HYPE HYPE: LIANG Sandwich Bar 粮全其美手抓饼 | Foodie Hunt

I'm sure a lot of you must have heard about "LIANG sandwich bar" by now. A whole heap of Penangites are going bananas over one of the new food store opening at Gurney Plaza, which is LIANG Sandwich Bar, a brand that serves traditional Chinese sandwich inspired by Taiwanese onion pancakes (香油葱饼).

The only thing that I would shamelessly admit is that we are not going crazy because of the sandwiches, but rather because of its ambassador - Jay Chou! I'm sure all the die hard Jay Chou fans are going crazy when they heard that LIANG Sandwich Bar is coming to Penang. The Jay Chou effect is surely not slowing down by any means even after weeks of the grand opening at Gurney Plaza. In fact, LIANG Sandwich Bar has taken a new height on the frenzied crowd in Penang by opening another branch in Queensbay mall this week! They're definitely here to establish the sandwich kingdom.

The Queensbay mall branch that just opened this week!

Actually, Jay Chou is not the only ambassador of the LIANG Sandwich Bar. I didn't know this until I went to the Queensbay mall branch, where they have a huge poster behind featuring Jay Chou and another female artiste called 孟丽 (Meng Li). Like most of you, I have zero idea of who she is. So I looked her up on Mr Google and I'm shocked to know that she's now only aged 25! Since the brand appointed Jay Chou and Meng Li as the LIANG ambassadors in 2013, which was 5 years back then - she was only 20 when she endorsed for LIANG Sandwich Bar!

Who exactly is 孟丽 (Meng Li)? Meng Li is a famous China atress who stepped into the entertainment industry in 2006 after she managed to nabbed a few titles at a reality TV show in China called 《综艺满天星》(Zong Yi Man Tian Xing). So after doing some maths, Meng Li was just 13 at that time! Speaking of a successful and empowering young woman, what a shame that I didn't get to know her earlier.

Overall, in terms of customer flow (客流), I think there are definitely more customers at the Gurney Plaza branch. Maybe it could just be wrong timing, but most of the time I'm there, the crowd at Gurney Plaza are definitely "hotter". In terms of how strategic their location is, both of them are located at the lower ground floor, which is where most of us would go when we think of food. In comparison of their menus, since they are franchaise, they have the exact same menu. In terms of customer service, I think it's definitely a win for the Queensbay mall branch. The cashier at the Queensbay mall has a smile that could light up the whole town, literally.

I love that he tries to make recommendations for the customers and tries to spark up conversation with the customers. For example, there was this one time where my friend and I approached the store just to take photo without having the intention to buy because we just had our lunch, but he smiled at us and said: "Don't worry, you can take photos as much as you like." Personal remarks and connections like this really helps to make good first impression in customers. The Gurney Plaza branch is not bad, but I think overall the freaking busy situation doesn't really gives them the opportunity to chit chat with the customers too.

Menu wise, I love all the names as they are all based on very personal experience of Jay Chou. This is why Jay Chou fans shouldn't miss this! "地表最强"is what he always refers his team to at 《中国好声音》.《简简单单》 reminds me of 《简单爱》, which is one of his really famous songs from the olden days. “哎哟，不错哟” direct Manglish translation: "Aiyo, not bad leh!" is his favourite line to say. Last but not least, I am sure a lot of you are familiar with the line "学做蛋饼" as it is the lyrics to his new song 《等你下课》. All the direct reference to Jay Chou, a very smart marketing strategy I would say! A die hard Jay Chou fans just couldn't resist not to try these Chinese sandwiches.

JC Soya Drink (RM4.90 ala carte, RM3 in set)

The first time I tasted the JC Soy Drink was at the Gurney Plaza branch. I think you guys can definitely tell from the picture that it looks way too clear and water-like for a soy bean drink. Indeed, it was tasteless and awful. I didn't pay my money to expect this kind of soya drink ya know :(

The other day when I was at Queensbay, I thought why not give the JC Soy Drink a second chance since it has the initial of Jay Chou in it? Thankfully the second try was a pleasant one. You can definitely see from the picture that it has more normal soya bean look to it - has froth that indicates that it's more rich in texture. It has a really natural soya bean aroma and it's not sweet at all. The sweetness on the scale of 1 - 10 is somewhere around 3. So for y'all who likes to indulge in the pure goodness of soya bean, definitely give this a try.

香葱抓饼 Scallions sandwich (RM3.90)

This is the most basic flavour where it has nothing else stuffed inside except for the sandwich itself. I LOVE THIS THING! I have gone back to have it a few times. It just tastes very crispy and smells really good because of the scallion (scallion is a type of onion btw). Highly recommend this flavour!

蛋葱抓饼 Scallions Sandwich with Egg (RM4.90)

This is from the "Basics" category as well. I would recommend this if you want something fuller than the Scallions Sandwich, but not those sandwiches that are stuffed with chiken meat and whatnot. It tastes softer because of the texture from the egg. There is some sort of oyster sauce in the middle of the sandwich that tastes very seafoody, so if you don't like seafood, definitely steer clear off of this.

粮派秘汁鸡肉抓饼 Liang Chicken Sandwich (RM9.90)

I actually didn't see the name and literally thought it was named "周董最爱" (Jay Chou's favourite) since there are so many other Jay Chou reference in the names haha. This one is definitely for more heavy meals, I actually think it's the equivalent of the Westerner's Subway. We have our very own oriental "Subway" too, yay! There are chicken meat slices, tomatoes, cabbage and egg. I think that it's savoury and it's a perfect balance of a healthy meal and a slightly unhealthy meal, where it makes you less guilty about what you're taking because there are veges in it.

Definitely add on the drinks if you wish to quench your thirst because they are much cheaper! Any hot beverage @RM3; Any cold beverage @RM2

These are just some other signature flavours that you could pick if you don't know what else to try or you're basic af, like me.

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised by how affordable everything is when you think of a brand that's endorsed by Jay Chou. He's an international public figure, he's so talented and his fan base is just humungous! Who knows how much LIANG Sandwich Bar even pays for his endorsement. But you get what I'm saying, I mean RM3.90 for a piece of Scallion Sandwich that tastes so good and is endorsed by Jay Chou, I'm down for it. Even the most expensive one also costs RM9.90, which is still below RM10 and you can get so much stuffing in it! Not that much, but still you get chunks of chickens seasoned with Jay Chou's sauce, so it's still pretty worth it for the price you're paying. 

The feedback I get from most of my friends at their first sight of the 手抓饼 is that it looks like one of our Malaysian's favourite food - roti canai. The ultimate question to end today's post is - what is the difference between 手抓饼 (Chinese sandwich) and roti canai? To me, they definitely taste different. The 手抓饼 from Taiwan / China is more flavourful and has more layers and texture to it while the roti canai can be pretty tasteless on its own but of course you can order roti planta or roti bom if you want more flavourful ones and the dough is thicker. 手抓饼 usually has stuffings while roti canai does not have, and is usually complimented with various kind of curry sauces to make it more spicy. Malaysians love everything spicy, don't we? Actually some are not spicy at all, just to add a tinge of "kick" to it. Generally, the 手抓饼 are more salty while roti canai in more flavourful forms like roti planta or roti bom are sweeter and more buttery.

 

Anyway, I asked Mr Google again what's their difference and I found out that roti canai is referred to as "南洋风味之简易版手抓饼" that carries the meaning "the easier version of 手抓饼", which explains the lack of layering and texture to it. Anyhow, I love both of these equally and I feel like they are both tasty, it just depends of whether you're in a "salty" or "sweet" mode that day. Definitely stop by Gurney Plaza or Queensbay mall on the day when you feel "extra salty" and grab some of the Chinese sandwiches! PS/ You can get a free photo with "Jay Chou" as well, so why not? xD

Love, J. 

some of the pictures are from Google and I do not own the copyrights to them