Friday, January 20, 2012 0 comments By: Chan

Swez Brasserie Eastin Hotel Penang Buffet lunch Oriental Odyssey

I am quite awed by Eastin Hotel Penang's marketing strategy. As a relatively new hotel (2 years and counting), they have already established themselves as a popular icon in Penang. Besides staying active in the local community initiatives they are also active in doing a lot of events and charity work.

One such initiative carried out recently was a donation for the floods in Thailand. The fundraising activity was carried out throughout the month of Dec 2011 by placing a donation box at the hotel's lobby.  Hotel guests and staff donated generously and RM2185 was raised. On the 16th of January, Eastin held a event to present the cheque to the Red Crescent Society, witnessed by an ambassador from the Royal Thai Consulate.

You must be wondering how the heck I fit in here - this is a food blog, so what attracted me to this event? FOOD la :). Those present at the event were invited to sample the buffet lunch at Swez Brasserie. Their buffet theme changes each month, so you'll always have something new to try each time you're there. Moreover Eastin Hotel only 10 minutes away from our house. For the month of January, in conjunction with Chinese New Year, the buffet theme is Oriental Odyssey. You can enjoy the tantalizing array and delicious spreads from Szechuan specialties to Mongolian marvels and a variety of Thai temptations which will leave you craving for more.

Swez Brasserie Eastin Hotel Penang.

Clockwise: 1- Pasta Station. 2- Pasta from Pasta Station. 3- Noodles Station. 4- Grill Station.

Clockwise: 1- Salad corner. 2- Smoked Chicken Roll. 3- Beef Cold Cut. 4- Smoked Duck, one of the best dishes for the day (my humble opinion).

Clockwise: 1- Wok Fried Thai Koey Teow. 2- Stir Fried Clam With Tong Koi & Spring Onion, love the flavor of this dish. 3- Steamed Chicken "Pat Poh" Style. 4- Assorted Vegetable with Mushroom. 

Clockwise: 1- Chicken Stew with Potato & carrot. 2- Pie Tee Cup with Condiments. 3- Some fried thingie, unknown cause no name tag :) 4- Mushroom salad. 

Clockwise: 1- Prawn Cocktail Salad. 2- Chicken Sausage salad. 3- Fish Salad. 4- Waldorf Salad.


Lamb Chop with Gravy.

Close-up shot of the lamb chop.

Left to Right: 1- Vegetarian Mix Vegetable. 2- Vegetarian Fried Noodle. 

Clockwise: 1- Ice Cream Topping. 2- Ice Cream. 3- Sherry Trifle. 4- Ang Tau T'ng (Sweet Red Bean Soup).

Clockwise: 1- Chocolate Mousse. 2- Mud Cake. 3- Cheese Cake. 4- Ivory Cake

Clockwise: 1- Fruit corner. 2- Fruit Jelly. 3- Petit Four. 4- Petit Four.  

Left to Right: 1- Bread Pudding. 2- Vanilla Sauce.


Variety of Petit Four pastries and cakes.




My first dish of the buffet. 

Seafood from the Grill Station. The seafood was so fresh that they just need a simple seasoning to make a great dish.

A mock cheque was presented by the general manager of Eastin Penang Ms. Mary Ann Harris to the chairperson of the Malaysia Red Crescent Society, Dato' B.J. Yeang, witnessed by the Rotal Thai consulate general, Mr. Voradet Viravakin.

Eastin Hotel Penang had set up their decoration for the coming Chinese New Year.

Some close shots of the decoration. I was really surprised by the detail of the carvings that they had done, using just a simple white foam board. It does look a lot like metal carving but it is NOT. It is the skill of Eastin Hotel's designer. Bravo, keep it up buddy.

Sad to say I arrived at Swez Brasserie a little late and the buffet had started, with a pretty busy crowd. So most of the food was either half-finished or almost finished. As a result I'm only able to put up my nicer photos. There are more varieties of food available, in addition to the ones shown in the above pictures.

Oriental Odyssey Buffet 
Price: RM48++ (Adult), RM24++ (Child)
Lunch time everyday (1 - 31 Jan 2012)


Other buffet choices available:
Seafood Supreme Buffet
Price: RM80++ (Adult), RM40++ (Child)
Every Friday Dinner ONLY (1 - 31 Jan 2012)

Mongolian Grill Buffet
Price: RM80++ (Adult), RM40++ (Child)
Every Saturday Dinner ONLY (1 - 31 Jan 2012)


Yee Sang

Chinese New Year Prosperity Reunion Buffet Dinner With Yee Sang
Price: RM88++ (Adult), RM52++ (Child)
22, 23 & 24 Jan 2012, 6.30pm - 10.00pm


Chinese New Year Prosperity Hi-Tea Special With Yee Sang
Price: RM65++ (Adult), RM33++ (Child)
23 & 24 Jan 2012, 11.30pm - 3.00pm



Swez Brasserie Eastin Hotel Penang 


1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queensbay
11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia

GPS: 5.33698,100.30679



Tel: +604-612 1111, Fax: +604-612 1128
Email : info.pg@eastin.com

Disclaimer: This is a personal food blog. The opinions expressed here are my own, based on my personal taste buds; others may have different opinions. Also, as we all know, qualities & standards of individual restaurants/food may change over time, so do note the time stamp on this review.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1 comments By: Chan

金厨烹饪厨艺学院 GOLDEN CHEF CULINARY ACADEMY





金厨烹饪厨艺学院 Golden Chef Culinary Academy (GCCA) was official opened on 11-11-11 at Butterworth, P.Pinang, Malaysia. 

They are the only school that tied with Jabatan Pendaftaran Pertubuhan Malaysia. GCCA provide a lot of professional courses such as
- Diploma In Professional Chinese & Asia Cusine Chef Program “专业中餐及亚洲料理厨师文凭培训课程”
- Housewife Cooking Class  “主妇烹饪班"
- Boy & Girl Cooking Class “型男美女烹饪班”
- Graduated Student Cooking Class ”毕业生上大学舍食班”.
*Pls visit their website for more detail and information ~ http://gcca.com.my/.

Beside that GCCA also provide theoretical including food service management, hotel management, health management, quality management, costing and etc. After taking courses and class from GCCA, you will also get a certificate which is certified by Penang Cookery Education Association. Hotel or restaurant internships and job opportunities after graduation will be provided.  

The school located at the 2nd floor of this building.

Lunch was provided during the opening of the Golden Chef Cookery Art Centre.

The sign board in front of the Academy.

Reception area for the school.

Award won by the GCCA Principle so you know how power he is :)

The kitchen area for student. 

Some shoot in the kitchen area. 

During the opening, local politician came to show support to the school. 

VIP and guests.

Speech given by Principle and VIP.

Some souvenir for the sponsors.

Photo session with all the sponsors and VIP.

Ribbon cutting ceremony with all the member and VIP.

Lunch for the opening.

Lunch for the opening.

Students and lecturer for Golden Chef Culinary Academy

Dishes you might learned if you are a student. 




Kitchen classroom.

Theory classroom.
Now Penang have our own home grown cooking school. You can do it full time or part time so why wait? Go inquiry at their website ~ http://gcca.com.my or call them at 012-41 01019 / 016-42 24710.



金厨烹饪厨艺学院 GOLDEN CHEF CULINARY ACADEMY
No. 28,
Tkt 2, Lrg Teras Jaya 8,
Perusahaan Ringan Teras Jaya,
13400 Butterworth, P.Pinang, Malaysia. 
GPS: 5.43416,100.39393


Contact: 012-41 01019 / 016-42 24710

Web: http://gcca.com.my



Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here are my own, based on my personal taste buds; others may have different opinions. Also, as we all know, qualities & standards of individual restaurants/food may change over time, so do note the time stamp on this review.



Disclaimer: This is a personal food blog. The opinions expressed here are my own, based on my personal taste buds; others may have different opinions. Also, as we all know, qualities & standards of individual restaurants/food may change over time, so do note the time stamp on this review.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 2 comments By: Chan

Oishi Frozen Yogurt @ 1st Avenue Mall Penang



Frozen Yogurt is one of the dessert that are mushrooming up in Penang beside Taiwan bubble tea (Tea Secret, Chartime, Happy La Tea and etc) and Taiwan dessert (ZenQ, Black Ball and etc). So what is this trendy dessert that i am saying? 
Frozen yogurt (also known as frozen yoghurt or by the tradenames FroYo and Frogurt) is a frozen dessert containing yogurt or other dairy products. It is slightly more tart than ice cream, as well as lower in fat (due to the use of milk instead of cream). It differs from ice milk (more recently termed low-fat or light ice cream), which does not include yogurt as an ingredient. ~ Wiki
It is like ice cream but it is much more healthier version of ice cream. Sourness from the yogurt so some of the people not use to it but It is a favorite dessert for health concern people or gal. 


Actually there are a lot brands of FroYo in Penang, they are Fruzze at Straits Quay, Tutti Frutti, Mieleyo at egate, JCo, Hokkaido and etc. Which one is the best so far i tried? I had tried almost all but i found this new stall, Oishi Frozen Yogurt at 1st Avenue Mall, Penang is the best among all. 

There are few reasons for me to say Oishi Frozen Yogurt is the best:
1- Oishi's FroYo fruit flavor FroYo is using real fruit purée to get the real aroma and taste of the fruit. Not like other FroYo shop using powder flavor.
2- Oishi's FroYo never use Lemon Juice. Some of the commercial FroYo, they use lemon juice to reduce cost.
3- Oishi's FroYo taste better because they used really good raw ingredient.
4- Oishi's FroYo don't melt so fast like other do. Even melt you still able to see the liquid FroYo. I say this because i had bad experience on melting FroYo. They separated into juice and cream, which you can't eat anymore after that.
5- Oishi's FroYo sourness is average compare to all the FroYo in the market. Beside that they are not over sweet and creamy.
6- Oishi's FroYo is homemade recipe by the pretty lady boss, Cynthia herself. +2 bonus for her and her hardwork :)


If you are a FroYo lover, you must try this cause you will definitely fall in love with it :) If you are not you can also go test makan before you purchase. They give out small sample for testing. So remember go try out when you at 1st Avenue Mall, Penang. They are just outside TGV.


The overall look of Oishi Frozen Yogurt stall.

You can always take picture with me :)

They also sell snack, drink, dessert and fresh fruit. I heard they serve very good custard and milk shake. Pricing is quite reasonable.

You have to merry go round to see the whole menu :p

There are more then 20++ toppings to add on. So you can DIY your FroYo tower :)


The toppings are:
  


Fruit mix raisin, Cornflakes, Chocolate/strawberry chips, Macadamia nuts with oat, Almond, Nata de coco, Peanut, Gummy bears, Konyanku jelly, Smarties, Sunflower seed, Marshmallow, Kiwi, Mango, Dragon fruit, Peach slices/ fruit, cocktail,Longan, Strawberry(if available), Grapes, Mini Oreo, Munchy's strawberry snacks, Coco pillow biscuit, Rice, crisp, Hersheys syrup and etc. 


I prefer the Oat, Chocolate/strawberry chips and Hersheys chocolate syrup as my topping :) What about you?


  
Oishi have 4 Froyo machine. Flavors for the night were Original yogurt, Raspberry yogurt, Peach yogurt and  Belgium Chocolate ice cream. Yeah they have Belgium chocolate ice cream. I was told that some time customer came in group, some of them don't like FroYo then they still have a choice to select. Oishi  Frozen Yogurt is using low fat milk and no whipping cream to make the ice cream so it is still a healthy version of ice cream. Beside who don't like chocolate ice cream :)




All the flavor they had are Strawberry, Raspberry, Kiwi, Peach, passion fruit, Mix berries, Mango and Banana but you can only have 3 choice per time :)

All the seating at Oishi Frozen Yogurt. 

I love this welcome board very much. Planning to curi next time, muahaha.

Angel at the counter, don't you think it look like Oishi Frozen Yogurt logo?

See what i mean? STILL STANDING after 10 min ++ 

The most preference choices of the night for the gang, Peach FroYo and Raspberry FroYo. Me i prefer the peach flavor one. Purely because it is real ingredient and not artificial flavoring.
Below were the design from the gang, which one is the best? 


Got little red head from Emily.








Don't you think this is the best design? Simple and elegant.

Design from Criz.

My FroYo weighted 0.26KG. It cost RM12.74 but i only need to pay RM10.14 for that. This is because they having a Opening Promotion NOW!!! Shown below.

1st & 2nd week of January 2012, 20% off ~ RM0.39/10g
3rd & 4th week of January 2012, 10% off ~ RM0.44/10g
Super cheap lo, cepat cepat go grab a big cup.


Hmm, using another camare (Panasonic DMC-FS20) still not use to it yet. So when i shoot dessert photo, it out focused :P

After the my FroYo, we had the Honey Lemon, RM3.50. 


So guys, we Penang lang are very lucky for being a food heaven in the world. Now after eating all the great food you can have this healthy dessert for sweet ending :) Price wise and quality wise, Oishi Frozen Yogurt is definitely a better choice of FroYo in the market. So do try this out. 




Oishi Frozen Yogurt
8th Floor (in front of TGV Cinema)
1st Avenue Mall Penang,
183 Jalan Magazine,
George Town,
10300 Penang.
GPS: 5.413135,100.331472

Business Hours: 10.00am-11.00pm (weekdays), 10.00am-12.00am (weekends)
Contact: 017-938 1809 (Ms Cynthia), 012-961 4235 (Mr Lim)

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/oishifroyo



Disclaimer: This is a personal food blog. The opinions expressed here are my own, based on my personal taste buds; others may have different opinions. Also, as we all know, qualities & standards of individual restaurants/food may change over time, so do note the time stamp on this review.


Disclaimer: This is a personal food blog. The opinions expressed here are my own, based on my personal taste buds; others may have different opinions. Also, as we all know, qualities & standards of individual restaurants/food may change over time, so do note the time stamp on this review.