ISARIBI TEI Japanese Restaurant

Restaurant Info

Name	ISARIBI TEI Japanese Restaurant
Location	60 & 62, Jalan Chow Thye, 10050 Penang.
Visited on	Jan 10th 2007
Amount Spent	RM54.05
# of Diners	2
Order	Grilled Salmon Set Lunch, Kimuchi Rice, Prawn Tempura

Review

Food	The Salmon was very fresh. It was grilled with miso paste, and tasted special. Prawn tempura was well-done with high quality Tentsuyu.
Service	The owner is Japanese and he was there serving the guests making sure that everyone is well taken care of. The waiters were responsive and friendly.
Environment	The restaurant is a modified 2-units of pre-world war II shoplots. It is surrounded by a very well maintained Japanese-style garden. When you are dining in the restaurant, the greens are visible via the glass wall. It gives the diners a peaceful feeling. I enjoyed it.
Toilet	Didn’t have a chance to visit J
Parking	Have to park on the street.

Ratings

Overall	8.0
Food	7.5
Environment	8.5
Service	8
Pricing	Mid-range
Visit Again?	Yes

Tasty Café

Restaurant Info

Name	Tasty Café
Location	Sunway Tunas, Penang
Visited on	Jan 8th 2007
Amount Spent	RM21.50
# of Diners	2
Order	Set Dinner for 2 – consist of a clay-port fish slices, mixed vege-broccoli, special fried egg.

Review

Food	The small shrimps used to fry the mixed vege-broccoli smell already ‘busuk’, causing the whole dish to taste very sourly and weird. When told, the waitress kept defending that it is normal. We end up not eating that dish. The slices of fish however tasted good. Fried egg was just normal, a little too oily.
Service	Not very customer oriented, no action were taken when we complained that the shrimp were already expired.
Environment	Higher class kopitiam-like environment
Toilet	Ok only, not very clean but ok.
Parking	Free parking around the restaurant on the street.

Ratings

Overall	4.3
Food	6.5 (Rating excluding the spoilt dish)
Environment	5
Service	1.5
Pricing	Reasonable
Visit Again?	Maybe, but will think twice due to the spoilt dish and their attitude of handling customer’s complain.

Tsuruya Japanese Restaurant

Restaurant Info

Name	Tsuruya Japanese Restaurant
Location	I-Avenue, Relau, 11900 Bayan Lepas Penang
Visited on	Jan 4th 2007
Amount Spent	RM98.90
# of Diners	5
Order	Kankokufu Tamago, Chawan Mushi, Sake Shioyaki Set lunch, Teppan Chikin Set Lunch, Chiki Chiki Ban Ban Set Lunch, Tsuruya Maki, California Temaki.

Review

Food	Food serving size generally bigger than the other Japanese Restaurant. The Tsuruya special maki tasted good, except that the rice was a little too ‘wet’. Set lunch was ok.
Service	Normal
Environment	It is a fully air-conditioned restaurant. We were not asked of whether we want to sit in the smoking or non-smoking area when we walked in. As we were dining the guest on next table was smoking and it was annoying. When asked the waitress just told us that was a smoking area.
Toilet	N.A.
Parking	RM0.40/half hour MPPP parking outside the I-Avenue.

Ratings

Overall	6.5
Food	6.5
Environment	6.5
Service	6.5
Pricing	Normal Japanese Restaurant Price range..
Visit Again?	Yes, but will surely ask for non-smoking area.

Audees Cuisine.. Jazz.. Wine.. Penang

Restaurant Info

Name	Audees
Location	188, Burmah Road, Penang.
Visited on	12/29/2006
Amount Spent	RM350.00
# of Diners	5
Order	Set dinners (Appertizer, Soup, Grilled Tuna, Ice-cream, Coffee/Tea), One bottle of 2004 Guntrum Riesling Wine

Review

Food	Fine dining restaurant. It’s a pre-world war II bungalow house. The bungalow looks ordinary from outside but internally the ambient are cozy and romantic. There is a cellar inside the restaurant. The food was ok – we had grilled Tuna as our main course but it was a little over-cooked causing it to be dried and not juicy. Wine was superb. Life jazz music every Friday and Saturday night.
Service	Service was good. Except: It was our friend’s birthday that night; when we requested a birthday song they don’t have it. So we requested the singer to sing a birthday song, but they were too busy entertaining the other group of guests who was having year-end function there. They don’t even bother to tell us they can’t make it for us. A bit pissed-off.
Environment	Fine dining restaurant
Toilet	Clean and well maintained.
Parking	Parking around the bungalow – but difficult to get out after your meal as your car would be blocked by some other guests car due to double parked. Have to wait for their coordinator to look for the owner. We waited for 15min.

Ratings

Overall	6.2
Food	6
Environment	7.5
Service	5
Pricing	Fine-dining range ~RM80 per person
Visit Again?	For special occasion, maybe

Kingsbay Restaurant, Penang

Restaurant Info

Name	KingsBay Restaurant
Location	24-G, Persiaran Bayan Indah, Bayan Bay, 11900 Penang. (Next to Queensbay Mall)
Visited on	12/29/2006
Amount Spent	RM205.60
# of Diners	14
Order	Mixed Vegetables, Sambal Asparagus, Tofu pots, Fried Furong Egg, Thai style pork, Drunken chicken soup, Tofu stew, fried long beans.

Review

Food	Regular Chinese dishes. We ordered a lot of vegetables as there is a vegetarian friend in the gang - for a RM16 vege large size, the serving was still small. Vegetables tasted ok, ordinary Chinese cooking way but a little too oily. The drunken chicken soup was good. Thai style pork was a little over-fried but tasted ok..
Service	The boss service was good, but the waitresses were arrogant and unfriendly.
Environment	Regular air-conditioned kopitiam style.
Toilet	N.A. Didn’t use their restroom
Parking	Used to have free parking along the restaurant but after Queensbay Mall opening it’s now RM1/hour parking.

Ratings

Overall	4.8
Food	5.5
Environment	4.5
Service	4.5
Pricing	A little high for it’s serving size
Visit Again?	Will consider if friends insist.

Breeks Cafe, Queensbay Mall Penang

Restaurant Info

Name	Breeks Café
Location	Queensbay Mall, Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Visited on	12/28/2006
Amount Spent	RM85.30
# of Diners	4
Order	Seafood Baked Rice, Chicken Sandwich, Mushroom Cream Spaghetti

Review

Food	The chicken sandwich was crispy (they baked it) and tasted ok. Seafood Baked rice was cheesy, while the mushroom cream spaghetti was creamy. Food presentation was appetizing. Pricing on the high side for the food quality. The drinks that we ordered were expensive.
Service	Slow. We were the first group arriving but food was not served together so some end up having their food while others already finished.
Environment	Regular. Pizza-hut like ambient.
Toilet	N.A. Use the shopping mall’s.
Parking	Dusty parking lots located outside and inside the shopping mall.

Ratings

Overall	4.8
Food	5
Environment	5
Service	4.5
Pricing	A little high for it’s quality
Visit Again?	Maybe, will consider if no other place during peak hours.

Mansion Thirty Two, Penang

Restaurant Info

Name	Mansion Thirty Two
Location	32 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang.
Visited on	Dec 12th 2006
Amount Spent	RM108.10
# of Diners	2
Order	Garlic Bread, 6-spices Chicken, Crab Laksa, 32’s Fruit Punch

Review

Food	I LOVE the garlic bread – the best I ever had. Foods are western-oriental fusion. Very high quality and well presented. The chicken taste special – very well done on fusing the oriental Hainan chicken style with the western grill. The crab laksa was simple and the broth was rich and thick. Felt pampered with the food! The fruit punch was ok only.
Service	Ok-lar… Not as good as expected for this high-end fine-dining place – we expected the service to be equal or better than a 5-star hotel.
Environment	Really really very nice ambient. It was decently decorated for Christmas. So far the best ambient among all the restaurants I have been to in Penang, including the 5-star hotel’s. (Pricing too J)
Toilet	Cool… Romantic J
Parking	Ample free parking with sea-view J

Ratings

Overall	7.3
Food	8
Environment	9.5
Service	4.5
Pricing	High-end
Visit Again?	Occasionally lar.. so expensive…