I was going to write about something else today, like Malaysian mall culture or how we've managed to so far survive crossing the streets in KL and Penang, but after the meal we just had I've changed my mind. And I have a feeling I'm going to be making a lot more "food category" posts than I originally thought!
To set the scene, let's rewind to last night's post-dinner stroll when we decided to explore a side street just around the corner from our hotel. We've eaten mostly at hawker stalls (more about those later) since arriving in Penang, so we had our radar up for an actual sit down restaurant where they bring a menu to your table and the chairs are made of something other than plastic.
Lo and behold, on that one block we came across not one but two restaurants, both very reasonably priced, with extensive menus focusing on authentic Malaysian dishes. This in addition to two more restaurants serving breakfasts that also looked fabulous. We took note and decided we'd try one of the Malaysian food restaurants tonight.
However, "the best laid plans...."
This evening we decided to take a very short walk before dinner, to locate the office where we have an appointment later this week. Having accomplished that mission, we took a short cut through a back alley on the way to our planned Malaysian dinner. And upon emerging on the next street we found ourselves directly across from two more delightful looking restaurants.
Having no fixed schedule, we decided to check out the offerings for future reference before continuing on to have dinner. The first was a Thai restaurant that looked good, but there was no menu out front for us to peruse so we moved on to the second one, a Chinese restaurant called simply "Tangshan Cuisine."
While browsing the menu displayed just outside the door, a young woman came out, presumably to entice us to come inside. However, it was soon apparent that she spoke no English, and we of course speak none of the Chinese languages. Not wanting to lose a potential customer, the employee politely gestured for us to wait and then quickly disappeared inside.
A moment later an older woman, who we presumed was the owner, came outside and in very good English answered our questions and described the cuisine that was served. It all sounded so good that we abandoned our plans to have traditional Malaysian food for dinner, and instead opted for Tangshan.
As it turns out, it was a very good decision indeed.
We were shown to a table that was set simply but elegantly, and our hostess gave us menus and invited us to call her should we have any questions about the dishes.
After some time (there were a LOT of dishes to choose from!) we decided on five items. We pressed the call button and a waiter appeared immediately, but the owner/hostess was right behind him and shooed him away so she could take our order in English.
Taking her recommendation, we decided to order only four dishes as she said the portions were quite large. We also switched out pork ribs for vinegar pork, which she recommended as being especially good. Finally, we were happy to allow her to choose a tea for us, and she suggested pu'er as a smooth tea to aid in digestion and relaxation.
Almost as soon as she'd left our table, a beautiful pot of tea arrived...
...followed almost immediately by our first two dishes, sizzling tofu and kang kong, a very tasty leafy green veggie that translates to water spinach. I'll let you guess which is which in the photos below.
We had only enough time to sample a few bites and rave to each other about the taste, when a huge plate of mustard fried rice appeared, along with the aforementioned vinegar pork.
Of course there's no way I can convey in words or pictures just how flavourful and delicious the meal was, but we both agreed we had never had a better Chinese dinner.
And to top it all off, the bill came to only $83 MYR, or just over $28 CAD, including tax and service charge. We'll definitely return here for another meal before we leave Penang!
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