Dreamz Bakery & Cafe

Most people on social media already knew my hobby lies in taking photoshoots in instagrammable cafes. Since yesterday I failed to achieve this at 2D bubble milk tea cafe which had a real crew photoshoot going on, I decided to come here, since it was rare that I come all the way to Kota Damansara.

After all, I have always wanted to come here ever since my intern, Ee Peng recommended the place to me but somehow never did, perhaps due to the distance.

When we arrived, there was only 1 table available, designed the Japanese way of seating on tatami. The wall has some dried flowers decoration. All in all, the cafe was very busy at 2 pm, with kids and family due to the tasty and beautiful cakes. Nowadays, most themed cafes sell cakes made by vendors, and normally, instagrammable places look pretty but the food rarely taste that great.




Sambal Chicken Rice (RM 19.50) 

We were so hungry as it was already 2 pm so we ordered rice item which to our surprise, was as dainty as the other food items here. The presentation is very pretty, especially on a pink plate but the portion was too small to fill the stomach of a hungry person or of a man. the bluish rice was tastefully creatively paired with homemade potato chips, healthy salad, and non spicy tomato-based chicken chopped into small pieces instead of the normal way of serving 1 big chunk of chicken.

Lavender Latte (RM 13) 

The Lavender latte was fragrant with smell of lavender infused with honey on top. It was beautifully presented in a deep ice-cream glass.

 

Jasmine Black Forest Cake (RM 15) 

The taste of jasmine is just evident and they really go all out in ensuring beauty inside ou. In fact, it is one of the rare occasions, that cakes appear prettier on the inside than the outside which is plain chocolate based. Even the cherries were fresh, and you can feel the chunks when you bite into it.

Another important factor when you eat the cakes, is that it doesn't have overload of cream of any kind, which deters me from eating cakes in most bakeries. So eating their cakes is just addictive as there is no cream to make you feel too full.

Dreamz Puff Waffle with Ice-Cream (RM 19) 

I am someone very particular when it comes to ice-cream and this is just superb! The best part is that compared to other waffle shops or cafes, they give you the liberty to choose from their homemade ice-cream flavours as wild as earl grey, rose etc!

I totally fell in love with the smooth and fragrant earl grey ice-cream which has is in the shape of a popsicle! The waffle is also a little crispy on the sides, and doesn't have too much pastry and soft.

Guess the success of Dreamz lies in serving the food flavours in the strong form!

Price wise, a bit steep, but then again, you pay for the presentation and most importantly, taste! Art is expensive after all! But did I mention, there is no service charge or SST? 

Definitely making a comeback to try the Tiramisu Ice-Cream Cake and also Earl Grey Chocolate Cake! Oh, and the cute Japanese chicken in tray! 

Details:
Address: Dreamz Bakery & Cafe, No. 32-1, The Strand, Jalan PJU5/200, Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 012-2003441 

Taman Free School Food Court/Medan Selera Taman Free School

Coming to this food court, somehow brings nostalgia. Somehow, eating in medan selera was never me or my dad's cup of tea, but this one, there is an exception for me. The food here are generally tasty, unlike some of the nice looking and clean food courts in Penang whereby the food is not tasty.

Lor Mee with Chicken Leg (RM 4.80) 

Due to my colleague who likes to eat Prawn Mee all the time, I somehow lost interest in this temporarily. In the past, my Penang food pilgrimage included having Lor Mee beside Goddess of Mercy Temple in town.

The lor mee was quite tasty. The difference between Lor Mee in KL and Penang is the KL version doesn't have chicken legs. The only downside - only 1 chicken leg, so to appease myself, I requested to add more chicken leg but the hawker said I should pay RM 5 for a side dish instead of adding into the noodles for a price.

I thought the portion is little so I agreed but when it arrived, wow there were about 9 braised chicken legs inside and can you imagine I actually ate 6 pieces despite having chicken legs the day before? Guess it was because the lor mee styled braised chicken legs are the best, better than the deep fried ones in KL or in dim sum places.

Details:
Address: Taman Free School Food Court, 75, Jalan Trengganu, Taman Free School, 10460 Georgetown, Penang

Char Koay Kak / Carrot Cake

All my life, I have been hunting for the best Char Koay Kak. The best one was at a food stall, sold at night in Rifle Range, which I used to eat when I was young. However, I doubt they operate anymore. It is always, the koay kak is too salty or just too big pieces. Finally, on 21 May 2019, mum brought me to the best Char Koay Kak at Ayer Itam, in a kopitiam beside Hee Lok Kopitiam.

This koay kak only cost RM 3.80!  Very cheap, tasty and superb! They really cut it into small pieces. Just nice in terms of not salty, and still has a lot of chai poh. Another good thing is the egg is done not that well done, which is how I liked it!

We ordered the Hawthorn Juice which is not that normal in Penang, and quite tasty too.

#koaykak #carrotcake

Char Koay Teow at Burmah Road

We were participating in the Wesak Day procession, my first time ever in my life for 7 km walk. Throughout the journey, there were a lot of free buns, mineral water, pao, soybean, sweets and even fried bihun distributed by donors. However, I was not interested to eat all that and was getting hungry every time I saw a kopitiam, but mum was worried we would not be able to find our way back if we stopped halfway. So finally nearer to Burmah Road, I ordered the spiciest Char Koay Teow ever, which was though they threw in red chilli pepper while cooking. The Char Koay Teow was a bit disappointing and expensive at RM 6.50! Or is it because I should have ordered the Curry Mee which was duck blood inside.

Details: Address: Duck Blood Curry Mee, 223, Jalan Burmah Georgetown, 10050 Penang 

Penang Assam Laksa

When one mention Assam Laksa, automatically one thinks of Penang Road version but I have tried that and feel it was nothing special. Mum brought me to Bukit Jambul kopitiam (just in front of Bukit Jambul Complex) and I tasted the delicious laksa for only RM 5. I also ordered 1 fried popiah to dip into the soup.

I saw many customers coming to tapau many packets at a time. It opens in the late afternoon

Details:
Address: Mekong Kopitiam, No. 8M-G. Jalan Tun Dr Awang, Bukit Jambul, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang

Hawker Food Heaven at Genting Food Court Penang

Sometimes, being a Penangite, I feel pointless going all the way to Georgetown for hawker fare at inflated prices, eg, Burmah Road Char Koay Teow costs RM 6.50-7 when it was not tasty at all.

So we prefer to eat at residential places like Bayan Lepas or Ayer Itam. It was raining cats and dogs on last Monday so we made a sudden decision to go to Genting Food Court, which I have never been all my life or at least, had faint memories of it, as my parents do not spend much time exploring food much and mostly eat at Super Tanker Food Court only whether for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Penang White Curry Mee 

The Curry Mee costs a whopping RM 4 for small portion, and if you want prawns, recommended to order the medium one at RM 4.80. The chilli is just incredible but it was not as oily as others. The best thing about Penang Curry Mee is we have a lot of ingredients like pig blood, cuttlefish, bean sprouts, cockles and beancurd. By 12.30 pm, they have finished 1 big tank of curry soup.

Char Koay Teow (RM 5) 

Since mum said the normal Char Koay Teow I used to eat when young at Pulau Tikus, taste quality has declined recently, we were searching for one place as substitute and found it here by accident. I even ordered Duck Egg Char Koay Teow for only RM 5! 

Loh Bak 

One of Penang's famous food is Loh Bak and they have tasty ones here. The most unique thing is selling giant octopus which is rare in most Loh Bak stalls. Due to the 2 octopus I ordered, the one below cost RM 12.90 

Braised Chicken Leg (RM 5) 

Mum and me are huge fans of braised chicken leg, so since she mentioned it, I told her to go ahead ordering this. The chicken legs are a bit lesser than the Medan Selera near Penang Free School, so not that worth the money paid at RM 5

Details: 

Lorong Delima 3, Taman Island Glades, 11700 Jelutong Penang 

Best Fried Oysters / O'Chien in Penang

Every pilgrimage trip I make to Penang, I must always have my Fried Oysters. Since young, I only ever eat Fried Oysters at Super Tanker food court which has a lot of big oysters and quite cheap at RM 10 for small portion. Even this time when we had lack of time, and we are going to Charity Dinner in the Lip Sin school, after dropping the elderly, we went for my oysters.

The fried oysters is simply heavenly, huge oysters to boot! It also doesn't have an overload of starch like the one in New Lane. So that's why when it comes to Fried Oysters, mum said it is better I go for my personal choice  rather than follow those in google, which is why I have made my mind to write as much as possible about Penang Hawker Food 

Gayo Coffee

I have always been browsing other blogs for Penang food. I also had been trying some of the recommendations from blog and also those in the Penang Food Guide brochure at the airport which was sometimes to my dismay when the food didn't turn out as written there, then I realized, I should start my own blog and really talk about my local perspective...

I am always on the lookout for instagrammable cafes...and was hunting for cafes in google for few days since I am suddenly returning to Penang after a year...after asking around local friends for recommendations, ... (drum rolls)...

BTW Gayo House is easy to find as it is just beside the popular amongst tourists' China House ... it is like getting the same ambience but add more to the list of instagram shots you can get here. OK, and the latte is RM 1 cheaper here...

The moment I entered the courtyard, it was so heavenly I felt grateful to step foot here and making the decision, as I didn't have much time in my busy food hunt itinerary. Gayo Coffee looks like any normal cafe from the facade, but never judge a book by its cover.

Compared to other cafes which normally go easy on decorations, it was like no wall is left undecorated...

Every door opens to another, like how doors are in cartoons? Go door after door of different layouts, it was like uncovering layer after layer of hideouts? But in cosier areas and place, oh and with service provided....kekeke

You feel like you are literally in Siam Reap with a majestic and gigantic tree, almost like a bodhi tree, greeting you in the courtyard. True to be, there is a photo of the Cambodian Wat, with image of Buddha and also a tiger on the wall.

 It was said that the tree was naturally growing in the house, and it seems that the act of leaving it untouched has given it an added advantage compared to other cafe. I mean how often you see a huge REAL tree inside a house and you are still able to see the REAL sky? Perhaps in the olden days but not in today's world! 

View from the top of the second floor: 

But then the best part, is that this is not any coffee place with beautiful setting without tasty food. Or just the normal cafe everywhere with coffee, tea, cakes and desserts! The best part is the extensive menu of Western Food that you can eat from breakfast to dinner! I guess the owner is definitely very entrepreneurial to add a variety of food inside otherwise a lot of people just come once to take photos and try coffee then skip it the next time since there are so many hipster cafes in town alone, I guess you would have lost count on the number of cafes in Penang, whereby every nook and corner is a kopitiam, hawker centre, food court, restaurant, cafe, bistro, which you can stop by anytime there is hunger pangs? 

Since we were still full from lunch at Genting Food Court, of Char Koay Teow, Curry Mee, Chicken Legs and Loh Bak, we just had coffee to soak in the heritage. 

Orchid Latte (RM 12) 

The coffee (in green cup, in this picture) is surprisingly quite reasonably priced compared to other hipster cafes. I am someone who doesn't support much franchises and go for more unique coffee cafes. It is much thicker and preferable for strong coffee lovers like me. The only disappointment is just that there wasn't any orchid petals? Well, not like we know how orchid taste like?

Rose Latte (RM 12) 

If you are imagining the conventional rose petals thrown on the surface, guess after you look at the photo below, not much difference between rose and orchid latte if you ask me, except that the rose version is more of normal latte and less coffee taste. Perhaps they are not well known for this coffee? Anyway, skip this if you really want rose latte and order others. 

Misissipi Mud Cake (RM 15) 

Cakes are basically this price in hipster cafes, guess it is cheaper to have a main course here. There are lunch sets as well at almost the same price.... probably on weekdays. The Mud Cake has sinfully rich ganache chocolate, that increases your calories within seconds, so only settle on this if you are trying to forget your diet momentarily, or as mum says, when you come to Penang, there is no point dieting otherwise why bother coming all the way to Food Paradise?

Guess that is enough excuses...let's dig into the mud cake, and float into blissful land!

Oh, and to convince yourself, what's coffee without cake?

Details:
Address: 161, Beach Street 10300 Georgetown, Penang
Tel: 04-2619891