Indigo Restaurant at The Blue Mansion, George Town, Penang

Located on the first floor of the beautifully restored Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is Indigo Restaurant, a charming fine dining restaurant serving contemporary Asian cuisine.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, better known as The Blue Mansion, demonstrates Cheong Fatt Tze's fascination with Western artisanship. Indigo Restaurant is said to be inspired by Cheong Fatt Tze himself, where both cuisine and interior showcase the best of the East and West.

Exquisite Art Nouveau stained glass windows from England

Decorative mosaic porcelain works called chien nien, a strictly Fujianese and Teochew skill.

Helming the kitchen here is Executive Chef Beh Weng Chia, better known as Chef Weng, who graduated from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco and honed his skills in distinguished restaurants across Australia, USA and Malaysia. For his menu at Indigo, this Penang-born chef presents a contemporary take on classical dishes, focusing on premium ingredients and adding a hint of local flavour.

During our trip to Penang, we visited this beautiful restaurant for lunch. The restaurant offers a three-course set lunch for RM65++ and our visit coincided with the launch of their new menu. Guests can currently choose from six appetizers, seven mains and three desserts - more choices compared to their last menu.

To start, I had the Cold Laksa, a dish inspired by Penang's famous assam laksa. Indigo's version features angel hair pasta tossed in prawn reduction and topped with marinated tuna, condiments of assam laksa (pineapple, cucumber) and mint oil... absolutely ingenious! An elegant take on assam laksa, successfully showcasing the flavours of the local favourite.

Hubby had the Chicken liver parfait, a French classic executed perfectly! Rich, silky smooth pate paired with shallot jam and grilled bread. Yum!

The kids had the Wild caught prawns, served with bean sprouts, quail egg, water convolvulus (kangkung), fried shallots, prawn bisque and chilli oil. The bisque itself is thick and sweet, with hints of spiciness from the chilli oil. I had a taste and somehow, eating this reminded me of prawn mee or better known as Penang hokkien mee... I wonder if that's where the chef got his inspiration from.

For mains, I had the Chargrilled Black Angus tenderloin (RM65 supplement), which comes with potato gratin, seasonal vegetables and green peppercorn sauce. Perfectly grilled and tender.

Baby C had the Beef pie - flavourful, tender chunks of braised beef encased in golden shortcrust pastry, served with pea tendrils, cauliflower puree and caramelised onion jus. Super tasty!

Hubby had the Duck schnitzel, deep fried to golden perfection and perfectly complemented by sweet peaches, rocket as well as an orange and duck jus. Our first time having schnitzel made using duck, and it definitely works!

Baby D had the Seafood stew and the portion was huge! It came with generous amounts of seafood such as fish, clam, squid and prawn, along with okra, cauliflower and chili flakes, all cooked in white wine, and served with a side of grilled garlic bread.

For dessert, the kids had the Pandan and brown sugar parfait with coconut, mochi and cookie crumbs while the adults had the Chocolate and earl grey (supplement RM18) - a rich, beautifully plated chocolate bar with smoked almond ice cream, butterscotch, chocolate pearl and earl grey essence. So delicious!

Click here to reserve your tables:

Pork-free.

Opening times: Lunch 12pm to 2.30pm; Dinner 6.30pm to 10pm.

Location: Indigo Restaurant at The Blue Mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, 14, Leith Street, George Town, 10200 Penang, Malaysia

Tel: +604 262 0006

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Kingyo Japanese Restaurant, EkoCheras Mall

Earlier last week, we wanted to have Japanese food for lunch so we checked out Kingyo Japanese Restaurant. Located on the first floor of EkoCheras Mall, the restaurant offers set menu and a la carte menu during lunch. There are 13 set menus to choose from, all priced at RM19 per set and comes with pickles, salad, rice, miso soup, chawanmushi and fruits.

I had the Shake don set which came with around 9 slices of salmon sashimi, topped on top of vinegared rice. The sashimi was fresh and a pretty good thickness for don. Chawanmushi was also nice and smooth.

Hubby had the Saba teriyaki set - nice crisp skin, though there were a lot of bones in the fish which made eating really tedious.

Kingyo Japanese Restaurant Set Menu

Opening hours: 10am to 10pm daily.

Price: Total bill RM45.10.

Location: Kingyo Japanese Restaurant, M-F-35, EkoCheras Mall, No. 693, Batu 5, Jalan Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur. (Parking in mall RM1 on weekdays, RM2 on weekends).

Tel: 03-9134 2388

Nearest MRT: Taman Mutiara.


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Koyaku Japanese Dining & Grill, Tropicana Avenue

Recently, we were at Tropicana Avenue to run some errands and come lunchtime, we decided to check out Koyaku Japanese Dining & Grill.

The restaurant interior was quirky, with one wall covered in cardboard boxes, posters and masks, while the other wall was lined with sake bottles and Japanese snack boxes. There are also large Doraemon (and friends) statues at the restaurant entrance.

We had the Koyaku Set Lunch, with over 28 different sets to choose from, ranging from sushi, sashimi, robatayaki, noodles, teppanyaki and more. All sets come with miso soup, rice, chawanmushi, pickles and dessert. Prices start from RM20 per set.

The Sashimi Set (RM30) comes with four types of raw fish, namely salmon, tuna, butterfish and kampachi. The sashimi was fresh, I especially liked the fatty salmon belly and kampachi.

The Salmon Teriyaki (RM25) set was pretty good value for money. Two nicely grilled salmon fillets in a delicious glaze.

The Saba Set (RM24) was nice, though we found the fish to be on the small side. For dessert, they serve fresh fruits (melon and kiwi).

Koyaku Set Lunch Menu

Check out our review of Koyaku Japanese Dining & Grill, Taman Desa here.

Operating hours: 12pm - 3pm; 6pm - 10.30pm.

Price: Total bill RM91.65 for 3 pax.

Location: Koyaku Japanese Dining & Grill, P-G-16, Tropicana, Persiaran Tropicana, Tropicana, 47410 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. (Parking rate RM2 for 2 hours).

Tel: 03-7890 0555



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Pho King, SS2, PJ: Authentic Vietnamese Food

We've known about Pho King in SS2, PJ for a while now, but because it is quite far from our place, we never took the initiative to visit until earlier this week when I had serious cravings for a good bowl of pho.

Pho King specialises in authentic Vietnamese food made with fresh, quality ingredients such as Australian beef, antibiotic-free pork, premium fish sauce, and fresh spices. The menu features appetizers, soup noodles, dry noodles, banh mi, rice dishes, drinks and dessert. To order, simply fill in the order chit and hand it over to one of the waiting staff.

After browsing the menu, I decided to go for the weekday set lunch, as it comes with a few sides I wanted to try as well as a drink (warm or cold Jasmine tea). A good deal at RM19.90 for the Beef Pho Set.

The set comes with a bowl of beef pho (I think it's a small portion), as well as two pieces each of fresh summer roll (goi cuon) and fried spring roll (cha gio). Beansprouts, lime wedge, chilis and fresh herbs (Thai basil and culantro) is served on the side and is to be added to the pho before you eat.

As I took my first sip of the soup, I knew immediately that I was on to something good. The broth was light yet full of flavour. They use 100% Australian beef so it's lovely and tender. Definitely a fantastic bowl of pho, made with love. The rolls were good too, and the portion size for the set was just nice for me.

The Fresh Summer Rolls comes with pork, prawns, fresh herbs and greens, and served with a delicious peanut sauce. The fried spring rolls, consisting of pork, yam, carrots and vegetables were nice and crispy.

Weekday set lunch menu

Hubby had the Traditional banh mi, with red pork and pate (RM12.50). The bread was nice and crusty, yet soft on the inside. Love the sound of a good bread as you bite into it. They also do a grilled pork version which we will try on our next visit.

Overall, we had a lovely lunch here, in a nice, air-conditioned environment. Would definitely return again for more of their authentic Vietnamese delights.

Opening times: 12pm to 9pm daily. Closed on Thursdays.

Price: Total bill RM36.

Location: Pho King, 153 Jalan SS2/6, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (Street parking available - payment by parking vouchers).

Tel: 03-7865 3290



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ATAS Modern Malaysian Eatery, The RuMa Hotel KL

Located on the mezzanine level of the newly opened The RuMa Hotel and Residence is ATAS, the hotel's specialty restaurant offering modern Malaysian cuisine. This modern, chic eatery aims to present guests with a distinctly Malaysian experience, through its interior, warm hospitality and the freshest locally sourced ingredients.

Its name is inspired by the Malay word for "upstairs", and to get to the restaurant, guests literally have to go up the stairs, past the central showpiece "butterfly kebaya" by renowned local designer Bernard Chandran. Atas also cheekily refers to something "upper class" and while the food and interior here is pretty atas, I have to say, every plate successfully showcased the Malaysian influence.

Helming the kitchen here is Executive Chef Tyson Gee, who hails from Vancouver, Canada. Inspired by his culinary adventures throughout Southeast Asia, from Thailand to Malaysia, Chef Tyson delivers familiar flavours in contemporary ways and incorporates a sense of artistry into every bite.

"At The RuMa, we don’t have a coffee house, or an all-day dining restaurant; instead, we have our signature restaurant ATAS, where my goal isn’t to deconstruct classical or traditional Malaysian dishes but to reinterpret local ingredients and flavour profiles into something uniquely Malaysian,” said Chef Tyson.

We started our culinary journey here with a couple of snacks, namely the Blue tiger prawn with betel leaf and charred coconut (RM45) and Chicken liver parfait on buttermilk waffle with roselle jam (RM21). These are designed so that you can pop the whole thing in your mouth, to enjoy all the flavours that the chef intended for you to experience. The latter turned out to be my favorite dish of the afternoon - rich, luscious chicken liver parfait complemented beautifully by the tart roselle jam, on a crisp waffle. We love their complimentary soft bread rolls too, which are served with butter topped with Sarawak highland pepper, tasting unusually of citronella.

Another highlight for us was the Cured ocean trout served with puffed tapioca and sambal dressing (RM55). Use the crisp puffed tapioca to scoop up some of the cured ocean trout and sambal dressing for a fiery bite.

Chef Tyson employs a Mibrasa charcoal oven in his kitchen, which gives a lovely smokiness to his dishes. This was evident in both the mains that we tried - the Seabass with Chinese celery, basil and charred spring onion (RM105) and Charred tiger prawns with salted egg, curry spices and laksa mint (RM115). To accompany the mains, we had the colorful Jasmine rice salad (RM25), their version of nasi ulam with crispy chicken skin, spring onion and sesame, which was a little lacking in taste but made up with by the full-of-umami Red braised mushrooms with peanuts and Thai basil (RM25).

On weekdays, they also offer an Express Set Lunch for RM98 nett per person, which comes with four snacks, choice of main course and dessert. For snacks, there was the Otak-otak with calamansi, coriander and ikura, Rojak with rose apple, ulam raja and tamarind, Blue sapphire panna cotta wing bean salad (ie with a blue cheese sauce), and Pani puri with mushroom masala and creme fraiche.

For mains, we selected the Salt grass lamb, coated in onion ash and comes with peas and garlic sauce. To end, dessert of Matcha panna cotta with mango sorbet is served.

We also ordered additional desserts from their a la carte menu. Durian lovers, they do an amazing Durian ice cream sundae (RM45) here. Using Musang King durian (though it might change depending on the fruit's availability), the ice cream was super rich, thick and creamy. The ice cream was topped with pistachio, gula Melaka, coconut jelly and kuih loyang.

ATAS proudly supports locally produced Malaysian chocolate from Pahang. They use single origin 70% dark chocolate to create this delicious dessert.

Mandarin, salted caramel, chocolate sorbet

ATAS a la carte menu

Click here for the current a la carte menu on their website.

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Pork-free.

Opening times: Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm; Dinner 6.30pm - 10.30pm.

Location: ATAS Modern Malaysian Eatery, The Ruma Hotel and Residences, 7 Jalan Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03- 2778 0888


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