Red Garden Food Paradise (红园美食坊) @ Georgetown, Penang [Malaysia]

The popularity of Penang as an overseas destination for Singaporeans means that i have plenty of recommendations from friends and even readers of this blog! 

A place that popped out quite a few times was Red Garden Food Paradise for its wide variety of food condensed in a singular facility that Singaporeans would find familiar; you can call it a food court, a hawker centre or just a humongous coffee shop.

Aside from roasted delights, bird nest etc, you can also find stalls hawking Penang's famous char kway teow, satay, Vietnamese food, bak kut teh, tandoori chicken, western food and many many more! 

Open from 5pm, Red Garden catered to the evening crowd and it's evident that many dropped by to chill out with good food and maybe a beer or two.

There's even a stage right in the middle where singers would belt out Chinese pop! It's almost getai style without the elaborate, exaggerated attire and the front seats were not empty. 

Similar to Singapore's hawker centre, there's a number on every table and you have to note the table when you make an order as the stall operators would require it to send your food. 

Order the young Thai coconut first as only this natural Asian beverage would be able to quench the thirst and cool the body that had endured the heat in Penang! This was sweet and i love the fact that a metal spoon was given for us to scoop out the coconut meat; hate it whenever plastic spoon is provided as i am not gentle with a high tendency of breaking it.

Prefer something of a higher quality? Check out the birdnest selection at Jiaqi! 

Please go ahead and order the flavourful pipa duck and fatty char siew from Kimpo for your main! For my review, kindly click the link here. 

On the second night of my visit, we tried out other items! Although i might not be able to provide the exact stall name, i presume you wouldn't find many stalls selling the same thing. We had the oyster omelette; fried in the gooey style i dislike. 

Fried squid was quite good with a thin batter that should go well with a glass of ice cold beer! Couldn't remember how much it cost as it was paid by a friend.

This was a plate of pork satay and it was the worst i ever had in my whole life! Lean meat was used and there wasn't the sinful juiciness that i always like from the fatty bits. In addition, the sauce wasn't the peanut type we are accustomed to in Singapore. In its place was some spicy sour stuff that totally didn't meet the cut. In my opinion, steer clear! 

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Location

20, Lebuh Leith, George Town, 

Red Garden Food Paradise, 10000 George Town, 

Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 

Map 

As above (close to Bayview Hotel Georgetown and next to the famous blue mansion, also known as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion). 

Operating Hours 

From 5pm

For the itinerary of my 3-day, 2-night trip to Penang, please click here.

Jiaqi Birdnest (佳褀燕窝) with Snow Lotus Seeds @ Red Garden Food Paradise [Penang]

The quarter serving pipa duck rice should be sufficient for dinner, especially when i am not a big fan of carbohydrate-heavy meal for dinner! Alas, i happened to walk past the above stall and the word "birdnest" gained my immediate attention.

With a large poster board touting the nutritional benefits of birdnest and the display of ingredients used in combination with the swallows' saliva, my only interest was just to find out if the birdnest here would be worth the money! 

Birdnest with Snow Lotus Seeds

There were four types to choose from; birdnest with american ginseng and rock sugar, birdnest with ginger brown sugar, birdnest with snow lotus seed, birdnest with longan and red dates. I went with lotus seed (small) as the first option was unavailable!

Supposed to be served chill i think, this wasn't cold enough and the taste would likely appeal to those who prefer bird nest desserts to be less sweet. Sadly, not sweet enough for me even though there were generous strips of bird nest in the soup. 

Another disappointment was the bitter snow lotus seeds which worsen the situation of a less than desired flavour. And why were there quail eggs?! They do well in sweet soup that my mom would prepare during the Chinese New Year but in this case, the egg yolk had the tendency to overwhelm rather than complement / improve the taste! 

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Location

Location 20, Lebuh Leith, George Town, 

Red Garden Food Paradise, 10000 George Town, 

Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 

Map 

As above (close to Bayview Hotel Georgetown and next to the famous blue mansion, also known as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion).

Menu

As above

Pricing

Birdnest with Snow Lotus Seeds (S) - RM 38 a bowl.

For the itinerary of my 3-day, 2-night trip to Penang, please click here.

Kimpo Famous Roasted Crispy Duck / Chicken / Pork (金宝烧腊) @ Red Garden Food Paradise [Penang Island, Malaysia]

Paraphrased comment from a particular Ms Ang - "i like the crispy skin from the pipa duck at Kimpo and you might like the char siew although i found it to a bit too fatty for my liking".

I love fatty char siew and hence, couldn't resist paying Kimpo Famous Roasted stall a visit on the first night of my Penang trip! Sadly, the char siew was sold out and i had to make do with the second item on my list.

Unlike typical roast duck rice, this came in the following servings; 1/4, 1/2 or a whole duck at RM 50! Alex had his dinner and there's no way i can finish half a duck myself! 

The set came with soup and soup partially drenched in char siew sauce; although it might look over the top, it was mostly bones and this greatly reduced the amount of meat and skin that one can eat. 

It was delicious with a flavourful marination that complemented the juiciness of the meat; no doubt the work of oozing, sinful oil! Skin wasn't as crispy as i had expected but i was utterly satisfied with my meal.

Memorable enough to warrant another visit on the second day; albeit at an earlier time as i would not want to miss out on the char siew that was missed the day before.

For the sake of variety, i had the 3 BBQ pork and chicken rice that consisted of char siew, roast pork and roast chicken! Roast pork was salty with a thin, crispy skin whereas the roast chicken was pretty oily; both of which fail to create a deep impression.

Char siew was fattening, slightly on the sweet side and nicely charred; factors pointing to the kind i totally enjoy! Even though not on the same ranking as the epic You Kee crystal char siew in JB, i am still undecided if it should take the same position as the second placed Kay Lee char siew in Singapore! 

Oh, we ordered half a pipa duck too as there's about ten of us this time.

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Location

20, Lebuh Leith, George Town, 

Red Garden Food Paradise,

10000 George Town, Pulau Pinang, 

Malaysia

Map

As above (close to Bayview Hotel Georgetown and next to the famous blue mansion, also known as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion).

Operating Hours

From 5pm

Menu of Kimpo

As above. 

Pricing

1/4 Pipa Duck - RM 13

3 BBQ Pork and Chicken Rice - RM 8.50

For the itinerary of my 3-day, 2-night trip to Penang, please click here.

Manekineko Karaoke - Kbox in a Japanese Name with the Use of Mobile Technology & Unlimited Slushies, Soft / Hot Drinks & Tidbits! @ Bugis Plus [Singapore]

Disguised with a Japanese name, i was deceived into thinking that KBox, Teo Heng and Party World would have to work harder in the future with a new competitor that's said to be one of Japan's largest karaoke chains! 

Called Manekineko, which was Japanese name for the fortune-calling cat that even Singaporeans are aware of, this is actually KBox that was bought over by Manekineko; appeal was more family oriented and the theme was cute and cartoony with a focus on felines. 

Before making payment, do also keep in mind that there's no remote control in the karaoke rooms and access to the song list is purely dependent on the smart phone you have as you are required to download the MyKARA app! 

Room numbers were placed on cat-head signs and there were numerous cat paw-prints adorning the walls and doors; my friend Kelly would be happy in such environment! 

We were allocated a green-theme room that had a sofa-bed spacious enough for us to take a nap. Not that we wanted to as our objective was to sing to our hearts' content; if we want to sleep, there's always the bed at home. 

Space between the sofa and the television screens were narrow and i guess the second flat screen television at the bottom was essential in case we prefer to lie down to sing.

Orange room with a humongous fortune cat welcoming us! We moved to this room as the previous one had speakers emitting a buzzing sound. 

Two wireless microphones on the table - now, i hate wired microphones as i have a tendency to tangle them with a 30% chance that it would result in someone tripping over the wires! 

Now's the time to install the MyKara app on your smart phone! Follow the simple instructions as indicated above and you would just need this same one app to access the controls at all Singapore's manekineko branches. 

Before you activate the app, remember to look at the television screen in the room, look out for the WiFi ID (unique for each room), search for it in your phone's WiFi and key in the password. 

Launch the app, tap "more", click "update DB" and you are good to go! Amazing right?! Honestly, a good use of technology with the prevalence of mobile devices yet with limitations.

For example, searching for songs have never been easier as i can use the keyboard function on my phone to easily type out Chinese characters. However, given that my phone was the "registered user", i would have to pass my phone to my friends as well so that they can search for their preferred songs. For those fiercely protective of their phone privacy, this will not work for them.

Searching for songs is just one of numerous things your phone has now been bestowed with; i can also increase the volume of the music / mics, change the key for your microphones, play the recorded applause when you hit an exceptionally high note with little difficulty etc. All with just one phone! 

Navigation wasn't a big issue; you just need to play around a bit and you shall get the hang out of it. 

Another disadvantage with using your personal phone as the designated "remote" - battery drained like nobody's business! Fret not though as there's a USB charging point in each room! Two problems; one, the charging cable wasn't provided and two, the point was located near the screens and you would need a sufficiently length charging cable! 

A key selling point for manekineko karaoke was their free flow slushies, hot / cold drinks and tidbits! The range was pretty extensive although i was disappointed with the lack of root beer...

Anyway, it's likely to be cold in the karaoke rooms and hot drinks are preferred; there were sachets of Twinings tea and there's white coffee, teh tarik and even milo! 

The tidbits counter - nothing out of the blue with traditional karaoke favourites. For us, it's a walk down memory lane as it's been a while since i last had the "wheels" biscuits. 

Need something substantial for your tummy? Do check out the menu where there were many other selections. My sister ordered from the menu in our first visit and let's put this in a tactful manner; for future visits, she will be eating a full meal before stepping into the facility. 

For two / three persons, you would be given an empty mug for each person and a empty tidbit bowl. You can change the mug in case you want to alternate between hot and cold drinks.

Snacks were ready, drink was prepared. So what's next?

Singing of course! With Alex, i can freely tackle the Hokkien songs that my younger sister has no tolerance towards. There were options for two and three hours and trust me, two hours are never enough! p.s. depending on whether you like to sing or not.

Once your time is up, the system will automatically shut down. No more service personnel coming in to inform you while you are exerting your voice to hit that high note. That's, in my opinion, a good thing. 

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Location

201 Victoria Street #03-18,

Bugis +, Singapore 188067

Map

As above

Floor Plan

As above

Website

https://www.kbox.com.sg/Page.aspx?u=11 

Pricing

As above - prices are nett and based on per person!