Evergreen Laurel Hotel @ Gurney Drive, Penang

Located at 53 Persiaran Gurney, it was about 40 minutes ride from the Penang International Airport. On weekdays evening, expect heavy traffic and it'll take probably 15-20 minutes longer. Taxi fare from airport would be about RM50. There are private cars awaiting passengers and those are cheaper by RM10 although one ought to be careful.

Evergreen is one of the older establishment along that area. Not the best, and not the worst one either. Don't quote me, this was what one of the hotel staff told me. Haha!

Check-in was a breeze and a deposit of RM100 was required, refundable at check-out. However, on the day of my stay, the hotel was experiencing an issue with their airconditioning. "No aircond for the time being till it is fixed." That did dampen the mood of the guests quite a bit!

'premium' king sized bed

desk and sofa area

deluxe sea-facing view

Sunrise was approximately at 713am, so went out the next morning to catch it. Weather was a little hazy.

sunrise

good morning

The sea is at the opposite side of the hotel, and the pedestrian path was popular with joggers and people out doing their morning walk. It was a Friday that felt like a weekend. Holidays feels so good!

walking

waves rushing onwards

no flowers to smell, so will just watch the birds

slow down and enjoy the view

On days like this, I'd like some dim sum please. Coincidentally, found one about 10 minutes walk from the hotel.

dim sum for breakfast

variety of steamed dim sum

fried stuffs

Did a take-away back to the hotel. Amusingly, the shop doesn't provide any disposable chopsticks as they didn't stock any.

coffee

assorted dim sum @RM15

century egg with fish and pork paste

yam puff with char siew

Skip the brinjal and handmade fishballs as brinjal was too hard and fishballs were too mushy. This dim sum shop seemed to fare better with fillings that include pork and prawns, and deep fried. Yam puff was half-half as one tasted good but the other had fillings that tasted bland. But its exterior was well-fried and crispy.

Manbok 만복 Chinatown Korean BBQ & Steamboat Buffet Restaurant @ Chinatown

Was invited to try Manbok, located at 279 New Bridge Road. Took bus #143 and alighted after Chinatown Point. At the bus stop, turn right and walk along the pathway. Its name Manbok 만복 can be translated as 万福.

korean buffet, 가자 !

Buffet is priced at $29++ for dinner, with free beer promo for each diner if you come in groups of 4.

table for 4 pax, with grill plate, smoke suction and small stove for steamboat

Here are some pictures of the BBQ and steamboat ingredients.

ingredients for budae jigae (army stew or steamboat items section)

seafood items (clams, mussels, prawns, squid)

meat galore~

free flow soft-drinks

The uncooked meat section was interesting. First time seeing beef brisket and beef plate in this section.

first plate - brisket, short-ribs, marinated pork collar and pork belly

pork belly and short-ribs in progress

The beef short-ribs were well marinated, though a tad sweet. Nice to chew on.

kimchi to break the monotony

While waiting for the meat to grill, one could also enjoy the cooked food that's quite well prepared by their Korean chef. Fried chicken wings? Oh, yes.

sweet sauce coated fried chicken wings

fried rice

kimchi pajeon

japchae

The fried rice has just abit of heat to spice it up, very zhichar styled and loaded with small shrimps. Had it while it was still hot. Yums. Chicken wings were fried till outer skin was crispy, and coated with sweet sauce. As usual, am biased towards chicken wings. The tiny-cut kimchi pancake was likeable too.

one plate is never enough

Korean beer

The cooked food section may see its selection changes on a monthly basis. According to the restaurant owner, this is to give diners something new to look forward to during their subsequent visits.

spicy seafood stew

more meat, please

Bottled makgeolli is available and it's really easy to drink. Big bites of grilled meat, and big gulp of makgeolli!

big sips of korean rice wine 막걸리

eat, drink and be merry

If one had a bottle too many, a pot of budae jigae may help to settle the tummy a little. The soup was a light clam-based stock, available in a plastic jug to do a self-service top-up at your own table. Add own guestimate of pepper paste to the steamboat pot, and the usuals for budae jigae: spam, sausages, instant noodles, cabbage, mushrooms etc.

gently slide in raw egg onto the army stew

voila~ steaming hot pot of budae jigae

For desserts, there's fruits and mini ice-cream tubs.

icy cold choco ending

Overall, pretty good value for money especially the *free beer promo. Adequate selection of cooked food with some choice items, and since it's a buffet, one could eat as much meat that they can. I'd pick the marinated pork collar, pork belly and beef short-ribs.

Thank you HGW for the invite and Mr Tan, for hosting us.

Manbok Chinatown Korean BBQ & Steamboat Buffet Restaurant

Location: 279, North Bridge Road, Singapore 088752
Contact No. ： 6557 0939
Website：http://manbokinc.wix.com/manbok

RamenPlay @ Novena Square Part II

First time trying the ramen at RamenPlay. Surprise surprise! Haha, that's because on earlier visits, I was ordering the Chashu Donburi.

Colleague ordered the Butariki Ishinabe, which was served hot stone style. This stone pot rice smelled delicious! All of us were enviously staring at it while awaiting for our items to arrive. Too bad the raw egg was broken when it arrived. Otherwise, would've made a prettier picture.

stone pot rice with pork slices, topped with raw egg

Meanwhile, we munched on gyoza. It was just alright.

gyoza (5 pieces)

while waiting, let's look at the picture

Lunch was a busy affair for this place. At times, chaotic too. The table next to ours, had one rice dish missing while his partner was already about to finish hers. Little did I know, I was about to experience the same.

My colleagues had finished more than half of theirs when mine came (after one reminder too).

toroniku uoboshi tonkotsu ramen (3 pieces) @$11.80++

Luckily, the Toroniku Uoboshi Tonkotsu Ramen was very likeable. Pork cheeks were tender and had a smokey flavour. Felt that these lent some character to the overall taste. Enjoyed the lava egg with its tasty yolk too.

Here is the link to earlier visit.

Criollo Cocoa Cafe @ Orchard Gateway

Exit from Somerset MRT and take a right turn to Orchard Gateway. Spanking new building with lots of streetwear, a couple of restaurants and cafe but what a hassle when trying to find a washroom. It is somehow linked to Orchard Central too.

Lots of coffee places in Singapore, but at Level 2 of Orchard Gateway there's a cafe that offers cocoa, coffee and tea. For chocolate, there are 3 main variants of cocoa and these are criollo, forastero, and trinitario. Read it from wiki.

Was recently invited to Criollo Cocoa Cafe to try out its menu.

menu

Cafe is spacious and there are tables by the window that are perfect for people-watching.

by the window

First up, a refreshing cup of cold peppermint tea. Normally, one would not really care if the tea is cold/hot brewed, as long as it taste good, right? But what if by doing a cold brew, one could cut down on carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption needed to boil water, and gets to enjoy a cup of a lighter sweeter tea? Sounds good, doesn't it?

cold brewed peppermint tea

For appetiser, try the chicken tortilla. It looked quite plain but those things on the plate, they worked!

tortilla with grilled chicken @$8.90

between the lines, yummy chicken and cheese

dab on spicy salsa

A good start. The spicy salsa was tangy and with just enough heat to wake you up. Dressing on the salad has a touch of sugar to it. Good to share.

Fancy a butter finger drink? Ingredients include peanut butter, shot of espresso and cocoa. Stir well before you drink. Had just a hint of peanut butter though. Tasted creamy, more of coffee and a little bit of peanut butter. Strangely, I felt that the taste is reminiscent of kopi peng.

butterfinger latte @$5.90 - cocoa, peanut butter, shot of espresso

If there is one drink that you must try, I would recommend the frozen hot chocolate. Err, is that hot or cold? Keke, it is a cold drink that's chockful of chocolatey goodness!

Imagine mixing melted chocolate onto rich and creamy milk, and topped with a scoop of ice-cream. Sounds delicious? It is.

frozen hot chocolate @$8.90

deliciously rich

Or, if you prefer the hot version of this (and minus the ice-cream), have a cup of dark hot cocoa @$6.50. Comes with two version of latte art. Personally, who could resists the cutesy bear?! Not me for sure.

cute bear hugging marshmellow

kind of creepy. a face smiling at the broken heart?

The food here are mostly western fare. Tried quite a number of pasta dishes.

smoked duck aglio olio @$15.90

seafood spaghetti @$15.90

The seafood spaghetti has prawns, squid, fish and mushrooms. Healthy tasting and mildly flavoured. On the other hand, the flavours of the smoked duck aglio was good though a tad oily and the duck was a tad too salty. Noodles were al-dente with just a notch leaning towards the softer side. If there's a term to it, I'll call this Asian-styled al-dente.

One last pasta dish, the bolognese. This is a befitting finale to all the pasta dishes that we had tried. Served piping hot, strands of pasta buried underneath bolognese sauce and topped with cheese and baked. Yums.

spaghetti bolognaise @$14.90

loaded with meat sauce, cheese and baked

Did you request for meat? How about a chicken chop. A pretty plate of chicken chop, please.

chicken chop, side of greens and truffle fries @$15.90

Strong truffle smell from the fries. Sinfully fried and salted. Side of greens was refreshing with that slightly sweet dressing, and chicken chop was tender and enjoyable.

chicken thigh meat

If the group has more meatatarians, then there's the meat platter to try. Looks like bar food but there is no alcohol here. Never mind, wash it all down with the frozen chocolate or iced-tea.

mixed grilled platter - chicken, bacon and chorizo sausage @$19.90

bacon and chorizo sausage

If you prefer, there is fish and chips as well.

fish and chips @$15.90

Last course, desserts. Shop signature dish is chocolate waffle with chocolate ice-cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Triple choc!

chocolate waffle with a scoop of ice-cream @$14.90

The chocolate waffle has crispy edges, light tasting and tasted great with the ice-cream. If one prefers a more fruity waffle, they have a version of that as well.

waffles with fresh fruits - mango and blueberries @$14.90

The fruit waffle batter is not as crispy as the chocolate one, served with fresh mango that is sweet and a slightly sourish tang from the blueberries. Perhaps, this could also be served with ice-cream, or chocolate sauce or maple syrup as it felt a tad monotonous after a while.

Note that there is no GST and service charge.

Thank you HGW and Criollo Cocoa Cafe for the invite, especially to Mr Lam for hosting us.

Criollo Cocoa Cafe

Location: #02-01, Orchard Gateway, Singapore 238858
Contact number: 67026568
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/criollococoacafe