Fire by Shankar is the latest upmarket Indian eatery in Penang, but the first to specialize in Tamil cuisine. Despite Tamils making up almost 80% of the Indian population in Penang, and Tamil being the most commonly-spoken Indian dialect in the state, there hasn’t been any fine dining Tamil restaurant in town … until now. Prices are steep, higher than even the usual Mughal/Northern Indian fine dining eateries.
But what one gets at Fire by Shankar is perhaps the finest Tamilian cuisine in the country: awe-inspiringly ambitious cooking, yielding some of the tastiest Southern Indian dishes we’d ever encountered, not just in Penang, but the country!
The restaurant is strategically located in the posh Straits Quay mall and marina, catering to a large expatriate populace in the area.
Fire by Shankar is the eponymously-named restaurant of Penang-born corporate trainer and motivational guru, Shankar Santhiram, who also happens to be a hardcore foodie who knows how to cook up a storm.
Service was exceptional here - an amazing breath of fresh air from the usual family-style Tamilian restaurants in Penang with their nervous, hesitant waiters. Here at Fire, our waitress could confidently banter with the customers, and served out food & drinks promptly, whilst explaining each of the items.
Our dinner consisted of:
Mutton meatballs (kola urundai) - little orbs of sheer deliciousness. Just wished there were more.
Okra and sour cream (vendikkai pachadi) - lightly-spiced, its sourish tang was not something I looked for. Won’t be ordering this again.
Chettinad brussel sprouts masala (kalaikose masala) - ordered by one of my dinner companions. Not something I’d order again.
Grilled Chilean salmon with spiced coconut cream spinach - very rich sauce, which complemented the perfectly cooked salmon steak.
Grilled cauliflower steak, with chimichurri sauce, served with arugula-pomegranate salad. Beautiful dish, and one I’d return for.
Curry leaf prawns (karuvepillai yeral) - deliciously-spiced, very fresh prawns.
Masala lamb chops - flame-grilled NZ lamb chops, served with spiced cauliflower, arugula-pomegranate salad, and mint-yoghurt dressing. These were done medium well, but still too gristly for our preference.
Mutton burger - spiced ground mutton patty, caramelized onions and garlic aioli, served with hand-cut fries. Mildly-spiced burger to suit all tastes, executed perfectly.
Home-style ghee tosai (veetu nei tosai) - DO NOT ever miss this - singularly the best tosai I’d ever tasted in recent memory: crisp, grainy-textured, and the ultimate taste sensation. Best thing ever in today’s dinner spread.
Desserts were rather shaky, compared to the confidence exuded by the main courses. Perhaps Fire needs to get a good patisserie chef to complement the rest of its very competent kitchen team.
Pandan panna cotta - badly-shaped, tasted quite nice, but not enough pandan fragrance to lift it out of the ordinary.
Carrot halwa was also pretty pedestrian and lacked the “wow” factor that one had expected here.
Prices are quite stratospheric, but you get to taste the best South Indian cooking in this part of the world.
Address
Fire by Shankar
3A-G-19 Block A Ground Floor, Straits Quay, Jalan Tanjung Tokong, 10470 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6012-493 0911
Operating hours: 12 noon to 3pm, 5.30pm to 11pm, Tue to Sat;
12 noon to 4.30pm, 5.30pm to 11pm, Sunday.
Closed on Mondays.
