We did a very little research other than downloading a map of central Georgetown. But thanks to helpful Penangites, we had little trouble finding a place to stay or getting around in general. We took the RapidPenang bus service to KOMTAR, in central Georgetown from the bus depot at Sungai Nibong. Following the advice of a helpful member of the Starbucks crew at Prangin Mall (next to KOMTAR), we made our way on foot to Chulia Street (Lebuh Chulia) where we were told “you will find alot of cheap food and places to stay.”

Barely 10 minutes into our walk towards Chulia Street, we came upon a bustling dim sum place. Because we have our priorities right, we dropped our bags beside the first empty table we could find and sat down to our first breakfast in Penang. An assortment of dim sum was quickly ordered. The Steamed Pork Ribs and Chee Cheong Fun were really good, especially when eaten with the chilli paste that came with it. If anyone’s curious, I recommend checking this place out, Leong Kee, at the corner of Lebuh Kimberley and Lebuh Cintra (closed by noon).

It was an auspicious start to our Penang adventures. I didn’t take notes over the next few days, but we did do a bit of sight-seeing here and there. Mostly though, we ate, and ate, and ate, and we ate somemore. I had photos of less than half of what we stuffed ourselves with because as a wise sage once said, “The Mouth is Speedier than the Camera.”

Still, if there was one dish that I had to remember Penang by, it was this… Penang Curry Mee. Unbelievably, we found the best rendition of Curry Mee just across the street from where we stayed.

This was by far the best bowl of noodles I have ever had. We originally sat down for some wanton noodles but tipped off by the couple that shared our table, we decided to give Curry Mee a try.

I had only one response after a spoonful of the broth. Wow. The broth was light but chockful of flavours. Complex and indescribably addictive. I spooned mouthfuls of the noodles down, one after another, and before I knew it, I found myself staring down an empty bowl.

Just so I won’t forget, this Curry Mee stall is located on Chulia Street, near the intersection with Carnarvon Street. Look out for the huge Dunlopillo shop signage, the stall is just in front. Opens from 7pm, closed on Mondays.

Our whirlwind gastronomic journey ended far too quickly and we headed home lugging boxes of freshly baked Penang confectioneries. It was yet another overnight bus ride homewards, this time with visions of Curry Mee and Char Kway Teow dancing in our heads…

Check out the photoset here.

Small Update: We settled on Crystal Guesthouse after checking out a couple options. A little pricier then the rest at RM50 per night, but the room was clean and came with AC and an attached bathroom. The room was somewhat musty with a small mosquito problem, but the AC helped and a couple of swats took care of the mosquitoes.

We both ordered our favourite beef bibimap and when our orders arrived, I cannot tell you how disappointed we were. Instead of the generous serving of sliced beef that we were used to, the bibimap came with an utterly miserly portion of minced beef. I reckoned there wasn’t any more than a heaping tablespoon of beef mince in it.

After stirring it up, you could barely see or taste any of the beef mince. It was awful and no amount of gochujang could save it. I couldn’t eat more than a few mouthfuls, because it felt like I was eating rice mush with vegetables. My friend tried to drop a subtle hint to the lady owner by asking if chef was changed and then pointing out that the beef portion was much smaller than before. She merely smiled and replied that perhaps the kitchen crew was in a rush. Nothing else was said and done, and I pushed my bowl away after a few more weak attempts at eating it.

I rarely write if I didn’t have anything good to say, but my original Togi review is one of the most popular posts on this blog and I felt duty-bound to report on my latest experience. I have sworn off going back to Togi after this dismal experience, so consider yourself forewarned.

We swung by about 7pm and the helpful waitress directed us to the restaurant’s air-conditioned shop unit. I would have preferred to sit at the counter but because my sister was still adjusting to the weather, we decided to take the air-conditioned seats.

There was a small selection of ramen and and some side dishes. My sister and I decided to play it safe and ordered the Tamago Ramen (Stewed Egg Ramen, $12), Cha Shiu Ramen (Sliced Pork Ramen, $12) and the Fried Gyoza (Fried Dumplings, $5).

In addition to the egg and sliced pork, the noodles were topped with small portions of crunchy seasoned bamboo shoots, scallions, spinach, and a piece of nori (seaweed). The noodles was nicely done and springy. The ramen broth was great, very hearty and flavourful (my sister found it a tad salty though). According to the menu, the soup base was boiled for 8 hours and no MSG was used. Even though I couldn’t finish the noodles, I drank up all the soup.

I was a little disappointed to find that the sliced pork was not quite as tender as I hoped. My sister’s stewed egg was a little overdone by Japanese standards; whites were past the “just cooked” stage and the yolk was not runny.

The gyoza was fine if you like your gyoza skins paper-thin and not too meaty. I prefer mine a little more substantial though, and at $1 each they were not quite the best value for money.

I might have caught the restaurant on an “off” day but the ramen soup base was good enough for me to give it a try again another day. Did I mention that I left my bowl dry?

Prices stated above are exclusive of the 10% service charge. Address and operating hours taken from AromaCookery.

Noodle House Ken
150 Orchard Road
#01-17/18 Orchard Plaza
Singapore
Tel: (65) 6235 5540

Operating hours:
Weekdays: 12 noon to 2 pm, 6 pm to 2 am
Sunday: 12 noon to 10 pm
Closed: 3rd Sunday every month

Noodle House Ken

Dim sum is still served off push-cart trolleys and goes for S$3-3.50 for a plate of 3 servings (there are larger servings available). The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, and is always packed during weekends and public holidays. Although the queue can get rather long, table turnover is generally quick. That said, I do recommend going early on the weekend if you do not like to wait.

The freshness and quality of the ingredients is Red Star’s biggest draw. The quality is best seen in the seafood-based dim sum dishes like har kau (shrimp dumpling) and the deep fried seafood roll. These folks don’t skim on their ingredients and you can tell the moment you take your first bite.

Other than the seafood dim sum, I recommend the steamed spare ribs. The ribs are cooked until tender and sit in a very umami sauce (my sister slurped it all up).

If you decide to visit Red Star, you must give the egg tarts a try. They are always a hit with my sister and I, especially when freshly baked from the kitchen. My sister once wolfed down 4 in a row in about 15 minutes when we managed to get some right off the baking tray. The egg tarts have an amazingly light and crumbly crust and the egg custard is not too sweet. A great way to round up the meal.

The only problem I had with going on a weekday is that there is generally less variety when compared to the weekend. On weekends and public holidays, the kitchen serves up “specials” which are usually interesting spins on the traditional dim sum dishes. As a personal preference, I find the atmosphere on the weekend better. Food seems tastier when the restaurant is packed on a Sunday morning and you’re surrounded with families, young and old, all enjoying their food together — scenes that warm the cockles of your heart.

Go check out this venerable institution in local culinary history, you won’t be disappointed. Great food, good service, and surrounded by heartwarming scenes — what’s not to like?

Red Star Restaurant
Blk 54 Chin Swee Road
# 07-23
Singapore 160054
Tel: 6532-5266

Red Star is located in the same building as the HDB Chin Swee office.

Red Star

How to get an invite from yours truly: I’m a bit of a closet foodie, so if you’re interested in scoring an invite for yourself, recommend me a makan place in the WESTERN side of Singapore (sorry eastern peeps, I’m so sick of all the posts raving about the good food on your side of the island and also to the rest of world, sorry).

It doesn’t have to be upmarket (the cheaper the better!) and I have no dietary constraints. Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, whatever; it doesn’t matter as long as it’s yummy and you’re willing to give it your ringing endorsement.

I’m looking for recommendations to places that hopefully haven’t been featured to death in the media already. So leave a comment on this post; if you’ve got your own blog post about it, all the better!

I’ll do a random pick and invites will be sent out by Saturday. That’s assuming I actually get more than 1 response to this!

The restaurant serves a small complimentary serving of appetisers while you wait for your orders. The appetisers are always interesting and the chef makes an effort to come up with new ones. I’ve been served the same appetiser twice only a handful of times in all of my visits.

The set meals are good value for money and the large set (the name of which escapes me) can be shared between two if you have small appetites; add one of the sushi sets or some à la carte sushi to your order if you are feeling hungry. I also enjoy the seasonal menu items that the restaurant promotes every now and then. It’s a wonderful way to be introduced to the various types of sashimi, knowing that you’re consuming seafood at it’s seasonal peak.

The cooked foods on the menu, on the other hand, while not bad, are average. On the rare occasion when I don’t feel like having sushi, I order the Buri Daikon which is great when paired simply with a bowl of rice.

The restaurant was featured in the papers early last year, and for a few months the place was filled to capacity every night. There was a long wait for tables if you didn’t have a reservation and service standards slipped a little. Thankfully things have settled down now, but it’s still advisable to call ahead during the weekends.

The restaurant offers a loyalty card to customers and every $20 spent gets you a single stamp. If memory serves me right (I misplaced my last card), 25 stamps earns you a $50 voucher.

[Update 2007.03.12] Thanks to a tip from Keropokman that Ginza Plaza is closed for renovations, it looks like Sakuraya has moved out from the address below. According to the announcement on their website, they are moving to Anchorpoint but no word yet on the new address or whether renovations for the new restaurant have been completed.

[Update 2007.03.13] I called up the restaurant and managed to get their new address which is updated below. It looks like that they are back in business.

Sakuraya Sashimi House
154 West Coast Road
#01-04/05 Ginza Plaza
Singapore 127371
Tel: 68720216, 67748216 / Fax: 67748423
370 Alexandra Road
#01-32 Anchorpoint
Tel: 68720216

[Anchorpoint]

Sakuraya Fish Mart
3 South Buona Vista Road #02-01/02
The Village Centre Singapore 118136
Tel 67736973, 68725350 / Fax 67731254

80 Marine Parade Road #B1-83D
Parkway Parade (S) 449269
Tel 63454714 / Fax 63465924

Sakuraya also does home delivery which is great for home parties.

Fortunately, we waited for only about 10 minutes before we got a table. My friend pointed out the framed clippings from the local papers and lifestyle magazines on the wall near our table. Ahh… that explains why Togi’s packed.

In a food-obsessed city as small as ours, a good restaurant is a tough secret to keep. Once featured in the local mass media, it usually gets overwhelmed by the sudden flux of over-eager patrons. Getting a table without a reservation becomes impossible. Service and, too often, food quality takes a beating.

I mourned briefly, knowing that I will be giving Togi a miss for the next couple of months until all the fuss has blown over. Ah well.

Needless to say, I did not enjoy my dinner at Togi’s as much as I usually do. The already tiny place was packed and so noisy that I could barely hear my companions. It took a while before we were served our tea and appetisers. When our orders were served, we had to help ourselves to the hot sauce jar and napkins from another table because they were missing from ours. The familiar lady owner kept her usual smile the whole time we were there, and the wait staff was trying their best to cope with the crowd, but we felt that, perhaps, it was all just a little too much for them.

The bibimbap was still good but I will probably wait a while before coming back.

I didn’t feel like having meat and decided on the seafood ramen soup, while my friend went for the Ginseng chicken soup ($17.50). Our orders were taken by the restaurant owner who was an attractive Korean lady. When I asked if the seafood soup was spicy (I wanted something to wake my taste buds), she recommended the spicy seafood soup with tofu ($9.50) and I decided to go along with it.

Instead of plain water, we were served a refreshing chilled tea which, we were told, was brewed from the root of a plant. It was pleasant and we found it to be the perfect palate cleanser during the course of the meal. Shortly after our orders were taken, we were pleasantly surprised to be served 6 different appetisers. They were:

1. Cabbage kimchi – with strong hint of white vinegar
2. Potato and egg salad – generous with the eggs, contrasts nicely with the spicy kimchi
3. Spicy anchovies – we wondered if it was a local adaptation because it reminded us somewhat of the ikan billis that comes with nasi lemak
4. Boiled spinach with a hint of miso
5. Finely shredded cabbage kimchi
6. Mixed vegetable kimchi – tastes remarkably like our local achar

It was a generous serving for 2 ladies, and frankly quite tasty. We didn’t manage to finish it all, but it had us looking forward to our mains.

My seafood soup came with prawns, clams, squid, crab stick (the only item in the pot that I wasn’t too fond of) and plenty of tofu. Although the soup did looked bright red and fearsomely spicy, it was actually quite good and not at all tongue-numbing. The soup had a natural sweetness and had just the right amount of heat to jumpstart my appetite.

The ginseng chicken, cooked whole, arrived still bubbling hot in its earthen hotpot. The lady owner came shortly after to cut the chicken up into smaller pieces with a pair of meat scissors. From what we can tell, the soup was cooked with ginseng, dried red dates, and whole garlic cloves. Interestingly, the chicken was also stuffed with some glutinous rice. I have never had glutinous rice in soup before, and quite unlike our normal steamed version, it retained some of its bite, reminding us a little of Teochew-styled porridge. I’m not particular fond of ginseng soup (or most herbal soups for that matter) but my friend found it to be fairly good, with a a touch of “kum-ness” typical of such soups.

Our meal came up to about $30, and we only managed to polish off half of the ginseng chicken. Service was good, and from our conversations with the lady owner, we found out that her mother is responsible for the cooking and most of staff in the restaurant was family. The restaurant offered great value for money, serving mostly down-to-earth home-styled dishes. My rating? I’ll certainly be back for more. And I’ll remember to take pictures the next time round.

[Update 2007.05.06 - See my latest post on Togi. Suffice to say things have changed since my first visit.]

Togi Korean Restaurant
11 Mosque Street
Singapore 059491
Tel: 62210830
Email: togi1004@yahoo.com
Closed on Sundays