Sesame + Soy - a hot new dining concept at G Hotel

Sesame + Soy, G Hotel's Pan Asian Chinese Cuisine restaurant offers dining experience like no other in Penang. As a start, it is already unusual to find two complimentary yet different dining ambiance in one space.

As you walk into the restaurant, you will be greeted first by Soy, a modern Asian bistro of sort, which is the more casual of the two. Soy offers fusion contemporary Asian cuisine that are also moderately priced. Soy is famous for its value-for-money Business Set Lunch where you select any two dishes with your choice of steamed or fried rice, soup and dessert of the day at only RM30++ per person.

Sesame is the perfect epitome of Chinese fine dining, a rare find in Penang. Don’t be surprised if Sesame if not your traditional Chinese restaurant. Sesame prides itself in its Pan Asian Chinese Cuisine with a fusion of contemporary Chinese cuisine from across the region and classic Chinese dishes.

The soft ambient lighting and plush setting makes Sesame a favourite for private dinner party, wedding party or corporate group dining. The restaurant offers attractively priced set menus ranging from Rm58++ per person to RM138++ per person.

Soy is opened from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm for lunch while Sesame is open from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm for dinner.

Sesame + Soy has graciously invited us for a food tasting session with a few other food bloggers. The following are the fine dishes crafted by Chef Chiam in the menu. Chef Chiam is very particular about plating and decoration. The dishes are not just tasty but they are also very pleasing to the eyes.

We started off with the appetizer which is a combination of fruit tart, fresh scallop skewer with baked mashed sweet potato. I especially liked the concoction of smoked duck breast, mango and roe with rasberry dressing in the fruit tart.

Sesame's Treasure Combination - with smoked duck breast, fruit tart with rasberry dressing and fresh scallop skewer with baked mashed sweet potato

We were then presented with a Superior Broth ala Western with Seafood Dumpling. The broth is made of pumpkin while the seafood parcel is full of treasures like crab and sea cucumber.

Braised Golden Superior Broth with Seafood Dumpling

The pan seared chicken was crispy and yet tender, served with a traditional "Xi Shi" sauce.

Pan-seared Chicken with "Xi Shi" Sauce and Asparagus in Cream Sauce with Baby Carrot and Edible Flower

Wok Fried Diced Salmon with Brown Bean Sauce with Crispy Corn Cake

Grilled Blue River Prawn in Korean Spice accompanied by Marmite Sauce



Crunchy Jack Fruit Kataifi Roll with Honey and Chinese Herbal Jelly with Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream

The dessert was a creative twist with the sweet jack fruit roll and ice cream and the slightly tart and bitter herbal jelly.

Pink Perfection

Watermelon Pudina

Chef Chiam passionately sharing the fine details he puts into his dishes

Elegant dining

Private room

If you have a change from the Penang Chinese dining scene and you want to pamper yourself with fine Chinese cuisine in a luxury cum trendy setting, then Sesame + Soy is definitely worth a try.

Sesame + Soy

G Hotel

168A Persiaran Gurney 10250 Penang

Tel: +604 238 0000

Website: www.ghotel.com.my

Victoria Station Bayan Baru - House of Fine Steak

In the last couple of years, we have been ordering turkey for our Christmas celebration at home from Victoria Station. We give thumbs up for their turkey and kept going back for more every year.

We have been meaning to go for a sit down meal at the restaurant for a while now and finally did so a few weeks ago.

I remember Victoria Station being a favourite haunt for a good and proper sit down meal and corporate functions, way before new eateries and restaurants started mushrooming in the Bayan Baru / Bayan Lepas area. We weren't sure if it's still as popular so we were half expecting the restaurant to be empty. To our surprise the restaurant was filled was patrons and there wasn't even any table available in the signature railway coach in the restaurant. It was actually a relief because it was a sign that the food at the restaurant should still be good.

The Victation Station menu is very elaborate with multiple selection of soup, salad, appetizer, steak from USA and New Zealand, 'Jet-In' (airflown in) seafood and more.

We didn't have to think twice to order our favourite Mulligatawany soup. If you are familiar with the Indian soup Rasam, this is a variation of it. It is an Anglo-Indian spicy and sour lentil soup with chicken bits and rice. We absolutely loved the spices and rice in the soup.

Wild Mushroom Steak (RM37.90)

Grilled fillet steak topped with wild mushroom, VS Brown Sauce, potato of the day and vegetables.

Unfortunately, the mushroom steak did not turn out as expected. We somehow didn't think that those were wild mushrooms that they served. :(

Grilled Rainbow Trout (RM23.90)

It is not easy to find Rainbow Trout in Penang so hubs jumps at every opportunity to savour this fish when he sees it on the menu. I guess the Grilled Rainbow Trout did not dissapoint him as it was grilled to perfection with crispy skin and juicy flesh.

All Poulty (RM25.90)

The chicken fillet, chicken sausages, chicken pate with bull's eye egg and VS Brown Sauce combination was quite interesting. Grandpa truly enjoyed his All Poulty dish. He almost licked his plate clean. :)

 
Station Bayan Baru
17, Lorong Mayang Pasir 5,
Bayan Baru,
11950 Penang.
Tel: +604 642 5988, +604 642 8988
Fax: +604 642 6988
http://www.victoriastation.com.my/html/index.htm

Feringgi Grill at Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa

We spent the weekend at the Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa last week and took the opportunity to try the food at the famed Feringgi Grill. The award-winning Feringgi Grill is helmed by Executive Sous Chef Adam Roy.

Entrance to Feringgi Grill

Table setting

Feringgi Bar (next to Feringgi Grill)

Feringgi Grill is a fine dining restaurant and Chef Adam's signature dishes include wood-smoked dishes like the Wood Plank Roasted Cod, Smoked Beef Rib, Grilled Malaysian Stingray etc.

Bread Basket with Chilli and Tomato Chutney

The serving of bread basket was generous with a variety of breads. The fresh chilli and tomato chutney went very well with the thin crisps.

Amuse Bouche (Seared Tuna with Pomelo)

FG Tomato Soup RM30

FG Tomato Soup Flambeed tableside

I ordered the FG Tomato Soup because I read that it is one of Chef Adam's all time favourites. The frozen tomato puree was cooked with chopped tomatoes, mushrooms etc. and flambeed tableside so it was quite an experience.

Grilled Pizzette RM27

The grilled pizzette had a very crispy Filo pastry base which I loved. The melted goat's cheese was a tad too strong for me but hubs loved it to bits so I guess it is an acquired taste.

P/S: Our Canon 500D battery went flat right before the waiter flambeed the tomato soup so we had to resort to using our old point-and-shoot so the Grilled Pizzette photo turned out to be a bit blur. We got the battery charged and luckily we were able to use the DSLR again by the time our main dishes were served.

Lime and Orange Sherbet to cleanse the palate before our main dishes

Queen’s Cut Roast Prime Rib of Beef RM91 (only available on Fridays and Saturdays)

Hubs originally ordered the Queen's Cut Roast Prime Rib but the waiter was so kind to suggest that he takes half of the Roast Rib and half of Chef Adam's signature Smoked Beef Rib. It was an excellent suggestion as we got to try what must be the best roast rib and smoked beef. The meat was juicy and succulent and infused with the right amount of wood-smoked aroma and flavours. We would recommend this anytime for beef lovers.

P/S: The Roast Prime Rib comes in two serving sizes i.e. Queen's Cut and King's Cut. What you see in the picture is the serving for Queen's cut so you can imagine how big the King's cut is. The waiter actually made a remark that we may have to skip both breakfast and lunch the next day if we were to take the King's Cut :)

Plank Roasted Cod RM78 (Grilled and scented on a wood plank, roasted gazpacho dip, herbed potatoes, peppers and onions)

I am not surprised that the Plank Roasted Cod is one of Chef's Adam's signature dishes. The cod was grilled to perfection with very crispy skin and very tender and juicy meat. However, not sure if it was me or the cod skin was a tad too salty so you may want to ask the chef to go easy on the salt.

Complimentary White and Milk Chocolates

Overall, it was indeed a very pleasant dining experience with good ambience, great service and definitely very fine food. Kudos to Chef Adam and his crew.

Feringgi Grill

Rasa Wing Lobby, Mezzanine Level

Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa
Phone: (604) 888 8888

Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Dress Code: Smart casual

Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/penang/rasasayangresort/dining/restaurant/feringgigrill

The View - Equatorial Hotel

The View Restaurant at the Equatorial Hotel Penang serves primarily French cuisine in a formal and fine dining setting. Dress code is smart casual to formal so no slippers, shorts, singlets are allowed, as stated on a sign next to the entrance.

Since it was a group function, it was very nice of them to allocate a private room for us.

The glass panel around the room gave us a great view of the Penang island's coastline as claimed by the hotel website.

We have always loved the Executive Express Lunch at The View mostly due to its semi-buffet lunch concept and the abundance and spread of the appetizer, salad and dessert buffet.

It has been more than a year since we were last there as a group and we noticed that the variety of the buffet spread is still there but in smaller portions. This is probably to avoid wastage. Eventhough so, don't fret as the service crew is continuously replenishing the buffet spread which is a good thing.

I particularly enjoyed the appetizer or Hors d'œuvre buffet spread with fresh oysters, smoked salmon, and a variety of canapes served with caviar, cheese, purees etc. Photos to follow.

Three of us had Penne au Canard Fume. We probably set our expectations too high as we were pretty dissapointed with this dish. It was a tad too Oriental for our taste since we were expecting something more "French" ;)

The others who had Tagliatelle Nicoise weren't exactly thrilled about this dish either but those who ordered the Salmon Steak and Fillet of Seabass loved them.

Salmon Steak with Lemon Capers Sauce

Tagliatelle Nicoise Fresh Tagliatelle tossed in Cherry Tomatoes Sauce with Black Olives, Capsicums and Baked Garlic in Olive Oil

Penne au Canard Fume Penne Pasta tossed with Smoked Duck Breast and Glaced Garlic

Fillet of Seabass with Hollandaise Sauce

The service crew were very attentive and even asked if anything wrong with our mains when we returned the plates almost half full. They were very receptive to our feedbacks and the Chef even offered to change our mains for us but we declined since we were almost full by then.

Since we were celebrating a birthday, the crew and Chef were so kind to offer us a complimentary chocolate cake for the birthday girl. I have to salute the restaurant crew for their excellent service and customer focus.

It was definitely a great dining experience albeit the pasta dishes which didn't go very well with our tastebuds. The ambiance was serene and good and the buffet spread was quite commendable.

For Meat Items they recommend either Béarnaise, Maitre D’hotel Butter, Shallot Bordelaise, Black Pepper or Mushroom sauce.

For Fish Items, they recommend either Hollandaise, Lemon Capers Sauce or Garlic Butter sauce.

Price ranges from RM58 to RM92++ per pax depending on the main that you choose, Whole Boston Lobster is RM36.00 Per 100 gm
All prices are subject to 10% Service Charge & 5% Government Tax

HOTEL EQUATORIAL PENANG

1 Jalan Bukit Jambul Bayan Lepas 11900 Penang Malaysia

Tel: +60 4 643 8111

Fax: +60 4 644 8000

Email: info@pen.equatorial.com

Web: www.equatorial.com/pen/

Monday - Friday, Lunch 12 noon - 2.30 pm

Monday - Saturday, Dinner 6.30 pm - 10.00 pm

Closed on Public Holidays