Gēn, the ambitious little eatery that sought to reinterpret traditional Chinese flavours and give them a modern spin, has moved from its erstwhile “rough neighbourhood” location at Presgrave Street to this downtown spot at The Prestige Hotel on Church Street Ghaut.
The open kitchen concept is maintained, and the youngish team functioned like clockwork.
We were actually here to try the special durian degustation set menu, but was told that one of the courses which involved tempoyak or fermented durian was not available, so we opted to order a la carte instead.
What we had:
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Fruit & Vegetables Medley (pickled beets, pineapple, kohlrabi, pineapple sorbet) - a beautiful cornucopia of micro-greens and tiny edible blooms. I’m not sure which gave me more satisfaction: photographing this dish, or eating it.
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Pumpkin Porridge (rice porridge topped with slow-cooked “kampung” egg, crisp-fried “ikan bilis” (anchovies), fish floss, pine nuts, shallots, chopped scallions) - loved the myriad of textures which came from combining all those diverse elements. Flavour-wise, I found it a bit too mild - the saltiness from the anchovies, the slight astringency from the scallions and the toastiness of the shallots stood out, but none of the gingery or soy-inflected assertiveness one might expect.
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Hand-pulled Noodles (minced pork, minced herbs, fermented chili sauce and calamansi) - an East-meets-West concoction. The hand-pulled noodles reminded one of Italian pasta, which was then combined with minced pork, cooked Chinese-style. Again, very gentle flavours here - more Continental European than South-east Asian in terms of the balance.
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Herbal Duck Rice (with enoki, black pepper sauce, crosnes, herbal soup) - I loved the slight bitter after-taste of the dressing. The duck-meat combined with rice and other condiments again provided that lovely interplay of textures that is the hallmark of Gen’s cooking. I loved this a lot.
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Farmer’s Burger (chicken patty, turmeric sauce, hand-cut fries, Indian togarashi) - loved the steamed “mantou” buns. David Chang of Momofuku in New York started this trend of using steamed Chinese buns to make Western-style burgers, and it’s now replicated pretty much everywhere in the world today. The patty could do with more fat/moisture, though, whilst the fries were soggy and limp.
Desserts:
6) Durian Bread Butter Pudding - not my kind of dessert: I’d expected something rich, luscious and, if durian were to be used, reminiscent of the fruit’s sinfully creamy pulp. This dessert had none of those qualities which I’d have been happy to find.
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Batang Kali Chocolate Mousse Cake with Passionfruit Filling - delicate disc with a beautiful chocolate flavour. Passionfruit filling provided a nice tang to undercut the chocolate mousse’ richness. I’d have preferred this served colder and firmer, but that’s just my personal preference.
As always, dining at Gen is a litany of hits-and-misses. On one hand, I do admire the kitchen team’s ambition and courage to test the boundaries of one’s culinary tastes. On the other hand, I do wish their food has more depth of flavour, and more compatibility in the various ingredients they put together. Still, I’ll be back to explore more - hopefully, experience can only make the young team better.
Address
gēn 根 The Prestige Hotel
Unit 6-8, Gat Lebuh Gereja (Church Street Ghaut), 10300 George Town, Penang
Tel: +6012-511 3323
Opening hours: 12-3pm, 6-10pm daily, except Wed.