Voucher Food Hunt: Delicious

Delicious is a lifestyle café famous for their dessert and the place was crowded all the time. It’s a pleasant surprise that they were selling their Afternoon tea set voucher on livingsocial.

Traditional Afternoon Tea Set for 2 Pax @ Delicious (Straits Quay)
http://www.everyday.com.my/coupons/pg/delicious_afternoontea_pg.htm

A total of 2600 vouchers were sold and the weekend slot was almost fully booked for more than a month – we were told that they only prepare 40 sets a day for this voucher. So if you’ve bought this voucher, please do make your reservation quickly else you risk the chance of only getting an appointment on weekday! We were pretty lucky to take the last slot on Sunday 5pm with 4 days advance appointment.

The Menu

The Afternoon Tea Set!

When we first stepped into the café, we were told to choose the dessert first – there was no tiramisu on display and the last strawberry cheesecake was taken like 30 seconds ago literally. So we settled for “Chilled Pineapple Cheesecake with Raspberry Mousse” since we heard that their cheesecake is one of the best.

We were served with our Earl Grey with some biscuit and Ta da! Our giant afternoon tea set has arrived. I guess the picture below is pretty self-explanatory.

Earl Grey

The decks... 

From Another Angle

We started out feast with the lowest deck of Duck Confit in Filo Pastry and Finger Sandwiches. The Duck Confit in Filo Pastry is heavenly! The pastry was so crispy and it complimented the duck confit well.

The Sandwiches & the Duck Confit in Filo Pastry

This is really Yummy!

The finger sandwiches consisted of:-
Cucumber sandwich with cream cheese – taste blah, nothing special
Egg sandwich – the only thing special is the little caviar on top, other than that the sandwich is basic egg sandwich with scrambled hardboiled egg
Smoke salmon sandwich – my favourite of all the sandwiches but I wish the salmon slice was thicker

See the Lil Black stuffs on the Sandwich? Caviar Perhaps? 

The Different Sandwiches...

Smoked Salmon! What a Pleasant Surprise! Wish it was thicker!

Then we continued to the middle deck:-
Scones – it’s hot and fluffy and served with cream and jam – nice!
Rosemary & Cheese Cookies – the cheese flavour is rather strong – too strong till the verge of being too salty
Strawberry Chocolate Dip – big strawberries with generous amount of chocolate dip
Handrolled Chocolate Truffles – bitter on the outside and not too sweet on the inside – thumbs up!

The Middle Deck...

Strawberry anyone?

Last but not least, there was our Chilled Pineapple Cheesecake with Raspberry Mousse! We expect this would be the best out of our afternoon tea set but we quickly discovered that it was not the case. The pinepple seems out of place with the cheese cake - the taste just did not compliment well. The so-called cheesecake had a jelly-like texture. Jenny Cakehouse has much better cheesecake than this! Even Full House (I actually loathed their food) had better cheesecake than this! The worst part of the cheesecake? The base itself! It tasted like stale cornflakes – yucks!!! Definitely THE worst cheesecake base I’d ever eaten.

Look Nice? It was really not that nice... 

Worst Cheesecake Base EVER!

The So-Called Mousse...

The verdict? The environment is wonderful for gathering and the afternoon tea set was overall okay – just don’t go for the cheesecake! Perhaps you might find better dessert on other choices.

Delicious is located at Straits Quay, Penang.

Travel Log: A Long Escapade (Prelude)

Destination: Greece & Turkey
Duration: 18 Days 17 Nights (Aug 06~Aug 23, 2012)

A Prelude: Planning

Have you ever feel tired of working? Heavy steps when you walk into the office? Thinking about going home whenever you are in the office? Well, then perhaps it’s time to plan for a holiday to rejuvenate and pamper yourself! Your boss might be horrified but you won’t want to burn yourself out, would you?

Have you ever feel like this?

This trip was planned quite late to begin with – one advice for traveler: do not plan your holiday in last minute else you will have to pay extra for basically everything. =(

Our basic idea for the trip is simple – Turkey with a dash of Greek Islands since we missed out Mykonos on our Greece tour last year (link). A simple idea could turn complicated once you start planning. Where in Turkey do you want to visit? How do you get from Turkey to the Greek Islands? Ferry? There is always the risk of ferry strike in Greece then you will bear the risk of being stranded and miss your international flight. We experienced the ferry strike last October and we are just weary about it.

A Simple Idea?

Thus our final decision is: Take a cruise! But the cruise would have to stop at the island for at least a full day so that we can go explore the islands. We notice a lot of cruises only stop in a port for few hours hence making exploring minimal. Research research research!!!

Another headache is the travel date - Which date is appropriate? Which date has the cheapest flight tickets? Since we want to get on a cruise for Greek islands, our date option is limited to July, August or early September – the summer vacation month for Europe. So basically you will have to bear the extreme heat of the summer and pay more due to peak season.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

We are not sure about how effective our planning method is though – after getting the cruise schedule, we booked our air tickets from Malaysian Airlines based on the cheapest option. One thing we learned is: the flight ticket is cheapest if you fly out on a Wednesday and return on a Wednesday. However, it would be either too short or too long if we chose this option. We end up choosing to fly out on a Sunday red eye flight and return on a Wednesday. The cheapest option costs RM2268 per pax for a PEN-KUL-IST-KUL-PEN round trip but our choice cost us around RM2.8K.

Believe it or not, MH offers the Cheapest Flight to Istanbul!

After the flight is booked, we continue to book our cruise “Costa Atlantica 8D7N Greek Islands” from a website.
http://www.allcruisesfromturkey.com/
The agent is very responsive and even reply email during weekend. They even have promotions for the cruise fare and this website basically offers us the lowest fare if compared to other websites. The bad news was the cheapest room type was fully booked due to peak season and last minute booking. We had no choice but to choose the next cheapest available room type called “Obstructed view Balcony Cabin B1”.  The price difference between the cheapest option and this option set us back EUR320 per pax (EUR509 Vs. EUR829 excluding EUR120 port tax). *gasp in horror* The agent even send us a photo of the room balcony to inform us how obstructed the view is. Well, we just don’t care to pay another EUR150/pax for a non-obstructed balcony. Guess we should console ourselves that the safety boat is right below our room balcony (hence the obstructed view) so that we can jump straight on it in case something happens.

Costa Atlantica

The Obstructed View from Balcony by the Agent

Now we have to engage ground tour agent in Turkey to tour around Turkey based on the cruise timing and port location. We end up engaging Magnificent Travel Agency (http://www.magnificenttravel.com/) in Turkey for our ground tour as they are super responsive and patient even though we keep bugging them about few different scenarios. There are some agents who simply sound rude after you ask them for a few different scenarios. We have no idea about Magnificant Travel’s reputation but are able to see some good reviews from Tripadvisor. Guess we would have to experience ourselves when we get to Turkey.

Finally our itinerary is out! Let’s hope everything goes well for our trip!

Day 1 (Aug 06, 2012) – Arrival Istanbul and Istanbul city tour
Day 2 (Aug 07, 2012) – Istanbul to Cappadocia (domestic flight) and North Cappadocia tour
Day 3 (Aug 08, 2012) – Hot Air Balloon and South Cappadocia tour
Day 4 (Aug 09, 2012) – Cappadocia to Pamukkale via Konya – Konya tour
Day 5 (Aug 10, 2012) – Pamukkale & Aphrodisias tour
Day 6 (Aug 11, 2012) – Ephesus tour
Day 7 (Aug 12, 2012) – Priene, Didyma and Miletus tour
Day 8 (Aug 13, 2012) – Kusadasi to Izmir for Costa Atlantica Cruise boarding
Day 9 (Aug 14, 2012) – Mykonos, Greece
Day 10 (Aug 15, 2012) – Santorini, Greece
Day 11 (Aug 16, 2012) – Rhodes, Greece
Day 12 (Aug 17, 2012) – Heraklion (Crete), Greece
Day 13 (Aug 18, 2012) – Kos, Greece
Day 14 (Aug 19, 2012) – Samos, Greece
Day 15 (Aug 20, 2012) – Arrival in Izmir Port – domestic flight to Istanbul
Day 16 (Aug 21, 2012) – Bosphorus Cruise & Two continents tour in Istanbul
Day 17 (Aug 22, 2012) – Free day until depart to Istanbul Airport
Day 18 (Aug 23, 2012) – Arrival in KL for transfer to Penang

Turkey Ground Itinerary

Costa Atlantica Mediterranean Route

There are still a lot of preparations for the shore excursion for the Greek islands though – should we join the cruise shore excursion tour (pricey!!!) or go on our own? Research research research! Not to mention we are completely BROKE before even step on Turkish soil.

HELP!!!

One thing I would add is if you are a Malaysian interested to visit just Turkey - joining Malaysian travel tour agency is actually a great idea especially those packages below RM5.5K. We add up our Turkey ground tour and airfare and it total up to around RM6.6K-RM6.7K (depend on EURO currency as ground tour is booked in EUR) but I guess it would be cheaper if we manage to get the cheapest MH airfare and follow the non-customized Turkey budget ground arrangement. I notice some budget ground tour (10D9N) only cost EUR695 per pax. So if you manage to get the airfare lower than RM2268 and take this budget ground tour, the total would be around RM5K only.  But those budget tours would required you to stay on overnight bus rather than hotel in some nights. So I guess Malaysian travel agent package is quite a fair deal.

The Actual Adventure (Click on the Links below):-
Day 1 - Bosphorus Cruise & Topkapi Palace
Day 2 - North Cappadocia
Day 3 - Hot Air Balloon & South Cappadocia
Day 4 - Konya
Day 5 - Pamukkale & Aphrodisias
Day 6 - Ephesus
Day 7 - Priene, Didyma & Miletus
Day 8 - Costa Atlantica 8D7N Greek Islands Cruise Embarkation
Day 9 - Mykonos
Day 10 - Santorini
Day 11 - Rhodes
Day 12 - Heraklion (Crete)
Day 13 - Kos
Day 14 - Samos
Day 15 - Disembarkation & Transfer to Istanbul
Day 16 - Istanbul City & 2 Continents Tour
Day 17 & 18 - Grand Bazaar & Back to Reality

Voucher Food Hunt: Chez Weng (Set Lunch)

I’ve been to Chez Weng few weeks ago to try out their pizza with another voucher (link) and find it totally satisfying. Thus this voucher is a non brainer for me.

Interior during Daytime

Tables at Upstairs

The Counter

A RM7K++ Painting on the Wall

 [77% OFF] RM18.80 for Soup of the Day + Main Course + Dessert (PANNA COTTA with Strawberry & Chocolate Sauce) + FREE Flow Drinks @ Chez Weng, Penang
http://www.jackcow.com/deals/penang_chez_weng_complete_meal

We were served with some bread and butter (no balsamic vinegar for lunch I guess) and tomato soup for the soup of the day and it was thick and tangy.

Bread and Butter

Tomato Soup

Our chosen main courses were Pizza Margherita and Spaghetti Carbonara. Both main courses were huge – totally value for money. I’ve raved about their pizza before (link) and this time it was no different – the crust was very thin and crispy and the toppings were prepared to the optimum taste with cherry tomato, fresh basil and cheese.

Pizza Margherita

A Close Look

The Spaghetti Carbonara was heavenly – creamy with a slight garlic seasoning. One thing that stood out was the crispy bacon – it was just so magnificent! Definitely the best bacon I’ve seen being served in any pasta Carbonara – even better than the bacon in Bella Italia Carbonara. I guess the crispy bacon might be a chef’s preference in Chez Weng as well since normally the bacon was either normally soft or soggy in other restaurant’s Carbonara – but what a great decision the chef has made!

Spaghetti Carbonara - Look at the Bacon!

By the time we finish our main courses, we were completed stuffed. However, we just couldn’t resist the Panna Cotta – it was creamy and smooth and blend well with the sourly strawberry sauce until we just gulped it all down!

Panna Cotta

This set lunch is currently selling at myooo website for RM18 only – highly recommended! I’ve bought the voucher from myooo again after our visit since it’s really irresistible!
http://myooo.my/deal/77-rm18-main-course-soup-day-dessert-free-flow-drinks-chez-weng-precinct-10-instead-rm79-5-ch-0

Chez Weng is located at Precinct 10, Tanjong Tokong, Penang.

Voucher Food Hunt: Segafredo

Segafredo used to be the IT place for gathering during my schooling day. Unfortunately it seems that their no longer held the title due to various competitors around now. In fact, they seem to sell vouchers in lots of websites. They are famous for their espresso but how do they fare with their food?

[55% OFF] RM16 For A Set Meal (Main Course + Soup + Ice Peach Tea) at Segafredo, Gurney Plaza (Ground Floor) (instead of RM35.70)
http://dealshelve.com/malaysia/deal/24603/

This is our menu for Segafredo in Gurney Plaza and we chose an onion soup and a farmer’s soup with Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Grilled Seabass as main course.

Menu

To our surprise, their food tasted Mediterranean but unfortunately in a below par standard. The farmer’s soup basically consisted of celery, canned mini corn, cucumber and frozen carrot and it tasted like those stuffs had been thrown in just before the soup was served thus they are all hard to bite. The onion soup tasted eww as well.

Onion Soup

Farmer's Soup

Both chicken and fish tasted like they were just taken from the frozen fridge – the seasoning was mild thus the frozen taste become so apparent until it was unbearable. So in case next time I see them selling any voucher, I wouldn't be bothered to click at all. One might argue that perhaps the subpar quality might be accidental but I just don’t feel like taking any chances.

Grilled Rosemary Chicken

Grilled Seabass

 The Segafredo in this blog is located at Gurney Plaza, Penang but they do have other branches around Malaysia. 

Voucher Food Hunt: Shiki Yoshi Japanese Cuisine

Shiki Yoshi has been in business for quite a while in an old style bungalow. We’ve always seen it whenever we drove to/from Island Plaza until one day I jokingly said: This restaurant looks expensive! Let’s go try it if it sells vouchers! Lo and behold, one month after the joke, this appears in ezivoucher!

[68% Off] Shiki Yoshi calling Japanese Cuisine Lovers!!!4 Choices of Maincourse + Sidecourse,Dessert and Free Flow Drink for only RM18.80 instead of RM59.16
http://ezivoucher.com/previous/Shiki-yoshi123

The voucher is only valid from 11am – 5pm so we’ve decided to go for an early dinner/Hi tea at 4pm on the Penang Heritage Day! There was some mix-up with our reservation but thankfully they did not kick us out. We had to wait for quite a while for our sets due to lack of preparation due to reservation mix-up.

Sauce and Stuffs

The Interior

Look at the Wasabi!!!

We notice that they do have set lunch between RM18-RM20 – quite a reasonable price! Here is the menu.

Set Lunch Menu

When the sets were served, we were astounded! They were HUGE! Our choices for the day were:-
Main Course: California roll + cawanmushi and baked salmon
Side dishes (per set): Miso Soup, Pumpkin Koroke & Kani Tamago
Dessert (per set): Pineapple

The California Roll Set - the salmon set is similar, just substitute the roll with salmon

The cawanmushi was very smooth and the California roll was nice! Lots of fish roes surrounding it. The pumpkin koroke was crispy from the outside but soft and sweet from the inside. The Kani Tamago (baked egg with artificial crab meat) was too big until you feel nauseous.

Cawanmushi!

A Closer Look at the Roll

Even Closer!

Pumpkin Koroke

Look at the Inside...

Kani Tamago

Miso Soup

The baked salmon is quite big as well and it tasted typical – nothing special to write about.

Baked Salmon

Anyway, we were beyond full after finishing the sets and didn’t eat until the next morning. So I guess it’s a good deal? =p

Shiki Yoshi Japanese Cuisine is located at Tanjong Tokong, Penang.