Saturday, December 31, 2011

Dinner at New Corner Lok Lok Chai Leng Park


We planned to have lok lok as our dinner tonight. We usually go to Padang Brown or Pulau Tikus Market to have lok lok. However this time; we changed our mind and decided to try out a new place in at Butterworth’s Chai Leng Park. 
We met with po po and e ma's family on 18.12.2011. We went food hunting after chit-chat with e-ma. We were told that there was lok lok in Chai Leng Park.  
New Corner Lok Lok is one of the famous lok lok stall around Chai Leng Park area. It is the first stall at the corner around the hawker stalls. It was our first visit.
Lok-lok is like steamboat but the food is skewered onto sticks. A pot is inserted into the hole on the table, a gas burner is under each pot to keep it boiling.   
A communal cooking pot where everyone dips their food in. After the cooking process, sauces are added to the food.
In the evening, this street will turn into a hawker food haven. Can you see that? A busy crowd at the hawker centre.
8 varieties of sauce. As the moment we had a seat, dad and mom were attracted by the different types of sauce. The boss is very proud of their own homemade sauce. They make it specically for you to dip the lok lok. Sauce is very important when it comes to lok lok. Lok lok also called as satay celup by some people. 
One of our favourite sauce- Dried shrimp sauce.
For those who love spicy, you can try out the sambal or satay sauce. Satay sauce is available in most of the lok lok stall. It goes well with our lok lok ingredients.
Food here is absolutely fresh and variety to choose.   
A variety types of meat and seafood at our own heart's desire. Choose your favorite stick of food and bring it to your own table. 
Each table has a insert of hotpot in the middle.
Mushrooms wrapped with vegetables.
The price for each stick is based on the colour codes on the stem. Colourless at RM0.50 each, black at RM1.00, red is RM 1.20 and the most expensive are the yellows and blues at RM1.50 each.   
RM80.00 for nine person including drink. Is that cheap? Yes to us.   
There are some food items for frying, for example skewers of pandan chicken pieces, sausages, pig’s ear and also yam rolls. You can choose your favourite ingredients and the stall owner will deep fried it on the spot.

If you prefer having your Lok Lok in an air conditioned shop,you have another choice.The boss owns two stalls – one by the road side and another in a shop lot - Sim Corner Lok Lok. The shop just further down the street.
Air condition and more comfortable environment. Surprisingly, there is no price difference between his road side stall and the shop lot. All are in the same price.
Sim Corner Lok Lok. A wide selection to choose from. This shop is managed by the wife, and the one at the beginning of the road is managed by the husband. Their business hour is from 5pm – 11pm. Have a try when you are in Chai Leng Park.

Anyway, lok lok should just remain as a street hawker food. It is meant to be like that. Do you
agree?


Girls, it was a very pleasant dinning experience indeed. The warmth from the pot heater and the fun of dipping skewered food brought a big smile to your face. In a way, eating Lok Lok is like masak-masak.It is a fun and art of communal dining. We had a great time here with e ma's family and po po. We thank God for allowing us to experience the many joys of life.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ansari Cendol on 11.9.2011; Bismillah Cendol on 11.12.2011; Penang Road Famous TeochewChendul on17.10.2010



Taiping has two very popular cendol stall. Bismillah Cendol and Ansari Famous Cendol. Both of them are located very near to each other on Barrack’s Road.
The Ansari cendol is reportedly as the oldest cendol family in town. They have been in business for nearly 70 years.The founder Abdul Kader who came from Chennai in India, opened one of the earliest cendol stalls in Taiping near Bismillah Restaurant in the early 1940s. It was later known as Bismillah Cendol or Taiping Cendol. Later, his son-in-law, Ansari Abdul Rahman took over the business, renamed and relocated it to its current premises. The outlet is being manned by Ansari's son-in-law, Sikkander.
This cendol trader trekked into the 21st Century. Before the Second World War, a bowl of cendol costs between one and three sen. 40 sen per bowl in the year of 1960. They have a small little corner of a shop-lot just to cater for their customers. Their business hour is from 10.30a.m -6p.m. No fixed off days.
A visit to the town of Taiping is never complete without a taste of the famous Taiping cendol. After a satisfying lunch on 11.9.2011, our next destination was Ansari Famous Cendol. It is a good dessert to cool down from the afternoon heat.
RM1.10 for a plain bowl. RM1.20 for a bowl with cendol and red beans. RM1.50 for a bowl with cendol and pulut. RM1.60 for a bowl with cendol, red bean and pulut. A perfect sweet treat on a sunny day. In a hot weather like our country, this is something not to be missed.
The food in the above photo is pulut (glutinous rice). The specialty cendol in Taiping is cendol with red bean and pulut beras.
A bowl of cendol with coconut milk, brown sugar syrup, red beans and glutinous rice. Typical Indian type of cendol. Too bad the cendol strands are too soft for our liking.
They also sell Pasembor, an Indian Rojak. It only costs RM2.60. Really cheap, right? Even though our stomachs were full, we still had a try.   
The pasembor is from the stall next to Ansari cendol. The pasembor tastes average and good to go with the cendol.
The price list. Super cheap. This Cendol stall may have been known by Taiping local people.If you are not sure about the location of the stall, feel free to ask any of the locals for Bismillah or Ansari Cendol and you will be directed there.


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Bismillah Cendol is one of the popular cendol at Taiping. It is located nearby Taiping hospital on Jalan Barrack. is slightly better, as it is more creamy and not too sweet.
Cendol is a sweet dessert made up of starch noodles, coconut milk, palm sugar and shaved ice. This one comes with red beans too.
Business is very good here. Luckily we still manage to find a table to sit on 11.12.2011 after heavy lunch. There are also a pasembor stall in the shop and a laksa cart just outside.
The strips of cendol is fragrant with distinctive pure pandan flavour. The cendol is made fresh at the back of the stall. Overall, it is not as good as Penang’s Teochew cendol. Dad and mom prefer cendol with more gula Melaka taste. 
Cendol is actually made from rice flour with pandan(screwpine) leaves green colour and fragrance.
A machine which used to cook the cendol. An episode of Ho Chiak (8TV) aired years ago.They too introduced this place.
The price list. Very resonable price. Even though the cendol in Taiping is not as good as cendol in Penang, but we still enjoy our food journey. The cendol here can be considered historical food stall in Taiping.    

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Penang Road Famous cendol has opened its branch in Komtar Walk. Another option places for customer to get a taste of their cendol not only morning but night as well.   
This cendol shop is located near the Komtar pedestrian crossing bridge.
We made our visit to Komtar walk to enjoy the famous Teochew cendo on 17.10.2010. It was our second visit.
We love the ambiance and interior design of old kopitiam style.
Talk about cendol in Penang, the Penang Road famous Teow Chew cendol roadside stall will come to dad and mom's mind. Recently, the stall owner has purchased a shoplot just a short walk down the lane, where you can have your cendol in an air-conditioned comfort.
Due to their popularity, they have expanded their business and there are several locations in the island currently. The branches in Penang are Komtar Walk, Prangin Mall and Sunshine Farlim, Air Itam.
RM2.50 a bowl. The price here is slightly more expensive as we are paying for the environment. Definitely dissapointed. The taste is a bit different from the stall in Penang road. We love the sweet, refreshing cendol with gula melaka from Penang Road stall.   
Girls, we have become big fans of this dessert called cendol. During our food journey, the first dessert we crave for is always cendol. The food journey above will be our memories for life. Dad and mom still could remember the laughter through the whole journey.