"PENANG, Nov 15 — Yes, there's more to the Penang food scene than its famous char koay teow. Here's a guide to boutique restaurants and fine dining along the heritage trail.
When was the last time you went to Penang specifically to eat at a fine dining restaurant? Is there even such a thing as a fine dining eatery in this hawker capital of Malaysia? It's precisely because Penang is so strongly associated with mouth-watering char koay teow (even the patois spelling is different), assam laksa, wantan mee (with thick black sauce), prawn noodles (Hokkien mee) and nasi kandar (Indian-Muslim curry rice) that no visitor or overseas-based Penangite in their right mind would think of anything else the moment they reach the island. Even on a three-day, five-meals-a-day eating trip, you would only scratch the surface of what Penang's hawkers have to offer.
Besides, Western-style dining has always been “second-class” where the local palate is concerned. Considering that whatever Western food being served was usually second-rate and found in touristy spots like Batu Ferringhi, the reputation wasn't exactly undeserved.
But things have been changing over the past couple of years. Now that Penang's George Town has been recognised as a heritage city by Unesco, it looks set to follow in the footsteps of cities like Hanoi with their boutique restaurants.
In fact, such developments have given Penang a new cachet beyond that of “koay teow paradise”. It's now hip to be in Penang, especially when conservation and cuisine add up to a totally different cultural experience. So, if you can tear yourself away from your second plate of koay teow, we show you how to get the best of food and history as we guide you along the heritage trail.
The High Court and Port area
The Sire Museum Restaurant (4 King Street, Tel: 04-264-5088) tops the list of restaurants to check out in Penang, especially if you're an antiques buff. The food there is fusion — think Asian spices and herbs in continental dishes — and done very well. The restaurant is worthy of a fine-dining tag, even if prices are steep by Penang standards. The whole building has been lavishly restored and would have been more authentic if it didn't have Vietnamese paintings in the front room. After lunch or dinner, you can spend over an hour looking through the impressive collection of antiques from the Yeap Chor Ee estate. Yeap was one of Penang's leading tycoons and philanthropists.
This part of town isn't very far from Penang's Little India, but if you want Northern Indian food rather then the more pedestrian Southern Indian, there's Spice & Rice (1 Green Hall, www.spicenrice.com.my, Tel: 04-261-8585), right opposite the handsomely rebuilt High Court. The building used to house the North Malaya Chinese Textile & General Merchants Association in the late 19th century. The Indian restaurant serves both Northern and Southern Indian fare, and the tasty dishes are fairly authentic. We tried dishes like mutton rogangosh, hydrabadi murg and aloo gobi (from RM14 to RM22) and scooped up all the gravy with our prata-like garlic and butter naans.
For Hainanese food with a view, Hai Nan Town (Tanjung Marina or Church Street Pier, 8A Pengkalan Weld, Tel: 04-263-8633. www.hainantown.oomph.com.my) is one of the best in town and is located at a newly built waterfront marina. Enjoy the sight of Penang's traditional ferries going in and out of the ferry terminal while you tuck into curry kapitan, assam prawns (tamarind-coated prawns), and fish head curry. Give the ju hu char (stir-fried jicama and dried cuttlefish) a miss because it's not as good as the Peranakan version, but the sambal kangkung (water morning-glory fried in sambal chilli) is among the best in town.
Around the E&O Hotel area
For some of the best fusion fine-dining fare on the island, 32 at the Mansion (www.32atthemansion.com, Tel: 04-262- 2232) — just look out for the house number — is a must visit. The restaurant is housed in an original Italian-style mansion built in the 19th century, and has a bar/lounge as well. The interior and decor is drop-dead gorgeous, especially the dining area in the conservatory where you can look out to the sea. The owners of 32 were the early pioneers of stylish dining in Penang, and they also run the trendy Beach Blanket Babylon down the road, at the refurbished Garage, an art deco building which used to be the Wearne Brothers' garage that serviced British Leyland automobiles like Austin, Morris and Jaguar, belonging to the rich and famous in colonial Penang. You can of course also pop in for an English afternoon tea at the E&O Hotel, built by the Sarkies Brothers in 1884 who later set up the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
The Armenian Street enclave
Armenian Street is the heart of the heritage movement in Penang. More than a decade ago, conservation wasn't hip but just a battle fought valiantly by non-governmental organisations. But once these organisations started to make some headway, the first wave of state-supported heritage restorations began in Penang, with the restoration of an early Achenese mosque to an upper class Muslim residence (The Syed Alatas Mansion). Sun Yat Sen's base in Penang is also housed here, and the street has three clanhouses, including the poster clanhouse — the Khoo Kongsi — which is hidden away in Cannon Square.
A street once dotted with karang guni businesses, the restored shophouses have been converted into art galleries, architects' and lawyers' offices and a few “heritage” restaurants. Colonial Restaurant and Nanyang Cuisine have Hainanese food but the fare isn't very consistent so you might be better off sampling the hawker food at the corner coffeeshop opposite Yap Kongsi which has a wide variety of stalls.
But if you want to take a break from local specialities and have some Austrian fare instead, check out the Edelweiss Cafe (38 Armenian Street, www.edelweisscafe.com) which is packed with antiques and designed to look like the kopitiams of old — complete with Czechoslovakian-made coffeeshop chairs and marble-topped tables.
Penang Hill
David Brown's Restaurant and Tea Terrace (Strawberry Hill, Penang Hill, Tel: 04-828-8337) is a little off the beaten track — all the way up Penang Hill, to be precise — but it's worth your while to climb up on foot (it'll take anywhere from an hour if you're fit to three if not) or drive up to this faux English cottage (it's new, but supposedly in the cottage style that David Brown, a nutmeg merchant, would have had it built in the 18th century), and enjoy the cool air and hilltop scenery. If you're lucky, the funicular train might be working, but otherwise, hiring a chauffeured car up and down costs only RM80 per car.
The restaurant was opened by the late Peter Lee, who also owned and ran The Smokehouse Hotel in Cameron Highlands which serves arguably the best scones with clotted cream in the country. Everything at David Brown's is typically colonial English, and the food is good although prices are a little loftier than down the hill. Hits include the robust tomato consomme and the spiced mulligatawny soup, while the menu includes English fare like chicken and mushroom pie, fish & chips, and Chicken Maryland (breaded chicken).
If manicured lawns and all that effort to recreate life in 18th century Penang isn't quite your cup of tea, just walk a wee bit up the hill and check out Bellevue Hotel, owned by renowned architect Lim Chong Keat. The hotel which seems to represent the architect's interests and influences — think mystic Bali, exotic animals, architectural innovation — is caught firmly in a '60s-'70s retro time warp but its fascinating view (from the “backside” of Penang Hill rather than the front that faces the city) includes an abandoned building on a hillock which used to be Crag Hotel, also once run by the Sarkies Brothers. Bellevue is for the bohemian naturalist who hopefully has a taste for down-to-earth Hainanese char bee hoon, cooked with gravy.
And if you hang out on the verandah long enough, underneath the bowers of a flowering plant with aqua blue hornbill-shaped flowers, the waiter will point out where the resident wild snake or two are curled up overhead.
Bellevue is almost the complete antithesis of David Brown's, and stays under the radar. For that reason, David Brown's is a breath of fresh air for Penang Hill which has long needed a quaint place serving well-prepared fare — never mind that it's all a bit contrived. It's a blast from the romanticised past, which seems to be the way forward for Penang's dining scene. — Business Times Singapore" unquote.
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