Lunch today was at Jason Nyonya House on bustling Bishop Street in George Town’s financial district. It’s a small, family-run spot - owner, Jason Chan’s 62-year-old mother, Fanny Cheah, runs the kitchen and cooks the Nyonya dishes according to their family recipes.
Our lunch spread consisted of the usual suspects:
-
Too tor th’ng - this is a Penang favourite: strips of pig’s stomach, gingko nuts and pork-ribs in a peppery consomme. The flavours are reminiscent of Singaporean bak kut teh and Bangkok guay jap, both of which I love.
-
Jiu hu char - finely-julienned jicama and dried cuttlefish, slow-cooked with pork, carrots and shitake mushrooms. Pretty decent rendition here, and correctly served with the requisite Chinese lettuce leaf wraps and sambal belachan.
-
Stingray gulai tumis - nice flavors, loved the stingray meat - soft and fresh. Just didn’t like the cornstarch-thickened consistency, which is at odds with what we expect gulai tumis to be like.
-
Ayam buah keluak - another dish with nice flavors, but strangely cornstarch-thickened consistency. Why?!!
-
Cencaluk omelette - this is the best rendition in town: the addition of purple onions and Chinese parsley to the fermented krill omelette was sheer genius: added newer textural and taste dimensions to an often boring dish.
-
Otak-otak - very tasty, but a bit too dry. I think the otak-otak is reheated, which made the whole concoction lose its mousse-like consistency, and ended up like a pudding.
-
Dessert: Sago & mung bean soup - nice, coconut-enriched dessert.
Satisfactory meal - all the dishes had relatively strong flavours, which suit the local Penang palate. Just not sure why the stingray gulai tumis and ayam buah keluak had thickened consistencies, instead of being simply stew-like.
Address
Jason Nyonya House
27, Bishop Street, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6018-356 0515
Operating hours: 11am-2.30pm, 6pm-9.30pm Mon-Tue, Thu-Sun. Closed on Wednesdays.
