What’s for Lunch? – The Battle of Pan Mee

Pan Mee stalls have been blossoming in Penang and are now becoming franchise restaurants. So what is Pan Mee? Well, it’s a type of flat flour noodle which does wonders on your carbohydrate intakes which hinders your low-carb diet plan! However, the temptation is just too great for us to resist thus today’s topic of Battle of Pan Mee.

Let's the Battle Begins!!!

There are 2 main Pan Mee franchise restaurants in Penang – iMumMum & FacetoFace. Both have branches located in town as well as factory areas and I must say both are equally popular. They are so popular until you have to queue to get into the restaurant during lunchtime! So go early if you wish to enjoy your Pan Mee during lunchtime. =)

I Mum Mum

I Mum Mum’s menu consists of 3 main sections – Pan Mee, Side Dish & Drinks. There are around 8 types of Pan Mee and the price ranges from RM4 to RM5 - Fairly reasonable & competitive pricing for a restaurant.

Pan Mee Choices in I Mum Mum

We had the Original Dry Pan Mee (RM4) and Spicy Pan Mee (RM4.50) and they looked exactly the same except for the extra chili flakes on Spicy Pan Mee. I was fairly disappointed with the hand-kneaded Pan Mee as it was in really big pieces which made it difficult to absorb the sauces – it ended up just tasted like flour so we had to put in a lot of extra chilies. The chili provided on table was not spicy but you could get ‘sambal’ from them if you wish. Lesson of the day: order thin noodle! There was no half-boiled egg in the noodle thus it kind of made the noodle quite dry too.

Nutmeg Drink & Chili at I Mum Mum - not spicy enough but not bad

Original Dry Pan Mee

Spicy Pan Mee

We also ordered their Meat Ball Soup (RM2), Egg and Sweet Leaves Soup (RM2.50) & Crispy Pork (RM4). The meat ball was just the common meat ball that you could buy from supermarket but we didn’t expect much since it was only RM2. We liked the Egg & Sweet Leaves Soup and LOVED the Crispy Pork! The Pork was really YUMMY!!!

Egg & Sweet Leaves Soup

Crispy Pork - YUMMY!!!!

Face to Face Noodle House

One thing that attracted us to step into FacetoFace Pan Mee restaurant was the amount and the varieties of chilies that were provided on each of their table. We simply couldn’t resist all the chilies as we were chili freaks. The menu offered extensive choices of Pan Mee, Sarawak noodle as well as rice set. It was obvious that their menu choices (in term of noodle, side dishes, desserts & drinks) dwarfed I Mum Mum.

Look at this!!! How could you resist?!! UNLIMITED at Face to Face!!!!

Along with 4 other different Chili Choices!

However, their price was also significantly higher than I Mum Mum – almost double it to be exactly - one bowl of Pan Mee cost around RM7.30. The price difference also contributed to their portion being bigger with larger portion of crispy anchovies, minced meat and half-boiled egg. It was really a treat to eat the bowl pan mee with an extravaganza portion of their free flow fried chili flakes! Definitely thumbs up! However, the excessive anchovies given might actually made the dish a tad too salty at the end if it was not mixed correctly at the beginning.

Dry Pan Mee!!!

Honey Lemon & Mango Smoothies

We also discovered that their Sarawak Noodle (RM7.30) was really scrumptious as well! The noodle was super-thin and chewy. Imagine flooding the bowl with their lip-smacking chili flakes!!!! HEAVEN!!! The roasted pork (Char Siew) was really nice too. However, we did notice the quality of this dish varied between different branches – the quality of the Sarawak Noodle was significantly better in Ideal the one in Bayan Lepas if compared to the Times Squares Counterpart.

Sarawak Noodle! New Favourite!!!

Soup Version of Sarawak Noodle

We seldom ordered their side dishes though as the main course was so big until our stomachs were too full. We did manage to try their Spicy Pork Meat Ball Soup once and the Meat Ball literally spit soup/juice! Not sure whether it was just an isolated incident but be super careful when you bite down the meatball as I guess some of the soup/meat juice was made to be trapped inside the meatball thus the “water-gun” effects!

Spicy Pork Meat Ball Soup

The Verdict

If you just want a simple pan mee with lower price – go for I Mum Mum! You might want to order their crispy pork pan mee at just RM5 which I think is totally value for money. However, you might not feel full enough if you are a big eater.

If you are a chili flakes freak like me – go for Face to Face! UNLIMITED CHILI FLAKES!!! Nuff’ Said!!! But seriously, if you are a big eater who love everything BIG and more varieties – Face to Face is definitely the place for you. The only downside is you have to pay more. =)

I Mum Mum: One Precinct at Bayan Lepas, All Seasons Place at Farlim & Lebuh McCallum.

Face to Face: Ideal the One at Bayan Lepas & Times Square at Dato Keramat Road. 

What’s for Lunch? – Golden Week Edition (Finally!!!)

It was finally our golden week after a long long draught and we welcomed it with a one week lunch splurge! So what does golden week mean? Well, here you go – “body-expanding & wallet-shrinking” week. *facepalm* Here is our gloriously DEADLY food escapade! We are burdened with glorious purpose indeed!

It's a Beautiful Week!

“Think THIN” Monday – Idealite

We were still in our right mind on Monday when we chose to eat in Idealite Queensbay. It is a vegetarian healthy lifestyle restaurant…. Wait, you might be thinking I’m typing this wrong but YES, we went to a vegetarian restaurant!!!! *Proud*

The Menu

Top Sellers

Idealite has totally different meal style from another vegetarian restaurant – JanxDen that I frequented but they were good! Eventhough it’s vegetarian, the food served in Idealite was really tasty and the best part was you could chomped down everything GUILTFREE!!! 

Drink for Slimming & Anti-aging?! Count me IN!!!

Look at the Beautiful Layers!

My favourite set in the restaurant was those brown rice set meals served with mushrooms. They tasted really scrumptious especially the sweet & sour Hericium Mushroom (猴头菇) which was so chewy. Another nice mushroom was the black pepper Eryngii mushroom.

The Sweet & Sour Hericium Mushroom Set

Those are actually Mushrooms!

Black Pepper Eryngii Mushroom Set

My colleague ordered the bat kut teh set and she said it was yummy and full of varieties of mushrooms – just that the soup was a bit too bitter for her taste. Another ordered the Pumpkin set and she loved it.

Bat Kut Teh Set

Pumpkin Rice Set

Fried Gyoza Noodle Set - slightly Chinese Medicine taste soup base

“Slowly SUCCUMB” Tuesday – Sakae Sushi

We accidentally saw the promotional banner in front of Sakae Sushi yesterday and decided to give it a try. We ordered the Salmon Mentaiyaki set and Teriyaki Chicken set – all set came with a complementary pink plate as well.

The Sakae Sushi Lunch Deal - Look at the size of the Salmon!!!

The sizes of the salmon were not equal as we ordered 3 sets and 2 of them were big but one of them was pitifully SMALL!!! And I ended up getting the small one… UGH!!! Look at the difference between the picture (for display only of course!!!) and the real set! The good thing was the salmon was really tasty and soft unlike the salmon in Manhattan Fish Market which was dry and hard. It was a good set to have IF you got the bigger portion of the salmon. =P

This is the Actual Set...

With a Small Piece of Salmon

Teriyaki Chicken

“Ohno FAT!!!” Wednesday – Taiwan Courtyard

Just like yesterday, we went to Taiwan Courtyard because we saw their menu on Tuesday when we were waiting for our colleague to pay the Sakae Sushi Bill. We went to this restaurant once before and were impressed with their set meal. We ended up ordering the same set meal again – the fried fish/beef in egg & tomato sauce set.

The Fried Beef in Egg & Tomato Sauce Set

The set was gigantic but I guess it would be more worth to order the fish option and they served fish generously. The beef option simply consisted of very few pieces of meager size beef which were really hard to ‘fish’ out from the mini-wok. *sweat* I guess it was like a needle in a haystack? LOL! The beef tasted soft and great and i love the egg but i just wish they at least put more beef in there.

This is the Fish Set

This is the Beef Set - the Beef on top was basically what i get

Free Drink from some Ala Carte Promotion

“Body EXPANDING” Thursday – The Cruise Steak House & Wheat Connection Bakery

The Cruise Steak House was one of the popular lunch spots at The One with reasonable price set lunch. Order 1 set lunch for RM14.90, 2-3 sets for RM13.90 each and 4 set and above with RM12.90. The set consisted of a drink, main course and a scoop of ice cream.

The Cruise Steak House at The One

Their set lunch main course menu mostly consisted of grilled chicken chops and we kind of liked their grilled chicken as it was tender. There were a few choices of the sauce to be served with such as brown sauce, black pepper sauce, oriental sauce, Bombay sauce etc. The brown sauce was thick and tasted really well with the grilled chicken. The black pepper sauce was not peppery enough for my taste though. =P

Iced Lime Juice & Iced Peach Tea 

Black Pepper Chicken Chop

Oriental Chicken Chop

Brown Sauce Chicken Chop

Playing with InstaMagazine...

We did try their mushroom soup during team lunch before and it was really THICK but too salty. It wasn’t like the homemade mushroom soup version with blended mushroom though and it felt like Campbell soup cooked with half can of creamy milk. We didn’t really liked the texture per se.

The Mushroom Soup

After lunch, we walked to Wheat Connection to get their scrumptious baked goods such as Smoked Salmon Spinach Quiche, Chicken Quiche & Pain au Chocolat. Mind you, the little unassuming bakery is opened by the former executive chef at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort. Yum! Other than breads, they also sell tons of mouth-watering dessert which i haven't got the chance to try yet. Also, the master chef himself always greets you with a warm welcome. =)

Smoked Salmon Spinach Quiche, Chicken Quiche & Pain Au Chocolat

“We are HOPELESS” Friday – Sushi Tei

Going to Queensbay was a last minute decision and someone’s shoes broke! Hahaa… We were thinking about to eat the Sushi Tei set lunch but did not realize they had changed their set lunch menu. The new set was really as attractive as the old one thus we ended up eating plain soba! Well, it was about time we slowed down our weight gaining week! One thing i realised was the Sushi Tei food quality in Queensbay pale in comparison with their branch in Gurney Plaza.

Soba!!!

Coincidentally it was Jusco day with a lot of promotions but we did not get any promo items – our items were all healthy foods such as Korean Strawberries (SWEET!!!), Tomato Cherry On-Vine (my one TRUE LOVE) and some Australian Grapes. Got myself a RM39 dress from P&Co too!

After one week, our body was definitely expanding and our wallet was totally shrinking *facepalm*! Anyway, we did find some good deals at Queens Market before like this set of curry katsu don with cawanmushi which cost RM9.90 and also their salmon set which was value for money. If anyone wants damage control during golden week, Queens Market is definitely a great choice. =)

Curry Katsudon

Salmon Set

What’s for Lunch? – Kafe Roti Bakar

One of our favourite brunch hangouts during weekend is at Kafe Roti Bakar in All Season Place. The location is convenient and there are always ample place for parking during lunch hour during weekend. The local style café serves a variety of local & fusion foods with reasonable pricing.

Here we are - Kafe Roti Bakar!

Egg on toast is a must-order during our visit and we are total egg-fanatic! Another favourite would be the “Anytime Tea Time” set which consists of half-boiled egg, toasted bread (butter & Kaya, Butter & Sugar or Butter & Red Bean) and a drink. Their cheese toast was great too!

Egg on Toast

The Anytime Tea Time Set

The Drink & Toast

The Soft-boiled Egg

We also tried out some of their items such as curry chicken with toast and curry chicken wantan noodle. Their curry is thick like traditional nyonya curry and is served in generous portion when you order the curry chicken & toast set. It felt so much like home and this was what we used to eat at home last time. The wantan noodle surprisingly blends very well with the thick curry. =)

The Toast Menu - see the Curry Chicken Set?

Curry Chicken Wantan Noodle

They also provide lunch set meal with soup, main course nd drink (Soya with Glass Jelly) but so far we only tried it once with the Honey Chicken Steak Rice. We were not quite impressed with this as the ‘chicken steak’ was really hard and tasted like over-fried flat fish ball. The Borsch soup was very peppery but I kind of like it since I love pepper. 

Set Meal Menu

Honey Chicken Steak Rice Set

We do love their Hot Chocolate & Iced Milk Tea as it is very thick with great aroma. The Soya with Grass Jelly was very watery though.

Hot Chocolate & Soya with Grass Jelly

There are a few branches for Kafe Roti Bakar such as All Season Place, Times Squares and University Place at Bukit Gambir. Do try it out when you have the chance.