Betong Trip - Part 1

Two weeks ago, we went to Betong to visit their hotspring and Friendship Village 友谊村. It's about 2 hours from Penang. We spent 2 days 1 night over there. Unlike Hatyai, the lifestyle in Betong is much more simpler. There are not as many shops as Hatyai and it's not that crowded too.

We headed to Kuan Yin Temple before we checked into our hotel. The people there are very friendly. They offered us vegetarian dishes which includes dumpling. Surprisingly, vegetarian dumpling taste as good as the pork bak chang!

After that we checked into our hotel and proceed to this restaurant for lunch!

Baiyok Restaurant

Its menu

Fish maw soup. I'm not a fan of 鱼鳔 but I actually like this. The soup is very flavorful.

Soy sauce chicken. Most of the restaurants in Betong serve this. We went to another restaurant asking for fried chicken but they only serve this. Anyway, their chicken is more tender and smooth.

Kailan fried with salted pork.

Steamed fish in Thai syle. We never fail to order this whenever we go to Thailand. It is very appetizing. In fact, it is one of the must-order dish in Thailand!

Pig's trotters. It's not too oily. Not bad.

Prawn cakes. The prawn cakes were fried till crispy and were served with their homemade sauce.

Overall, the food here are okay but they are abit pricey. It costs us for about RM750 for 3 tables of the same dishes and a table for vegetarian dishes. So, it's almost rm200 per table for the dishes above. I could not get the address as they were in Thai but it's located around the tower clock at the town.

Well, this is only the first meal we had in Betong. Next post will be our dinner, which I think was the best meal during this trip!

Harvest Wok

Lately, Pulau Tikus area has been a new haven for food. Be it Japanese, Western, Thai or Chinese, you name it! One of the new places we tried recently is situated at Jalan Moulmein. For those who are not familiar with Pulau Tikus area, Jalan Moulmein is somewhere around the Pulau Tikus market/ the famous lok lok at night.

Harvest Wok serves Chinese style dishes. For soup lovers, this is the place you should visit! They offer a variety of soups. Unfortunately, we did not order any because my mom thought we might as well order another dish instead of soup since she cooks them 5 days a week. =) Anyway, here are the dishes available.

As the taukeh-so keeps reminding us that the portion of the dishes would be very small for 6 of us, we ended up ordering 7 dishes. They serve us desserts first since we have to wait for the dishes to arrive.

Mango steamed milk pudding "tan nai" - RM2.80

After waited for approximately 45 minutes, the food finally arrived. Yes, you've heard me right. 45 minutes! Luckily, the food did not let us down.

Salted fish with pork - RM8.00. I love this dish. The pork was cooked well. Not too soft.

Minced pork with bean curd - RM6.00. The taukeh-so recommended this. I would prefer if they make their own bean curd instead of using japanese bean curd.

Bitter gourd with chicken - RM6.00

Kangkung sambal belacan - RM5.00 They could have added more sambal belacan.

Sambal prawns - RM12.00. The sambal for this dish is better than the kangkung.

Rice wine chicken - RM8.50. This is my least favorite. Perhaps I'm not into the rice wine which taste rather strong.

Curry fish head - RM18.00

I would suggest you guys to call them for booking to avoid disappointment as they have limited seats. You can also call them to order your dishes. We would definitely do that for our next visit.

Add :48, Jalan Moulmein, 10350 Penang

(Opposite Pulau Tikus market car park)
Tel : 04-2263482

Business Hr: 11.00AM - 3.00PM

06.00PM - 10.00PM

(Closed on Tuesday)

La-France Cafe & Restaurant

Bonjour! I was blog-hopping on what to have for dinner and I found this newly opened restaurant. La-France Cafe & Restaurant is situated at Jalan Irrawadi. It offers home cooked French cuisine. This cafe was previously a stall located at the Northam Beach Cafe along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah selling French food.

The moment I entered the cafe, it gave me a warm home-like feeling. The decorations were kept simple yet comfortable.

Iced Chocolate - RM4.50

Since we do not have any idea what to order, we asked for their recommendations. Initially, we wanted to order the Schnitzel (Grilled Chicken Cutlet) but it was told that it has already finished. So, they recommended "Today's Special" instead. I forgot the exact name but it's something like chicken with mashed potatoes. It was a burger patties with their homemade white sauce. Beneath it were the mashed potatoes with the fresh greens as the side. The burger meat was awesome! The meat was juicy and aromatic. The dressing for the lettuce and tomatoes compliment each other well. It has a tangerine taste so you won't feel 'jelak' when you eat the burger meat.

Today's Special - RM14.90

Next up was the Ciabatta Ham(Pork Ham) & Cheese. According to Wikipedia, Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. So, I suppose it is healthier. =p You can also opt for other fillings if you don't like ham & cheese. There are tuna and smoked salmon and egg. It comes with sauteed potatoes and fresh greens. The sauteed potatoes were somewhat special as they've added in some herbs. So, it's not like the ordinary mashed potatoes you have at other restaurants. The Ciabatta was equally good too!

Ciabatta Ham & Cheese - RM10.80

The sauteed potatoes

The pork ham and cheese

As for dessert, we ordered the Crepe Chocolate. There were two pieces of hot crepes, topped with melted chocolate and comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The combination was superb when you mix the ice cream with the hot crepes and there were not too sweet too.

The outdoor area.

Overall, great food, great ambiance. Will definitely visit again!

Add: 3b Jalan Irrawadi, 10050 Georgetown.

(Along Jalan Burma, keep driving until you passed by Him Heang, Jemputree and Malaysian Chin Woo Association on your right. Turn right into Jalan Servis and drive all the way till you reach a junction.Turn right and you will see La-France Cafe on your left. It is directly opposite El Casa Wine & Dine Restaurant)

Tel: 012-4127355 (Ginny)

Business Hr: 12.00pm - 10.00pm (Closed on Tuesday, Dinner starts on 6pm onwards)

Sawara Steamboat/ Claypot Fish Head

Whenever we pass by this restaurant, my sister would have said "we shall try here someday". And last weekend, that someday has finally arrived. She went on Saturday but was told that it was already fully booked. So, we went again on the next day and this time, we called to book to avoid disappointment. In fact, the place was already crowded with people when we arrived.

Upon arrival, the friendly taukeh-so gave us the menu. After browsing through for awhile, we finally decided to order the Set B RM148, which according to the taukeh-so, is enough for us 8 pax. There's also an optional add-on of fish head "kuei kao" priced at RM50 for large portion. She said that the soup would be more flavorful and would taste sweeter. Thus, we add-on. There are also other side orders if you do not want to order the sets. We add-on a plate of Tang Hoon (glass noodles) and Shanghai Mee at RM1.50 and Rm2.00 respectively.

*sorry it's blur*

The steamboat will be accompanied with fried garlic, spring onions and their signature chili sauce. The chili sauce which was slightly sourish and spicy, went well with the ingredients. But, I was hoping that it could be spicier. =p

Set B

Fresh fish slices, large prawns and Shanghai Mee. Personally, I feel that the Shanghai Mee is so-so for steamboat because it will become too soft when you put into the soup. Tang Hoon/ Bee Hoon/ Rice would be more suitable.

The nicely cut beancurd, jelly fish, cuttle fish, fish dumpling, fish roll with celery and homemade fish scoop We love the homemade fish scoop!

Golden mushrooms, Beancurd Sheet Stuffed, and Tau Pok. The Tau Pok were delicious too as it fully absorbed the soup!

Look at how rich the soup is! Piping hot!

The only downside is that it might be abit more expensive . Nevertheless, I would come back again for the steamboat! Not only the foods are delicious, it is also air-conditioned! So, sweat not!

Add : 393, Jalan Burmah, 10350 Penang

(Directly opposite Maxim Cake House)
Tel : 04-2260516
Business Hr : 11.00am – 10.00pm