Back to Kebaya again today. It’s very quiet (only one other table besides us at lunch) as Penang had just lifted its COVID lockdown partially this week, and people are still treading out of their doors with a certain amount of trepidation.
No interstate travel allowed, so Penang still doesn’t have visitors from KL or anywhere else - folks who normally patronize Kebaya, besides overseas tourists who’ve all but disappeared completely with the widespread ban on international travel worldwide.
Still, the quietude does lend an air of serenity to the whole place:
Our lunch today consisted of:
-
Popiah taco with blue swimmer crab, black bean sauce, stewed jicama, egg ribbons and pickled green chili - one of the more unusual creations. Light, crisp and crunchy.
-
Pie tee cups with peanut brittle, achar, prawns and sesame seeds - another sweet-savoury concoction.
-
Kerabu wing-beans with toasted coconut, calamansi lime and sambal belachan - the “usual” version of this dish tend to be rather spicy, but the version here is almost too mild even for me.
-
Char-grilled seabass, topped with sambal chili jam, laksa leaves and ginger flower - fresh seabass steak, with a light, almost neutral-tasting sauce. It tasted almost too “healthy”.
-
48-hour sous vide “Hong Bak” lamb-shank - melt-in-the-mouth tender lamb shank. It’s a favourite among many patrons here, but not for me as its marinade included sand ginger (known locally as “cekur”; in Indonesia, it’s “kencur”) which has a dull smell which is a bit too obnoxious for me.
-
Soft-shell crab kerabu with shredded green mango and ulam, dressed in sambal belachan - this was pretty good: expertly crisp-fried soft-shell crab, which was greaseless. The mango salad was very mildly-flavoured.
-
Madeira vine leaves masak lemak, topped with sweet potato chips - my favourite dish today - it has the consistency of creamed spinach, but with a mildly spicy, but coconut-rich gravy which I absolutely adore.
Kebaya’s cooking is not out-and-out Nyonya, but a dialed-down version - less spicy, less assertive flavors or scents, in order to cater to the non-locals or foreigners. But its subtler-tasting dishes may also appeal to those who balk at chili-laden Nyonya cooking.
Desserts
8) Gula Melaka mousse with almond dacquoise, crisp tuile and palm sugar glaze - lovely texture from the almond dacquoise. I could eat this every day.
-
Pandan creme brulee - this dessert is a standout, with its aromatic pandan aroma and smokey-rich sweetness of Gula Melaka/palm sugar.
-
Bunga telang tang yuen in coconut milk - I’m not a fan of mochi-like Chinese glutinous rice balls, so this didn’t appeal to me.
-
Passionfruit semi-freddo, with lime crumble, passionfruit glaze and nutmeg jelly - quite refreshing, although a bit too sweet for my taste. Still, well-conceptualised.
Overall, standard of desserts are better than we expected, based on previous experiences. They’d improved. Prices are pretty high by Penang standards: MYR 25 = US$6.15 each. But service is exemplary, and the ambience, nonpareil.
