CRIZ BON APPETITE

Instead of just having Valentine’s Day romantic dinner as most places would offer, Eastin Hotel, Penang, had gone a step further to combine different packages to suit your budget this year to make the special day more memorable. There would be 4 packages available such as the Only You & Me (RM888nett – 2D1N accommodation with in suite dining), Fly Me Away (RM588nett – Dinner by the Pool), Eternal Love (RM588 – Dinner at Swez Alcove, a specially set up private corner within Swez Brasserie) and Serendipity (RM388 – Semi-buffet dinner at Swez Brasserie). Please refer to the poster below for more information. For the first 12 couples whom had paid up in full before Chinese New Year (8 February 2016), you would be given a 15% discount. Booking is now open until 13 February 2016 or until full. Terms & Conditions apply.

To start off with the 4-course dinner, you would firstly be served with an Appetizer as Salmon Carpaccio with Apple Chutney and Fig Compote.

Next on the list would be the Soup which would consist of Cepes Mushroom Cream with Cappuccino-like Milk Foam.

For Main Course, you would have 3 choices such as fish, beef or chicken.

The first dish would be Grilled Barramundi with Sweet and Sour Tomatoes, Potato Chips and Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette.

The next option would be Authentic Beef Fillet served with Mash Potatoes, Baby Vegetables and Fresh Salad with Green Pepper Sauce.

The last option would be Chicken Roulade with Mushroom served with Italiano Mixed Herbs Sauce and Potato Cutlet.

As for Dessert, it would be Lovely Couple Mousse with Australia Berries.

The Swez Brasserie is located at the ring wing of Eastin Hotel, Penang (next to Queensbay Mall). If you are coming from Georgetown towards Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone via Bayan Lepas Expressway, do watch out for the Pulau Jerejak signboard (leading to Pulau Jerejak jetty). Ignore the turning and drive on to the next left junction. Turn left into Jalan Aziz Ibrahim and drive on until you a roundabout. Turn 3 o’clock and drive on until you see a big Eastin Hotel signboard at the first right junction. Turn right and drive on. Park your car at the basement car park. Take a lift to the first floor lobby and you would see the restaurant there.

Name: SWEZ BRASSERIE @ EASTIN HOTEL
Address: 1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queens Bay, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-612 1128
Business Hours: 12.00pm-2.30pm (Lunch), 6.30pm-10.00pm (Dinner)
GPS: 5.33643, 100.306345

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Just a few days into Chinese New Year 2016, it’s going to be Valentine’s Day, which also coincides with Renri (7th day of lunar first month – Human Day/Everyone’s Birthday). On this special day, it’s not meant only to celebrate romantic love between couple but also a day to shower your loved ones with lots of love, gifts and blessings. This year, at David Brown’s Restaurant & Tea Terrace at Strawberry Hill up Penang Hill, would be offering unique set meals for Valentine’s Day. Priced at RM338++/per couple or RM170++/pax (in the case you would want to bring your parents or siblings along), you would be served with a 5-course dinner (with double main courses) plus coffee/tea. The promotion will be available from 12-14 February 2016.

However, if you make the booking for 14 February 2016 with full payment now, the management would compliment you with a bottle of their in-house red/white wine. Two sessions would be available for the day – Session 1: 6.30pm-8.00pm and Session2: 8.30pm-10.00pm~ 🙂 Please contact +604-828 8337 or +6018-409 6277 for more information or to make your reservation today.

Prior to the start of any set dinner, you would be served with an in-house made bread roll each, accompanied with butter.

For starter, we were served with Rouleau de printemps (spring rolls) which was something different as it came with a piece each of Cod Fish Paper Roll and Mango Spring Roll. Both the rolls had basically the same ingredients except the Mango Spring Roll came with Vietnamese paper roll with shredded raw mango strips added.

We also tried out their Lobster Bisque Soup with added Slipper Lobster Meat. It was a great soup with nice flavors from the roasted shells and those added chunks of slipper lobster meat did give that extra bite. It would be great too if some croutons or even gnocchi be added in for more texture.

As for the First Main Course, it would be Chicken Roulade served with Poivrade Sauce & Potato Confit. The crushed pistachio nuts and herbs stuffed chicken had just the right flavor and texture. Combined with the peppery mirepoix reduction sauce, both complemented each other real well.

The Second Main Course would consist of an option of 3 choices such as Cod, Lamb or Beef.

The first option would be the Steamed Chiteau Cod served with Seafood Veloute and Chives Pomme Puree. The smooth texture of the steamed Pacific Cod combined with the roux formed buttery seafood sauce and accompanied with some chives boosted mashed potatoes (pomme puree) would be perfect for those seafood lovers.

The second option would be the Lamb Stew served with Balsamic Port Wine Sauce and Potato Confit. The slightly fatty, tender yet juicy slab of stewed lamb combined real well with the balsamic vinegar and Port Wine reduction. I wished I could have more of this heavenly dish over some nicely toasted garlic bread (**hinting**) 😛

The third option would be their Pan-Seared Grain Fed Tenderloin served with Australian Potato Crisps and Au Jus. I simply love how the kitchen prepared their beef tenderloin – medium-rare, tender and juicy. Combined with it natural beef juice (Au Jus), it was perfect. I just wished they could have served more of the Australian Potato Crisps rather than providing only one wedge.

I always love the dessert for their set meals and this time we had the opportunity to try out their Chocolate Strawberry Mousse & Sponge served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some berries. Can I have more? Slurp~ 🙂

To end the meal, it’s either Tea or Coffee. As for me, I would always go for their aromatic and full-bodied Italian Caffe Vergnano Espresso Rico ‘700 brew.

Overall, I do find the package a great deal as they sure know how to utilize quality ingredients for their cooking. However, the portion served this time could be more towards fine dining with smaller serving through the courses. Anyhow, it was still a fulfilling meal to buzz up the occasion.

In order to get to the restaurant, you would need to take a train up Penang Hill. For MyKad holders, it’s RM10/pax (adult) or RM4/pax (senior citizen, child & student). As for visiting tourists, it’s RM30/pax (adult & senior citizen) or RM15/pax (child & student). Daily train operation hours will be 6.30am-11.00pm (last train from top station). It’s not hard to find David Brown’s Restaurant and Tea Terraces as it’s located above the small Strawberry Hill next to the train station. Upon disembarking from the train, just walk towards the end and turn right and you can see a stairways leading up to the restaurant.

Name: DAVID BROWN’S RESTAURANT & TEA TERRACES
Address: Lot 400, MK 17, Daerah Barat Daya, Strawberry Hill, Bukit Bendera, 11300 Air Itam, Penang, Malaysia
Contact: +604-828 8337 or +6018-409 6277
Business Hours: 11.00am-3.00pm (lunch), 3.00pm-6.00pm (tea), 6.00pm-10.00pm (dinner – last order at 9.00pm)
GPS: 5.424210, 100.268632

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

If you love someone, whether if that person is your girl friend, wife, mother, daughter, etc, let them know how much you appreciate them in your life by showering them with more love during this coming Valentine’s Day. Let the dedicated staff of Swez Brasserie @ Eastin Hotel Penang, provide you with the memorable Valentine’s Day Set Dinner at RM238++ per couple, inclusive of 2 glasses of house wine or mocktail and a surprise gift. This dinner would be under the skillful hands of the Executive Sous Chef, Chef Daniel Tan Chia Yang.

As for Appetizer, you would be served with Duck Confit Lasagna with Lily Pulp, Spinach & Sun Dried Tomato Essence. The award winning entry by Chef Daniel Tan in Bangkok, was indeed something unique in flavors and had the perfect combination to start a meal. The 3 layers of round shaped pastas had some well braised duck meat, young spinach and lily pulps stuffed in between them and topped with a slice of sun dried tomato and some alfalfa. Just a taste of the gravy and you would know that the duck had undergone long hours of braising to extract that flavorful taste. The young spinach wasn’t fibrous at all and the lily pulps added some extra crunches. Thumbs up! This appetizer was indeed of top class.

As for Soup, there would be the Seafood Consommé with Pearl Vegetables and Egg Custard. Compared to last year’s soup option, this year’s soup was of a clearer version. It was light and without distinctive seafood taste. The consommé came with some colorful Parisian cut carrots, green and yellow cucumber, on top of a slice of egg custard, a tiger prawn, topped with some monk fish black caviars and garnished with some chopped spring onions.

As for the Main Course, it was either a fish or a chicken dish. The first option would be the Oven Roasted Sea Bass rolled with Lobster Mousse served with Spicy Sauce. No doubt this dish would be quite unique on its own but the sauce could be a bit too spicy sweet for many. Unless you favor dishes like Thai style sweet & sour fish, you might want to consider having the next option.

The next main course option was the Grilled Chicken Supreme rolled with Asparagus & Cheese served with Morels Cream Sauce. The grilled chicken was almost similar to how you would stuff a chicken cordon bleu with ham and cheese. Instead, the choice chicken meat was stuffed with asparagus and cheese instead. What excelled in this dish was the morel cream sauce which was heavenly delicious. The creamy and flavorful sauce had a high usage of morels (also known as Morchella, a wavy shaped edible mushroom species) and the earthly flavor combined with the usage of heavy cream with some herbs was a perfect match for the grilled chicken.

As for dessert, a combination of Spicy Mango Cheese Cake, deep Fried Iced Chocolate & Praline was served.

The unique one amongst the 3-in-1 palate of dessert would be the Spicy Mango Cheese Cake. It was the chef’s special creation to depict love. It would be quite a complicated dessert for many couples but once you start the first mouthful, you would get to accept its hidden meaning. Love is not so complicated after all. 😛 Here’s how I would interpret the overall dessert presented for the night. “LOVE sparks when there are lots of NATURAL SWEETNESS (SWEET strawberry, dragon fruit & apple). Though, some would experience some SOURNESS (SOUR strawberry, dragon fruit & apple). At the base, it’s filled with lots of UNCERTAINTIES & BOUNCINESS (sponge cake). Then, slight HARDSHIP (nutmeg bits) seeps in when you began to linger in the CREAMY RELATIONSHIP (cream cheese – some love it & some detest it). As the relationship becomes FIRMER with some SPICINESS (mango gelatin with bits of chili paddy and red chili), more HARDSHIP might set it (cream cheese with nutmeg bits) when you tried to stay on with what might not be yours. If you are strong to overcome the relationship with more STRENGTH & SPICINESS (top mango gelatin with bits of chili paddy and red chili) plus a bit more of BITTERNESS (accompanied deep fried iced chocolate & dark chocolate praline), you would feel that there’s a TRUE SWEETNESS hidden at the end of your feast when you gobble all down at once. That’s LOVE~ COMPLICATED as it may sound but SWEET if you know how to appreciate it right from the beginning.” Quoted by Criz Lai~ 🙂

Here’s a peep at how the dinner setting would be.

As for the surprise gift, it would be a set of teddy bears as shown below.

Overall, the quality for the Valentine’s Day Dinner was better than the previous year. On top of that, Eastin Hotel Penang would also be throwing in a special stay over room rate of RM120++/night for only dine-in couples. This offer is only valid on Valentine’s Day.

The Swez Brasserie is located at the ring wing of Eastin Hotel, Penang (next to Queensbay Mall). If you are coming from Georgetown towards Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone via Bayan Lepas Expressway, do watch out for the Pulau Jerejak signboard (leading to Pulau Jerejak jetty). Ignore the turning and drive on to the next left junction. Turn left into Jalan Aziz Ibrahim and drive on until you a roundabout. Turn 3 o’clock and drive on until you see a big Eastin Hotel signboard at the first right junction. Turn right and drive on. Park your car at the basement car park. Take a lift to the first floor lobby and you would see the restaurant there.

Name: SWEZ BRASSERIE @ EASTIN HOTEL
Address: 1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queens Bay, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-612 1128
Business Hours: 6.30pm-10.00pm (Valentine’s Day only)
GPS: 5.33643, 100.306345

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

Make this Valentine’s Day your soulful journey towards greatest love by sharing what’s the best for both parties. Nothing can turn out as romantic as a candlelight dinner. Let the experts serve both of you as king and queen on this special day. Let yourself enjoy all the romantic and precious moments you have together. Let Swez Brasserie @ Eastin Hotel Penang, offer you the ultimate ardent indulgence of a delectable Valentine’s Day Set Dinner at RM198++ per couple while being serenaded by sentimental music on this romantic evening.

Other than getting a beautiful and fluffy pair of imported teddy bears, you would be complimented with either a glass of red wine or mocktail. You have the option to choose the Argentina produced Merlot 2010 red wine or Lover’s Isle mocktail. The mocktail would consist of a concoction of pineapple juice, orange juice, mango juice with grenadine syrup.

As for Appetizer, you would be served with Chilled Ocean Tartar with Pickled Mushroom, Asparagus and Beetroot Dressing. The freshly peeled crab meat, chopped prawns, onions, parsley with a hint of chopped red chilies all mixed up in some tartar sauce was a great seafood experience. This concoction was topped on some vinegar picked button mushroom slices and blanched asparagus, garnished with some black colored sturgeon caviars and served with some beetroot dressing. The beetroot dressing had a hint of chopped onions, vinegar and sugar. The taste was simply refreshing when combining a bit of everything in the mouth. This appetizer with a tad of creaminess, sweetness and sourness sure boosted up my appetite for more dishes to come.

As for Soup, we were served with the Oven Baked Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Pumpkin Seeds. One sip and you would realize that it was not simply done. The soup had that sweetness not only from the baked pumpkin but also from some thick vegetable stock. Combined with the creaminess from the whipped butter cream and coarsely crushed roasted pumpkin seeds, it was indeed my perfect kind of soup. You can get the waiter to grind in some black pepper for that extra peppery flavor.

As for the Main Course, it was either fish or chicken. We were first served with Pan Fried Cod Fish on Sweet Potato Puree with Carrot Mustard Sauce. For fish lovers, this dish would indeed suit you well. It was a thick slab of cod fish, mildly herbed, salted and pan fried to perfection with the juiciness still locked within the fillet. With a little twist of some lemon juice, a small scoop of the sweet potato puree and a little dab on the carrot mustard sauce, it was a mouthful of freshness.

The next main course option was the Baked Chicken Wellington with Spinach and Gravy. Well, I did fell in love with the Baked Beef Wellington dish once at the Swez Brasserie and this dish was done just as good as the other. The preparation of this poultry dish was somewhat quite similar to the chicken cordon bleu with rolled up chicken fillet. Instead of having ham and cheese rolled up and coated with breadcrumbs prior to deep frying, this dish had a sprinkle or two of paprika, chopped onions and mushroom rolled up and wrapped in puff pastry prior to baking. It went well with the accompanied brown sauce and sautéed baby spinach with chopped garlic.

The Dessert truly would express your love for each other significantly with the Endless Love being served. It had a chocolate fenced up heart shaped strawberry mousse served with two mini jackfruit filo pastry wraps with clear vanilla sauce, a strawberry and a chocolate stick. You would also get a Valentine’s Day Mocha Praline on that day. It was a simple dessert to me but was very well presented.

The Swez Brasserie is located at the ring wing of Eastin Hotel, Penang (next to Queensbay Mall). If you are coming from Georgetown towards Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone via Bayan Lepas Expressway, do watch out for the Pulau Jerejak signboard (leading to Pulau Jerejak jetty). Ignore the turning and drive on to the next left junction. Turn left into Jalan Aziz Ibrahim and drive on until you a roundabout. Turn 3 o’ clock and drive on until you see a big Eastin Hotel signboard at the first right junction. Turn right and drive on. Park your car at the basement car park. Take a lift to the first floor lobby and you would see the restaurant there.

Name: SWEZ BRASSERIE @ EASTIN HOTEL
Address: 1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queens Bay, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-612 1128
Business Hours: 6.30pm-10.00pm (Valentine’s Day only)
GPS: 5.33643, 100.306345

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

Although Valentine’s Day may happen only once a year; the love, passion and romance as described ought to be enjoyed every single day. Try to make a commitment by doing something romantic at least once a week and your love will appreciate the emotional gesture throughout his or her life.

Some say the roots of Valentine’s Day are with Saint Valentine, a Roman who was killed for his faith on February 14, 269 A.D. St. Valentine’s Day happened to fall on the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a Roman festival of wolves in which men and women would choose partners for the day and celebrate fertility. Over the centuries, February 14th has become firmly associated with love, romance and sweethearts in every country around the world.

There are many traditions involved with Valentine’s Day. In most countries it is a traditional day to become engaged. In Italy, it’s a day when men and women listen to music together and share poetry. In Victorian England, elaborate Valentine’s Day cards were shared with family and friends. In Germany, flowers were definitely expected!

The key to a tradition is that it comes from the heart as Valentine’s Day is not a day to spend lavishly on meals and expensive gifts. It’s about that connection between two people, a connection that money can’t buy. It is all about showing your love how much you care deep within your heart… Let’s say with a pot of your handmade heart-shaped steamboat! 🙂

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!