The Picky Vegetarian Hogger goes to Langkawi, Malaysia

This post would be part two of my Malaysia, 2016 travel. The first part of the Malaysia 2016 travel can be found here. Since it is comparatively more difficult to come across vegetarian food when one travels, I thought I'd give a detailed account of where and what I ate and whether or not it was worth it. One general piece of advice? If you are a vegetarian and a picky one at that (a la yours truly), fresh fruits will be your best friend.

Langkawi, Malaysia

After the rather filling but disappointing toast at Gemini Cafe at Penang Airport, we boarded our uneventful flight to Langkawi, which lasted about an hour. Honestly, Langkawi Airport is one of the best airports I've ever been to. One you land, you walk the length of the runway to the airport and the view right from the runway is breathtaking! The cherry on the cake would be the road that snakes around the airport, Jalan Kuala Muda through which we drove several times and even stopped over because to the left you have the glittering magnificent sea and to the right you see an aircraft landing, all while the sun bathes the sky in its dusky hues.

We rented a car in Langkawi and drove around to all the places. Public transport is not very easily available and cabs can get costly if you are on a tight budget. From the Airport to our first accommodation, D' Bedang Studio is a 7km ride, which cost us MYR 22/-. Like I said, cabs can get costly. On the other hand, we rented a car at MYR 60/- per day [MYR 240/- for 4 (four) days, excluding fuel. Fuel in Malaysia is dirt cheap at MYR 1.80/- per litre on the dates we travelled; that comes to INR 16.66/- per litre. True story.

D' Bedang Studio is very close to Cenang beach which became our daily mecca just to stroll around the avenue, visit the beach, visit Cenang mall (free Wi-Fi ftw) and also make purchases from the duty free stores there. The other place we stayed at in Langkawi was Desa Terrace. It was close to D' Bedang Studio, more on the main road, and at close proximity to Cenang beach. Both our accommodations were well maintained, clean, pocket friendly and had yummy views. All the above being said, I do think Langkawi is an over rated touristy spot in Malaysia. I am more in love with Penang rather than Langkawi, truth be told.

Now that I have given an overview on our stay in Langkawi, let's talk about the food there:

1. When we first drove down to Cenang beach, we went to Old Town White Coffee at Cenang Mall because, coffee. I opted for the plain old White Coffee, the Plus One opted for the same with an addition of hazelnut flavour and peanut butter toast. While my coffee was the same old, the Plus One's coffee was actually rather disappointing since the hazelnut flavour was drowning out the strong coffee flavour. The peanut butter toast had to be the most disappointing. Imagine 4 slices of toast. Now imagine the crumbs removed. Not, imagine a tiny dollop of peanut butter toast applied on top of it. Dry, flaky, practically flavourless. Upon my return to India, my friend recommended a certain 'Kaya Toast' which is basically a combination of coconut, jam and butter on toast. It wasn't very appetising for me since I am not a coconut fan. Perhaps something you might like?
2. I have mentioned in my earlier post that I do not like the taste of eggs. I just thing it is too pungent to my liking. On a subsequent visit to Old Town White Coffee at Cenang Mall, I opted for French toast and regular white coffee with an addition of cham (creamer). 
   <digress>
   I am a big fan of French toast at Cafe Max in Bangalore. It is just the right amount to toast, butter, eggs, milk, cinnamon, maple syrup and honey. Just, perfect.
   </digress>
   The French Toast at Old Town White Coffee had this thick layer of egg, with very little of milk, cinnamon, and honey. I was gagging on it and the Plus One ended up licking the plate. The coffee was a disaster at another level. Turns out I am not a fan of cham (or creamer). It dilutes the coffee and makes it un-drink-ably creamy. Do not opt for this if you are a strong coffee fanatic like moi.
3. On the way to Langkawi Skybridge we stopped by Artisan's Pizza. We had a choice to make our own pizza, which we did! I am a big believer of pineapple-on-pizza. The toppings we opted for were cheese, pineapple, jalapenos, onions and black olives. Totally worth the prize. The staff was very, very friendly too. We really enjoyed ourselves here and made a mental note to return.
   <digress>
   The drive to Langkawi Skybridge is marvellous. Langkawi Skybridge itself, is a must-do on your itinerary. Yes, the entrance fee does lean on the costlier side, but the experience of walking on the Skybridge is simply fantastic. When we went, we were engulfed in monsoon clouds hitting us with strong winds and the occasional showers. The sky cleared up for just 20 seconds and we got a glimpse of some beautiful turquoise waters. The path to the Skybridge itself runs through forests, it is quiet, beautiful and doesn't attract a lot of fellow humans. So, do it!
   </digress>
   The Langkawi Skybridge has only one cafe at the top, called the Skybistro. Unfortunately I couldn't stomach a thing that was being prepared here so I skipped eating anything altogether except for my life-saving pears. Not to mention, the view from the Skybistro while you stuff your mouth is jaw dropping. Make sure not to drop any food.
4. While in Langkawi (or Penang) for that matter, instant cup noodles might end up becoming your best friend. Don't get scared by the variety of fauna shown on the outside, it is perfectly edible inside. In the days of my naivety, I opted for one vegetarian cup noodles. It was noodles, with an addition of salt and pepper. That's it. The disappointment was all-engulfing for me. Upon the Plus One's insistence, I sniffed his cup noodles which had a picture of egg and something grey-black on it. Surprisingly, it smelled and tasted exactly like our regular Maggi. I think the packaging was yellow and red, I really do think it is worth it. The cost is also very reasonable at MYR 2-4 for one cup.
5. For breakfast, we headed to Bread Story at Cenang. This is a decently sized store with a variety of breads! The aroma of freshly baked bread wafts in the store itself. They have a small area for seating with a beautiful view of baked goods stacked one upon the other. We opted for marble cake (delicious), vanilla cake (meh), Mango Sin (a round burger bun with a filling of mango cream - the taste of cream is overpowering), Garlic Stick (a long load of bread - full of all purpose flour - with a generous coating of butter, garlic and Dominos-like oregano, my favourite). The goods are a bit costlier than what they are worth. But, for one visit, it is all good.
6. For a late lunch one other day, we stopped by Yasmin Shawarma, a Syrian Restaurant at Cenang. They had one vegetarian option on their menu - the Falafel Vegetarian, chickpea fried patty, cabbage, spicy kimchi with mayo. While they make the dish right in front of you and it is just drool-worthy to watch, when I bit into the roll, it was pungently spicy and I was instantly put of by the smell and taste of cabbage. One piece of wisdom - never have cabbage with rolls; I am a big advocate of lettuce over cabbage in burgers and rolls. Anyway, for the price (MYR 10/-), it was a total waste, while the Plus One really enjoyed it -_-
7. I had mentioned in my earlier post that in Malaysia, fruits will be your best friends. You find huge, juicy and delicious pear, orange and apples here. I thoroughly enjoyed munching on fruits most of the time. There are not a lot of fresh fruit shops. There is one at Cenang (near Bread Story). In Penang we tried the dragon fruit (no great shakes) and an assortment of other fruits available in India as well. One piece of advice - the pear available here is to die for.
8. We also headed to Kuah one fine day and after gawking in a touristy way at the massive Eagle at Eagle Square, we went to a mall close-by. We ended up at McDonald's for lack of eating options and alas, they had literally zero vegetarian options. We went for the next best thing then since both of us were starving at that point. We opted for the chicken burger combo, while I happily munched away at the french fries, the Plus One gulped down the chicken burger. A combination of chilli sauce and ketchup is wonderful with french fries. Suffice to say, McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Starbucks failed me at my hungriest.
9. We read about night markets in Langkawi and decided to check them out. The deal with night markets is, the vendors are all more or less the same, only the location of the night market keepe changing every day of the week. The schedule is available in the link above. 
   The first one on the itinerary was the night market near Cenang. A night market in Langkawi sells practically everything, from clothes to fresh food to raw fish to shoes to toys to fresh groceries to freshly cooked meat. We weren't interested in purchasing anything but food here, so, we set off looking for vegetarian food for me and edible meat for the Plus One. We lucked out quite a bit in the vegetarian department, there was one stall which was selling exclusively potatoes including tornado potatoes, covered in a generous coating of salt, chilli powder and powdered cheese, potato wedges covered in lots of liquid cream and ketchup and even french fries. We opted for the first two and were not disappointed at all. Crispy on the outside and all potato-y goodness on the inside was the motto while making these dishes! There is one other dish called the 'Apam Balik' which is pancake batter [slightly sweet], poured out on a buttered skillet, wich is thick on the side but crumbly and crispy on the outside. The inside of this dish is given a generous addition of some more butter and coarsely ground peanuts. This is available at 50 sens a piece. A marvellous dessert at such cheap cost. Apam Balik is a must try when in Malaysia.
   One other night, we decided to visit the night market at Kuah, Langkawi. This time, in addition to the items mentioned above, we tried the vegetarian spring roll (pungent fish sauce/ fish oil smell and taste), vegetarian noodles (semolina turned to noodles with the fish sauce. fish oil), jelly juice (jelly is the flavour of the juice that was available; I am completely unaware of its origin, it tasted a bit like palm fruit or what we call in Tamil, nongu. I best like this culture of having chilled juices, whether originally flavoured or artificially, available at every nook and corner for as little as MYR 1-2/-. It really helps in dealing with the heat much better.) We also tried the local doughnut which was lightly flavoured, fluffy and just incredibly perfect enough to give Dunkin' Donuts a run for its money.
10. On the last day, while at Langkawi Airport, we ended up eating the maggi noodles mentioned in point (4) above along with what was called 'Cafe Mocha', which was nothing but coffee with Milo in it. Blrgh. This was at LGK Cafe at Langkawi Airport. They did have some other unappetising-looking food, which was enough to make me run for my flight without delay.
    <Digress>
    Did I mentioned, Milo as a chilled drink is a big thing here? As mentioned in point (9), along with other juices, even Milo is kept alongside, dunked in ice to quench that unbearable thirst!
    </Digress>

Next post on our time spent in Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur! Stay tuned.

If you need any more information, do drop me an email on tenpointeverything@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!

The Picky Vegetarian Hogger goes to Penang, Malaysia

Hello, lovelies!

My two week long trip to Malaysia concluded recently. And the amount of suffering I have had to endure being a vegetarian in the hands of the fantastic country that Malaysia is, I thought I'd write a blog post about it. Just so the post doesn't get too long, I shall break this up into three (3) posts and I hope you find this helpful.

Background

After about a month's planning, the Plus-One and I finally settled on a two week long trip to Malaysia. We decided to cover Penang, Langkawi, Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur. If you wish to get a brief idea of our costs for the whole trip of two weeks to the aforementioned places:

1. Flight cost - approximately INR 10,000/- per head for the following legs:
   (a) Bangalore - Kochi - Kuala Lumpur - Kochi - Bangalore
   (b) Penang - Langkawi
   (c) Langkawi - Kuala Lumpur
2. Stay - approximately INR 5,000/- per head
3. We allocated approximately INR 25,000/- totally for food and drinks [I love food. I love food.]
4. We allocated approximately INR 10,000/- for miscellaneous costs, say, renting vehicle(s), purchasing gift(s), liquor, etc.

What I didn't account for above is how not-so-friendly Malaysian food is for vegetarians. Might I add, picky vegetarians who do not even like the taste of egg. Here's some insight.

Penang, Malaysia

We took a train from KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth (4 hour train ride), then a ferry (15-30 min) to Penang and walked down (15 min) to Kim Haus Loft. Quite a journey, I tell you. Took us about 5 hours to get to our accommodation from Kuala Lumpur and I really enjoyed every bit of it. Also, our accommodation for the next 4 days, Kim Haus Loft was excellent; I certainly intend to revisit Penang and stay at Kim Haus itself! Kim Haus Loft used to be a goldsmith shop before it was converted into a loft. The rooms are tiny, perfect and the space management that has gone into converting this place into a living space is just mind boggling.

As for the food, Penang is a coastal area, obviously known for its sea food. Apparently known to everyone else but yours truly. Naive that I was, the Plus-One and I walked into a local food market, sew all the fried food items on display and got excited. Point to note here, the Plus-One is open to experiment with anything; I on the other hand, get to be jealous of him, on good days. We eagerly walk toward one of the stalls where the staff promptly ask us if we are from India and upon knowing our whereabouts in India, we happily start conversing in Tamil [well, the Plus-One did a fantastic job of saying "Tamil illa, Tamil illa"]. That's when I thought I'd take a chance and asked him if even one item was vegetarian only to get a hearty laugh from him. So much for hunger pangs. FML, really. The Plus-One enjoyed seafood for a bit, turns out it ain't suitable to his taste buds. Lesson learnt: I saw the different kind of sea animals that exist on Earth! Well, used to. Because there in the market they were all dead. I'll try not to get morbid again in the post.

Let's talk coffee first. 

1. By far, the best black coffee in Malaysia is the "Kopi-O" coffee. In essence, it is a bag of coffee and sugar (a la tea bag, minus the sugar), dropped into hot water and served as black coffee. The. Absolute. Best. I had this on our train from KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth. The first and last time I had it until I discovered point (2) below.
2. By far, the best regular coffee (white coffee) in Malaysia is the "regular white coffee" at Old Town White Coffee. They're a cafe chain and serve something called 'Regular White Coffee'. Yes, they do have several variations, but I am a simple creature like that and stick to basics. The coffee is just the right blend with just the right flavour and smoothness. And the best part for me? The coffee is made strong with some yummy, creamy milk and sweetener.

Best places for vegetarian food in Penang, Malaysia, list of items I ate and how it was:

1. The day we arrived at Georgetown, Penang, we headed to Chulia Court (so much for street food and cheap travel, eh?) for some late lunch. We opted for Spagghetio Aglio Olio with French Fries and beer (Skol and Royal Stout). While the spaghetti had quite of bit on inedible raw vegetables in it, the french fries were rather a saving grace. Skol beer is to Malaysia what Foster's is to India. Let's not even get to Royal Stout because I despise dark brews. Did I mention that the Royal stout was a warm beer?
2. The next day (we passed out the whole evening and night), we headed to Wheeler's Coffee, Georgetown, Penang for some filling breakfast. My excitement couldn't be contained because they were playing my kind of music (oh, hey, mama, hey, mama!) and had exactly one (1) vegetarian option on their menu. The vegetable panini. This was an extremely yummy sandwich I tell you. The butter dripping all over the place along with the fat from the cheese adding that extra bit of creaminess, need I mention the exotic vegetables? Huff! Shall certainly return here, I know that for sure!
3. For some dessert, we opted to head to the rather cute and small Rainforest Bakery. Since I got the option of picking dessert, without hesitation I opted for the chocolate eclair and felt a pang as I taok my first bite. Because it was not the fantastic explosion of cream and chocolate I had expected. It was more stale, cold and unwelcoming, really. The Plus-One is a gem, I tell you. He is not a person who likes to waste food and would happily eat just about anything without complaints. So, the Plus-One ended up wiping the plate clean on this disappointing eclair. At that point, I would have settled for Cadbury Eclair.
4. After about half a day with no proper food for me (I believe I subsisted on fruits only) and in dire need of food, I dropped the facade for wanting local food and headed to Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant at Little India in Penang. Oh, boy, did I welcome the badly made Mysore masala dosa and filter coffee. Yes, it was an expensive affair, but I had gone practically one and a half days without proper food and I was really annoyed by that point.
   If I may digress a bit, even the local vegetarian food that we found there had this pungent flavour (perhaps from fish oil or fish sauce; please do correct me if I am mistaken) that I just could not stomach. Even the Plus-One had had enough of that flavour by the time we returned to India. This made it all the more difficult for me to find food because you mainly find Noodles or Rice there and every dish has this pungent flavour. There is no escape. None. Hence, the fruits!
5. The next day, we lucked out. We decided to head for brunch instead of lunch and made it somewhere near Chinatown in Penang. Lo and behold, we witnessed a food festival in progress. Meats and vegetables of all shapes, sizes and flavours being mixed together with noodles and rice. When we reached the end of one of the stalls, we found something on the menu that baffled us. It was called "Indian noodles". Just to confirm, we found a serving staff and asked whether the "Indian noodles" was vegetarian. They confirmed it was. We ordered that and one other dish which turned out to be pho, with flat noodles, again, vegetarian.
   This "Indian noodles" was nothing but vermicelli-noodles, again with the pungent flavour, but in much less quantity. The pho, fortunately, did not have that flavour at all. While the Plus-One enjoyed a bit of both, I relished the pho. Did I mention the huge serving size? Ouch.
   We were also happily informed by the staff (once they came to know we were Indians) that this food festival had only vegetarian food. All the meat we saw earlier? Mock meat. And the day we went there was the last day of such festival. Though we didn't get to enquire into the festival or the happenings, I did find this link on the 'Nine Emperor Gods festival' that might be helpful for you.
6. One fine late noon, the Plus-One and I decided to give a visit to L'amitie Cafe, right next to Wheeler's Coffee in Georgetown, Penang since even they were playing our kind of music. We decided to order a vegetarian pizza (yes, the only one vegetarian option on the menu, literally) and were disappointed that they didn't serve beer. What was served to us was beyond shocking. Out came a pie looking pizza with a one inch think layer of mozzarella cheese (do note that mozzarella turns cold quickly and also turns rubbery when cold), with a base layer of chilli sauce and vegetables. Though the intent of the staff there and the pizza was nice (-ish?), I was practically choking on the pizza and gave up after one and a half slices. The staff was disinterested in work. By staff I mean 4 teenage boys busy flirting with another teenage girl; my mistake, shouldn't have expected attention, really. Also, the service was terribly slow.
7. For dessert after the above disastrous lunch, the Plus-One and I decided to try some Green Tea pastry at the Moustache Houze, right opposite Kim Haus Loft. The place is kept clean and tidy and seems to be regular of several people there. Although I found the pastry a bit stale, too creamy and having a bit, inexplicable sweet taste, the Plus-One seemed to enjoy it. Oh, well, to each his own. I do admire the concept of Green Tea pastry thought; I had never, ever heard of it until then. I think the people running Moustache Houze are rather inventive and I like that.
8. I bit the dust and finally succumbed to the sweet, sweet beckoning of fresh bread, vegetables and sauces at Subway, Gurney Plaza, Penang. I really do not have much to add here since we're all aware of how Subway is. I ordered the Veggie Delight which cost me MYR 7.50, the bread was tasty, the cheese was okay, the vegetables were fresh and the sauces were lip smacking. Finding a Subway at Malaysia has to be every choosy vegetarian's dream come true, really.
9. The Plus-One tried some coconut milkshake, called the Coconut Rio at The Milkshake Factory. I only had a sip of this because at that point of time, I was down with a bad bout of cold, but boy, oh, boy, that has to be one of the best milkshakes I've ever had. It was as thick as firmly formed curd, so full of flavour and the staff were an absolute delight to interact with! The milkshake was basically three scoops of ice cream, one full serving of coconut water with added white chocolate. I am eagerly awaiting their arrival in India. And my next trip to Penang will certainly include multiple trips to this store all hale and hearty to try out the motley of flavours they have to offer.
10. While the Plus-One was enjoying his coconut milkshake, I had my first ever sip of the supposedly famous 'white coffee of Penang' at Old Town White Coffee. To start off, their serving size is huge for a 'small' order. Second, they add cream, milk and sweetened cream to the coffee that makes it so delicious that you will actual consider purchasing their mix only to realise that they sell only the coffee powder and not the entire mix. It is a shame I can't mimic their coffee. But my next trip to Penang certainly includes revisiting Old Town White Coffee for my piping hot morning cuppa. You should certainly try it too.
11. On our way to Langkawi, we stopped by the Gemini Cafe at Penang Airport. We had two Pakistanis as our serving staff who were rejoicing at speaking Hindi with us. I ordered the Sardine on Toast, which was the only vegetarian option on the menu that I would have. But, I also made it very, very clear to the staff that I only and only wanted butter and veggies in my toast and nothing else. They fortunately agreed to stick to my exact instructions and thus ended our 4 days at Penang. While the sandwich was no great shakes, it certainly was filling.

Please do drop me an email at tenpointeverything@gmail.com if you have any additional questions, I will be more than happy to answer them all. Alternatively, you may drop a comment below and I shall respond to it. I profusely apologise for the long absence.

Thank you for reading!