(Prawn Mee) Mee Udang Aur Gading, Sungai Dua, Butterworth, Penang

1^st time being here with few recommendations from a conventional wisdom : ‘if it tastes good, tell it to 3 – 6 people”. Here we are at Aur Gading Mee udang on one fine Monday late afternoon. The outlet consider popular as most of the GPS has this location under “Places of Interest – Food category”.

There was no patron at that time in view it was a working day.

We ordered 2 bowls of prawn mee which they served in 1 big bowl.  There were 6 big prawns on top of the serving. I was surprised with the prawn quantity. The taste? I will give 1 out of 5. The curry gravy had more water than the curry itself.

The setback of this outlet is when it comes to the bill time. To our dismay the cost of the food that we ate (2 servings of prawn mee) cost us a walloping RM36-00!! The 2 mee are RM6-00 but the prawns alone cost RM30-00!!

The cashier said that the giant prawn was based on weight meaning that 1 piece of prawn cost RM5-00!!

The dine-in concept at Mee Udang Aur Gading is wrong, they should inform the customer that the prawn will be based on weight then the customer has the option to choose either to have it or not, or determine the prawn quantity to be served. 

In fact, we don’t really know how many is the standard quantity of prawn for each bowl per serving (I assume 3 pieces). But then, the outlet can easily manipulate the system, they able to put how many prawn they feel convenient to them especially if you come in large group. That’s what I call cheating customer. I am pretty sure they make a fortune out of this one.

The normal seafood dine-in concept will let you choose your marine life, weight it, let you know the price, you still can adjust accordingly to your budget at this point, the final process is to select your serving style. It is a fair negotiation.

On the other hand, the cost for one bowl of Mee Udang Ramli located in Kuala Selangor (my entry here), also very famous only cost us RM6-00 (with 3 pieces of small but sufficient prawn on top). They have fix price on the menu and to me, it was a sincere business.

For those who wish to have Mee Udang Aur Gading should think twice. Back to the Conventional wisdom: “if you had a bad experience, tell it to 12 – 20 people”.

Roti Canai Jalan Transfer, Penang

Roti Canai Jalan Transfer located in Penang also known as Roti Canai Tepi Longkang. So much hype of this small food outlet as it become famous in google and various blog entries.

 

I wanted to experience the taste myself so I went on the journey from my hotel located 13 km away.

First when I reached here at 9.00am, the outlet was so busy with activities. It almost full house with the seats (left and right) were seems fully occupied.  If you come alone, you will have a better chance to find a vacant slot but it may be hard for those come in group.

Full House

 the opposite site

There were two separate sections – the food station and the drink station which is few metres far apart. With a chair (with no back rest) I sat down and be served by the mamak. I ordered normal roti canai with curry chicken (I mean literally with the chicken drumstick).

The taste? I give 1 out of 10. The dhal curry with a lot of spicy chilly tasted ...well...acceptable but I certainly had better taste elsewhere. 

The roti canai ? 1 out of 10. The texture is hard, I had difficult time tearing it into small pieces with the spoon and fork. They should provide a knife instead (and a hammer perhaps). I feel like I’m chewing a bubble gum but without taste.

 the 'extra brown' roti canai with curry chicken

The setback of this roti canai is the food preparation : It’s not hygiene. The mamak will just pick up the roti canai with their bare hand and put it on the plate to be served. Even worst the process of tearing the roti canai into small pieces also using both hands. We don’t really know where the hand had been into (we don’t want to know actually).

 can you see it? The hand?

They also pick up the chicken and toss it into the curry with their bare hand! And then touching other things with the same hand without cleaning it first. They are doing it openly without guilty feeling and I guess they are proud of doing it.

 Yup...bare hand was used..

I’ve been charged RM7.20 for the roti canai with chicken curry (excluding the drink), I’s expensive and I don’t have the appetite to finish the chicken. But I did finish my ‘plywood’ roti canai.

For those who had a high level of hygiene, this eating place is not for you. It also not suitable for texture freak for soft roti canai either. The patrons are oblivious of the unpleasant things going on. 

The outlet may need a lot of improvement to stay competitive as there are too many roti canai outlets along the way. However, due to its popularity with an additional of long establishment, the business is thriving. They may have their regular customer based on demographic and culture especially among the locals, however, for customer from out of penang, they are not impressing us much.