where and what to eat lah?

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Gong Cha 貢茶 has finally found a new home here in Malaysia in one of the largest shopping malls in the country, The Gardens Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur. Started in early May with their first outlet in SS15, Subang and only recently at The Gardens Mall in Mid Valley (opposite of Ying Ker Lou restaurant).


Gong Cha is a popular bubble tea chain that was established in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2006. Ever since, Gong Cha has swept into neighboring countries such as Hong Kong, China, Macau, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia by storm.


Like other similar popular Taiwanese bubble tea chains, Gong Cha allows you to choose the level of sweetness and ice.


We got hooked to Gong Cha when we first tried their signature milk green tea in Hong Kong in 2009. Back then, there were long queues in every single outlet and after 30 minutes of queuing, we had one of the most unforgettable experience.


So when we heard about Gong Cha in Malaysia, we immediately drove down to Mid Valley looking forward to rekindle with the joyful moments we had before. To my surprise, there was hardly any queue when we arrived. It is either because of the high floor and hidden corner location or everyone else is at Cha Time. Meanwhile, Cha Time was crazily packed though!


The famous Gong Cha signature milk foam or also known as "nai gai" 奶蓋. There are 3 ways to enjoy this drink.

1. Sip the freshly brewed tea through the milk froth without a straw.
2. Slurp some tea followed by the milk through the straw for a smooth aftertaste.
3. Stir and enjoy a perfect blend of milky froth and aromatic tea.

Signature milk winter melon tea (RM 5.90), with a layer of creamy milk froth on top that gave a slight savory taste to it. When both of the milky froth and tea were mixed, the saltiness of the froth balanced the sweetness from the winter melon and perfectly creating one of the most addictive milk tea! One of the difference to Gong Cha Hong Kong was the cup size, we remembered having a bigger cup for HKD 12.


Signature milk green tea (RM 5.90), I would recommend a 70 - 100% sweetness level to balance up the slight creamy saltiness of the milk froth. Sadly, the milk froth was less thicker and much lesser than the winter melon version. It was pretty disappointing and it tasted incomplete. To us, it is still understandable and forgivable for the inconsistency due to the new opening and staffing.

Basil seeds with lemon and winter melon tea (RM 5.90), superb blend of winter melon tea and lemon bits with fun crunchy basil seeds. It was a very uplifting and refreshing drink!


Milk tea (RM 4.90) with white pearl (RM 1.50), similar to other Taiwanese milk teas, they all don't have a strong tea after-taste but more into the creamy and smooth milky taste. White pearl, one of Gong Cha's specialty made from seaweed extract and lower in calories compared to the black pearl made from tapioca. It is definitely a healthier alternative.


The texture of the white pearl is totally different from the usual ones. Not as chewy but interestingly special. The only downside was, they were broken in bits and not entirely round. Are they supposed to look like that?


Caramel milk tea (RM 5.90) with black pearl (RM 1), smooth caramel taste and not overly sweet. We were extremely disappointed with the black pearl - one of the worst we had! It had texture like it just came out from the freezer with a harden inner mid.


Milk oolong tea (RM 4.90) with black pearl (RM 1). We couldn't pick up any oolong taste unlike a recent similar drink we had in Cha Time, tie guan yin latte that had a bolder and more distinct Chinese tea after-taste. Also, the lousy pearls made it less enjoyable.


Lemon juice with aiyu jelly and white pearl (RM 6.40), reasonably decent refreshing drink with the right combination of sweetness yet sourish lemon and chewy white pearls.


House special milk coffee (RM 6.90) with black pearl (RM 1), the coffee was strong but expensive for coffee that tasted similar to our local cafes and kopitiams. The pearls were disastrous, we had to filter them out before drinking it further.


We had about 8 cups within 2 days and the overall experience was pretty bad. With much less choices compared to the Hong Kong counterpart and Cha Time in Malaysia plus the inconsistencies in quality, I personally felt that it will be difficult to command for those long queues. For the pearls, I hope it was just a bad day, otherwise, it will be my last Gong Cha in Malaysia.

Verdict: Utterly speechless since I expected Gong Cha to put up a good fight with Cha Time in Malaysia. Anyhow, if you haven't try Gong Cha before, it is still worthwhile to try their signature milk froth tea.


Address:
S-238B, 2nd Floor,
The Gardens Mall,
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Business Hours: Opens daily from 10am - 10pm
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.117633, 101.675570
Map:

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Penang has developed hawker food to an art and has exported it to other states in Malaysia, some even found its way further abroad. But to taste authentic Penang hawker food, one has to come to Penang itself.


I stayed at Sunway Hotel which is located along New Lane (Lorong Baru), off Macalister Road - the famous street packed with hawker stalls and punters. From 5pm onwards, this street transforms into a busy food heaven which was quite convenient for me.


Assam laksa (RM ?), the #2 must-eat hawker food in Penang. However, it wasn't that great. The soup wasn't thick enough and it was no where near the assam laksa in Air Itam.


Popiah (RM ?), Teochew-style spring roll filled with grated turnip, lettuce, beancurd, egg bits, grated carrot, a dash of chilli paste and sweet sauce. I didn't really like it, it was expensive for the small size and the skin was a little soggy.


Prawn paste chee cheong fun (RM ?), steamed rolled rice noodle sheet served with prawn paste, chili sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was just okay. Could've gone for the Teluk Intan's chee cheong fun instead.


Fried oyster omelette (RM ?), it was actually quite starchy and small for that price.

Verdict: Always thought that you'll never go wrong with Penang street foods, but I was wrong. It would be unfair to say the food in New Lane is bad based on the few dishes that I've tried. Furthermore, there are few repeated stalls offering the same dish, I'm sure there are some good ones. Will probably try the other popular stalls like the pork intestine porridge, curry mee and Teluk Intan's chee cheong fun in my next visit.


Address:
Lorong Baru (New Lane),
Off Macalister Road, Georgetown
10040 Pulau Pinang
Business Hours: Opens daily from 5pm - 11pm.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 5.414704, 100.326504
Map:

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Northam Beach is an alfresco food court set in a converted bungalow land, over-looking the seaside and located along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, formerly known as Northam Road. Unlike any typical Penang food courts that serve only char koay teow, Hokkien mee, assam laksa and rojak, Northam Beach Cafe offers a mixed variety local and Western cuisines.


Northam Beach Cafe seems to be a popular hangout place for many youngsters and tourists. It tends to get a little crowded especially during dinner time.


I always wanted to try the duck egg char koay teow (RM 5). The use of duck egg supposed to make the noodles more fragrant and richer taste with a thicker texture compared to the regular chicken egg. Unfortunately, this plate of char koay teow was quite bland and dry.


One of the stall, Wunderbar German Sausages that serves German sausages was apparently quite popular. We had the Vienna grilled pork sausage with mashed potatoes and grilled buttered corn (RM 9). Was expecting the authentic German sausages with strong flavored minced meat but didn't know that Vienna sausage tasted like frankfurters. The mashed potatoes were nice though, it was smooth and creamy.


Pumpkin soup pie (RM 9.50), it was decent, nothing to shout about. But for that price, I'm sure there are better worthy soups out there.


Colorful mua chee (RM 3), consisting of the traditional flavor, sweetcorn, pandan, green tea, black sesame, blackcurrant and lychee. In addition to that, peanut butter sauce were added on top to enhance the nutty taste of the mua chee. The outcome...it was weird with all the different flavors in it! Plus, I didn't like the mua chee texture and it wasn't warm at all, I'd still prefer the traditional flavor mua chee served fresh and warm.


Pork ribs Hokkien mee (RM 5), spicy soup of mee (egg noodles) and bihun (rice noodles) in a stock made from prawn, dried shrimp and pork ribs. It was just okay, it'll be better if only the soup has stronger prawn taste in it.


Grilled stingray fish (RM 13), the marination for the fish was lacking somehow. It wasn't flavorful and tasty enough, but at least the fish was fresh.


Rojak (RM 4), personally felt that the rojak in Gurney Drive was much better than this.


Didn't really enjoy the food at Northam Beach Cafe and I still couldn't understand why this place is packed not only with tourists but also with the locals. Maybe it's the breeze from the seaside and the sunset view accompanying the dinner which can be quite therapeutic for certain patrons? Not for me though, I hated the after-effects with sticky salty skin.

Verdict: Not the best quality of food at an expensive price in Penang. Even though the location is strategic with ample parking spots and wide variety of foods, I'm still a sucker for quality food.


Address:
58, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah,
10050 Pulau Pinang
Tel: 04-229 0362
Business Hours: Opens daily from 6pm - 11pm. Closed on Tuesday.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 5.427159, 100.323522
Map:

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