I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi

Are you looking for a bite to eat in Batu Ferringhi? Try the night food stalls of I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi! The Batu Ferringhi city centre is a good 5 minutes away by bus from where we are staying at Miami Beach.

Let’s grab dinner.

How To Get To I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi

How to get there?

Hop on the bus (#101 or #102) direction Batu Ferringhi and get off once you see a gas station and the MacDonald’s sign on your left.

On your right is the Long Beach gawker centre. There is another one a little further down the road and we liked this one better.

The I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi.

Dinner at I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi

We stayed in Penang for 5 weeks so I reckon we have been here at the I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi like 10 times at least?

I guess that we must tried most of the food here, except for the Western food stalls. Impossible to talk about all of the dishes.

So I will just stick to our favorites here.

But before we take off, here is how you have to order food at I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi.

How To Order

Just order whatever food you like at whatever food stall you want.

Point to the direction you are going to sit down. As soon as the food is ready, they will bring it to your table and that is when to pay.

Several waiters and waitresses at the I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi are waiting tables. They will come up to you the minute you sit down and ask you what you want to drink: soft drinks, beer (Tiger, Carlsberg, Asahi), water…

Kleenex

One little remark before you go here: bring a box of kleenex or kitchen paper with you.

No napkins here.

There are decent toilets though where you can wash your hands after dinner.

Waterworld Seafood Restaurant

Fresh Clams

Probably my favorite of all the stalls at I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi!

This food stall on your right in the corner is the only one with live seafood on display in huge water tanks. Are you looking for fresh lobster, crab, prawns and clams?

You will get it here. Expect Western prices for the lobster, crab and prawns though.

Expensive for Malaysian standards.

Small, Medium & Large Portions

We tried all 3 versions of the clams.

They come in small (RM10), medium (RM15) and big (RM25) portions. First one we tried: the garlic and dried chili clams. They are stir fried in a tacky sweet and spicy sauce together with big pieces of dried chili.

Spicy yes, but not extremely.

Just ask for a little less chili if you’re not sure.

Steamed

The steamed garlic and chili clams are the least ‘Asian-flavored’ of the 3 clam dishes.

This is probably a better option if your taste buds still need some more time to adapt to Penang street food. Perfectly steamed clams covered in garlic and sliced fresh chili.

Almost tastes mediterranean!

Nice.

Belacan

Last plate of clams is my absolute favorite: spicy Penang-style clams.

If you adore belacan shrimp paste, go for this one. If you don’t, leave it. The clams are again stir fried in and coated by a gorgeous amount of shrimp paste and chili.

What a great smell!

Adorable.

For the record: I celebrated my 30st birthday here in Penang and chose a huge plate of these shrimp paste clams for my birthday dinner… Can’t get enough of it.

I even bought belacan and brought it back home: I prepared chicken with with belacan!

Ikan Bakar – Grilled Fish

Fresh Fish

Visit this I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi food stall (the very first one on your right when entering this gawker center) if you are craving for some beautifully fresh fish!

Ikan bakar means ‘grilled fish’ in Malay anyway, so…

Pomfret, octopus and stingray are mainly on the menu here. You might find other species too depending on what the friendly old man could find. The prawns are pricy: RM60 per lb.

They are delicious though!

Fresh Stingray

The first dish that we tried here was the stingray.

There are several pieces of ray, ranging somewhere between RM20 and RM35. Just point out one, the man weighs them on a scale and tells you the price.

It is then brushed with a flavorful spice paste, put on a banana leaf and grilled on a hot plate. A RM25 piece of ray is more than enough for 2!

It is served with a surprising orange, shallot and shrimp paste dipping sauce.

Heavenly.

Chicken Fish

Ever heard of chicken fish?

It is the funny looking fish in the picture below (RM30). Apparently it is called chicken fish because its meat tastes like chicken. I can’t deny that, its meaty texture and soft flavor is different from other white fish like cod or bass. It has got boney toothless jaws and a strange nut-shaped bone between its eyes.

You can also find this one in Kuala Lumpur. The old man here at the I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi assured us that these were ‘locally caught’ whereas the ones in KL come from Thailand.

Nice fish, grilled perfectly with that flavorful spice paste on it.

We also tried the grilled pomfret (RM15-RM20 a piece).

Delicious.

North Indian Food

I love a good Indian dinner.

The only Indian food stall here is on the right side next to the steps that lead up to the bar. Notice the clay oven next to it. This is where fresh naan is baked in.

You can choose from a variety of popular Indian food: briyani, masala, tandoori, rice, vegetable curry, various naan breads, samosa… Chicken, lamb, fish, prawns, beef…

I guess that we ordered most of our food here when I look back at my pictures now!

Our first order here was the tandoori chicken (RM9). This is a good test to see if they know what they are doing.

Tandoori Chicken & Naan Bread

A beautifully meaty chicken breast and wing appeared on our plate.

Very juicy chicken meat, smokey flavor, tasty tandoori rub on the outside. Next to it some raw shallots, sliced lime and a minty lime dipping sauce.

Great start.

Naan Bread

I love naan, especially when it is freshly baked.

Here you can order several versions of naan with butter, garlic, onion and cheese (RM3-RM5). I mostly go for the plain naan (R2 a piece). It is cut into quarters and served warm.

The naan has a wonderful doughy flavor, is soft and nicely puffed up in the middle and the blisters on top give it a yummy smoky touch.

Delicious.

Curries

Gosh, it is difficult to choose from this Indian food stall.

Let’s try the vegetable curma (RM7) now.

We get a generous bowl of creamy and mild curry stuffed with a collection of various crunchy vegetables: peas, carrots, baby corn, potatoes, eggplant… There is a nice amount of crunch and texture in this korma.

We dip bits of naan in the creamy sauce and enjoy it.

Vindaloo

Another bowl of deliciousness we ordered one night was the chicken vindaloo (RM9), a silky chicken (and potato) curry made of tomatoes, onion, chili and loads of other spices.

Again a nice Indian dish of great quality.

Mop up the sauce with yet another portion on naan…

That naan is truly delicious. One of the best we have ever tasted!

Samosas

The vegetable samosas (RM4) come with a spicy coriander dipping sauce.

Crunchy crisp, well seasoned.

A great appetizer as well here at I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi!

Papadums

Can you say no to papadums?

Oh they are so good when they are freshly fried!

These were great. Excellent flavor, not too oily, crunchy papadams. They come with the same spicy coriander dipping sauce like the samosas.

Perfect.

Yes indeed, this whole stack for only RM2…

Satay Stall

There is no food court or gawker centre in Asia without a satay stall!

And the I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi is no exception.

For RM8 you get 10 chicken or beef satay here with peanut sauce and some raw cucumber and shallot.

Chicken Satay

The chicken satay is just delicious here…

Juicy fresh cubes of chicken in a sugary marinade and grilled over a charcoal fire to give it that beautiful sear and smokiness.

Excellent.

Our favorite appetizer to start our dinner with.

Rojak Buah

A Malaysian specialty: rojak!

This sweet and savory fruit and vegetable salad is a popular snack. When you travel around in Penang you will see lots of street stalls sell rojak.

The rojak buah (RM4) we tasted here at the I Love You Cafe Batu Ferringhi gawker centre was the best we have had here in Penang.

In it were chunks of green apple, pineapple, cucumber, unripe mango and guava, covered by a mildly sweet sauce made of shrimp paste, tamarind paste, palm sugar, oyster sauce and crushed peanuts.

Yum!

Thai

If we order grilled fish we like to combine it with a portion of vegetables.

And here is where we find it: at the Thai food stall.

Stir Fried Vegetables

The Thai stall near the stairs to the bar sells fish, cockles, soups and noodles but we are fond of the mixed vegetables.

Ask for vegetables in oyster sauce and garlic (RM8).

The man behind the stall does a wonderful job. Mixed vegetables or just one, stir fried in oyster sauce. Perfect with grilled fish.