In A State Of Gluttony

It seems not a month goes by without me blogging at least once about what I've been eating and how much rounder I get because of it. It's not quite rightly a rant, since I am enjoying the food too much and cannot be bothered to (a) eat less; and/or (b) exercise more. But it won't stop me from blaming a job that keeps me away so much that going to the gym is most inconvenient, whereas eating is way too convenient. Hehe.

So yeah, I've been (over)indulging in repeat servings of all sorts of local and national delicacies these past number of months. Char kueh tiao lah, KFC lah, nasi lemak lah, chicken chop, roast duck, even belacan fried chicken, okay! The list just goes on and on. Then on some more.

And it doesn't help to have buffet breakfast at the hotel I've been staying in recently. Damn my small-town-Chinese-family upbringing for programming me to waste not food, and to maximise the value of a meal already paid for (especially when I'm not the one paying for it).

I won't blame you for thinking I'm a blimp by now. Heck, I already feel like one. Thankfully, my friends have courteously refrained from calling me one.

At least, not to my face, anyway

Times like this, I just wish a bubble belly is about as sexy as a bubble butt. Obviously it isn't, so I'll just resign myself to being a glutton (and be damn proud of it!).



Anyway, a l'il fat monkey had been urging me to go do lunch at this place he had found on a trip to Penang earlier this year - a shop called Restaurant Minah, tucked away in a place called Gelugor. Now, this place is rather out of the way for me to have lunch. But find the time I did, and last week, I finally made the trip across the bridge to check out what the monkey had been raving about.

Boy, was the monkey right on the money about the yum-factor of this minah's servings. The food there really was sedap-sedap belaka (ie, very yummy). There's what I had, up in the main pic.

The kerabu was nice enough, though kerabu (sort of a Malay-style salad) tastes more or less the same everywhere, the importance being the freshness of the ingredients. The ikan bakar (grilled fish) stuffed with sambal, a dish I've always enjoyed, was pretty good as well. They were seriously generous with the sambal stuffing, giving this one plus points.

What really got me hooked, however, was the chicken kurma. This dish was really delicious - the meat was succulent and had thoroughly absorbed the flavor of the kurma spices. The kuah (gravy), surprisingly, was extremely mild, compared to the meat. Now, I normally favor more flavorful gravies but I have to say this one really worked. The gravy was much thicker than the usual kurma sold elsewhere, so it clings well to the steamed rice. The mild flavor lent the rice a fragrance without overpowering the taste of the other dishes accompanying the meal. Slurp!

All in all, a satisying meal, worth the trip I had made (two trips, actually - the first time I went, it was closed) just to try it out. Truly, madly, deeply sedap!