Trying out new food in Taiping

I returned to Taiping last weekend for the Merdeka break and for an event with the Cincai Group. Unfortunately, nobody really take photos that day and the professional photographer Mr. Khoo decided most of his photos are ugly and only wants to pass them over to me later. So, no blog post on the event until then.... That's if I still have the mood to crap about it lar!
Due to some personal reason, I'm still happily in Taiping now! Woo~hoo~! And as usual, I enjoy my time eating in my dearest hometown. Of course, I'm controlling myself since this is already the second week...
This time around, I'll be introducing some new places that I went for the first time and found them really interesting. Oh before I forget, here's the pork bone porridge I told Mr Khoo earlier... I don't know if any of you have try this before, but I believe it's my family's recipe. My mum would go to the guy who sells Siu Yok to buy these big bones and cook porridge with them. Trust me, its SUPER DELICIOUS!!! Vivian and I like sapu the whole pot that night! :pThis is the one yummy porridge I cannot cook myself in KL.... :(
Lemon Tree Seafood Restaurant, Matang
Matang is like a must-go for people who love seafood! We always go there whenever we want some nice and fresh seafood. But hor... This Lemon Tree Seafood Restaurant visit was really my first visit after so many years lor. I've been to the restaurant opposite it, next to it, yet, not Lemon Tree itself... Since I didn't want to have any rice, we came here just for the famous seafood porridge and fried oyster noodles. I think the seafood porrdige was great! Everything in it, the crab, the shark, the prawns are so damn fresh. And it actually comes with golden mushrooms! The oyster noodles was okay lar to me...A big pot of seafood porridge for only RM28, for 5 persons okay!!!
The very famous fried oyster noodles...
My favourite snails were a lil' overcooked that night... :(
Lao Liu Har a.k.a He Go, this one with Kung Po Style, was really nice too!
Potato Leaves with Sambal Prawns, one of my favourite dishes too!
My biggest recommendation would be the special fried eggplant! Anybody who is going to Lemon Tree MUST ORDER that dish! They fried the eggplant with some flour and then put some dried prawns kinda gravy over it... Really unique and tasty! 5 STAR for this one!!!Ooooohhhh... The fried eggplant!!! Delicious~!
Okay, with the above dishes, and chinese tea for 5, how much do you think the dinner cost?
I give you 5 seconds...

One

Two

Three

Four

Five...

The answer is... RM77.50!!!
Can you believe that???
I'm sorry but I didn't take a picture of the bill, but I remembered it says: Seafood porridge RM28, the rest RM46, and tea RM3.50. I was so freaking shocked! I mean, there are crab and shark in the porridge! And we had Lai Liu Har! For only less than RM100??? Now you understand why I always complain about food in KL are too expensive compared to the quality or even quantity???
Anywayz, the same night, I couldn't help but got myself some Chee Cheong Fun from Siang Malam! Yes! My recent favourite supper in Taiping!!! Yum~~~!!!Take-away Chee Cheong Fun from Siang Malam for supper~! Yee~Har~!
Shirlexia is looking very satisfied!!!

Hong Kong Dim Sum Corner @ Tai O（太湖）
I've heard about this place from my mum long time ago. It's not easy to find real Hong Kong Dim Sum in a small town like Taiping. Most of the Dim Sum here are pirated versions lar, like there is never prawns in a Har Gao, but just plain pork in it. That is why as I grow up, I don't like having Dim Sum in Taiping. Some people would actually drive to Ipoh to have Dim Sum!New place to have Dim Sum breakfast in Taiping!
Until my mum told me about this Dim Sum stall and I of course went to try it one morning.
Well, you cannot compare this to the ones I had in Perth or even in Hong Kong. But I can assure you this is the BEST Dim Sum you can get in Taiping, simply because there are real prawns in the Har Gao and Siu Mai(my mum insisted it's called 'Har Mai' in stead) lar! Of course you pay more than the ones with pork in it. But then it's worth it lor.Before that, my mum got some Siu Yok for us as starter! This is the pork hand lar, real nice part to eat! :p
The Dim Sum... I must say the best in Taiping's standard! Vivian and I love the round prawn ball with carrot and egg!

La Promise Bakery & Cafe, Jalan Panggung Wayang
If you remember the Piano Cafe, La Promise is the new cafe replacing that particular cafe which wasn't such a success in Taiping. If it's not XT, I wouldn't know about this place. Her father loves buying cakes from the cafe for her! And the boss is actually our senior back in Hua Lian, she was once the President of choir, so we all know her well.
Yesterday XT and I had our own catch-up over there.
Unlike most of you girls, I'm not really a fan of dessert. But I love cheese cake and some cakes that aren't made with too much of flour. So that day I picked the green tea cake while XT got the baked cheese cake. They were both yummy! I especially love the green tea one. It tastes a bit like the one at RT that is still my favourite cake of all! I later bought their special durian cake home and totally fell in love with it, even though I'm not a durian lover! The taste of the durian isn't too heavy, and it's not too sweet. Best of all, there are durian flesh in it! Oooohhh... LOVE IT!!!The Green Tea cake is awesome~!
The baked cheese cake is not too bad too... And you know what, I'm not the boss of the cafe although the abbreviation is... :p
XT ordered the Le Cordon Bleu which was not too bad but the mashed potatoes I ordered was awesome! Trust me, it's not whatever Maggie mashed potato you get at the cinema or 7-11! Once you eat it, you know it's completely homemade! Really nice lar~~~!!!The homemade mashed potatoes! Super nice!
Le Cordon Bleu... I would prefer the sides to be something more interesting though.
La Promise might not have too much varieties of food in their menu, but the cake itself, which are homemade are already enough for you to visit the cafe! And mind you, those cakes are made with less sugar and less whatever bad stuff you can think of lar! XT and I were already thinking of having our next CNY gathering here!We had some Librans' talk that day! Haha... I think we have no secret because we know each other too well lar... Ohya, you see the sleeves of my top? very special ler? I got it from Hong Kong! :)