A very good Modern-Penang Chinese lunch at the quirky, eclectic CP Museum restaurant on Popus Lane with a couple of friends this afternoon. The whole place is full of artworks made from recycled items by local artist, Ono Kang.
Our lunch consisted of some very innovative dishes created by CP Museum’s team of young but very talented chefs. Pre-COVID, most of Penang’s top chefs would be working in Singapore, Hong Kong or Taiwan - but the 2-year pandemic now sees most of these chefs working back in their hometown.
Every dish we had here positively brimmed over with strong, assertive flavours - a typical Penang-Chinese trait:
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Wok-fried mixed vegetables with baby abalone - one interesting feature were the broccoli flowerettes studded with caramelised millet
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Crisp-fried prawns in creamy curry sauce, with dragon-fruit/pitaya & strawberries
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Wok-fried caramelised pork fillets
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Crisp-fried white pomfret with South Indian curry sauce, with Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes & ice plant
- We couldn’t resist a side-order of CP Museum’s char siew bao (Cantonese steamed buns with caramelised BBQ pork filling), reputedly the best on the island. It did not disappoint - some of the moistest “char siew” filling around, with the right balance of savoury-sweet flavours.
- In fact, we were so impressed by their “char siew bao” , we decided to order the baked pastry version: the “char siew sou”. Unfortunately, the ones here did not fare so well. The BBQ pork filling failed to salvage the drier-than-should-be pastries. The only “fail” for this lunch.
One of the best Penang-Chinese meals I’d had in a while. Although the majority of Penang’s populace are Hokkiens (Fujianese), two centuries of multi-cultural intermingling resulted in strong Indian, Siamese, Malay and Burmese influences on its local Chinese food culture, and chili-spiciness is quite a common feature in many Chinese dishes here.
So glad the restaurant’s eccentricities with regards to its decor did not extend to its cooking. 
Address
CP Museum Restaurant Dim Sum
Musion Mansion, Lorong Popus (Popus Lane), 10050 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6016-425 5677
Operating hours: 8am to 4pm daily
