During my Round Island trip yesterday, we arrived at the Spice Garden around lunch time and decided to have lunch there.  Thai food was their base offerings and we decided to give it a shot on this nice breezy afternoon.  When we first arrive, there was not that many people around, and we choose a spot that under a nice shade.  We seated ourselves facing the sea and the first thing we notice was the tranquility of the surrounding and the sound of the waves hitting the beach.  It was romantic. 

We ordered a Seafood Tom Yum (RM9.80), Chicken Green Curry (RM14.80), Omellete Onion (RM12.80), Steamed Rice (RM2.00 each), Lemongrass Soda (RM7.00) and Nutmeg Soda (RM7.00).  The lunch came up to RM60.95 after service charge and it was exorbitant. 

The Tom Yum was small, but enough for two people, the sour taste of Tom Yum overpower the entire dish, however it was passable.  The Green Curry was very good, it taste and look like the ones we had in Bangkok.  The Omellete Onion was good, you cannot go wrong with Eggs, if Eggs also dont know how to fry, then the chef is not fit to cook.  The Lemongrass and Nutmeg Soda was refreshing.  This is our first time having it and was taken aback by the strong taste.  The sweet soda made it likable. 

It was a pleasant lunch, the ambiance and food scores highly, however, the price could be a little too expensive.  I would definitely come back to this restaurant, not for the food, but for the ambiance.  Its a great place to get lost into a book on a lazy afternoon. 

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The restaurant received 3 star out of 5 from us.

Photos taken with iPhone 3GS.

The one item that I have miss from Taiping is the Char Koey Teow.  For more than 10 years since I have not lived in this sleepy town, so much have changed.  Tesco, Starbucks, Taiping Central and 24hrs Mc Donalds now rule the city.  There were once 3 main source of Char Koey Teow that we frequent.  The one that we loved most was across the Lido Cinema.  We always call that the Lido Char Koay Teow.  We always had to que to get our fix and it was never dull.  I like it even more when it was kept in the refrigerator over night.  I could not find any memory of the stall closing nor I knew what happen to the stall.  All I know is that the stall was not there anymore and there goes the great Char Koey Teow of Taiping.

There was another stall that I enjoyed much in my childhood, it was located across from the Taiping Boys Home and was only open in the evening.  The grandfather house was used to be in the city and this stall was just a short walk away.  My parents would spend many evenings polishing the Mahjong with family members and I would feed the mosquitoes there.  Once a while, I would walk over to the stall and buy myself a RM1.20 Char Koey Teow.  Those were the days one would say, and my child hood are just filled with such memories.  Similar to the Lido Char Koay Teow, I have no memory of what happen to this stall.  No idea where they moved to, if they are still frying today.  About 100m away from this location is now where the famous Dolly Koay Teow Basah is.

I could recall the days when I visit the market below Larut Matang Supermarket.  This is where the unique Char Koay Teow stalls are located.  Charcoal fried, and the uniqueness is height of the stall.  There used to be a few stalls, and I remembered it slowly shrink to one or two stalls.  The guy would sit on a stool that is half a foot tall and fry the Char Koay Teow and they were good.  I remembered the stall was taken over by the son and I don’t know what happen to them now.  The market is still there, and some of the old stalls are still there, but not the Char Koay Teow that sits on a stool.

Taiping was where I grew up and where my love for Char Koay Teow grew.  Having Char Koay Teow from all over Malaysia, Penang, KL, Melacca and even Singapore.  None of them beats Taiping Char Keoy Teow, well, none brings me back to my child hood days.  This is how unique Taiping Char Koay Teow is.  So, what’s so special about Taiping Char Koay Teow one may ask.  Its the Carbon, all the great fryers use charcoal and the Char Koay Teow is dry and the carbon taste is strong.  This is how I grew up with and my love for Char Koay Teow.

Maybe there is still hope, a few weeks back I heard of this famous Char Koay Teow in Simpang that had a line of people everyday.  I got to seek this stall out.  Hopeful, in the near future. Till then, Gone are the Good Taiping Char Koay Teow.

Khunthai received raved reviews and was very popular among Penang folks.  You just need to Google for Khuntai and will find loads of review and almost all ends with praise.  We decided to try out this restaurant for lunch today and made our way over.  We navigated through the busy Raja Uda road and arrived at the fame restaurant almost an hour after leaving Penang Island.  There were not that many people, in fact when we arrived, there were only 3 tables occupied.  But when we left the restaurant was running close to 40% occupancy.  The restaurant had a high ceiling and fans at every table.  The cooling environment was very relaxing and couple with Thai pop music, the mood was lively.

We ordered our favourite Coconuts and went through the menu.  The menu was extensive, though was Thai based, I could not help to observe the vast Chinese influence in the dishes.  Its also a Seafood restaurant with tanks of fishes and edible Sea Creatures.  We ordered Seafood Tom Yum, Deep Fried Kang Kong, Deep Fried Prawn Balls and White Rice.  We did not had to wait long for the food, looking at the lack of patrons, it would be un-natural otherwise.

Tom Yum was the first dish that came.  The sour taste was overpowering and was not spicy.  After a few sip, it grew on us and we enjoyed it much.  It was not the best we had, it was ok.  The Seafood was fresh and the ingredients was abundant.  The soup was also thick and was not water down.  The little burning charcoal kept the soup warm through out our gastronomical adventure.

Next came the deep fried kang kong and the deep fried prawn balls.  Yes, they do not look like balls, infact, they were actually strip prawns covered with flour to shape like a full prawn and deep fried.  The deep fried kang kong was quite oily and taste of oil after a few mouth full.  We left the dish 3/4 full when we paid the bill.  We finish the prawn, but we dig out the prawn meat as after a few pieces, the flour was over powering.

All in all, the Tom Yum was the only dish we enjoyed.  The dishes did not taste that authentic to us as suggested by the logo, in fact, it was more of a Chinese Thai rather than Thai Thai, if you know what I mean.  Also, the Chinese characters on the logo is already a strong indication.  Khunthai is a lively Thai-Chinese Seafood restaurant.  Unfortunate for us, we did not enjoyed the food that much and did not feel that the dishes were Authentic Thai.

The restaurant received 2 star out of 5 from us.

Photos taken with iPhone 3GS.

I have always been fascinated by different kinds of pop drinks.  When I saw this clip about soda pop obsession at Chow, I was thinking that only in US can find independent soda pop bottlers.  I was surprise when I came across this Melaka made soda pop from Long Chan.  There were 5 flavors, and all are not bad.  It does not have that much gas (carbonation) in it and was rather sweet.  My wife told me that this company have been around since she was small, and for this independent soda pop company to survive so long is amazing.  However, this drink cannot be found at restaurants, nor can it be found at hypermarket.  To get this drink, you will have to go to the local coffee shop (ah pek style and not Old Town style) or the local roti canai shop here in Melaka. 

The new Aeon Melaka Mall house the first Papa Johns Pizza outlet in this state.  With so many pizza shops in Malaysia, and having Pizza Hut, Dominoes and Shakey’s concurring almost every city in the country, I wonder how does Papa John’s fare in this crowded market.  My first impression was that this is another Pizza Hut like restaurant.  The restaurant feel and menu are also similar.  However, after tasting the fresh baked pizza, it is far from similar, infact, it rank 1 among  it’s competitors. 

Value for Money – Average

The prices of Pizza, sides and drinks are comparable with the other Pizza outlets in Malaysia.  During my visit, there were two promotion going on, first is Citibank Card 50% off for 9” pizza and Jusco Card RM5 for second 9” pizza.  With these promo, a party of 5 only spent RM80 for 4 9” pizza. 

Taste – Excellent

The pizza was great.  The dough was not oil soak like Pizza Hut, nor it powdery like Dominoes.  It taste fresh, and with the free fresh tomato paste, garlic butter & marinated chilli, eating the crust of the pizza was not as painful as the other pizza outlets.  I could taste the fresh abundance toppings, putting Papa John’s Pizza #1 among the competitors in Malaysia. 

Overall – Great

In comparison with Pizza Hut, Dominoes and Shakey’s Pizza, no doubt Papa John’s rank #1 in taste.  In term of value, it still trail Dominoes which has the royalty card that gives buy 1 free 1 large pizza.  To-date, nothing can beat this value.