Foodie Road Trip : Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam To'kun, Bukit Mertajam| Penang

My friends from Penang highly recommended this place : Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam To'kun located at Bukit Mertajam, Penang. The best time to eat Mee Ketam To'kun is by noon, especially after you had a bucket full of sweats hiking up the very steep hill of Bukit Tokun, BM.

This is going to be a picture treat for everyone and so let's the pictures do the talking!

[caption id="attachment_2716" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam To'kun, Bukit Mertajam. Mee Ketam sales begin at noon."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2717" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mee Kuah Ketam Pak Man - the whole menu and respective pictures"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2718" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The prep station"][/caption]

We got all the time in the world to snap everything around the shop because the Mee Ketam has not arrived yet and so we waited patiently for about 30 minutes for the dish to come. Apparently, the whole cooking process was done elsewhere and the next thing we knew, we saw a couple of Pak Man's workers pushing a tricycle cart right from the street.

[caption id="attachment_2719" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The kuah mee ketam and everything for the whole dish coming in a tricycle cart! This is really old school!"][/caption]

These are some of the things that came out from the cart :

[caption id="attachment_2720" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The secret and most important ingredient - Kuah Mee Ketam in a big pot!"][/caption]

The whole kuah pot is transferred here to keep hot



And the Mee Kuah Ketam will not be a Mee Kuah Ketam without the Ketam (Crabs)

[caption id="attachment_2722" align="aligncenter" width="168" caption="Crabs for the Mee Ketam Tokun"][/caption]

Alright, when is the Mee Kuah Ketam Pak Man picture coming??? Okay, here goes :

[caption id="attachment_2723" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Finally, Mee Kuah Ketam Special Pak Man! Yum!"][/caption]

If you look closely at this picture, this is a complete meal and only order Mee Kuah Ketam Special, priced at RM 7 if you are dead hungry. The pasembor, potato , half an egg, noodle, crab, prawns and the kuah (gravy) are going to make your stomach full. Despite burning hundreds or perhaps thousands of calories hiking up Bukit Tokun earlier that morning, I was struggling to finish this mee ketam up. Probably it was the pasembor combo of this meal that makes it hard to finish since I'm not a big fan of pasembor. Hehe.

Other dishes that the gang ordered were these :

Mee Goreng Ketam

[caption id="attachment_2724" align="aligncenter" width="168" caption="Mee Goreng Ketam - the gravy comes separately in a bowl"][/caption]

and Mee Goreng

[caption id="attachment_2726" align="aligncenter" width="168" caption="Mee goreng. Obviously, the one who ordered mee goreng was our Penang friend who probably had eaten a bit too many of Mee Kuah Ketam at Pak Man. Hihi."][/caption]

Last but not least, the end result of our little Mee Kuah Ketam Pak Man session :

[caption id="attachment_2727" align="aligncenter" width="168" caption="Messy plates with crab shells, prawn shells and the hard to finish carb - potato from the Pasembor."][/caption]

If I have to rate Mee Kuah Ketam Pak Man , I'm going to give it : 4/5

With RM 7 (Mee Kuah Ketam Special) - a plate with a medium sized crab, 2 prawns, pasembor and the generous amount of gravy, I think it is really worth the money. If you are a big time fan of mee kuah, this is something you have to try at Cherok To'kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang. I have to say the gravy has an acquired taste that was completely new to my palate because I'm the tomyam/ laksa/ bihun sup daging fan.

Directions to Mee Kuah Ketam Pak Tam : I have no idea of its direction so you going to have to do a bit of homework for that. Although I can bet that if you ask around from locals, they can give you the direction because this place is THE place locals will go for a mee ketam fix.

Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam is something to look forward to when you are down in Penang. Make sure you give this place a little hunt and try out the dish. It will be worth all the effort.

Foodie Road Trip : Food You Must Have A Try While in Kuching, Sarawak

One major thing that I always seemed to look forward to during my travel is to hunt down for some of the best local cuisines and try them all as much as I could. One my first ever trip to Kuching, Sarawak about last month, I pretty much have some basic ideas on what are the food that you must have a try while in Kuching, Sarawak and listed below are some of the local dishes that I had tried, tasted and enjoyed in Kuching. So let's see what they are!

• Laksa Sarawak version Planet Sambal. Planet Sambal is a restaurant located at Jln Padungan which is "within walking distance" from let say Kuching Waterfront if walking is your thing and you seriously do not mind walking under the hot sun for about 40 minutes or probably more. Hehe. Yeah, I love to walk and it is so worth it to walk this far and accidentally bumped into this shop for a pretty good Laksa Sarawak. Although I was anticipating the curry to look curry-ish red instead of the one I had which was kinda greyish looking curry. The taste is excellent which is something I had never tasted before.  I could taste the distinct taste of the 'kerisik' - stir fry dessicated coconut and the laksa is very fragrance topped with generous amount of shrimps and other little bits of vegetables which is an excellent combo!

[caption id="attachment_2308" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laksa Sarawak at Planet Sambal Kuching"][/caption]

• While in the restaurant, I saw a few locals eating this bowl of white gooey stuffs called Linut or Ambuyat which reminded me of sticky glue and I couldn't resist myself from not trying it out and so I ordered one for RM3.50, I think. It came in a pretty big bowl, it's all white and sticky, pretty tasteless, warm and I think it's best eaten warm and I had to ask the waiter how I should I eat it. Haha. So you just swirl the sticky sago around your fork and dip it with the sambal belacan and swallow it down your throat. I attempted a couple of swirls, dipped in sambal and swallowed hard and I rest my case. I would say, it was an interesting food to eat. Hmm...

[caption id="attachment_2309" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Linut or Ambuyat with sambal belacan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2310" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="(bottom to top) Laksa Sarawak Biasa, Linut, Laksa Sarawak Special - Planet Sambal"][/caption]

•  Planet Sambal also have a new dish listed which is the Laksa Lobster Sarawak. I was stuffed with my Laksa Sarawak and the Linut, so I had to pass on this one although it really look tempting and delicious. You should try it out if you are in Kuching at least at Planet Sambal, Jln Padungan. :)

[caption id="attachment_2314" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laksa Lobster from Planet Sambal"][/caption]

• The next day, during our breakfast hunt, we walked down along Bishop Street and found probably the only Malay coffee shop opened along the street and one of us ordered Laksa Sarawak. Look closely, you will notice that this version of the laksa is different from the one I had at Planet Sambal. I would say, this is very curryish and suited much better with our tongues. Or probably we are used to having this type of red curry Laksa before, hence we concluded that we prefer and like this version of the Laksa Sarawak. But still, I would suggest you to try out the Laksa at Planet Sambal because it sure is different.

[caption id="attachment_2315" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Yet another version of Laksa Sarawak located along the narrow street of Bishopgate"][/caption]

•  We also tried out on other seafood which are pretty cheap in Kuching comparatively to seafood prices back in KL. The picture below, I wanted to show you that I tried out what the local calls it as 'Midin' - a stir fried fern or for the rest of us Malaysians it's better known as 'Pucuk Paku'.

[caption id="attachment_2316" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Midin - some kind of 'fern' that is usually eaten stir-fried or in Malay it's called 'pucuk paku'"][/caption]

•  While at Sarawak Cultural Village, we went to this Sago processing area and out of the Sago flour, you can make this lovely, sweet, light cracker called Tebaloi. It's an excellent food for snacks.

[caption id="attachment_2317" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Tebaloi - Sago Crackers made from sago flour. Really yummy and great for a light snack."][/caption]

•  This is the famous Ayam Pansuh or Manok Pansuh - chicken cooked in bamboo which I didn't have the chance to try. Haha. Maybe next time though.

[caption id="attachment_2318" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ayam Pansuh or Manok Pansuh - chicken cooked in bamboo"][/caption]

Among other things you should have a try while you are in Kuching are these :

• Umai - A choice of either raw prawns or fish,  looks really yummy and the picture is beautifully captured by http://jamesjg.com/food-and-dining/umai

• Kek Lapis Sarawak - colourful, layered Sarawak cake. There are a lot of varieties and you can buy them best at Kampung Boyan. To get there take the 'bot tambang' at Kuching Waterfron for 5o cent one way to cross the Sarawak River towards Kampung Boyan. There will be shops selling a lot of these Kek Lapis there. You can also buy 'Terubuk Ikan Masin' - freshly salted fish from this area.

• Mee Kolok/ Kolo Mee - I haven't had the chance to try it but there are two version of this Mee Kolok - halal and non-halal.

• Fresh, cheap seafood at Top Spot Seafood Centre. There are a lot of stalls to choose from and the seafood centre is opened at night.

So there you go a list of food you must have a try while traveling in Kuching, Sarawak. That's a wrap for Foodie Road Trip as for now. :)

Foodie Road Trip : The Best Nyonya Laksa and Cendol in Melaka

Where can you find the Best Nyonya Laksa and Cendol in Melaka? Here is where you will get them :

[caption id="attachment_2216" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ocean Cafe serves the best Nyonya Laksa in Melaka"][/caption]

The Best Nyonya Laksa and Cendol in Melaka (as of to date) can be found at Ocean Cafe! The shop is located somewhere around Jonker Walk and the best way to locate this cafe is by foot! We found out about this cafe by pure coincidence and it was not something planned at all. I just always knew that you can find some awesome Nyonya Laksa somewhere in around Jonker Walk and that was just about the only hint that I had.

You are heading to the right direction if you start seeing these houses of worships : The Buddist Temple, Mosque and the Hindu Temple.

Local call this street: Harmony Street - (from Left to Right) The Buddist temple, Mosque and Hindu Temple are located all on the same street. Ocean cafe is right opposite the Mosque and Hindu Temple

It is a long straight road and just keep going ahead until you see the mosque on your left and you will see Ocean Cafe  on your right. The Hindu temple is just a couple of steps ahead on the left side.

[caption id="attachment_2224" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ocean Cafe has the best nyoya laksa in Melaka town"][/caption]

We seriously wouldn't even think of dropping by the cafe if the cafe lady owner didn't invited us in to have a go at her laksa. You really don't expect to see that many cafe around this Jln Tukang Emas so finding one during that lunch hour time couldn't be of a better timing. We were hungry, the laksa looks tempting and I have been craving for a proper Nyonya Laksa since last year and yes, we came at the right timing, found the best shop all at once.

So what makes Ocean Cafe Nyonya Laksa the best laksa I've ever tasted?

[caption id="attachment_2218" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Nyonya Laksa by Oceon Cafe - Best Nyonya Laksa in Melaka"][/caption]

The Nyonya Laksa smell and tasted really good. In case you dont' know, Laksa from the Southern side of Malaysia is what we from the North will call it as Curry Mee. So this is different from your usual Asam Laksa dish.

We've been told by the chef herself that she uses a lot of fresh ingredients and herbs to bring out the best smelling fragrance in her laksa. She even makes her own curry paste ( I think) and  the laksa soup is rich in flavour, thick and when you taste it you can tell that a lot of work in terms of the ingredients have been put to make that delicious dish. The noodles used for this laksa is a mix of yellow mee and meehoon. This Nyonya Laksa is also topped with crunchy bean sprouts, fresh juicy cockles ( I kid you not on this one - very juicy okay! ), some fish cakes, half an egg and other yummy stuffs too.

Next up, we were asked if we wanted to have a go at the cendol too and of course we said Yes! She mentioned that her cendol is different because she uses only Gula Melaka and that's the key to having the best cendol ever! Gula Melaka has a rich, thick sugary taste to it and that makes a cendol a Real Cendol! Haha.

[caption id="attachment_2221" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The best Cendol ever!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2222" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laoban (boss in Mandarin) making cendol"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2223" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Barley Lime Ice - recommended beverage by Ocean Cafe lady chef"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2225" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The full menu"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2226" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The modest prep kitchen - typical hawker stall style"][/caption]

Last but not least, you will be a happy camper if you can have a taste of this Nyonya Laksa. That I can guarantee you! Check out the picture below if you don't believe it. Haha.

[caption id="attachment_2227" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="When you eat Laksa, you will always end up looking like this : A happy eater!"][/caption]

I don't know about other places and I've heard of really excellent feedbacks from this cafe on their Nyonya Laksa. Hence, the next time you happen to hang around Jonker Walk in Melaka, do take the time to hunt down this place. It will be worth the walk and search!

Best Nyonya Laksa & Cendol In Melaka ( as rated by me and a lot of other people especially backpacking foreigners and locals too) is located at this addresss :

Ocean Cafe, Jln Tukang Emas 20 ( near Jonker Walk, opposite of Mosque and Hindu Temple)