Tuesday 17 September 2019

Hau Hau Yu Restaurant@YMCA Penang


Hah! While you thought that I am forever stuck in Damansara Uptown, I somehow found myself in Penang!

My partner returns to Penang every now and then but his trips are very short. Those are the times when my brother would kindly give me a ride to work and have dinner with me before he drops me home.

I am not a good traveler. Especially road trips. I get giddy and nauseous. Well, that was what I remembered from my road trips when I was a teenager and younger, travelling to and from Kuala Terengganu.

When my partner suggested that I follow him on this particular trip (promising that we would stay a few days), the prospect of eating good food in Penang proved too tempting. So I relented. As it turned out, I did quite well in the car hee..hee..

Earlier in the day .....
On our first day in Penang, we drove to the Ayer Itam market hoping to eat asam laksa and then visit the Kek Lok Si Temple. As we approached, I caught sight of the majestic Pagoda from afar. Wow! I was in awe. I wished I could have taken a photo from the car but I couldn't.

But when we reached the market (it was late afternoon), alamak, mana tau they closed early and we missed the boat! With that, my semangat to visit the temple died with it. Besides it was a very hot day and I was tired (because I did not sleep well as we arrived past midnight). So it was a case of pusing balik!


That was how we ended up at this Chinese restaurant situated at YMCA. I was very blur, blur when we got here because, as I mentioned, I was tired. I have a hard time falling asleep when I am not in my own bed.

This restaurant is quite small and cosy and it is your typical Chinese restaurant. Yup, my partner's type of place. 


We had the claypot pork belly and salted fish.


It was very flavorful, the sort of dish that you would happily eat with lots of rice.


Our ration of veggies. I know this looks boring and so typical and you would expect to see something more exciting. Wait lah, in my next few posts. 


Szechuan style French beans. This one was not so successful. I have had better ones in PJ.


Inche Kabin. This was the best dish that evening. Really good.


I loved the dip that came with the fried chicken. 


We were stuffed! On our way out, I saw the Chef's Special.


Didn't notice this on our way in. The server did not even highlight. Maybe these are more suitable for larger parties.

So that was day one in Penang.

This was also earlier that day hee..hee...

20 comments:

  1. Oh? Your better half is from Penang? I went to Air Itam for the assam laksa - when I go there, I saw the messy bowls of laksa served, the colour like the water in the drain beside the stall...and those ancient metal tables and stools - I did not think I could sit on those...so I left, never went back again!!!

    I love inche kabin and that claypot salted fish pork! Yum yum!!! I'd much sooner go there than to that mamak place - their knives very sharp...and they never cover the food - there from morning till night and till dunno when!

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    1. Yes, Penang lang. I was there years and years ago and I noticed they ladled the soup into the bowl, pour it out (!!) and repeat one more time. I wonder why. This mamak shop apparently is one of the better ones.

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  2. I hope eventually in the next few days that you were in Penang that you did manage to eat the Assam Laksa. The Chef's special dishes look real good, especially the salted egg yolk dish. Those dishes that you ate are good too, I would like the inche kabin chicken if they are dry and flavourful. So fun right, to go Penang!? You have outgrown car sickness now so can go with your partner more often when he goes back to Penang!

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    1. I did. Will write about it soon. I like Penang a lot!

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  3. When I first saw the post title on my side bar, I said, hey, our Uptown girl finally went jalan-jalan out of town! So, I see your partner finally managed to lure you to say yes to a road trip with the promise of food...wuahahahaha...that sounds about right! :D

    We not only share the same common liking when it comes to food, I found out from this post that we also share the same common experience when it comes to road trips. I get giddy and nauseous too when the journey is too long, especially when caught in a traffic jam and the driver has to step on the brake constantly...this stop go, stop go makes me really giddy. I remember too well a trip back from Ipoh one time that took double the time...it was pure torture! :(

    Eh, typical Chinese place also got Nyonya Inche Kabin? So I guess this is Penang week-lah! ;) I'm ready to read about your food escapades...next up, Penang Nasi Kandar? ^_~

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    1. hee..hee...food will get me anywhere :) Oh yeah, road trips were a torture especially during those days without air conditioning and no highways! I used to throw up and the smell of those scrap rubber from the rubber estates made it worse. From KL to Terenganu it used to take 8 hours. Well, glad those days are over!

      Inche Kabin is very popular here and yes, even the Chinese restaurants serve it. I went to a few places but not the nasi kandar place. But my partner promised to take me to a very famous one on our next trip hee..hee...

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  4. I would go for the chef specialty...coz the dishes look good and tempting! It has been years since I last visited Penang...I miss the asam laksa & CKT! I had car sickness too and need to swallow panadols to cure the sickness, so long road trip isn't for me :-(

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    1. Ya lor...on the way in I didn't notice ah hah...hah... My grandfather used to give me one type of tablet to suppress nausea. Can't remember the name.

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  5. I would go for the chef's special too cos got teo chew style fish, salted egg yolk prawns and fish head cury, slurps! I only been to penang twice, once alone and another time with a group of friends.

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  6. They have something like car sick pill. Can buy from pharmacy. But glad it turned out a good ride for you. Yup, food prospect sure sounds good. I wish to visit Penang again. It eas over 20 years since the last (very first) visit to Penang. That time, I was a student, travelling by bus from Pudu to Penang.

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    1. Yes, I used to take that when I was small. I hope you get to visit Penang again. This time with your family :)

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  7. Oh, I never been here before! Must go survey it out one day... heheehe.. Looking forward to seeing your other posts, so that I can bookmark them for my next Penang trip!

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    1. hah..hah... I bookmark the places you visited and you bookmark mine!

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  8. Yum, the food looks amazing☺

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  9. Hey PH, you can get the motion sickness pills from pharmacy like what I normally do. Eat the pill, then sleep in the car, hehe :P

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    1. hee..hee.. I used to take those when I was small :)

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  10. I get motion sickness too. Seems likes such a waste of time in the car or on the plane when I can't do too much more than just fall asleep to avoid the illness.

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    1. Oh you too! It's more common than I think then.

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