Aozora Japanese Wine and Dine

My Ratings: 4 Stars

Cuisine: Japanese Fine Dining and Wine

Location: Bellisa Row, Pulau Tikus, Penang (Tel: 04-22094099)

Halal

Price: RM30-100 per person

Just opened mid July 2009, this restaurant is conveniently situated in an upmarket neighbourhood and niched as a fine dining Japanese restaurant with a full range of wine to compliment you sushi and sashimi. A fusion of eastern and western concept with authentic Japanese food

You are greeted with an aura of blue ambiance as you enter the restaurant. The furnishing is of classic black to add to the sense of modern chic decor. As you are shown to your table, you are presented with a hot towel to refresh yourself. The menu is beautifully decorated with classic Japanese scenery and each food items are beautifully illustrated although lack of description and you may have some difficulty figuring out what is the dish.

As this is a fine dining, the menu is presented with the premium food items like king crab at RM228 each, Lobster Nabe at RM200 each, giant Ebi at RM72 each and of course sushi items at RM55 (Uni) for 2 pieces and Sashimi (Uni) at RM65 per serving. The later part of the menu is more affordable.

I ordered a Teriyaki Chicken Bento set (RM36+) and Amanda ordered a Miso Ramen bowl (RM18+). My bento set comes with cawanmushi, miso soup, bowl of rice and a piece of fruit. The food is good, much better than the average Japanese restaurant and you can taste the quality of the ingredients. I think my bento set is value for money. It has a serving of teriyaki chicken, 4 slices of raw salmon, 4 pieces of raw salmon maki and can you believe a medium sized deep fried soft shell crab! The portions are sufficient and beautifully decorated.

The decor is fusion modern and chic. Dim blue lighting accentuate the spaces. Great place to escape the afternoon heat and glare or just need a corner with privacy. Service is OK since the staffs are still new. No Government tax but service charge applies. No charge for green tea! MPPP parking is limited especially during the day but ample private more expensive parking at the back.

Avoid table 8 (under the stairs) and table 10 (public toilet visible and can be unsightly if the door is left unclosed).

Momiji-tei Special Lunch Time Promotions

Momiji-tei is doing a lunch time promotion until end of September. I went there last weekend and had the bento boxes. (I like my lunch neatly arranged and that's one of the reason why I like Japanese food. Other than that, it is less oilly) and what is great is that now there is a promo on the bentos and ramen sets.

The bentos special promo comes with miso soup and a piece of fruit. As always, no charge for the green tea! 10% service charge applies.

Business is doing good there. There is always a steady stream of customers and the restaurant haddecided to abandon the Japanese Garden Restaurant concept and expand the interior of the restaurant into the garden to cater for more seats inside the restaurant.

For those who yet try out the restaurant, there is no better time than now since there is a special price promotion until end of September.

Read my previous review on Momiji-tei Japanese Garden Restaurant

Perak Road's Mr Loh Mee

My Ratings: 3 Stars

Cuisine: Chinese, Street foods

Location: Joo Huat Restaurant, 336-G1 Lintang Slim, off Jalan Perak, 11600 Penang (approx 100m from Jalan Perak Fire Station/Harmony apartments)

Non Halal

RM4 - 8 per person

What can you say when you are nicknamed after a product category like The Banner King orThe T-Shirt King. In this case, "Kim Leng Tua Lor Au" rightfully earned the title of "Mr Loh Mee". Mr Loh Mee serves fresh, delicious and cheap loh mee to his customers daily (except Thursdays).

Mr Loh Mee took over the business from his sister who was too old to continue the business. Mr Loh Mee who had no experience is making loh mee slowly perfected his sister's recipe over the years and slowly build up a loyal clientele.

Mr Loh Mee has a very simple business approach. Serves the best and freshest loh mee and cheap (value for money) too (RM2.30 per bowl) . He makes his profits by just selling more bowls. He also make the "loh" or gravy fresh and not a lot of quantity. And when the gravy is gone, he just makes more at his home nearby. The reason is that gravy that have been cooking too long has a burnt aftertaste. Mr Loh Mee's loh mee is well garnished with pork strips, a half egg and pork inerts like tribe and intestines. Yum....delicious!

Mr Loh Mee also sells chicken paws for those who are more adventurous for only RM2:30 a bowl. Double yum! Mr Loh Mee who was recently featured on Astro's "Taste with Jason" has seen it customer based doubling and during peak time, you can see the bee line of customers for take aways stretching over 50m. No better luck if you sit in the cafe for the famous loh mee. My orders took 30 minutes to come and I had to remind the stall workers about my two bowls orders. The portion is smaller and I finished the two bowls in no time.

The orders are huge that production and service cannot cope especially on weekends. Later on, I managed to learn how I can get my orders quick which is to remind the waitress about my order while she is carrying the loh mee bowls to customers. She just give me the bowls that she had on her tray. I think the waitress also cannot remember who ordered what and just bring the bowl out and asked the customers if they ordered or not.

I recommend this loh mee. The gravy is aromatic with five spice and thick enough to completely sticks to each noodle strands. It is cheap. At RM2:30 per bowl, its about 40% cheaper than usual pricing. Although the portion is a bit smaller but it is still cheap.

Business Hours: 7am - 4pm
Close on Thursdays
Tel: 0164775152

For the location map, click here

Sarkies Corner

My Ratings: 5 Stars

Cuisine: International
Location: Eastern & Oriental Hotel,
10, Farquhar Street, 10200 Penang
Halal
RM50-120 per person

This has to be one of the best lunch time buffet in Penang. At only RM46++, you can get a lot of variety of choose from for your lunch from seafood, BBQ meat cuts, salad, sushi, soups, espresso coffee to an even wider variety of desserts. No expense is spared in the food ingredients. It is A-grade and a good portion and equally no expense spared in the preparation of the food. At any time, there is at least 6 chefs dishing out their creations and skills

If you are a dessert connoisseur, then you will fall in love with this place. The pastry chefs do take the effort to create beautiful individual portioned deserts. It is a feast for the eyes (and camera) as well as for your pallate. You will also fall in love with the rustic decor of the hotel, considering that this hotel has long and significant history and can stand at par with The Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

There are 3 types of buffets at Sarkies Corner:-

• Executive Lunch Buffet, Daily RM46++
  
• Themed Buffet Dinner, Sun - Thu RM58++


• "Wine & Dine" Weekend Buffet Dinner, Fri & Sat RM99++ (incl. bottomless wine, beer or fruit punch and entertainment by "Los Cantores"
  

Do make a reservation as there is a good large crowd for their buffet. "A five star buffet in a five star hotel." For enquiry and reservation, please call +604222 2000 ext 3175. All prices are subjected to 5% govt tax and 10% service charge.