Foodarrific

We were on vacation in Penang last week (read and see the photos here, here and here) and decided to check out Strada, a small restaurant tucked in a row of shophouses in busy Pulau Tikus. We’d read good online reviews about this place and thought, why not, since the set lunches seem reasonably priced.

The sets come with either soup of the day, which was Pumpkin Soup that day, or salad. Unfortunately the Pumpkin Soup was sweet and bland (if you can imagine that!) and none of us finished up our order, which is something we hardly ever do since my philosophy is not to waste food.

The salad came with the default dressing which means we didn’t get to choose our favorite dressing.

The Chicken Chop with Oriental Sauce was nothing to shout about either. The sauce was more like a pizza base.

I hate to say this but this Spaghetti alla Vongole was really hard to swallow. The presentation was great so I guess I set my expectations too high. It was bland (which is better than too salty, I guess) and the sauce was like some Chinese gravy?

The Salmon Fish and Chips was, by far, the best thing we had there though the portion was rather skimpy.

It’s a shame the quality of Strada’s food didn’t live up to the nice ambience of the restaurant. I guess if you don’t try it, you’ll never know, which also confirms my philosophy of not chasing down food no matter how good the reviews are made to sound.

On the day we were there for lunch, only a couple of other tables were occupied. There was a small family and 3 ladies discussing mortgage protection insurance rates.

Filed under: MeatPastaPoultryReviewsSeafoodVegetablesWestern by chili queen - No Comments →

We went on vacation to Penang earlier this week and stayed at the swanky Hard Rock Hotel Penang. The hotel is very happening and fun, you can read all about it and drool on the photos here, here and here.

Well, since we were paying a small bomb for our sea-facing rooms, we had high expectations for their buffet breakfast which has the the usual spread of Western, continental and Asian breakfast foods.

Normally we wake up ravenous and are ready to really dig in . But to be quite honest, the food at the Hard Rock Hotel Penang isn’t that great. By the third morning of our stay, our choices had dwindled down to a few dim sums (pork-free dim sum just isn’t dim sum, know what I’m sayin’?), croissants and sausages.

Even my son who normally makes a beeline for the nasi lemak (coconut rice with condiments like anchovies, chicken curry, nuts, etc) didn’t touch it once. So that should say a lot!

As for me, I ended up eating really healthy for lack of choice. Each morning, I had cereal with lots of raisins, pecans and dried fruit (very yummy!) and drank lots of fruit juices.

And I ended each breakfast with grapefruit and honeydew. Well, if I was hoping these healthy breakfasts would be kinder on my waistline, I’m sorely mistaken .

Actually I’d promised the kids I’d treat them room service supper. But as we were walking past other rooms on our floor, we noticed most of the room service trays had heaps of leftovers on them. We took that as an indication that the food must not have been very good. So we gave room service a miss.

Next up, the pasta place we went to in Penang.

Filed under: AsianReviewsWestern by chili queen - No Comments →

If there’s ever a time of year when we just let our sweet tooths hang out, this is it! There’s something about the beautifully decorated Christmas trees and festive air that drives us to expensive coffees and cakes that we mostly ignore during the year .

Me and the kids stopped by at Coffee Bean after lunch one day and I treated them to this incredibly decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake. Yes, I definitely prefer more cake than cream.

And this Tri-Cheese Cake is to die for. It is so rich, so packed with cheese, you just don’t want to swallow it, know what I mean?

If you’ve toiled long and hard at your GMAT prep or have had the baddest day at the office ever, this is how you should reward yourself. It instantly takes all your stress away and you start hearing sweet music . It’s that good!

Filed under: ReviewsSnacks & DessertsWestern by chili queen - No Comments →

Vegetarian day is frequently a headache for me. The kids are not huge fans of veggie stir-fries which is standard fare for me on vegetarian days. These days, it’s been raining elephants and llamas, so going out to grab a veggie pizza or burger is out of the question.

If we stay home, I have to get creative and this recipe is one I concocted recently. Ta-da! Loaded potato slices.

These are very easy to make. Of course, it’s not as easy as swiping a bag of frozen french fries through a Honeywell Barcode Scanner, but these taste so good that my picky eaters called for an encore and I ended up making a second batch.

Here’s what you need:

• 4 large potatoes, skinned and sliced 1″ thick lengthwise
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stalk cilantro, finely chopped
• 2-3 teaspoons lime juice
• pinch of salt
• grated mozzarella cheese

Yes, there’s quite a bit of cutting involved. Combine the tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt in a bowl. Leave aside for a while, then drain off excess juices. You don’t want that.

First I microwave the potato slices on high for about 2 minutes. Transfer them to a tray and space them out nicely. Spoon the tomato mixture onto each slice and top with grated mozzarella cheese.

Then I just pop the tray into my toaster oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese and potato edges brown slightly, and they’re ready to serve.

These loaded potato slices make a very yummy, very healthy meal as there’s no oil added and all the ingredients are fresh. With its vibrant colors, it’s also very presentable and you can serve it as an hor d’oeuvre. Try it, I’m sure you’re going to love it as much as we do .

Filed under: Appetizers & Hor d'oeuvresHealthy EatingKid-friendlyQuick & Easy CookingRecipesSnacks & DessertsVegetarianWestern by chili queen - 1 Comment →

There are days when our school lunches almost resemble a small emergency evacuation and I’m not kidding. We have to be in and out of the house in a half hour or something crazy like that.

This then is my latest quickie lunch of sliced baguette dipped in herbed olive oil served with a bowl of mushroom and potato soup. Mm, simply delish. The idea came from a pizza dinner we had at Italiannies (our second visit in like ten years!) where they served us focaccia with herbed olive oil dip as a starter.

My kids loved it so much I had to replicate it at home. I used baguette instead of focaccia but I reckon any kind of bread would do. I infused some Italian herbs into a plate of olive oil. And I cheated with an instant soup mix .

Filed under: Breads & PastriesHealthy EatingKid-friendlySoupsWestern by chili queen - No Comments →