Xuan Xin Steamboat BBQ @ Gurney Plaza

Xuan Xin has so far got 3 outlets in total in Gurney Plaza itself, 1 being a restaurant serving fried noodles and Chinese dishes, 1 serving mainly ramen (Xuan Xin Ramen Kitchen), and this new 1, a steamboat BBQ place. There is also another steamboat BBQ restaurant in Tanjong Tokong. 

This place differs a little from the steamboat restaurant in Tanjong Tokong as it cooks in "lok-lok" style. That means, you pay per stick and sticks' prices are denoted with different colour flags. The flags come in six colours in total with brown at RM10, black at RM6, red at RM3, grey at RM2.50, blue at RM2, green at RM1.50 and yellow at RM1. Practically, to be able to have a stick at as low as RM1 is considered very affordable. 

In conjunction with the opening of this outlet, ezivoucher offers 10 sticks (5 blue and 5 green) at only RM8.80 (excluding soup price). I was lucky to see this offer in time to grab it. 

bbq corner

the bbq man

large fridge to keep food fresh

this place is super packed!!

our freshly-done bbq chicken

We chose a combination of 2 soup base (chicken and tomyam) which cost us RM6. I must compliment how Penangites are so up-to-date with newly opened restaurants and each a place has a new restaurant, it will deifnitely be packed with people. Of course I must admit I am one of them. *blush* 

And, perhaps they didn't expect so many people to turn up, they definitely have a hard time keeping up their stocks. Almost all the food finished as soon as they were brought out of the kitchen. We had to keep to 30 blue and 30 green flagged sticks (according to our vouchers), something we found pretty hard to do as well because there weren't many blue choices. :(

We also prefer to cook using soup than to have our food barbequed as most of the barbequed stuff are too salty. Perhaps, over marinated?

Where at?

7th floor, Gurney Plaza, right next to SenQ

Tel no: 04-2260830

Bar B. Q. Plaza @ Gurney Plaza

An old pal who is working overseas came home recently. She told me she was looking for something different other than usual delicacies and healthy as well. Since I have never tried Bar B.Q. Plaza, I suggested that we gave it a try after seeing some good reviews about it.
Menu varies and is separated mainly into 3 categories - family set, supreme set and economy set. These sets are then sub-categorized into deluxe, mixed, pork, seafood and beef. After pondering over the menu for a while, we decided to take the "supreme seafood" set which comes with fish fillet, squid, shrimp, chicken, jelly fish, scallop, udon, sliced cabbage, baby corn, lettuce and tomato. We also added kimchi and pork as side dishes.

 notice this place uses a green dragon as its mascot

the green dragon right outside of the shop

the barbeque sauce(a mix of cut chilli, garlic and squeezed lime)

kimchi RM3.90

pork RM5.50

our supreme seafood set RM35.90

 

the hot plate

spreading lard on the hot plate

cooking raw meat on the hot plate (cooks pretty fast!!) the annulus of the hot plate contains soup, most people cook vegetables in it

All the above meat were not marinated but taste very healthily delicious.
For first timers like me, this cooking method is indeed an awe and probably creating question marks on how to use the hot plate to cook the food. Well, no worries because this place has pretty friendly waiters/waitresses who are ready to tell you step-by-step on how to do it. If not, you can also refer to their "cooking manual" available on each table. :)

Where at?
B1-05 Basement Old Wing (adjacent to Gurney Plaza's main food court)

Tel no: 04-2281487

Town Steamboat @ Macalister Road

It has been almost a year since my last steamboat for non-CNY (Chinese New Year) purpose. For most people of the olden days, steamboat is only the event for Chinese New Year reunion purposes. Don't know why but if you talk about reunion for Chinese New Year, it has got to be steamboat!

As this tradition still continues its journey, steamboat gathering is nothing awkward nowadays. People would go to steamboat for just a simple dinner or lunch but i find out that most steamboat restaurants operate only at night. Even if they were to operate during lunch, i suspect there will be many patrons as Malaysia weather is too hot to bear, moreover having steamboat when mr.sun scorches strongest during the mid-day.

Town steamboat consists of a very big space. A rough count tells it can cater up to 80 tables with each table having the capacity of sitting up to 5 people. You can do the math! ;)

For RM20.90 per person, there are actually a vast variety of food to choose from comparing with its other counterparts.

mini fountain at its entrance

man-painted fountain (looks real huh?)

  they have a built-in play area for kids 

 1st section: raw meat/fish balls, meat

 2nd section-fried stuff: dim-sum, lok-lok (how interesting to be having this in an already a steamboat place)

3rd section-desert corner: black herbal jelly, mango pudding, ice cream, cakes, fruits

my companion for the night

While such bbq cum steamboat restaurants don't usually last long, Town Steamboat seems to be progressing their way through and really maximising their profit over this business. It has been more than 3 years since their emergence. Another pioneer bbq steamboat restaurant is the one along Nagore Lane, more frequented by teenagers.

The newer one which is more preferable by most diners is the Xuan Xin steamboat whereby you do not need to do the bbq by yourself.

Where at?
Macalister Road, right opposite of UMNO building

Tel no: 04-2297273

Tsurukame Shabu Shabu @ Queensbay Mall

It was my first time to enter a Japanese which offers buffet steamboat. This is a newly opened restaurant on the third floor, in front of "Queens Food Market" food court of Queensbay mall. Very uniquely decorated which a selection to sit outside or inside of the restaurant.

entrance look from the second floor

main entrance

decorations

their menu

inari sushi-RM8

potato salad-RM7

agedashi tofu-RM6

nabe kimuchi-RM20

chi jimi-RM12

I would say the food is comparatively reasonable with that of other Japanese's. However, i don't quite find them delicious. And thus, i don't think i am going back again. Besides, the dishes for steamboat are put on the conveyor belt and they don't look as fresh.

Where at?
3F Queensbay Mall

Tel no: 04-6435260

steamboat at Xuan Xin

Have been craving for steamboat for the past whole month and to my surprise the last time i had steamboat was during the Chinese New Year. So, can't really blame that i have such a crave. And so after looking through the available steamboat restaurants in Penang, my pals and i have finally decided on Xuan Xin, Tanjung Tokong, Penang.
This place offers a wide variety of choices for steamboat in buffet style. They also have bbq whereby you don't need to do it by yourself as there will be a bbq chef waiting in his "cubicle" and all you have to do is make the pick. They also have a variety of soups from basic chicken soup to tomyam to papaya (November's special) to broth and many more.
Besides that, they also cooked meals such as fried rice, fried noodles, fried chicken, fried mantou, wedges. As for other side dishes, they have rojak, dessert and ice cream.

starter dish

varieties of fishballs

vegetables-a must for "steamboaters"

our soup selection for the evening-clear chicken and tomyam

types of sauce-must try the sambal-like sauce on the left

prawns-fresh according to my friend

our bbq plate consisting of squids,fish,chicken and pork

rojak-ooh, i love this so much!! the sauce is super good!!

all drinks are free flow and you have 3 selections i.e orange, green tea (above right) and blackcurrent (above left)

 isn't it nice to end every meal with everyone's favorite dessert?-the ice cream which comes in 6 flavours!!

Price is RM27.50+ for adults and RM12+ for children age 6-12 years old.
Although a little pricey compared to other buffet style steamboat, i personally like this place better as first, it is air-conditioned and second the ventilation is better so you won't smell a single bbq "fragrant" on your body unlike other places.


Where at?
101, Jalan Tanjung Tokong, 10470
04-8996833