Call it bad timing or what, but my friend, Eng, from Penang was asked to go to Sibu from the 19th till the 23rd of August and I was supposed to leave for Penang on the 20th. Besides, my blogger-friend, annant popped up in town suddenly on the 18th…so, the best that I could do was to host a dinner on the evening of the 19th, before taking off early the next morning.
I took them to the usual place for the usual fare…
Photo from antzworld.net
…but this was something we had never had before – steamed black pomfret (ikan bawal hitam) with Portuguese sauce or something. It turned out to be some kind of sambal, but I must say it was really very good and I wouldn’t mind having it again the next time around..
Photo from antzworld.net
I also invited Louis J and Richard, regular commentors in my blog, to join us. Richard, of course, had given me some of his homemade nyonya chang every year without fail and I had yet to reciprocate his generous gesture by treating him to dinner, so this was a good opportunity for me to do just that.
The next morning, I left for Penang…and my radio-friend, Mandy (from the TraxxFm’s “Pat and Mag in the afternoon” show) was kind enough to drive all the way to Sungai Petani to get my daughter, Melissa, and bring her over to the island. We had dinner together that night at Red Garden, the hawker centre right across the road from Cititel Penang and we had ikan bakar (grilled fish) – black pomfret/ikan bawal hitam no less…
I liked the way they grilled the fish with minimal seasoning and the sambal would be provided separately as a dip. That way, one would be able to enjoy the freshness of the fish which would not be drowned by the strong sambal the way they do it at the stalls in Sibu. Of course, we had my daughter’s favourite – the or chian or oyster omelette…
…and this grilled garlic brinjal…
…which was not very nice and not really worth the price – RM8.00. The fried chee cheong fun was nice though…
…and so was the lor bak that we had…
My daughter could not resist ordering this Japanese bento…
…but there were simply too many things to eat and she could not finish it in the end. Thankfully, I never really care for Japanese food, or else you can imagine who would have been the one to sweep everything clean… LOL!!!
Gosh! All that food two nights in a row! Luckily, it’s not like this every night! Phew!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Red Garden..yes, i been there too.. live band and singers too then…. i remember going there to have some light meals, not dinner…the grilled fish looked good…yummy… oh gosh, this 29th i must go to this free zone garden food court for this grilled stuff…
Yes, I think they have some entertainment later in the night. Before I came, I heard that the authorities closed down the place because of the presence of “China girls”. Thank goodness it isn’t true…as that’s the only (cheap) place with nice Chinese food at night…other than the May Garden next door which may be more expensive, or the hotel’s Chinese restaurant. We go early, so no immigrants around…and they play very nice ENGLISH songs there!!! Love it!
wow.. the foods look nice.. u have a blogger gathering too..
Not really, just that one of them dropped by in Sibu. The other friend of mine isn’t a blogger. If you come, I will also treat you to dinner… Dunno when you will ever come this way again, now that you’re no longer stopping by on night stops….
Both the ikan bawal hitam seriously looks good to eat, and it’s good to know that it tasted nice too! Oyster omelette .. it’s been sometime since I last had that …
Have a happy Sunday, STP! 🙂
Same to you… Yum, yum…I’m really enjoying the food here – a welcome change from the usual things back home! U puasa…??? Selamat berpuasa!
Ikan bawal hitam can be very tasty if cooked the right way. I also like the sweet sour ikan bawal hitam at an old shop in Kuching (where they sell the mixed meat) or the place known as old Odeon.
My missus cooks the best sweet and sour ikan bawal hitam, so I would never order that outside. Both the bawal hitam very fresh especially Ruby’s, otherwise it could not be steamed – some very strong smell. Not like what I had at one taman selera in Sibu once…
it was black promfret with Portuguese sauce? i thought it was sambal haha
chee cheong fun is one of my fav food ❤
but i have never tried fried chee cheong fun….
See! You West Malaysian also kalah… Hahahahaha!!! The lady boss was going on and on about how it was prepared to get me to order, steamed and Portuguese sauce added and what not. Turned out to be more or less something like sambal…but very nice sambal though!
I like the way Melissa eats….. a bite or two and that’s it. Disaster for someone!
Like a bird… Is it any wonder that I’m this shape? After all, it’s a sin to waste! LOL!!!
War…you guys surely have a great time huh! When do you wanna treat me? LOL :p
Well, coming weekend I’ll be in KL. You can come over to say hello, no problem – I can give you a treat. Malacca to KL, so very near only!!!
Never try steam black promfret before. Always had it deep fried. Maybe the fish is very fresh or else they said better don’t steam the black promfret. But I guess next time will need to try. I miss or chian…
Did you add on any weight after all the good foods? Hehe.
Yes, the lady boss said she just got from Mukah that day…Must be fresh, otherwise, can’t steam, very smelly.
No no no… please i beg you… no more food photos… to think i’ll go back to SA and eat goreng goreng everyday again..pff… sickening.. haha.. guess i’lljust have to log into ur blog every day when i am there to stimulate my tastebuds.. haha
Gosh! This is just the tip of the iceberg! I’ve so many food pics I really dunno how I’m going to post all of them! Bwahahahahahahaha!
can you tapau some back? hahahaha the Or chien looks very delicious……..aahhhhhhhhh i dont think i can stand reading your post and looking at the photos…makes me wanna eat, eat , eat, eat and eat!
The or chian is….really really yummy! Can’t get in Sibu…and the ones in Kuching, not nice…except for the Buntal one but that’s a totally different recipe!
Oh, in Malaysia, that is call lor bak , here we call it wu xiang…
That’s in the peninsula. Here, we call it ngor hiang – maybe that’s Hokkien, not sure.