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Curry Fish Head at Sin Kim San Cafe

Chinese, Food reviews, Penang, Stalls 26 Responses »

Oct 262011

meng curry fish head

I was in Penang a couple of days ago and met up with Cheryl and Kah Wheng for dinner. They brought me to Sin Kim San at Macalister Road for a really good curry fish head meal.

sin kim san

Sin Kim San Cafe is this sprawling coffee shop with a wide range of stalls offering everything from monitor lizard soup to peh pah duck. There’s another coffee shop beside it which you can order from too.

curry fish head penang

The curry fish head stall is rather well known among the locals. You can opt for fish slices instead of a fish head and there several other seafood items like squid, prawns and catfish on offer. It’s cooked Chinese style with a really spicy kick ass gravy.

bbq chicken wings sin kim san

We also had an order of the BBQ chicken wings. Cheryl mentioned that this stall used to be manned by a dude with Goku hair but that night, an elderly man took his place. No idea whether it’s the same owner – I put forth the theory that it could be the dad but then again I’m not from Penang so I wouldn’t know for sure. Heh.

bbq chicken wings

The BBQ chicken wings is pretty good too – it’s glazed with honey and the BBQ process doesn’t toughen the meat. In fact, it’s quite tender and juicy.

curry fish head

However, the curry fish head is the highlight of the meal. The prawns we added on came partially de-shelled and there’s also tomatoes and pieces of okra inside. It’s topped with mint leaves and what I really like about it is the fact that it doesn’t have tofu products or other nonsense like that. smirk

sin kim san curry fish head

It’s served in a plastic bowl and our combination costs RM 33 for two. I would prefer using a claypot so it retains the heat but other than that I have no complains. The gravy is superb – thick, sweet and flavorful to the point that you can eat an entire plate of rice with just that.

sin kim san dinner

Penang is wonderful – it’s really a place where good food can be found in every corner. I’ve been there a lot of times and I still haven’t eaten all it has to offer. Hell, I’m half tempted to move there. :)

Party photos from Freedom 360 Penang!

Events, Party, Penang 12 Responses »

Aug 052011

penang bridge

I went to Penang over the weekend with Lainey bff to party in the final Freedom 360 in the series of 4 events all over Peninsula Malaysia! This is the obligatory Penang Bridge shot.

foh san ipoh

We headed up at 6 am in the morning – our plan was to have dim sum in Foh San dim sum in Ipoh before doing a slow leisurely drive up.

dim sum ipoh

Mmm…

northam all suites penang

We stayed at The Northam All Suites – an amazing hotel with a huge living area, couches everywhere, a dining table, full sized work desk, his/hers sinks in the bathroom, a jacuzzi and a king sized bed that can probably sleep 3 people easily!

fame penang

Freedom 360 was held at FAME in the famous clubbing district of Penang. I think the entire place is called The Warehouse, but I just call it the clubbing strip. I’ve been there before in ’09 – had a great chillax session at Slippery Senoritas and Cheryl brought us to Soi 11. :)

freedom cool

I remember getting the numbers of several girls though I never called. One of them texted me though. Heh. Other that that, I don’t really remember much from that night. I didn’t drink as prodigiously at Freedom 360 (despite the free flow beer) so I can recall the events a lot better. I remember camwhoring at the entrance coz I saw Lainey do it and it looked cool. I know, it looks crappy now but I swear it looked awesome on the LCD when she took it. T_T

freedom 360 party

FAME was absolutely packed with people during Freedom 360 and I was busting a move at our table so I didn’t take a lot of photos but I got some from the OP:

freedom penang us

freedom penang group

Thanks for an awesome night Angel! I can’t wait for the next round of Freedom 360! :)

Nasi Kandar Line Clear

Food reviews, Mamak, Penang 37 Responses »

Aug 012011

nasi kandar line clear

I’ve heard a lot about this extremely popular nasi kandar place in Penang. Nasi Kandar Line Clear is located at Lorong Line Clear (which is probably where it got it’s name) and it’s open 24 hours. I hear peak hours are crazy – long queues are to be expected.

nasi kandar line clear alley

It’s quite easy to find but there are a lot of nasi kandar places around the area so be sure you get the right one. The entrance is through a small and narrow alley and you’re apt to miss it if you get distracted by the other signages.

nasi kandar queue

We went just before 6 pm and even then, the tables are packed with people. It operates just like what you’ll expect – line up and you’ll be presented with a plate of steamed rice to which you can choose a variety of meat, vegetables and seafood to go with it.

huge fish head

There’s even curry fish head the size of your palm if you like that kind of thing.

line clear people

I was initially surprised by the popularity of Nasi Kandar Line Clear. There is only a very modest variety of dishes to choose from. I’ve seen much larger nasi kandar operations with triple the number of dishes. However, it soon became apparent that they specialize in dishes they are great at.

nasi kandar line clear offerings

I ordered nasi kandar with a fried chicken drumstick and beef cooked in a sticky sweet black sauce. The nasi kandar here gives you “kuah campur” (also called tsunami, an ironic name for the state) by default. This means that they will give you a bit of gravy from every single dish to create a gooey mass of delicious mixed gravy on top of the rice.

nasi kandar gravy

This is my nasi kandar for RM 8. It also comes with raw okra and cucumbers as a standard feature. The hot gravy warms up the raw lady fingers enough so by the time you eat it, it’s soft and juicy.

raw okra

The rice is also piping hot, which is a plus point. A lot of nasi kandar places serve semi warm or downright cold rice. The kuah campur (mixed gravy) does a lot to the dish – mixed in with the rice, you get notes of fish curry, beef rendang, squid curry, ayam masak merah (a sweet chicken dish) and lots more, so it’s very, very flavorful.

kuah campur

I think that’s what makes Nasi Kandar Line Clear so popular – the dishes might be limited, but what they have is delicious and the mixed gravy is simply orgasmic.

line clear gallery

…and it looks like I’m not the only one who thinks this place is the bomb. :D

line clear

We thoroughly enjoyed it and the people who went after us in the wee hours of the morning agrees!

nasi kandar line clear rat

However, since Nasi Kandar Line Clear is located in an alley, you probably should be prepared to dine with unexpected companions of the furry kind.