My Food Fetish: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

LOVELOCKS Ice Cream Shop - Fresh Home Made Coconut Ice Cream

LOVELOCKS is a new ice cream shop in town, opened just over 10 days ago at the corner of the junction between Love Lane and Chulia Street. The light blue facade of the shop is unmistakable from afar.

The name of the ice cream shop suggests the interesting notion that you should (pad) lock your love with your soul mate, family or friends and throw the key away so your love for each other will forever be sealed.

LOVELOCKS sells only one type of fresh homemade coconut ice cream with toppings of your liking. One topping that deserves a special callout is the passion fruit caviar, a fruit caviar developed via molecular cooking. The lady at the counter also suggested that we drizzle some raw egg yolk over the ice cream which apparently is a common topping for coconut ice cream in Thailand.

The coconut ice cream was light, smooth and fresh. The four toppings we opted for: almond slices, corn flakes, passion fruit caviar and “atap chee” (atap seeds) added just the right crunch and flavours to the ice cream.

Check out their Facebook page for photos of people who have sealed their love at LOVELOCKS.

Love locked

Coconut ice cream

5 scoops ice cream with 4 toppings (RM7)

Some interesting finds along Love Lane / Stewart Lane:

Steel-rod art

Interesting pay phone (heart broken yet happily ever after)

LOVELOCKS
No.318, Chulia Street, 10200 George Town, Malaysia

Steak Frites: Steak, Fries & Wine

As the name suggests, Steak Frites, serves primarily one type of food on its menu i.e. steak and fries.

Hubs is a steak lover so we jumped at the opportunity to try out the steak served here when we read about the review at Time Out Penang.

So we naturally ordered the one and only Grilled Australian Beef Tenderloin in Melting Café de Paris Butter Sauce served with Crispy Fries and Garden Salad with a glass of house pouring red wine.

The steak medium done, exceeded our high expectations. It was juicy, tender and flavourful. The Café de Paris butter was allowed to melt into the meat, adding another layer of flavor to an already great piece of steak. A very generous serving of crispy fries was served on the side.

Steak Frites retained the original design of the pre-war building with marble top tables and wooden chairs. The setting is relaxed and rather unique for a steak place. It is part of an establishment that includes a lovely boutique hotel: 23 Love Lane.

A must try indeed for steak lovers.

Garden Salad

House Pouring Red Wine (RM12)

Grilled Australian Beef Tenderloin in Melting Café de Paris Butter Sauce served with Crispy Fries
(RM49 for 150gm / RM60 for 200gm)

23 Love Lane Boutique Hotel

Steak Frites23 Love Lane, George Town, Penang.
Tel: +604 262 1323

Website: http://www.23lovelane.com

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Rubin Mardini Turkish Cuisine in Penang

We had an exciting new find over the weekend, a Turkish restaurant that is.

Rubin Mardini is probably the one and only Turkish restaurant in Penang, opened since the beginning of this year. Restaurant owner cum chef, Halil Duzgun who is also an avid backpacker hailed from the historic province of Mardin in Southeastern Turkey, which explains the name of the restaurant. He runs the restaurant with his Malaysian wife.

We were quick to order the Chicken and Lamb Shish Kebab sets which is meat grilled on skewers.

Traditionally shish kebab is made with lamb and I have to say the lamb kebab was definitely a great pick. The lamb meat was very well marinated with spices and hubs just couldn’t get enough of the juicy and tender lamb meat.

The set is served with Turkish pilaf rice, fries, roast vegetables, fresh salad with pomegranate sauce and extra olive oil on the side and Turkish flat bread.

We also ordered the highly recommend Mutton Tirshik which is a roasted vegetables stew cooked with mutton. They also serve the chicken alternative of the stew.

Rubin Mardini serves the famous Turkish dessert i.e. baklava. I like their version of the walnut pistachio baklava which is thin, crispy and not too sweet.

We don’t have photos of the Turkish pizza (Pide) which we ordered to go. That’s another Turkish dish that you should not miss. Turkish pizza has a thin dough and can be ordered plain, with egg or with minced chicken or mutton.

The lovely meal sure brings back a lot of fond memories of our holiday in Turkey two years ago. Turkey is such a beautiful country with very rich natural reserves. We must have spent at least half an hour chatting with Halil after our meal, reminiscing about the diverse beauty and rich history Turkey.

Rubin Mardini is currently running a promotion on Groupon so don't miss the chance to try the authentic Turkish cuisine. Do check out the restaurant's new menu at their website (link below).