'Cuisine', I went, "Who? What?" and found out that they are a restaurant with an Peranakan, Chinese and Western fusion menu. Golly, this fusion food business is no joke, hey?

I questioned my memory of my two visits to Plaza33, both which were to Noble Mansion for bestie's wedding dinner. Little did I realise that D'Cuisine is tucked in the space underneath the escalators leading up to Noble. Talk about clever use of space!

They are a part of the D'Group establishment of restaurants, which also includes D'Italiane and Ketchup. They started from a humble Italian restaurant in Section 9 of Shah Alam and from there, they expanded to Jaya33 in 2007, Sunway Giza in 2009, Paradigm Mall in 2012 and one year later, here in Plaza33.

They aim to bring to diners variations of modern fusion fare that blends Eastern and Western flavours, something that was evident in their extensive menu. According to Wikipedia, fusion cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions and have played a part in contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 70s. Malaysian food, I would think, is naturally considered fusion due to the multicultural demographics of our country.

From where we were seated, we had a clear view of the bar, which made ordering drinks pretty easy. We noticed that they recycle their coasters and corks into table numbers - creative and cost-saving.

Cocktails and mocktails come at the standard price of RM28.00 and RM15.00 respectively. As it was in the middle of the day and neither of us wanted to risk driving under the influence of alcohol (for me it was more of a case of avoiding falling asleep), we both ordered mocktails. I tried For Gordon's Sake, a concoction of Gordon's Gin, sake, elderflower syrup, grape juice, mint leaves and white wine. And I so beat myself up afterwards because I so should have ordered the cocktail version - without the alcohol, it tasted like juice. Alicia tried Stubborn & Peachy (what a name), a concoction of Don Julio Reposed Tequila, peach liquer, peach puree, ginger syrup, lemongrass stick and cinnamon stick. And she really liked the unique although a little peculiar taste! I thought her drink was more special, too, perhaps due to the combination of more herb-like ingredients. 

We left the ordering to their recommendations. For starters, we were served the caramelised orange calamari (RM19.00), fresh squid battered and deep fried till golden crisp coated with fresh orange infused caramel. Beautifully presented complete with an orange, the squid was definitely golden crisp. We thought that it would have tasted better if we could taste more of the orange instead of the caramel. Also, we could hardly chew the smaller pieces of squid - more batter than squid. However, that said, it was rather addictive - kept popping into our mouths pieces of squid until the next dish was served.

The D'Cuisine Peranakan special (RM26.00) was a large serving of their signature platter combination of deep fried whole chicken leg served with prawn sambal and coconut rice. Very similar to the everyday nasi lemak but minus the spice.

We thought the salad was good enough to be served as is and that the presentation of the dish was inviting. We gave chicken leg four thumbs up - crispy on the outside, tender, flavoursome and juicy on the inside.

We were also served the yam and seafood hotpot set (RM32.80), fresh yam stone-ground and infused into a seafood stock with fresh seafood. We were too full to finish the entire set but did enjoy the combination of yam and seafood. Alicia liked the adorable green pot it was served in, too. As it was the first we have tried this combo, we asked which Chinese dialect this dish belonged to. The informed guess would be Hakka, as we Hakka like using yam in our cooking. 

We both felt that the Chinese herbal soup gave it an additional home-like feel, as it is a commonly found dish of many home-cooked Chinese meals. We also liked how there were three sides that accompanied the main and understood that these sides were part of the set. However, without the sides, we felt that both bowls of soup with rice would have sufficed because the portion was super generous!

As we have tried a starter, a rice dish, and a set, they included a noodle dish to our list of must-tries. Alicia was ecstatic when they chose to serve us their grouper fish noodles (RM22.00), their signature noodle dish with deep fried premium group pieces in classic fish noodle soup with preserved vegetables, tomatoes and spring onions with a hint of milk. My mum would have loved this. Again, this was a huge bowl - if I came alone, I would not have been able to finish this. Alicia liked it, too. I normally take my fish noodles with vermicelli, no milk and non-fried fish pieces, which should I request, they would comply.

To complete our tasting session, we were served their chef recommended dessert of baked banana filo with butter caramel and vanilla ice-cream (RM16.00). Basically, it is a dish of fresh bananas wrapped in filo pastry baked and topped with screwpine infused butter caramel sauce, served with premium homemade vanilla ice-cream.

Alicia wondered if they were trying too hard to include too much 'fusion' into their menu - sometimes less is better. However, we both agreed that it makes a great place to chill, especially for after work drinks and for a cosy gathering with friends and family - service is friendly and quick and the ambience is inviting and clean, as well as no crazy loud go-through-your-body kind of music and no hold-your-breath-because-the-person-next-to-you-is-smoking.

Plenty of parking upstairs payable at either the pay station or by Touch n' Go. Do note that if you come on a weekday, you would have to go up to almost Level 7 or 8 before you would get a spot because the office workers have reserved car spots, which means limited parking for visitors. If you do not drive, it is reachable by bus, as there are bus stops on both sides of the road and I am pretty sure these buses connect to nearby LRT stations. If the bus stops on the opposite side of the road from Plaza33, fret not, there is an overhead pedestrian bridge that leads you directly to the door step of Jaya33 next door.

A big thank you to the people who made this complimentary tasting session possible. They were especially accommodating, as we were bouncing e-mails back and forth to postpone this session several times.

D'Cuisine
PG-D & PGE Level Podium, Ground Floor, The Plaza @ Jaya33, 1 Jalan Semangat, 46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 3 7931 8985; Fax: +60 3 7932 0977
Daily 11:00am to 3:00pm & 6:00pm to 11:00pm

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NaruOne Korean Restaurant

Did you know that there is a "Koreatown" in the middle of Sydney city? Well, if you head down Pitt Street from Town Hall in the direction of Central Station, you would be walking through it.

Needless to say, Korean food would be aplenty. One of the Korean places some of us like to frequent for their (very crunchy and addictive) fried chicken is NaruOne Korean Restaurant.

As they are located on the lower ground floor and is only accessible by stairs, I would imagine that they do not get many visits from families with babies in strollers. And depending on whether patrons arrive during peak meal hours, the queue could get pretty long.

We were lucky that we had a table as soon as we arrived. Customary of all Korean eateries, they had their little appetisers served as soon as our orders were sent to the kitchen.

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We were here because of their KFC - Korean Fried Chicken. The boneless fried chicken gangjung or the boneless fried chicken gangjung with sweet and spicy sauce ordered individually are $33.00 per plate but we ordered half and half ($35.00) so that we could try the chicken in its original version and the version with the sauce.

If I were to visit again, I would just have these little crunchy babies with a bottle of soju or beer and go home happy.

We kept up with the chicken theme for soup, too, and ordered a ginseng chicken soup (half $16.00, whole $24.00). Hm, I have had better (especially in Eastwood).

If you come here often, perhaps you could tell me what else to order besides the KFC.



NaruOne Korean Restaurant
375 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9261 2680
Sunday & Monday 11:00am to 10:00pm
Tuesday to Saturday 11:00am to 3:00pm

Toby's Estate, Chippendale

Named after its founder, there are four Toby's Estate owned and run cafes in Australia - two in Sydney, one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane. They also have one cafe in Singapore and another one in New York.

After 11 years in Sydney and passing this cafe countless times, I finally had the chance to try their coffee all thanks to my ex-DLC bestie, Jennie, who was re-visiting Sydney from HK. We were doing touristy stuff across the road on the grounds of the University of Sydney, so we had to refuel with some chow.

After some time of renovations, now we could see their roastery through a panel of glass.

Since I had a mocha over at Dave's, I ordered a cappuccino ($3.80) here and was very happy with it. Just like what Peter (my PhD supervisor, who is also my occasional coffee advisor) said, they have good coffee here.

Peter also recommended their french toast because he said it is unique. And so I ordered one to share with Jennie. Mmmm, their french toast with spiced poached pear, strawberries and chai anglaise ($13.50) - yummeh! However, we felt that we could have had a tad more anglaise.

Jennie wanted to be 'health-conscious' and ordered a Botanica cold pressed juice ($8.50). A very green one and she enjoyed it. She even kept the jar.

Toby's Estate, Chippendale
32 - 36 City Road, Chippendale, NSW 2008, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9112 1131
Weekdays 7:00am to 4:00pm (Takeaway from 6:30am)
Weekends 8:00am to 4:00pm

Swine & Co.

From the name of this post, I am pretty sure you could tell that this is a non-halal place. I mean, c'mon....

Let's quickly jump to the main cast...

Bread basket

Hand-cut chips with rosemary salt and aioli ($10.00)

... the suckling pig directly off a rotating ahem, pig in the kitchen...

 ... and melt-in-your-mouth crispy pork belly ($30.00), a simple plate of pork crackling, calvados apples, braised endive and pork reduction.

Impeccable service and cosy environment. If you want to have awesome pork, that is.



Swine & Co.
16 O'Connell Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9009 0990; E-mail: reservations@swineandco.com
Monday to Friday 11:00am till late
Saturday 4:00pm till late