Dinner at Bravo Italiana, i Avenue

My Italian cuisine journey came to its third stop at i-Avenue, Penang. Located beside the 100 Yen Convenience store, Bravo Italiana is one of the very few Italian restaurants serving good and reasonably-priced Italian cuisine.

With a nondescript shopfront and a plain-looking door, I was amazed by the quirky charm of its interior. They have an extensive menu and everything has a taste of its own.

Famous Italian brand ground coffee 'Lavazza' is served here.

Complimentary Garlic Bread

Lavazza's Long Black @ RM 5.50

(very mild but pleasant to the palate)

Fettuccine with Pesto sauce @ RM18.90

(A highly notable pasta dish)

Tiramisu @ RM12.80 

(The liqour added to the Tiramisu is not overwhelming so the taste is rather bland)

Bravo Italiana

i-Avenue

Penang

Dinner at Manhattan Fish Market

Manhattan Fish Market is known for its extra large servings of food. Before Mum and I were seated, we scanned through the menu and were surprised to find everything appears to be extraordinary large. Since both of us are really small eaters, we decided to share a set of meals. 

Manhattan Fish Market in Queensbay Mall

Cappuccino @ RM6.90 (the lousiest ever)

Look at what she did to my food!

Burning the surface of the prawns by using a torch

 

The Flame Platter for one @ RM27.90

(Although it is designed for one person, both of us could hardly finish it)

The platter comes with 3 medium-sized prawns, 1 big piece of Dory fillet, 1 portion of buttered rice and lots of French fries.

Ooooo.... grilled to perfection.

This reminds me of the Fish & Chips set I used to eat in London

Tiramisu @ RM9.90

Mud Pie @ RM9.90

(sinfully, crazily and unreasonably rich molten lava mud cake) 

Chocolate + Ice-cream filling + sweetness = CALORIES + FATS

(the best equation ever made)

Manhattan Fish Market

Lower Ground Floor

Queensbay Mall

Penang

Confession of an Egg Tart Lunatic

It was a cosy Sunday morning. I woke up and found myself develop a sudden crave for egg tarts. I quickly darted from my bed and got myself washed and dressed. Grabbed my car keys, got on the car and stepped on the gas pedal. In just a short while, I found myself driving along the highway, heading north. I knew where I would end up at, as I was doing the crazy act again. I can't really remember how many times I had been doing this when I was in my 20s. Driving from Ipoh to Bidor for a bowl of Duck Thigh Noodles, walking from The Store (Jalan Kampar) to Jaya Jusco just to buy a tin of cookies, and today I am driving from Taiping to Gurney just to buy egg tarts for breakfast. This reminds me of my ex-colleague in Johor who often scolded me for my insanity. "Siao ah lu!" 

I reached Gurney after driving for 1 1/2 hours. Since it was Sunday morning, Greenlane was unusually quiet and it took me merely 15 minutes to reach Gurney from the bridge. I parked my car at Gurney Drive and rushed into the lower ground floor of the mall. I saw the first batch of egg tarts coming out from the oven. Oh, what a pleasant surprise! It's my favourite coffee egg tarts! I grabbed half a dozen of pipping hot tarts and walked back to my car. Couldn't wait to unveil the freshness of the tarts, I took heaps of pictures before tucking into those sinful devils... Ouch! I burnt my bottom lip with really hot custard!

A Lazy Sunday Brekky

Wendy, my colleague, enjoys having afternoon tea at various coffee outlets. Every time when I stop for my cuppa, I would very much like to invite her over for a simple treat. All these years, I am so used to eating alone as the others hardly share my interest in afternoon tea. They often think that spending hours at the cafeteria, sipping a cup of gourmet coffee while watching the outside world are a waste of time. I find it hard to change their perception thus I never want to invite anybody for tea, except those who share the same interest as mine. This morning, I got up late so I didn't want to crack my head to think of what to have for breakfast. Perhaps, going to a cafe is a better choice.

A simple yet delightful breakfast

Chicken Cajun Dome

Nothing more than a bun

Well, you can also call it 'Chicken Curry Bun' because it tastes nothing more than chicken curry wrapped in a bread dough. The only difference is the price which is 5 times costlier than an ordinary chicken bun. 

My Gelato Dream

When I crave for ice-cream, the only brand or type that comes into my mind is gelato, the famous Italian ice-cream. When I was in Italy, I had it almost every day as it is so common and readily available. However, back in Malaysia, this ice-cream can hardly compete with the other strong and well established brands namely HD, BR etc. Gelatissimo is the only ice-cream parlour serving gelato that tastes the nearest to authenticity. 

Gelatissimo at Gurney Plaza

Gelatissimo offers a wide selection of flavours

Rum and Raisin Gelato

Compared to those in Italy, this is of course not good enough in terms of the texture and taste but still acceptable.

Kindly top my waffle with a scoop of ice-cream...

Not a fast-food lover. I call them "The Rubbish Food". Not a fan of Kook Fa Cha and Mud Dou Tuck though they remain as the most-patronised fast-food restaurants. What about Kani Raja and Piggy Hug? Hmm... far too greasy and cheesy... Try these food at an authentic Italian restaurant and you will be able to tell the difference. Being the latest addition to Taiping Sentral, A&W has become a new member of my rubbish food list. I thought I would never go into this fast-food outlet for the rest of my life until somebody told me about their hot-selling WAFFLE. Is waffle a kind of fast-food? No... it is categorised as PASTRY.

The food is captured from various angles of view... Does it look like rubbish food? 

I can only tell you that ....I enjoy eating it (it's love at first sight).

Coffee Break at Austin Chase, Queensbay

Austin Chase is the latest addition to the franchised coffee joints in Malaysia. Born in Seattle, the starbucks' hometown, their coffee is not as appealing as the former. Walked past the outlet twice and found that it was often unoccupied. I was attracted by the sandwich menu when I was looking for food in Queensbay.

a cosy place to spend the afternon

Selection of bread, cakes and pastries

I ordered the Turkey Ham Sandwich which came with a complimentary iced coffee

Turkey Ham Sandwich

The overall taste of the food here gave an explanation to me on the lack of occupancy in the cafe. Though the pricing is relatively low, I'd rather pay more at other coffee joint for my cuppa of better quality.