Banana Café @ Chulia Street

Place/Venue:

Banana Café @ Chulia Street, Georgetown

Environment
Well, first off I would like to say it is a pretty nice place to drink and to have small chit-chats. Well that’s about it, then because if you were to expect air conditioning (its quite warm here) and nice lounge music, then you wont find it here and that my friends, is pretty sad because I think it would be great to have a café like this could be much nicer with these elements. But they stay true to their cause which is to attract tourist (as this is a tourist “hot spot” site) with rather CHEAP drinks (which I like) and moderate food servings (Well shall get to that in a while). Here you can see many people, especially tourist drinking their coffees or whatever, while renting the laptops that they provide for like a RM3 per hour thing. The WiFi service here is however, free of charge! This place is just crowding with business! I don’t mean customers here, because I currently don’t see any,( I hope they do have more then what I am seeing right now) but all sorts of business! From tourist guides, to laundry to whatever that goes behind those closed doors in the back, but all safe I suppose, I see no threats here.
Verdict: 6/10

Food
Well so far I haven’t personally tried the food here but I think it would be rather moderate. I mean if you want to come here, it must be more for the drinks! Beer lovers here get to enjoy their beers ranging from RM7-8 for a Tiger, Skool, Jazz, Carlsberg, Royal Stout and est. For coffee lovers? Well if its not for the coffee then the prices would sound good! How about a white coffee for RM2 huh? Not bad eh? And I thought these place because of the tourist and all will katok us kau-kau on their pricing! Lemon and English tea for RM2 as well! Wow….For all you cheap skates out there and not-so-cheap-skates, who would enjoy a good cheap drink and free WiFi, this is close to your paradise cafe! Well but you know what they say, if you pay peanuts, you get peanuts, and the drinks that you pay cheap for, comes cheaply. But I guess that wont be a problem for chin chai people like us Malaysians, anything also boleh one right? =D

And there’s a guest house here! The prices are also quite reasonable as I think an air conditioned room is like RM35 and a non is like RM 25. How you want to use it,I don’t know. Hmm…interesting though!

Verdict: 5/10

Service
The service here is actually not bad, well of course we came in while football was on and the guy reluctantly left his undying gaze at the big projected screen on the wall (With no volume, yes that sucks as well) to serve us. Well the service is generally okay, not much to comment on that. The workers are pretty patient as well. After warning us several times that the shop was closing as we sat still and unmoved, he then moved to read the news paper! Was quite considerate of him la, and I thank him for that.
Verdict: 6/10

Marketing
Marketing! Well, first of all, there’s nothing much to market here. Among the other row of shop houses along this street, this shop doesn’t really stand out, unless if you want to judge the shop by its bigger size and wider space among the rest. This shop has nothing about banana to it as well, but the name somehow still fits in here though. The thing which I hate is that it closes at 1 a.m. on a Saturday….come on! 1 a.m. on a Saturday??? That’s really crazy wei! Who would want to close up at one on a Saturday? Are you trying to chase your customers away? (Or should I say new potential customers) I was so going to introduce this place to my friends but now, nada, not a place to go if you’re the late/early birds of the night!)
Verdict: 4/10


OVERALL VERDICT: 6/10
Well, this place is generally okay, but improvement on the closing time would be good! Really good! Also if they prepare their powdered drinks better, I think the quality of this place would really shoot up!

Okay I really have to go now, its after closing g time and I think the waiters are really waiting, I’ll leave first and do hope the other tables would be considerate enough to follow me. (They still have a lot of unfinished drinks on the table). See ya!

Fancy Spanish League football for all you Spanish footie fans , I suggest you go home or watch it at a 24hour mamak stall . Barclays Premier League at 1am kick off , I would also suggest you go to a 24 hour mamak stall. Good Night =)

Sri Ananda Bahwan @ Tanjung Bungah

Place/Venue:

Sri Ananda Bahwan @ Tanjung Bungah (opp. Crown Jewel Hotel)

Environment

I must say I was quite impressed with the place. One word....COZY! Their interior is (oowwhhh) relaxing to the eyes. One thing I really like is their tables and chair. They have one side of normal tables and chairs and the other looks like a hut with picnic tables and benches style. It really makes me feel like I’m on holiday. If you were to go during the day, you won’t feel hot as the place is QUITE cooling. I would recommend people to go there for a meal and chit chat with friends or even bringing clients there. I like the free WiFi there as well, one of the other main reasons why I find myself heading over to that place :)

Verdict: 8/10

Food

The food here is quite good la, I might say. They have a variety of food choices mainly Indian cuisine. They do even have American breakfast...hmm. You got to try their Chicken Butter Masala (its chicken + tomato spicy gravy + butter) and as for their drinks, try Mango Lassi. It’s thick (unlike some places I went to - so watery!). They have whatever you want in a mamak stall and the price is somewhat reasonable (can’t say much because they are near to hotels and all ) Oh yeah if you order kopi ais or any drink that you used to order in mamak stall , don’t be surprise if your drink is HALF THE SIZE from the regular mamak hangouts L. Their “papadam” that they used to give to customers for free last time is NOW RM1 for it! :( (I think people like me kept asking them to refill until they just had to charge lol)

Verdict: 6/10

Service

I think the staff here, performance wise - can still improve. They are quiteee friendly (most of them la), but can be improved to be better. Some of them just need to learn how to smile. Their response time to take your order and deliver quite fast lo, so if you are hungry no worries! The manager of the place is friendly. Like I said, a simple courtesy to the tables brings a long way and he does that to the customers. Well done!

Verdict: 7/10

Marketing

As for the marketing side, the staffs actually welcome you at the entrance. Now that’s what I call treated importantly! The manager is friendly too. Many people from various backgrounds and status chill here too. Only one thing is they do not have CCTV! I’ve kind of misplaced my hand phone last time and went back to search for it, they just told me sorry I do not know where is it and as for me things lost look at the CCTV and BUT! Aihhh, unfortunately they don’t have one. (Quite sad la) This place closes very “late tho”. As in “”…OMG! Common people! Its only 12 am and you’re closing up your shop!! It’s a Saturday night and I think you might be expecting people to chat and stay a little while longer don’t you? Well, not too good on that….

Verdict: 5/10

OVERALL VERDICT: 7/10

Well, overall it’s quite okay, for a quick meal or drink la…BUT to hang around till the early morning (which would be nice, BUT they don’t have that policy) really spoilt the mood. I mean, don’t they think of the young people?! Well besides that, it’s overall a good place! I like it! (Except the no-midnight hangout policy which really sucked for me). Besides that, go check it out! :)

1st mangsa! -> Mr. Pot@Gurney Drive, Penang!

Place/Venue:

Mr. Pot @ Gurney drive

Environment

If you love seaside view, checking out cars passing by along gurney drive ( u may spot a few sporty cars and a lot of VROOM VROOM noisy cars also) and looking at strollers then this is a place for you to be. Oklah minus the Vroom Vroom, it offers a good strategic location for you to sit down, relax, enjoy the view, chit and chat with your friends and a good getaway after working hours of stress in your office and “boss”. I do go to Mr. Pot mostly everyday (now less d ...aihh economy boh sui ler) but the reason I’m at Mr. Pot is because of the relaxing environment. I’m quite fussy when come to place to hangout and all but I found Mr. Pot is my getaway from sun (in the afternoon) and traffic jam (during peak hours) The place is cosy, the chairs are comfy and the lightings are ease to the eyes (unlike some place I could get blind and practically people can see any tiny stains on my shirt) Oh yeah and it’s a good WiFi spot also if you plan to surf the net during free time (like me right now)

(Verdict: 7/10)

Beverage

Mr. Pot. I always wondered why they call that. Are they a Tea House place? Hmm I found out that their signature drink is their Mr. Pot White Coffee. It’s the white coffee which is famous. It’s good and the price if want to compare to coffee bean or starbucks, you can’t complain. One thing I like is that there’s no SERVICE CHARGE or GOVERNMENT TAX ! Bagus ! Bagus!

(Verdict: 6/10)

Service

Yes Mr. Pot is a nice place to hangout with friends and customers but we are very fussy when come to service. Reason it’s not that I want to bully the waiter/waitress but that’s just us. We pay for the service. As the place is nice and cosy but….the waiters I think they can improve a lot in presenting themselves properly. Try speaking English to them and they’ll be like huh? What? They do understand but have to put the slow mo effect into it. Their response time to take order is roughly about like….10 seconds? (non peak hours) and 20 seconds(peak hours) and the delivery of your order time would be hmm just say it’s quiteeeeeeeeeeeee slow . Do note that there are good waiter/waitress also so it’s somehow balanced (I guess)

One thing I got to praise is their boss. He is one of the friendliest boss I’ve ever met. He knows how to take care of his staff and his customers very well. A simple courtesy like “Hello how are you doing”, really goes a long way for the customers. I’m really impressed by his service and the way he runs the place

(Verdict: 5/10)

(Verdict for the boss: 8/10)

Marketing

The marketing here has improved a lot since my last visit here (2 months ago) especially on the areas of placing new small, and I do mean SMALL printout on the walls. If you really notice, you will see some small brochure on SOME tables as well.

I guess that what I expect, so nothing much to complain about here. I sure wish the waiter/waitress gave me more information on the new beverage and all, but oh well.

He has upgrade to a plasma screen TV from the FAT old fashioned TV and a mini library. Impressive. Bagus! Bagus!

Until the next episode

(Verdict: 6/10)

Overall Verdict: (7/10!)

It’s okla! A nice place to hang and WiFi Age here, (Or size if some people are sensitive) doesn’t matter here. Not bad! Not bad indeed…

.

Until Next Time !

(Hungry now, gonna get something to makan!)

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OK basically this is how our system work.

We would break our review (so you can preview) into
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E.g. Environment 4/10

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Simple right? :)

So basically here is how our critic work. From :-

A) 1 - 3 points: PLEASE STAY HOME FOR YOUR POCKETS SAKE!!!
B) 4 - 6 points: Considerable, if the petrol price don't go up again (rolls eyes up)
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keep your $$ :D
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Welcome to our new page!!!!

Okay! Welcome everybody who's reading this for the first time :)
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In time, you will find more articles posted up by us (Team RM :P) to be very interesting with lots of juicy facts and i-don't-give-a-damn comments about lots of things!

Oh how rude, I forgot to introduce the team
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