pakdoktergolfblog: Where and what to eat in Penang....

Whenever pakdokter travelled to Penang in the past, it was almost like a ritual that we would look up dishes for which Penang is famous for. We would never fail to have the 'choon piah' ( deep-fried poopiah) and the 'inchi kaybin' ( deep-fried chicken taken with a sauce made of the Lee and Perrin's sauce mixed with mustard powder with chopped chillies and onions mixed in the sauce. Both the dishes are associated with the Hokkien Chinese community. The regular haunts for these dishes would be the Hollywood Restaurant along the Tanjung Bunga Road or the Government Sports Club somewhere near the General Hospital. And another favourite was the 'mee goreng' and the 'mee rebus' of the mamak stall located by the road-side in front of the Chinese Recreational and Sports Club.

Pakdokter had never gone to the much talked and blogged about food stalls at the Swatow Lane. Swatow Lane would have been an easy walk from the E&O Hotel, up Penang Road, turning right into Hutton Lane and on to Swatow Lane. Swatow Lane is famous for its 'char koay teow', 'orchien' which is oyster fried in eggs, the Sultan mee goreng (mamak)and of course the ice-kacang. Unfortunately pakdokter again failed to make it to Swatow Lane this time.....

Walking through the Heritage sites of the city pakdokter and partner discovered the lovely restaurant called 'The Sire' at a heritage house called the 'Museum'. This isthe first house occupied by the millionaire Yeap Chor Ee, the founder of the Ban Hin Lee Bank which later became the Southern Bank which has now been taken up by the CIMB Bank. The 3-storey old house has been restored and turned into a 'museum' exhibiting antiques belonging to the late millionaire. The ground floor is a restaurant called the 'Sire' serving a selection of 'fusion' dishes.

As pakdokter was too early for dinner and badly needed a rest after walking around the city, we opted instead to just allow ourselves to indulge in the 'spirits' of Stella Artois, Hoegaarden White and the Victoria Bitter VB! It rained so heavily during the time that we were resting at the 'Sire', that the front pavement of the shop was flooded in ankle-deep of rain-water......

We had our dinner at the 'Straits Kitchen' in front of the Penang Court Complex hoping to get our first dose of 'choon-piah' and'inchee-kaybin'. But this Peranakan shop did not serve Hokkien dishes, so we settled for Asam Fish, Sambal Udang Petai and Pajri Nenas. Well, the food was....so, so,..........

fine dining at the '1885' at the E & O...

The next day we drove out to Batu Feringhi to check out the scene there. The two hotels we checked out were described in the previous posting. On the return drive, pakdokter was so glad to find that the Hollywood Restaurant was still in operation. We were the only patron for lunch. The restaurant looked dilapidated ( probably damaged by the tsunami years ago) and would not probably survive many more years. However we were happy that our favourite dishes were still being served! Or else we would have to go around and find the Government Sports Club.......

We opted for 'fine dining' on the last night in Penang. The E&O fine-dining restaurant is called '1885', the year the hotel was built. It served a 'fusion' cusine'. Pakdokter opted for 'spaghetti aglio olio' for starters and 'grilled cod on a bed of wasabi soba and salads' for the main course. There was no space left for desserts. The '1885' is a lovely and cosy restaurant with great ambience. It was not crowded, so service was top marks...

THe E&O serves a great buffet breakfast. Apart from the usual breads and eggs counter, there were nasi kandar dishes to go with rice or roti chanai or roti jala. The usual array of porridges, the mee sups and even the char koay teow. Japanese breakfast was also available and one gets a truly strong brewed coffee.....

And it was nice to be able to have breakfast on the patio overlooking the sea....