Always a treat to dine at 1-Michelin-star ๐๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ธ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ปโ๐ ๐ข๐น๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, and even more of a special honor to have the always perfectly coiffed, beaming Auntie Beh Gaik Lean herself come and sit with us and chat through the evening.
Auntie Gaik Lean runs her restaurant like a true-blue Nyonya matriarch: iron-fist in a velvet glove, her warm smile a pink misty camouflage for her steely eyes. Her staff functioned like a Gurkha regiment: sleek, well-oiled and ready to do ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ for their commander.
We entered her veritable ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐บ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ through tall French doors, past the blue-and-gold mullions. Seated inside, amidst the clamor and the chatter of a dozen languages, one canโt help but shiver in anticipation.
We started off with the traditional Cantonese ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ (raw fish) salad, a nod to the forthcoming Year of the Horse celebrations which will gallop in on 17 Feb 2026. The scrumptious ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ was given an unmistakable Penang slant with the inclusion of candied nutmeg.
Lo hei!
The luxurious dinner spread practically weighed down our banquet table:
It consisted of:
- Kueh pie tee.
- Lor bak.
- Nasi ulam.
- Inche kabin (spiced fried chicken).
- Curry Kapitan.
- Asam prawns.
- Sambal petai with prawns.
- Stingray gulai tumis.
- Jiu hu char (jicama with dried cuttlefish).
- Beef rendang.
- Sambal sotong (chillied squid).
- Sambal brinjal.
- Achar awak.
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐
14) Sago Gula Melaka
15) Pengat
16) Bee koh moy (pulut hitam) with dried longans.
We waddled out of the hallowed ground like a gaggle of well-fed geese. Always that special feeling of ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ด ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ช of having dined here, one that fires Cholula fantasies and inspires a deep sense of fidelity. This is the stuff of Masterchef hagiographies.
