PENANG STORIES
5 New Food Spots at Icon City
Icon
City, a new commercial development along Jalan Bukit Tengah, Bukit Mertajam,
has recently become the new talk of town. The 10-acres business district sees
the opening of numerous restaurants and cafes; there are plenty of safe options
available - Japanese restaurants, Chinese Restaurants, Korean restaurants but
the recent influx of new, hip and modern concept of F&B establishments has
gradually changed the area into a haven of hipsterdom… a rival to the
well-established Auto City nearby. Ken Tho recommends 5 food
spots at Icon City:
Kaze Japanese Restaurant
Kaze
Japanese Restaurant occupies one whole building at Icon City instead of having
it shared with someone else. Inside the restaurant is slick with a mixture of
pale and bold timber walls, illuminated by warm yellow lighting with touches of
Japanese knick-knacks. Though slightly more expensive than average, the
service provided was top-notch and food quality was a class above the rest. The
bible-thick menu includes a series of classic Japanese dishes such as sushi
rolls, ramen, barbecue skewers and teishoku. Their secret weapon is probably
their air-flown sashimi. Set Lunch starts from RM 25+.
[Set
Lunch] Sashimi, Sushi and Mini Udon Set (RM38) that comes with a bowl of
comforting udon with dashi stock, fresh sashimi and a few choices of sushi. The
raw fish slices were fresh and appropriately cut. Do not look down on their
Chawanmushi either, it may seem overly simple and bland but it was velvety
smooth with a burst of sweet dashi-essence (ginkgo, kani and shrimp were
included). Everything was straightforward without unnecessary frills, though
freshness was the key and we were glad that Kaze did it right.
Ebi Tamago Toji Jyu To Shake Sashimi Set (RM38) may be a little too heavy for
some, the deep fried prawns were pretty standard-average but they excel in the
thick, fresh salmon sashimi. Depending on your personal preference, we thought
both options were value for money. Kaze's set lunches is only available from
11.30am to 2pm daily.
Contact Number: +604- 506 0381
Address: 20 & 22, Jalan Icon City, 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
GPS Coordinates: 5.344070, 100.434356
Business Hours:
Weekdays: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6pm - 10.15pm
Weekends & Public Holidays: 11.30am - 10.15pm
Fourspoons Dessert Cafe
Waffle
lovers… rejoice! Icon City at Bukit Mertajam has just become a little sweeter,
thanks to the new opening of a dessert cafe - Fourspoons; the cafe is also one
of the latest additions to the ever-expanding ice cream scene in Penang.
Fourspoons Dessert Cafe sits on Level 1 of one of the buildings at Icon City;
it serves some lip-smacking home-made soft serve along with their expertly
crafted waffles. The interior decor is simple, clean and straightforward. If
you wish to sit down and enjoy the sweet frozen treat, there are a few small
tables and a long wooden communal table along the window. Fourspoons Dessert
Cafe is not the place for a full-fledged meal but rather, a homey and
comfortable space to enjoy a sweet chilled treat.
There
are plenty of options available when it comes to ice cream. Diners have to
decide between Fourspoons' home-made soft serve and the premium Kapiti ice
cream; we decided to go for the former. We had their best-seller: Waffles with
Black Sesame and Matcha Green Tea Soft Serve (RM16.50). Honey was lightly drizzled
over the crispy-crusted waffles, the inside was airy and light; it was good to
go on its own but if you fancy the hot and cold combination, top it with their
soft serve. I'd personally prefer their Black Sesame Soft Serve over Matcha; it
has a bold sesame flavor as though I was having Black Sesame Tong Sui in a
different form. Not that the Matcha flavor was weak but it paled in comparison
with the former one. There were some corn flakes at the bottom of the soft
serve either.
Address: 48-1, Jalan Icon City, 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
GPS Coordinates: 5.343756, 100.433850
Business Hours: 3 pm to 12 am. Closed on every Monday.
Rakkii Izakaya
Arriving late for lunch at Icon City might get you into trouble as most
restaurants are closed after 2.30pm, though they will reopen for dinner at 6pm.
Rakkii Izakaya seems deceivingly quiet from outside, had we not entered the
place to check it out, we would not know that they serve set lunch. The
name "Izakaya" gives an impression that the place opens in the
evening and serves light snacks to go with alcohol; in fact, Rakkii Izakaya is
a Japanese-fusion restaurant that serves full-fledged menu covering appetizers,
ramen, mains (Japanese rice dishes) and even desserts. The setting is spacious
and the decors are Japanese-influenced with a huge bar counter displaying
various Japanese-sake bottles. The menu may put you off with hefty prices but
as far as quality is concerned, they are quite good at it.
Noodle
lovers may want to try Rakkii's Spicy Shrimp Noodles (RM42), which said to be
one of their signature dishes. It may appear like the conventional Japanese
ramen but with a fusion-touch; angel hair pasta was used in lieu of
ramen-noodles. Ingredients like deep fried breaded tiger head prawns with
Ajitsuke Tamago were also present, swimming in a pool of rich, thick seafood
broth and a layer of chili oil. Bountifully served, we enjoyed the sweet
seafood broth packed by a chili punch. Alternatively, try their set lunch - Egg
Plant Mapo Tofu Rice, with Hot and Spicy Soup, Shrimp Gyoza with Vinegar Sauce
and Deep Fried Mantao with Condensed Milk (RM39), top RM4 for guava juice. We
love the soft-boiled egg, the flowing egg yolk just makes everything more
delicious. The mapo tofu has the right thickness, not too starchy nor
overly-diluted. The egg plants were nicely cooked too, not slouchy and with the
presence of some minced pork, it was perfect to go with the steaming hot rice.
The mapo tofu was not spicy but the hot and sour soup would be sufficed to make
you sweat.
Contact Number: +604- 505 4167
Address: No. 61, Jalan Icon City, 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
GPS Coordinates: 5.342586, 100.433162
Business Hours: 12pm - 10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.
Hideout Café
If
you feel like starting your day with a western-fusion breakfast, try Hideout
Café. Early risers will be glad to find out that they have a range of both
Western and Oriental dishes for you to kick start your day. If you are not the
usual big breakfast kind of person, go for Oriental ones - Nasi Lemak and Chili
Pan Mee just to name a few. Seats are comfortably arranged with ample space in
between... suitable for those who wish to visit in a big group.
If
you wish for something light, try their Salmon Carpaccio (RM13.90). Two slices
of smoked salmon sitting on a raft of fresh arugula with some sweet-pickled
stuff. All elements were nicely matched and paired but we thought the dish was
a misnomer. We were expecting fresh and raw salmon in lieu of smoked salmon but
probably the latter option would suit the local palate more. It’s a good option
to assuage the guilt in the fear of over-indulgence for meat.
Contact Number: +604- 502 6611
Address: 60, Jalan Icon City, 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
GPS Coordinates: 5.342282, 100.433475
Business Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 9am - 11pm
Friday and Saturday: 9am - 12am
Ittan Izakaya
It's
easy to notice Ittan Izakaya, thanks to the flashy colorful flags with Japanese
characters right outside the restaurant, waving and luring Japan-philes to
flock in. Fresh seafood is the thing at Ittan Izakaya, it boasts about their
air-flown seafood, directly imported from Tsukiji Wet Market Tokyo; seemingly
aiming to be the apex in serving the freshest sashimi in town. Step in the
restaurant and be wow-ed by the interior decor - filled with wooden crates and
Japanese-character embellishments. We actually thought they moved the entire
fish market here!
The most important thing about sushi/ sashimi
would be freshness and to do this, restaurants must sell boatload of them to
keep the stocks coming. We were glad to find out that all of their sashimis
were fresh and appropriately sliced to the right thickness... and the texture
was not compromised but what made us excited was the texture of the Japanese
rice. It was served to us warm and at the perfect sticky-chewy texture - just
the way we wanted it to be! We enjoyed most of them except... the minced
version. The texture was somewhat rough to our liking. We'd recommend their
Salmon Sashimi Don (RM20.20), a value-for-money order. If you are game for
something exotic, Chicken Sashimi is your choice. We hesitated at first but
decided to try... for novelty experience. To our surprise, the Chicken Sashimi
(RM12) possessed the soft-mushy texture just like fish sashimi, sans the
Umami-after taste. It had a nary of flavor, more like biting a piece of usual
soft and juicy meat.
Contact Number: +604- 502 6649
Address: No. 43-1-2, Jalan Icon City, Icon City, 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
GPS Coordinates: 5.345590, 100.434657
Business Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 4pm - 1am
Friday and Saturday: 4pm - 2am
Sunday: 4pm - 1am