Auntie Gaik Lean’s in Penang used to be my family’s go to but we’ve stopped for years after they started watering their recipes down and developing an attitude. The story I’ve heard from people who’ve been there post-Michelin is that it’s not improved the cooking or the experience.

We also tried Kebaya in the Seven Terraces hotel once. If you have a Malaysian or an Asian palate though, it might not satisfy. We thought it was too French-Peranakan fusion but without the endearing characteristics of either cuisine.

Our go-to for Penang-style Peranakan and Hainanese food is the Yeng Keng cafe, adjacent to the hotel with the same name, on Chulia Street. We like the spring rolls, the gulai tumis, and the yam duck. They even have bombe Alaska if you have a taste for kitschy 1980s desserts.

I also like Jawi House on Armenian Street. The kitchen is run by a formally trained chef and tries to be authentically Jawi Peranakan, a relatively unknown and unique Penang culture. His mom is a retired professor who wrote and taught about Jawi Peranakan culture so the space is also a museum of sorts.

In short, I think Penang is not the place to go for high-end restaurants. It’s more of a street food place. Nevertheless, you can still get a decent experience if you go for a curated list of upper-midrange places.

Oh! And in KL, I liked DC (Taman Tun Dr Ismail) and Nadodi (Jalan Ampang). Nadodi served me the single best thing I had ever eaten in Malaysia, but that was years ago under Chef Johnson Ebenezer, who has since moved on.

I'm curious what you guys had for dinner after that. Looks like enough to keep you going until tomorrow.

This post has been edited by mesothelium: Aug 11 2023, 12:36 AM

Back in Bangkok after a year and my first meal was a comforting bowl of shoyu soba from the Centralworld outpost of Tsuta Soba Noodles. The warm noodles in the light and comforting broth was a pleasant welcome back to the city.