Steven Goh’s Great Food, Budget Travel and Unique Lifestyle

Ending 2008 with unutilised FREE voucher @ Island Red Cafe

January 4, 2009 – 11:02 pm

It was the last day of 2008, many people would have planned for the countdown celebration a few days ahead.

countdown_party

Some even planned for a long holiday getaway at this period. No matter what planning and preparation that you had, Steven Goh would like to wish you a Happy 2009 and may you have a great success ahead over this new year.

vacation

As for myself, due to the economic crisis and recession period I prefer to dine at somewhere cheap and economic. That was why I thought of Island Red Cafe.

I had once visited Island Red Cafe at Crystal Park a few months back and my impression to this cafe was ok and moderate. However this time, I was a bit disappointed with the visit.

I was given a RM5 discount voucher to dine at Island Red Cafe from my friend as he is one of the shareholders. The terms and conditions of the voucher was written on the voucher:

Valid for dine-in only
Present voucher before payment
Not valid with other promotion
Voucher not exchangeable for cash
Valid for a single receipt
Valid until 31 DEC 2008.

red_cafe_discout_voucher

I have fulfilled all the requirements above as I was there for dine-in, presented voucher before payment, not ordering with other promotions, paid with single receipt, did not exchange the voucher for money and the date was 31st December 2008.

However, when came to payment time the cashier told me that the voucher is not valid anymore, the reason given was they didn’t accept the voucher in KL since the day before which was on 30th December 2008. My questions are:

Validation was until 31 Dec 2008 but why did they cut off so soon?
If they were not accepting this voucher anymore why wasn’t there any notice around the cafe to inform the customers?
On the voucher’s terms and conditions why wasn’t there any condition stated like this “The company reserves the right to withdraw this promotion without any prior notice.” ?

In the end I still need to pay RM7.85 instead of RM2.85. Although I was given a 15% off the bill as a compensation, I sincerely hope that they will improve their process and services further by informing the customers ahead of changes, else there will be even more disappointed customers.

red_cafe_receipt

stevengoh |

Penang Food |

Comments (7)

Freshly Baked Siew Bun, Siew Pao @ Ko Pin Coffee Shop, Kuala Kangar

January 1, 2009 – 12:15 am

Talking about Siew Pao and Siew Bun, usually people will think of Ipoh or Selangor as they are more famous. It is like talking about Hokkien Mee and Char Koay Teow, usually people will link that to Penang and not in other places, the most important is you need to be very outstanding to compete against so many competitors that spread across the island.

However, there are some exceptional. One good example is the stall at “Ko Pin” Coffee Shop located at the center of Kuala Kangar, Perlis.

This particular stall is located infront of the coffee shop and the name of the stall is “S’ Ban Siew Pao”

The boss, Mr. Ang was very friendly and nice. He was explaining to me how he made his Siew Pao. He told me to wait for the new batch of siew pao which were freshly baked from oven so that it will taste even delicious.

The variaties of siew pao were placed neatly on the rack. They were all freshly made everyday and looked very mouth-watering.

The siew bun and siew pao were sliced into half, as you can see the steam was still flaming out from the buns. Yum!

The egg tart was given to us for FREE as we helped him to promote his stall. The filling was soft and creamy while the tart was crunchy.

The stall was in ”The Malaysia Book of Records” for making the most siew pao some years back.

Affortable and fresh siew pao and siew bun have made my day. How about you?

Siew Pao - RM1.50 per piece
Siew Ban - RM1.80 per piece

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Operation hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm (Close on Thursday, Bi-weekly)
Contact: 012-433 8558 (Mr. Ang Yong Hooi)
Address:No. 53, 55, Jalan Jubli Perak 01000 Kangar, Perlis .

stevengoh |

Asian Food, Breakfast, Chinese Food, Food |

Comments (11)

Tasty Instant Cooked Koay Teow Thng @ Seng Thor Coffee Shop

December 27, 2008 – 11:45 pm

The pre-war shophouses located at the junction of Lebuh Carnarvan and Lebuh Kimberley at the heart of old Georgetown are typically long and narrow and can be quite dark inside. However the environment at this coffeeshop is light and bright as it is located by the main road and it enjoys direct morning sunlight every morning.

It has been a few times I was introduced to this particular place for instant cooked koay teow thng by Criz but I have never found the chance to visit until recently.

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stevengoh |

Asian Food, Chinese Food, Food, Hawker Food, Lunch, Penang Food |

Comments (6)

Take The Money Yourself @ Mayang Pasir Chicken Rice Stall

December 24, 2008 – 1:32 am

Hainanese chicken rice has always been a favourite to Penangites due to the fact that most Penangites work in factories. Also, it is fast and simple to prepare with a mouth-watering taste. Therefore, chicken rice is one of the common food during lunch time.

There are a lot of nice Hainanese chicken rice stalls located at Bayan Baru and Bayan Lepas area. However, there is one famous chicken rice stall located at Bayan Baru which is famous with not the steam and roast chicken, but also with the BBQ pork and roast pork.

The name of the restaurant is called Hong Tien. There are only 2 stalls located at this restaurant. One is the mentioned chicken rice stall and the another is the economic rice stall.

If I mentioned Jalan Tengah’s “3 combination” (literally it means you can choose any 3 types of meat namely steamed/roast chicken, duck, roast pork, or BBQ pork) most of us will think of this place. All the dishes here are home-made instead of OEM (buy from someone else).

The steamed chicken was just right, the meat was so tender and smooth. For those who enjoy soft and fresh steam chicken, this is where you should go and try.

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stevengoh |

Asian Food, Chinese Food, Food, Hawker Food, Penang Food |

Comments (3)

Oversea Famous Curry Fish Cake @ Mummy Fang Otak

December 19, 2008 – 7:56 am

Talking about food, usually I am the one who usually bug the stall owner for information and history of the business. However, there are cases which are exceptional. This particular incident happened to me when I was having Ah Hai Koay Teow Thng at Kim Lee Café. After I ordered the koay teow thng, a lady came by and requested me to try out her otak-otak (curry fish cake). It was selling at RM 2 per pack and she claimed that is the best in town. Actually, I ignored her for few times as my main purpose is to try out the Koay Teow Thng. However her selling and marketing skills were far better than I have expected. Eventually I was persuaded and I pulled out my wallet to buy from her due to her persistent and continuous attempt.

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stevengoh |

Asian Food, Food, Hawker Food, Penang, Penang Food, Spicy Food |

Comments (13)

Excellent Classical Koay Teow Thng @ Kim Lee Coffee Shop

December 15, 2008 – 7:29 am

To a lot of people, Koay Teow Thng is a food for the sick, because the taste is very plain and there are not much extreme flavor with the food. It is neither spicy nor sour unless we add in some chilis which are served together with the noodle.

The above mentality applies to me as well. I will only take koay teow thng when I am feeling sick. However, it was a coincident for me to find out a stall which serves lucious and appetising koay teow thng. This particular stall of Koay Teow Thng is not located at any famous food courts or hawker centers, but at a half century old pre-war building. The name of this particular shop is called “Kim Lee Coffee Shop”.

The stall is located just in front of the coffee shop and is owned by “Ah Hai”. He has been operating this stall for more that half a century.

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stevengoh |

Chinese Food, Food, Hawker Food, Penang, Penang Food |

Comments (13)

International Dining @ 3rd Food Bloggers Gathering

December 9, 2008 – 8:07 am

Who says food bloggers only know how to eat and criticise? If you think so then think again as this doesn’t apply to Penang Food Bloggers. In fact during the 3rd Food Bloggers Gathering @ Tanjung Bungah we had potluck with International Food as the theme.