Lunch today at 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗮 𝗞𝗶𝗻 (Thai: เวลากิน) which means “Time to Eat” in Thai. It’s located at the Old Frees Association building on Northam Road.
Formerly known as Hainan Houze, but since re-branded in March 2023, the casual eatery is managed by Khun Tunyalak Foo and James Foo. Its menu consists of Thai basic staples, plus a small selection of Hainanese-Western dishes by the well-known James Foo brand.
Lunch consisted of:
𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘣 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯 (Thai: กุ้งอบวุ้นเส้น) - shrimp and glass noodles in claypot. Very fresh prawns. Flavors were not as pronounced as the ones we get in Thailand, due to the lack of coriander root, and not as much fish sauce added. Also, no pork lard used here as the Old Frees Association is an alumni club of the Penang Free School, which includes Muslim members. I won’t order this dish here again.
𝘎𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘪 (Thai: แกงเขียวหวานไก่) - green curry with chicken. Quite a nice version although, again, flavors have been toned down to suit the Penang palate: lesser fish sauce used and sweet basil (horapha). Also, their version used ordinary eggplant (makheua) instead of pea eggplant (makheua phuang). Authentic Thai green curry would be saltier and with more pronounced spicy flavors (from the use of galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coriander root and shrimp paste.
𝘛𝘰𝘮 𝘠𝘶𝘮 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 (Thai: ต้มยำทะเล) - seafood tom yum soup. Lovely version here.
𝘎𝘢𝘪 𝘉𝘢𝘪 𝘛𝘰𝘦𝘺 (Thai: ไก่ใบเตย) - pandan-wrapped chicken. Best rendition we’d tasted in Penang, with well-marinated boneless chicken, still moist from deep-frying when wrapped in pandan leaves.
A simple meal, consisting of quite competently prepared dishes - just wished they’d stick closer to the authentic renditions. Planning to come back to sample more dishes from their menu.
Address
Wayla Kin (OFA)
41, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah (Northam Road), 10050 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +604 218 9663
Opening hours: 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.45pm-9.30pm
