CRIZ BON APPETITE

If you are not aware where to get to the best dining and entertainment scenes in Penang, you should take a more serious note now on the SOHO Group’s outlets. For over a decade, the Group has provided Penangites with 6 great venues from vibrant restaurants to club scenes, namely SOHO Free House, SOHO Penthouse, SOHO Country House (Auto City), QEII, Chin’s Stylish Chinese Cuisine and Chin-Chin Bar. The settings at all the outlets are unique by itself, from a British-style pub with great beer, a relaxing upstairs dining area with colonial style ambience, an old English manor setting with high ceiling, a sea front restaurant overseeing the city’s only inland marina, an award winning fine dining Chinese restaurant to a sophisticated bar right next to the Chin’s. Recently, the best deals in town are back due to popular demand by the public at 3 of the outlets, mainly SOHO Free House, SOHO Penthouse and SOHO Country House. One main dish would only cost RM7.80nett, with the option to choose from 5 main dishes.

The first option would be the Roasted Herbed Chicken which would be served with mashed potatoes and mixed greens. The taste was quite similar to the one I had at Dave’s Deli. You can practically taste the herbs being well seeped into the tender chicken drumstick and the skin still has that little crisp from the roasting. Combined with the brown sauce, the whole dish was quite tasty. The only exception was the mash potatoes as it was a bit too fine to my liking. I would prefer those with some coarse potatoes bits in them.

The next option would be the Traditional Shepherd’s Pie. You can have either chicken or beef. I tried out the chicken version and found out that the filling was a bit too little compared to the level of the mashed potatoes (which again was too fine). Although the taste had all the necessary fragrance, somehow minced beef would be a better choice as it would be juicier than minced chicken. This dish was served with some peas and greens.

The SOHO Spaghetti as just average as the sauce was a bit too sweet to my liking. I prefer those with fresher ingredients just like the Italian way of preparation. Moreover, minced chicken was used which gave it a more sandy and dry sensation. Alternatively, some added minced pork or a total minced beef would do the dish more justice. Some parmesan cheese granules were served with the dish.

Banger ‘n’ Mash is basically a pub grub, something easy to cook yet tasty to go along with any beer. Well, it was one large sausage compared to the Bratwurst sausage I had elsewhere. This traditional English dish blended in real well with the gravy which I suspected was some rich onion gravy with some sprinkles of herbs. It came with some mashed potatoes and peas. The chef did a great job of not over grilling the sausage while maintaining the juice within.

The last option would be the Beef Burger. You can either have it with chicken or vegetarian patty. I had tried the Chicken Burger through one of the takeaway but find it to be a bit dry and bland in taste, even with all the ketchup and chili sauce added. Fortunately, the Beef Burger was awesome. There were some hints of black pepper, LP sauce and some herbs being used in the marinating process and the usage of breadcrumbs was just right. Moreover, the amount of fat used was just right to maintain the moisture of the burger. The burger was served with some fries and greens.

With the concept of being a pub and a bistro, there would never be a shortage of beverages here, regardless of whether it would be a plain glass of juice, beers of any imports and various wines. Currently, they have a 1/2 pint glass draught promotion for Tiger and Carlsberg at RM8.50nett per glass all day long. On top of that, with every RM120 or more of any draught beer purchases on a single receipt, you’ll get to redeem a cute mini glass of either Kilkenny, Heineken, Tiger or Guiness as collectible items while stocks last.

If you are driving down from Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah from City Bayview Hotel, turn left into Jalan Penang after the traffic lights. Drive a bit further and you would the Red Garden Café parking lot. Park your car inside the car park. SOHO Free House & Penthouse is just opposite the car park next to Peking Hotel. Please take note that the car park fees can be quite expensive as it’s located near all the night entertainment area. Alternatively, you can drive further up and turn left into Lebuh Muntri to find some empty car parks.

Name: SOHO FREE HOUSE & SOHO PENTHOUSE
Address: 50 (Ground & Upper Floor), Jalan Penang, 10000 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-263 3331, 604-507 0079 (SOHO Country House, Auto City)
Business Hours: 12.00pm – 12.00am, Beer Hours: until late
GPS: 5.421829, 100.333806

RATING:
Ambience: 9/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

It has been quite some time since I had good Bak Kut Teh (BKT) in Penang ever since the closures of my favorite BKT stall right in the heart of Georgetown, Penang. After months of hunting around Penang for a BKT stall that would suit my taste bud, I finally found one. The treasured discovery was not located within the island itself but over at the mainland Penang. Moreover, it was not even any stall from our local Penang Bak Kut Teh community but a newly born 6 months old branch of one of the famous traditional Bak Kut Teh outlet from Klang, Selangor, birth place of Bak Kut Teh. Welcome to the newly opened branch of Restoran Ki Xiang.

Bak Kut Teh (as spoken in Hokkien/肉骨茶) is literally translated as “Pork Bone Tea” in English. It’s actually a variant of rich herbal soup cooked with different meaty bone parts of bones. Firstly introduced locally in the 19th century by the Chinese workers in the then Malaya, it was to be a tonic dish to supplement the under nutrition diet of the coolies but eventually it became a dish for general health for everyone especially those within the Klang Valley population. It is believed that there are still about 400 outlets of Bak Kut Teh stalls remaining there today.

There are three versions of Bak Kut Teh (BKT) in Malaysia – the Teochew style which has a more peppery taste and lighter in soup color, the Hokkien style which is saltier with a darker color from the soy sauce used and the Cantonese style which has more herbs and spices added for a stronger medicinal value. The version served in Restoran Ki Xian has gone through 3 generations with a soup base that has thicker and stronger herb taste. Moreover, the soup was not as overpowering as most of the shops out there. Just look at my one person mixed meat clay pot (RM8) with lots of free tofu puffs and tofu sticks plus enokitake (金針菇/golden needle mushroom – RM4). There were so many choice pieces of meat in the clay pot and yet the price was barely half of those BKT found on the island. It’s extremely value for money dining here. One note… If you intend to add in the enoki mushrooms into your pot, you might get a slightly altered taste as these mushrooms would make the soup having some sour after taste. That would have killed the original taste of the soup. Try asking them to serve you that in a separate bowl. I’m sure they would be obliged to any customer request.

On top of the accompanied tofu puffs and sticks, here are some of the meaty parts you can request – streaky pork ribs (五花骨), spare ribs (排骨), big marrow bones (大骨), small marrow bones (小骨), cartilage (軟骨), lean meat (瘦肉), fatty meat (肥肉), semi fatty meat (半肥肉), (pork trotters (豬腳), pork knuckles (豬腳彎), pig’s tail (豬尾), pig’s stomach (豬肚) and pork intestines (豬腸). There would also be more add ons for tofu sticks (豆腐乾) and enoki mushrooms (金針菇). In case you would like to have specific bone parts, you can always order individual bowls at RM8 each. Here are the uncut versions of all the parts they have.

Klang’s serving of rice would be different compared to what you normally get in our local BKT stalls. Instead of the normal steam white rice, dark soy sauce oil rice or even yam rice, the restaurant here served steam white rice mixed with fried shallots and oil. It’s only RM1 per large bowl or 50sen for a smaller portion.

Even the boiled lettuce would not have the normal meat floss or fried lard with oil garnishing. It’s just a simple plate of Boiled Lettuce (油菜) with some oyster sauce and fried shallots garnishing at RM6 per plate. To me, it’s healthy enough for everyone.

Chinese Crullers or You Tiao (油條) would surely come with each BKT meal. For only RM1, you can get a large bowl here.

As for the condiments, they have chopped garlic, cili padi (bird eye chili), soy sauce and dark say sauce. The chopped chilies sure tasted better than the normal sliced ones as each piece of meat would be covered with an evenly spread spiciness.

Well, what I had mentioned above was not the award winning dish I had been yearning for ever since I was first introduced to an established BKT stall in Klang last year. After trying out so many of the so called dry Klang style BKT from the island as well as mainland Penang, none can please my satisfaction other than the heavenly taste of the dry BKT here. Priced at only RM8 too, you can choose whatever meat parts you like and the chef would simmer them dry in a clay pot with a handful of dried chilies, cuttlefish strips, lady’s fingers slices, dark soy sauce and some of their thick BKT stock. One bite and you would want more. It’s the best of the best so far. This is a must order if you happen to drop by the Megamall area. You can even check out their other branches in Bandar Baru, Bukit Tinggi and Ampang.

Finding the restaurant would be easy if you know your way to the Seberang Perai Megamall. After you exit from the Penang Bridge toll, drive all the way until you see the third exit on your left. Turn left and that would lead you to into Jalan Baru. Megamall is just slightly further away on your left. Slow down and watch out for the first left turning. Turn into Jalan Perai Jaya 3 and drive until the end and turn right. Drive until the end and you would see the big blue roofed Pasar Awam Megamall on your left. That’s where Restoran Ki Xiang is located. To get back to the island, use the road opposite the complex (Jalan Perai Jaya 5) and follow the flow until you see the second traffic light. Turn left and you would see the route to the Butterworth Jetty Terminal (overhead bridge longer way, underpass via expressway with toll) or turn right towards Penang Bridge.

Name: RESTORAN KI XIANG @ PASAR AWAM MEGAMALL
Address: Jalan Perai Jaya 3, Taman Perai Jaya, 13700 Perai, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-295 5546, 016-313 8993
Business Hours: 9.00am-10.00pm
GPS: 5.374071, 100.399733

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Name: LOOK YUEN RESTAURANT
Address: 2 Tingkat Kerjasama 4, Taman Kerjasama, 14000 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-507 4785
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 11.00pm (Daily)
GPS: 5.361289, 100.425586

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Name: BM YAM RICE @ CHAI LENG PARK
Address: 45 Lebuh Kurau Satu, Chai Leng Park, 13700 Prai, Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: 012-429 3567, 012-401 3147
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 3.30pm
GPS: 5.412537, 100.319456

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)