Penang Performing Arts Center @ Straits Quay

 This post is super late, but better late than never... hehe
In February, I attended a stand-up comedy by for local comedians, one of whom as Douglas Lim from Kopitiam.

 The performance was held at Stage 2 ...
It was a sold-out crowd! The jokes were damn funny... and I laughed till I almost died... seriously!

Super packed auditorium

 

It was a good experience for me. I enjoyed every bit of the show. Really worth my RM38.

Heard they have been coming to Penang in an annual basis. This was their second time here (if i'm not mistaken) Perhaps next year we'll see them here again.

Delicious @ Straits Quay - a returning visit

I've posted about Delicious before.. and this is my returning visit here.
Their signature bird's cage lamps are so their signature...

The food that we ordered are as follows...

The best was the meatball spaghetti... definitely a winner with our palates!!

 The mushroom quiche was surprise favourite too...it was tasty, albeit abit too salty.. .but good nonetheless...

I ordered the duck spaghetti with high hopes... but it fell flat...this dish came very bland and cost the most... :(( I don't remember having this taste the way it did at other of their outlets...

The hot chocolate drink was good too!! Love the idea of marsh-mellows floating in my drink... dissolving as I stirred...yum

Ahh... and the added view from where we sat... beautiful!

Tong Pak Fu @ Straits Quay

Chinese dessert shops are sprouting everywhere!!! Tong Pak Fu is one of them. This franchise first opened in Penang at Jln Burmah, then it was Gurney plaza. Now, it's almost everywhere on the island. There's one in bayan baru, one in Queensbay and now one more in Straits Quay!

In conjunction with their opening celebration, the outlet at Straits Quay had all their items on sale for 50% off! What a great deal right?!

So I too tagged along for the ride for discounted desserts...
There's what we ordered!

Something hot, something cold, and something crunchy to munch...

Love love love Chinese dessertS!!!!

 

Maricosa ~ Hawaiian dining experience

There's a new restaurant in town, well, it's not really that new, but I've never been there and have wanted to try out their menu.

This happened on the 5 Jan 2013. It was more of a New Year lunch celebration, as I was oncall on the 1st of Jan. Nevertheless, I got to do New Year's count down and makan-makan on the 31th Dec 2012 :))) so lucky!

Back to Maricosa, where we all had lunch...

 Very well themed, the restaurant is adorned with murals of coconut / palm trees, pineapples, hula-dancers and the waitresses and waiters all wore floral almost-like-batik shirts/dresses. The ceiling fans also were fan-shaped and chairs looked like pineapple-looking backings ~Awesome!

They have set lunches which cost RM32.90 ++. THis is inclusive of soup of the day, main course, and a choice of dessert or drink. I thought the choice of coffee/tea or dessert was rather odd, as most set lunches offer both instead. Anyway, we took desserts over drinks.

The soup of the day was cauliflower soup, served in a huge plate-cum-bowl.

Next-up was our main courses.
Barbaque Huli Chicken. THis was really tasty!! I liked the barbaque sause very much. Not quite sure what the Huli meant, but it came with a pineapple salsa. The chicken was tender and well seasoned. This main course came with a bun, pineapple salsa as mentioned, and fries.

The main that I ordered was the Pesto Prawn Spaghetti.
I was quite disappointed with this dish although initially I was happy to be greeted with 3 huge prawns.
The pesto spaghetti was rather bland. Probably the chef forgot to add salt to the dish!!! Sigh, if only it was not so tasteless, the dish would have been a great one as there was enough prawns to go by, and garlic and pesto to accompany the spaghetti. Unfortunately, the dish was tasteless :((

I had to request for more grated parmesan cheese, hoping the cheese would bring more taste or saltiness to the dish. ~ didn't do the trick.

Lastly, the dessert. As I did say before this, I found it odd that drinks were not offered with the dessert considering the size of the dessert was really small. It's the size of a glass of whisky shot. I later found out why a whisky shot glass for dessert was more than enough.

The dessert of the day was Chocolate Mousse.
And it was thick, rich and creamy!! The strawberry sauce that accompanied it simply complimented the chocolate mousse well...
And being thick and rich and creamy, you wouldn't was more than the amount of a shot glass. The quantity was just right.

I found this place a pleasant one. But honestly, it's a bit pricey...although they offer set lunches

So, all in all, I got to finally try out this restaurant and what it has to offer... If you have time, and happen to be around Straits Quay, have a try out yourself :)



 

A Taste of the Mediterranean @ Agua, Staits Quay

Last month, I had finally got the chance to try-out Penang's (probably) only Mediterranean restaurant on the Island. Which restaurant am I talking about? Why Agua Restaurant, of course.

Agua was one of the earliest restaurants to open when Straits Quay opened its doors. It has since stood the test of time and the test of the palates of Penangites. (haha!)

We ordered one full set meal and one ala chart & tapas.

First up was the pumpkin soup as part of the set lunch. (RM48++).

Pumpkin soup

 Then the tapas we ordered was this exotic mushroom with bread. I absolutely loved this! The bread was crispy on the outside and soft and tasty ~it had garlic spread~inside. The mushrooms were cooked in special spices and the whole ensemble was simply delicious! (RM18++) The portion was meant for two , called Tapas. There is a larger portion called Friends which costs more RM23-24 (if i'm not mistaken)

Exotic mushrooms with Bread

 Just look at the picture... The gravy that came with the mushrooms was sooooo yummy!!

 While waiting for my food, the surrounding decor & ambiance of the restaurant caught my eye ~kept me occupied too...

On to the mains.

Spaghetti Al Salmone - this was part of the set menu. As stated in the menu, it's described as fresh salmon cooked with Garlic, Basil, Onion and Cream, served with spaghetti

Salmone spaghetti

 Chucks of salmone meat made the dish worth the order :)

 I ordered this dish called Spanish Sticky Ribs (RM36.90) Again, taken from the menu, this was described as Pork ribs marinated with herbs, spices, wine, garlic and honey. Slow roasted and glazed with honey. Served on salad with lemon.

The ribs were a simple different from the usual BBQ ribs from the likes of CHicago Rib House or Morganfields. This was made Spanish-style! And it tasted good.

Dessert choices from the set menu were numerous. We were spoilt for choices. At last we decided on Spanish Bread and Butter Pudding, which would have cost RM16.90 if ordered as an ala chart.

This dessert came fresh from the oven. The custard was perfectly cooked. They had cleverly separated the whole pudding into its basic ingredients: bread and custard as seen in the photo above. The center piece was the bread and the surrounding, custard.

In detail, as described in the menu, this dessert is a Spanish style bread and butter pudding, made with Panetonne with sultanas marinated in Triple Sec and Brandy.

Satisfying lunch!!

I was full till late dinner that day...

Here's a picture of the Christmas tree at the entrance of Straits Quay, I thought appropriate to show. It is afterall Christmas season!

For more on Agua, visit their website