It might be too premature a time to write about this.
There are, after all, only two pictures of the same dish that I've had at Nanyang Dao.
But, thinking about it, honestly, it doesn't really matter.
Not when these two plates are one of my all-time favorites, and I won't hesitate to have them when I am at a place that I know will serve them great at good a price.
There'll be some amongst us who will say that $12 a plate be too much for what is essentially a plate of fried kuay teow, but cultural is not cheap when it comes to this country- especially if your place is located in an airconditioned mall- so, besides the coffee shops and the hawkers t hat strive to keep their prices competitive, there'll be normal expectation that a standard plate be at least $10, or more.
It is a great thing to be able to come here for lunch at outlet Parkway Parade when they have a fantastic lunchtime deal that I love.
Because how do you hold back on a deal that gives you not just a plate of noodles, but also a drink and/or dessert, all for the gorgeous lunchtime price of $9.90?
I can't.
So there are times when my friend and I share the water chestnut drink, and there are times when we share a bowl of very cold Chendol.
I don't have a picture of the Chendol in recent times, but it looks like this, lots of red bean, lots of gula melaka, lots of the green green worms that make up Chendol.
To be frank, Penang Char Kuay Teow isn't the only dish that catches my eye when I'm here at Nanyang Dao- there're others too- but this is the one that I find myself getting attracted to, time after time.
Maybe it's because I have a natural love for kuay teow, whether soup or fried or stir-fried. Better yet if it's fried in the char kuay teow style or the dry hor fun style, and why not, I say, if it be done in the Penang style.
I've no idea what the difference between a regular CKT or a Penang CKT is, actually but I think the Penang version uses a lighter version of soy sauce but spends more time in the wok, so the color of the noodles is lighter, less oily, but full of the intense smoky flavor that defines this particular dish.
What I like is how rounded the taste is.
I could take one noodle- just one noodle- and it would have the same rounded, smoky, full flavor no different had I taken an entire spoon.
That's how skillful the entire plate of noodles had been fried.
No strand left unturned.
Of course, it would not be Penang CKT without the all-important ingredients of lap cheong Chinese sausage, egg, chives, bean sprouts and one big prawn.
I can't remember whether or not they have the hum cockles.
I don't think they have.
Or even if they do, it be just at most one, or two.