Note: This restaurant has ceased its operation.
On 7 July 2008, George Town, the historic capital of Penang was formally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside with Malacca as both states were officially recognized as having a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia. Although the food served in these two states of Malaysia have their own identity, there tend to be some crossovers. Two of the Malaccan dishes introduced in Penang recently are the Malaccan Satay Celup (food on bamboo skewers cooked in thick peanut sauce) and Chicken Rice Balls. Thanks to Steven for showing me the existence of such a shop in Penang.
The experience of dining in this restaurant is totally different compared to the one I had in Malacca as the pot for dipping in the skewers has two sections instead of one. It’s a combination of the local boiling water method and the Malaccan Satay Celup concept. The Malaccan dipping pot has a thicker and stronger gravy compared to the one served here. Moreover, the Malaccan gravy would be served in one boiling peanut sauce pot with more grounded peanuts and Malaccan palm sugar (Gula Melaka) in it.
Well, one thing great about the place is the cleanliness of the Lok Lok (food on skewers). All the skewers are kept in two designated chillers within the premise and you would need to pick what you want to consume. At 70sen per skewer or RM15 (adult) & RM7.50 (child) with free flow of can drinks, you can savor over 60 types of meat, seafood, processed fish balls or vegetables skewers. There would also be a 10% discount for those diners with more than RM20 bill.
On top of the peanut sauce in the pot, you could also try out their three special sauces such as Thai Spicy Sauce, Blended Cili Padi (chili Paddy/Birdseye Chili) and Tomyam Sauce. I find the spicy sauce to be a bit too sour, the chili paddy sauce to be a bit bland but the tomyam sauce was still fine to my liking.
Other than the Lok Lok, you can also try out the Malaccan Hainan Chicken Rice Balls at RM3-RM4 per set. One note, please get the boss (Mr. Lau) to heat up the dish for you as the set dish would taste better if warmer. The taste for the chicken was fine although it was cold for my case. The meat was tender and the sauce was just right. Even the accompanied chili sauce has that blended ginger taste in it. As for the rice balls, I felt that there was nothing special except that my rice came in ball shapes. I guessed that must be the Malaccans’ way for better presentation.
Overall, the food there was just average considering that I had tasted the actual Malaccan dishes before but it could be a great experience for those people who had not tried out Malaccan dishes before. It would also be a great bargain for those who can consume a lot as the price of RM15 per person is reasonable. The restaurant also caters for birthday gathering as well as having certain offers on certain days of the week.
For those who are not staying in mainland Penang, going to the Raja Uda area might be quite a hassle. I’m going to show you the ways to reach the restaurant by either ferry or through the Penang Bridge. Just click on the map below to enlarge to have a clearer view of the direction by following the red (bridge) and blue (ferry terminal) dotted lines.
To elaborate further when you have found your way to Jalan Raja Uda, just drive forward until you see SJK (Cina) Kwang Hwa on your left. Immediately after the school, there would be a row of shop houses. Keep at look out for the Lekker II Claypot House (stated as LCH in map) restaurant at the corner lot and turn into the road (Jalan Pangsapuri Emas). The restaurant is just at the corner lot of the apartment.
Name: CHUAN CHUAN XIANG
Address:
Tingkat 08, Jalan Pangsapuri Emas, Taman Emas, Raja Uda,
12300 Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-484 2088 (Mr. Lau)
Opening Hours: 5.30pm-11.30pm (Closed Monday)
GPS: 5.428874, 100.383384
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: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
