Into the Doorway of Food, where it's all about Eating...



Let's start the journey into my world of food...

Different tastebuds with different tongues; you're the eater and you're the judge...
What I share here is simply the passion towards food and drinks.

Don't hesitate to ctiticize; if you like my articles, encourage me.


Monday 21 June 2010

Story of Cake, Part II: Ritz Cakes and Pastry

Ritz Cakes and Pastry is another familiar name for Penangites for its delicious cakes. Their top selling is the most famous Tiramisu and Green Tea Cheesecake; customers come here for them and grab the orders in minutes.

It's my unlucky day by 12pm when the shopkeeper tells me that both the Tiramisu and Green Tea Cheesecakes are out of order; it does break my heart. Anyway, not to get myself empty handed, I've decided to try out their Marble Cheesecake and the Chocolate Nuts... If I recall the name correctly :o

My personal and truly opinion, I love the Marble Cheesecake so much. The cheesecake in Ritz Cakes and Pastry is very soft and with the strong aroma of the cheese, it gives me an impression that the cheesecake will be very heavy in taste and too greasy. But, guess what, the cheesecake is just soft enough to melt immediately in my mouth, releasing the aroma of cheese yet it's not too cheesy to burden my appetite. The cheesecake is very light, is it because they reduce the usage of flour? Well, the only fact I know is the deliciousness of the Marble Cheesecake.
We choose the Chocolate Nuts just because my Boyboy and I like the chewiness of different nuts. The same wondering to me is the light weight of this Chocolate Nuts cake. It's very soft, just alike sponge cake and the cake layers are stacked by the mixture of chocolate creams and nuts. Additionally, chopped nuts with stripes of chocolate paste are used as toppings. The taste of the cake is just nice without being too sweet.

It's the 100% satisfaction for the deliciousness of the cakes in Ritz cakes and Pastry. The only regret to me is that 'I should have bought more instead of 2 slices only' and 'I should have arrived earlier to get the Tiramisu and Green Tea Cheesecake'. I do really expect on the taste of the cakes and I'll sure re-visit here...

Ritz Cakes and Pastry has only one shop in Penang and it's located at Medan Fettes, just opposite the Island Plaza... Location Map

Sunday 20 June 2010

Story of Cake, Part I: Jenni Homemade Cakes and Bakery

Homemade cakes and bakery has been the choice for Penangites, for the selection of cakes during festive seasons, occasions or celebrations. People prefer homemade cakes for less preservatives, large variety and the unbeatable deliciousness of the cakes.

A familiar name to local Penangites is the Jenni Homemade Cakes and Bakery. The main shop is located at Cantonment Street while the branch is at Bayan Lepas area, in the housing estate opposite the Sunshine Square. As the name, they're specialising and selling cakes such as cheesecake, moist cake, sponge cake, layer cake and also some cookies. If to narrow down into each category, they've different flavours that you can choose from; for instance bake cheese, chocolate cheese, Belgium chocolate cake, chocolate moist cake etc. As a customer, you can buy the cakes in a whole or by quarter but they don't entertain 'purchase in slices'.

My first visit to Jenni Homemade Cakes and Bakery is full with surprise and confusion; surprise with the crowd in the small shop as Cantonment Street is a narrow street with very limited parking spaces and confuse with the plenty choices that 'which cake that I should buy'. I've chosen the Bake Cheese, Chocolate Cheese, Chocolate Moist and Green Pandan Kaya, all with quarter each.
The Bake Cheese here is more cheesy and it's softer comparing to any cheesecakes outside. This is what I call it as pure and original cheesecake as the aroma of the cheese is strong and I do really feel how the cheese is melting in my mouth. For the Chocolate Cheese, there're layers of chocolate cakes in between the cheese, making it tastes more creamy instead of cheesy. It's even softer that it'll just melt smoothly in your mouth. To me, the chocolate flavour is a little bit too light that I taste more cream but it does lessen the heaviness of cheese in my stomach.

My favourite is the Chocolate Moist Cake. From outside, the cake is dark in colour and it's purely thick cholocate paste, chocolate cream and chocolate cake only. But, The chef has smartly used the bitterness of cocoa to balance the sweetness of the chocolate, making it a non-heavy taste. I personally not so like the Pandan Kaya cake as the aroma of the pandan is not strong that it doesn't stimulate my appetite and the texture of the pandan cake is a little very rough.

In overall, Jenni Homemade Cakes and Bakery provides an alternative to more delicious cakes with pure ingredients. My personal opinion, they serve better quality and tastier cakes here.

Annabelle's Place for an English Afternoon Teatime

What is my impression towards a cup of English afternoon tea? I always relate it to the combinations of being elegant, gentle and polite; sitting down relaxingly for a sip of my favourite tea, surrounded by the nature of greens and beautiful flowers.

Annabelle's Place; a nice place not only to dine-in for a meal but they also specialize in desserts and the English afternoon tea. Viewing from outside, the restaurant is a mini garden; the green-leafy plants climb along the wall and the white-painted frame, the flowers' decoration hanging on the wall, surrounded are the white metal chairs and glass tables with the flowery table clothes and there's small cute statues of a farmer with his hoe and the farm-lady with her flower basket.
I like the homely and cozy environment with the dim lighting inside Annabelle's Place. At the center of the restaurant, there's a preparation counter that is made from brick wall. I personally like the dwarf that is rowing a boat with a 'welcome' engraving on it. This restaurant is simple yet elegant. You can find a lot of traditional elements inside the restaurant; the monochromatic paintings, the wooden wine storage box, the clock or the luggage case.

It's hungry now, so let's talk about what we'll eat...As we're quite full after the breakfast, thus I've ordered a Windsor Tea Set for one person that comes with a choice of tea; English Breakfast, Earl Grey or Darjeeling tea. Per recommendation by the waitress, I've selected the English Breakfast tea which is stronger in the aroma and taste. The Windsor Tea Set for one person costs RM 17.90 and it consists of scone, walnut chocolate cake, strawberry vanilla cake, sandwiches and some fruit. The dough skin of the scone is a little crispy while the inner is still very soft and it goes very well with the whipped cream and raspberry sauce. I enjoy the scone with the nice aroma of my English tea, but my Boyboy hates that the scone is sticking at his teeth. I love the walnut chocolate cake and the strawberry vanilla cake as they're just too tasty. The rich walnuts, the strawberry slices that are layered in between the stack and the taste is just perfect without being too sweet. The sandwiches come in two flavours; the tuna and the cinnamon raisin with Kraft cheese. I think the cinnamon raisin sandwich is special as it's a little sour from the raisin, bit sweetness and aroma from the cinnamon powder and some saltiness from the cheese; three types of flavours in my mouth at the same time and they're just perfectly matched.Source from Wikipedia: Scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin.

My Boyboy asks for an Iced Peach tea that is served in a 'shoe'. Well, it's actually a shoe-shaped glass. Besides, always a must to order, the mushroom soup. The soup is dark that I think the chef must have blended some of the black button mushroom into it. There's a lot of chopped mushroom that I can really chew in my mouth; not too bad except that it's just too salty. My Boyboy and I agree that this is a nice soup but we prefer if the saltiness is reduced. The tea and soup costs RM3.50 and RM7 respectively.

It's a disappointment as they don't serve their famous dessert, Tiramisu for that day. Anyway, I've ordered another specialty, the Creme Burlee that costs RM9.90 each. The egg custard is very soft and smooth that every spoon melts just immediately when I put it into my mouth. If you ask me, I'll say that it's worth to spend on this small cup and it's a must-try.

I've a wonderful time at Annabelle's Place. It's really a nice place to relax and sit down for a meal, a cup of tea, a dessert or some light snacks. I'll definitely will come back to taste the Tiramisu and I'm expecting the deliciousness...

Annabelle's Place is near to the TAR college in Penang. The address is as below:

Friday 18 June 2010

Homemade Bakery, just a perfect teatime party

It's the month of June whereby all June's babies are gathered up for a birthday celebration together...

Joining a new company, this is a culture of my department whereby they'll organize the birthday celebration on monthly basis. For this month of June, ZeroOne Homemade Bakery has been selected to prepare the teatime party pack. This is a new bakery to our news, but the food... really a homely deliciousness.

Wow, variety of desserts and teatime snacks! The fried popiahs and curry puffs are filled with ingredients fully and they're very crispy; every single bite is crunchiness. My favourite dessert is the mini blueberry cheese tarts. On my first bite, the blueberry jam flows out... Oh, there is a layer of jam underneath the cheese. The tart is not too cheesy and it's soft, making it just nice to melt in the mouth. While for the cream puffs, the fillings are corn custard whereby I can find some small corns that are blended with the creamy custard. I don't quite like the cream puffs as the dough is a little too oily and I personally will prefer the custard filling to be sweeter.

Not to forget the main character; the birthday cake. My first impression is a white cream cake that is decorated with strawberries and kiwis; simple yet it's triggering my curiosity on how will the taste be. It's actually a vanilla cake that is layered with Pandan Kaya. Everyone of us gives a 'Thumb Up' for the deliciousness as the cake is soft and it's not too creamy. The sweetness is just perfect that it's not making us feeling too greasy or too full.
Info: 'Kaya' is a type of 'jam' that is made from egg and coconut milk, with sugar as sweetening; then being steamed on a pot of boiling water till it's thick and brown.

I enjoy this type of functions in my new working place. Thanks to the team whom has been planning and organizing such activities. Oh ya, another special thanks to LP for sponsoring the prawn crackers ;)

By the way, if you like to order for the homemade desserts or snacks, I've managed to snapshot the contact as below...

Friday 11 June 2010

Mille Crepe, the creations of 'Humble Beginnings'

Mille Crepe, it's a French Cake whereby 'Mille' means 'Thousand'. As its name, the layers of crepes are stacked together with the combination of fresh cream and vanilla custard between each layer.
Humble Beginnings is proudly presenting their essential creations of Mille Crepe with a large variety of flavours to choose from. Every Mille Crepe is hand-made and hand-layered to give the utmost satisfaction of deliciousness. As the first-time customer, I'm recommended with the French Vanilla taste. Cutting into the cake, you can find the layer by layer of crepes with the richful cream in between. Every single bites is a complicated feeling of crepe and cream in a thousand layers, never ending... As they're using fresh cream in between the thin crepes and with the perfect blend of sweetness, I don't find the taste to be too creamy or too full. Another specialty from Humble Beginnings is; the topmost layer of the Mille Crepe is caramelized to give it a sugary flavour.

Humble Beginnings serves only Delivery and/or Pick-Up Point service. Firstly, you've to pre-order your Mille Crepe through their website. Then, you can choose either to be delivered to your doorstep or self pick-up at designated locations.

Mille Crepe is just perfect for a teatime dessert. At Humble Beginnings, it's the exploration of tasty journey into the world of Mille Crepe.

Thursday 3 June 2010

Ecco Cafe, your True Italian's Gateway

Wondering where can I find a true, original Italians' taste in Penang? Along the busiest street of Jalan Chulia, there is a restaurant that specializes in homemade Italian food like pasta, pizza and bread and it's called 'Ecco Cafe'.
The restaurant is indeed an old 'Kopitiam' style town house of decades long. The wooden sun-shades that are painted with the name of 'Ecco Cafe', the inscription of the Chinese name of the coffee shop on the round pillars in red, the wooden tables with the metal chairs and the bronze fan; they're reminding me to my childhood time whereby this type of coffee shop rarely exists during the urbanization nowadays.

Let's start with the drinks; my cup of brewed coffee and my Boyboy's mango lassi. You don't hear it wrongly, there's few types of lassi drinks on the menu and the food here is generally brings in a little influence of Indian's cuisines. The aroma of the coffee is very appealing with a strong, pure coffee taste and I like it without sugar or creamer. While for the mango lassi, it's not too thick and not too creamy but lack of the natural sweetness of mango fruit.

The always must-try starter that we'll not miss out is the mushroom soup. The mushroom soup comes with a slice of French bread whereby I prefer it to be a little over-baked for a crunchier taste. The mushroom is chopped into tiny pieces and it's perfectly blended with the light cream; every spoon is a richly, creamy taste except that I'm wondering where has gone the aroma of the wild mushroom...
Our main orders of the day are Chicken Pot Pie and Calzone. Chicken Pot Pie is filled with chicken cubes, peas, carrots, potatoes in a creamy sauce with a pie crust. A little spiciness of herbs in the sauce is creating a nice aroma besides to reduce the greasiness of the creamy taste. The Chicken Pot Pie comes with a side salad and two bread sticks. Calzone is breaking the traditional pizza whereby it's a turnover pizza dough that is stuffed with turkey ham, tomato, capsicum, onion, tomato sauce and cheese before it's being baked till golden brown. The Calzone is just nice as it's not too cheesy but the tomato taste is too sour.

To compliment the ending of our meal is a delightful dessert that is called Creme Burlee. It's actually the egg custard pudding with the melted brown sugar on top, forming a thin yet hard caramel; to give a crunchy sugary flavour to the soft, smooth pudding.

Ecco Cafe is definitely a nice place for your favourite pasta and pizza. The location...

Tuesday 1 June 2010

'Lok Lok', shall I call it as Steamboat on Bamboo Stick?

'Lok Lok' is just alike a type of steamboat, except the variety types of ingredients are cooked in boiling water on bamboo sticks and to be dipped in different kinds of sauces instead of to be eaten with soup. Alternatively, the food on bamboo sticks is nice to be deep-fried as well.

'New Corner Lok Lok'天天新乐乐 is located at the end corner of Chai Leng Park food street. There's a variety of ingredients for your choices; range from sausages, fish balls, crab filaments, till vegetables, mushrooms and even seafood. You can find cuttle fish, clam, octopus and sometimes mantis prawn here and they're all well preserved in a very fresh condition. The most specialty that I like the Lok Lok here is on the different types of sauces. Six... they've 6 sauces that you can dip in; the sweet dark sauce, the mild spicy sambal chili, the chopped onions and lemongrass in sweet and sour sauce, the hot cili padi, the salty shrimp paste and the popular satay sauce. Irregardless if you like sweet, spicy or salty, they've all the flavours to fulfill your appetite.

I always like to get ready my favourite ingredients while waiting for the water to boil. To my Boyboy whom is a fried food lover, he'll never miss to pick some ingredients for frying. The one important observation that I like about the fried Lok Lok here is they're not so oily as other stalls whereby the owner will ensure the excessive oil is dripped on the oil-absorbing paper.

Ooppss... another point before I forget; if you're unsure the sauce to choose from, you can always ask the boss to mix it for you. I don't know the exact portion of each sauces, but it tastes special when they're all mixed together. It's another wonderful journey for your tongue ;)

There's a wide selection of food stalls that you can find at Chai Leng Park food street. I personally like this Lok Lok stall for their fresh ingredients and sauces.