When I go on vacation I seek two things: culture and food. I had plenty of culture in Malaysia, and I had to balance it out with the local flavors. And being there with my family meant that I could enjoy even more food. There were some days that I managed to stuff myself stupid–the food was just too tempting to pass up, even after I had just eaten a meal.
The best restaurant we found was Baba Nyonya Cuisine in Georgetown, Penang. Really, the best food we had in Malaysia was in Penang–even the street food was wonderful. But this restaurant intertwined the quiet atmosphere of eating at home with traditional Baba Nyonya dishes and some of the best service we experienced in a long time.
It’s located on Jalan Negore, a quiet street, at the end of a line of small restaurants that mostly served Chinese food. The interior is cozy and decorated in a Chinese style (as Baba Nyonya are Chinese decendents). But the food is nothing like anything I’ve had in China. They use a lot of red curry, vegetables, and fish in the dishes. While other restaurants on the street seemed a little crowded, this one remained quiet even though it was recommended.
Being our final day in Penang, we went all out and tried almost every local dish we could. The cook/waitress answered all our questions about the food and made us want to try even more. We ended up ordering chai sim, curry capitan chicken, curry tumis assam fish (I think we ordered a second helping), Nyonya pie tee (also known as top hats), jeuhoo char, and inchi kaybin. There may have even been other dishes. It was more than enough for four people, but we ate it all because it was just so good. In all, it only cost 130 Ringgits, including fresh fruit juice and coffee.
