My Food Fetish: steamboat

Showing posts with label steamboat. Show all posts

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu Queensbay Mall Penang

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu is a new steamboat or hot pot restaurant which recently opened on 29 June in Queensbay Mall. I was very excited when I saw their banner at the basement of the mall prior to their opening. I have tried the traditional Shabu Shabu in Japan so I was half expecting the thinly sliced beef or pork submerged and swished in a hot pot of broth. However, the Shabu Shabu at Tsurukame is a somewhat modern and localized version.

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu serves buffet style hot pot. The ingredients for the hot pot are served on small plates placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant and moves past every table and counter seat. There is also a stationary buffet line for fried side ingredients e.g. fried dumpling and fried fishballs, soft drinks and ice cream.

Ingredients placed on conveyor belt

Fried Ingredients, clear soup and sesame sauce

There are two types of broth or soup to choose from i.e. the clear soup or tomyam soup. We requested for both types of soup which turned out to be a tad bland for our liking. We were given sesame sauce to dip the cooked ingredients in. The sesame sauce was somewhat different from what I had in Japan but quite good when mixed with cilantro and garlic.

Sesame sauce with cilantro, garlic and sesame seeds

Counter seats

Nice partition

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu entrance

Overall, I liked the decor, concept and ambiance of Tsurukame Shabu Shabu. However, in my opinion, the hot pot buffet was somewhat limited in variety possibly because they are still new. The ingredients were mostly different types of fishballs or meatballs, with some seafood e.g. fish slices, mussels, clams, prawns, meat items (chicken and lamb slices) and vegetables. Dinner buffet is priced at RM31.90+ per pax.

We did give feedback to the cashier and she did say that she would inform the management. Hopefully they will add more variety to the ingredients in future. (P/S: I was told that Tsurukame is under the same management as Tsuruya at I-Avenue)

However, if you are in it for quantity, this is the place for you. Do note that there is a 90 minutes time limit for the buffet.

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu
Central Zone 3F-23, 23(C1), 23(A) & 23(B)
Third Floor, Queensbay Mall
Persiaran Bayan Indah
11900 Bayan Lepas Penang
Tel: 04-6435260

Friday, April 23, 2010

Golden Gate Steamboat Restaurant

Things have not been the same since grandma's passing last year and Chinese New Year is one of those many times when we miss her terribly. Thus, we decided to have the reunion dinner for my side of the family at a restaurant this year. It's the first in many years because reunion to grandma meant throwing a big steamboat feast at home and having her children and grandchildren come home for dinner.

To continue the tradition of having a steamboat reunion dinner, we opted for Golden Gate Steamboat Restaurant as the venue for the dinner. Golden Gate has been around in Penang for a long time and quite frankly I couldn't even remember the last time I was there. I actually have very little expectations of the place because I figured the restaurant may be a bit weary after all these years.

Boy, was I wrong. The restaurant was already almost fully booked when I called to make a reservation a week before Chinese New Year. The restaurant was surprisingly still very well maintained. It is also air-conditioned which was ideal to counter the heat from the steamboat and the warm Chinese New Year weather.

We ordered the Deluxe Set (x2) for 16 pax which came to RM186 and additional ala-carte ingredients for another RM140.20.

Overall, the price was reasonable and the ambiance better than I expected. In fact it was actually quite a welcomed change from the reunion steamboats at home in years past. At least we did not have to clean up after the dinner. :)

Golden Gate Steamboat Restaurant
No. 77 Cantonment Road, 10250 Penang.
Tel: 04-2261361, 2273421

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room at Queensbay Mall (revisited)

I have received quite a number of hits on my blog for my previous post on Xian Ding Wei so I guess this eatery is gaining quite a lot of popularity and interests lately.

We were back at the place again recently, this time with my parents. It was a Saturday and the place was still as packed as when it just opened.

Hubs ordered the 'Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in Three Variety of Sauces' set while dad and I ordered one of the 'Teppanyaki Seafood and Pork in Hot Pot' set each. Mom opted for the 'Thai Chicken' set (RM17.90).

Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in Three Variety of Sauces (RM18.90)

Teppanyaki Seafood and Pork in Hot Pot (RM29.90)

Dragon Fruit Juice RM5.90

Rosebuds with Wintermelon Tea RM4.90

Overall I think mom and dad enjoyed the food and ambiance. Hubs and I were pleasantly surprised with the 'Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in Three Variety of Sauces' set. I would highly recommended this set to anyone who wants to try Xian Ding Wei's specialties.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Hui Wei Restaurant

Hui Wei is a fairly new restaurant, opened since three months ago. It is right opposite the SRJKC Union. They serve primarily set meals, dim sum and steamboat. It is a small restaurant with minimal decor but is cozy and clean.

We were the first customers to arrive at the restaurant for lunch. The manager (not sure if he is the owner) was the only person attending to us and it actually took them a while to serve our orders. I figured they must not have fully ramped up since they are still relatively new.

We ordered their set meals with come with rice, vegetables, side dish, steamed soup, drinks and dessert (Konyaku jelly). For drinks, there is a choice of Milk Pearl Tea, White Coffee, Plum Juice etc.

Mini Steamboat (RM21.90)

Taiwan Claypot Fish (RM18.90)

Chicken Rice in Barrel (RM14.90)

Ba Wang Claypot Noodles (with choice of prawn, squid or fish) RM13.90

Milk Tea & White Coffee

Overall the set meals were not bad. The Claypot Fish was a tad too sweet else the ginger and rice wine combination would have been great. The Mini Steamboat came with a lot of ingredients and was value for money.

We also ordered their House Specialty which is the "Coffin" (RM7.90). I know the name of the dish sounds scary but it does literally mean the coffin!!! The Coffin is actually made of french loaf with baked cheese and seafood stuffing. It's quite ingenious of them to come up with such a dish and it did taste quite okay :)

Hui Wei Restaurant
14G Jalan Burma
10050 Penang
+604-226 0966
Business Hours: 8am - 4 am

Friday, June 26, 2009

Goh Huat Seng Restaurant

We were at Goh Huat Seng on the eve of Father's Day to celebrate an early Father's Day with dad. As usual, the restaurant was packed to the brim and some people had to wait for about 15 minutes to be seated.

Goh Huat Seng is probably the most famous Teow Chew and traditional steamboat restaurant in Penang. They are famous for their steamboat served in traditional copperware and signature dishes like the Oh Chien Nui (Fried Egg with Oyster), Chim Cho (Crab Roll), He Cho (Prawn Roll), Char Mee Teow (Stir Fried Noodles), Lor Ak (Braised Duck), Hai Som Pau Bak (Pork Wrapped in Sea Cucumber) etc.

They serve steamboat sets at RM70, RM80 and RM100. Since the steamboat is made of copper and they also provide a mini fan to fan the fire, eventhough the steamboat burns on charcoal, the soup still heated up very fast. The steamboat ingredients were fresh and the soup was just right.

Steamboat (RM80)