19/2/2025 - Wu Jia Chinese Restaurant, Tmn Perkaka, Gelugor, Penang.
Wu Jia has always been a favourite haunt
for the Eating Kakis. We have been there a couple of times and we left with
fond memories of delicious Chinese cuisine at reasonable prices. Wu Jia’s more
expensive cousins are the Five-Ten Chinese Cuisine @ Precinct 10 and the W
World @ Drury Lane. I believe our last visit to Wu Jia was before the Covid
Pandemic.
For this lunch, we decided to go with their
famous curry prawns with bread and Japanese pan-fried lamb shoulder. The curry
prawns were well prepared with lots of fragrant spices and the curry was rather
thick. Thus, it went very well with the soft bread. And the lamb dish was just
as flavourful!
The third dish, the Wujia Spare Ribs was quite tasty too.
We
also settled for signature Homemade Bean-curd with Minced Pork and Salted Fish
and the Deep-fried Chicken with Mango Sauce. The Fried Mixed Vegetables with
Sambal was the only vegetable dish. All three dishes did not disappoint. Nicely
done. Finally, we opted for their
Steamed Red Snapper Fish with Pickle Radish. It was a good choice. We finished
off with Ai Yu Jelly for dessert. Seven dishes plus a dessert for 8 persons at
RM500 is certainly reasonable.
It was also a joyous occasion for all of us
as we surprised Cewie with a Birthday Cake. On that note, many thanks to Cewie
and hubby Vincent for cooking and introducing many wonderful dishes over the
years - the special Medan cuisines, crispy and crackling siok bak, delicious
bak chang, mouth-watering hokkien mee … just to name a few. We all concur with
Allan’s birthday wishes to Cewie, “We missed the big birthday party to the most
amazing person we know. Many Happy Returns of the Day, Cewie!”
Waylan Kin @ OFA 41, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah 11th April 2025
Our regular kaki, Willy, had recommended Waylan Kin, a restaurant located at the Old Frees Association. There’s ample parking at OFA. A quick glance at the menu would suggest that their Thai flavoured dishes should be sampled.
So we went ahead and ordered some of the
Thai cuisines - Fried Seabass Nam Pla (Fish Sauce), Cha Om Omelette, Stir Fried
Basil Roast Duck, Kerabu Mango Salad and Stir Fried Petai with Minced Meat. The
five dishes were all flavourful and
appetizing. The total price was just under RM200 with drinks for 7 pax, very
reasonable indeed!
The restaurant can get very crowded at
noon. So we were fortunate that we went there during opening time at 11.30am.
And we got to catch up as retirees often do when they meet. That said, Waylan Kin is a very reasonably
priced restaurant that serves delicious fare.
Baba Phang, the restaurant has been parked at Sri Bahari Road since a couple of years before the covid pandemic. The restaurant is so popular that they have limited dining time to 1.5 hours. Parking at Sri Bahari Road is also very limited.
Recently, founder and chef Vincent has decided on a much bigger space at a bungalow house at Jalan Perak. It comes with ample free parking. Private rooms will be added upstairs soon. Since its opening at the new site, the restaurant has been drawing good crowds.
We decided to give the restaurant a visit (again!) after a long break. We last visited Baba Phang in 2018. We decided to order an assortment of notable “baba” delights such as tau ewe bak, too kah chor (pork leg vinegar), otak-otak (grilled fish cake), choon peah (spring roll), lobak, acar rampai, asam tumis ikan pari (sting ray), perut ikan, kerabu kacang botol and home-made toufu. For dessert, we tried their pulut hitam and pengat. We also ordered their nasi ulam and blue pea rice. All kinds of everything! Generally, the dishes did not disappoint but neither were the dishes exceptional.
More importantly, it was a golden opportunity for us to meet up as Raymond and wife, Paley, daughter, Janice and grandson, Ivan were back in Penang. Ivan has grown up to be a delightful boy at three years! It was also nice to catch up after quite a long break. Let’s cherish the moments at the round table!
32 Mansion, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah
“STARTING FROM 8 DECEMBER 2025 THE RESTAURANT PRESENTS A TRULY PERANAKAN (NYONYA) MENU, RETURNING TO ITS ROOTS AFTER 25 YEARS. THE SELECTION SHOWCASES A RICH ARRAY OF HERITAGE DISHES, FEATURING AUTHENTIC FLAVOURS, TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES, AND WELL-LOVED FAMILY RECIPES. THE MENU IS COMPREHENSIVE, OFFERING BOTH CLASSIC AND REIMAGINED NYONYA SPECIALITIES THAT ARE A DELIGHT TO DISCOVER.”
This caption, taken from 32’s 25th Anniversary Nyonya Food promotion brochure was good enough reason to give 32 Mansion a try. The elegant 1920s Italianate bungalow provides a lovely sea view and ample parking.
We were fortunate to be greeted by Wilshere Lawrence, the consultant peranakan chef to 32 Mansion. We took into consideration some of the dishes recommended by Lawrence. 
As we were all senior citizens with limited “stomach space”, there were a lot of cuisines we didn’t order. Suffice to say, 32 Mansion is definitely worth a return visit!
Our obvious first choice is his signature crabmeat laksa. A bowl can be nicely shared by two persons. Everyone was singing praises for this delightful peranakan-themed laksa, with a half-sliced lime and prawn paste (hare ko) on the side. The laksa broth was thick and “lemak” and infused with lots of spices. Yummy!
Next, the classic peranakan jiu hu char was nicely done with fresh lettuce leaves and a wonderful dose of shredded cuttle-fish. The serving was small though. We also ordered the nasi ulam, inchee cabin and choon peah. All three dishes did not disappoint.
We opted to try three of the desserts on the menu. They were simply delicious: bee ko moi (black glutinous rice sweet soup) served with thick coconut milk, pengat and apom bokwa. The “almost forgotten” apom bokwa is a traditional peranakan dessert consisting of mini pancakes with a rich banana sauce. Thumbs-up to a satisfying lunch for the eating kakis.
Someone said, “Food is the ingredient that binds us together”. Rightly so! Looking back at our early blogs, we noted that our first get-together at Vincent’s place was on 15th April 2016! Cheers!
