Hawker food is king in Penang, but if you’d like something a little upmarket in a nice new old building with a bit of western thrown in, then you can’t go wrong with Sri Malaya Heritage Restaurant.
COFFEESHOPS and street stalls abound in Penang’s George Town, but a little upmarket restaurant like Sri Malaya at Rope Walk (Jalan Pintal Tali), just off Chulia Street, reflects a newfound optimism in the F&B business on the island.
Indeed, quaint cafes and restaurants have been sprouting on strategic streets like Stewart Lane, Armenian Street, Nagore Road, China Street and Muntri Street of late, so Sri Malaya is just one of many.
A contemporary restaurant housed in a pre-war shophouse, Sri Malaya offers a pleasant, air-conditioned spot where diners can sip iced lemon tea or nibble on smoked duck salad away from the afternoon heat. Yes, it’s the kind of restaurant for people accustomed to creature comforts.
Modern retro eatery: Local art work adorn the wall of Sri Malaya. Note the Thonet‘ Prague’chairs in the fore ground and JL Moller MÓ chairs with the yellow seats.Visitors won’t fail to notice the bright, lemon yellow facade and see-through glass doors. The year 1957 is emblazoned on a wall, tapping into the nostalgia of a newly independent Malaya when western food was considered “high class” food. The menu offers both local and western fare.
Modern-retro
Opened last May, the eatery features a modern-retro concept with pendant lights and furniture from the 1950s and 60s. The contemporary colour scheme matched with marble flooring may not impress conservation purists, but the white crockery and stainless steel cutlery will meet the standards of fastidious customers.
Besides the main dining area located right after the entrance, the seating also extends to the air well area further back in the shophouse and the side “courtyard” round the back that comes with a trendy “vertical garden”. The air well has been covered up and features an exposed brick wall. Smokers may opt for one of the two tables on the terracotta five-foot way.
There is even a dining room upstairs for those who prefer greater privacy.
A clean toilet is a must in any modern restaurant, and Sri Malaya — I’m happy to say — has one of the cleanest in the Chulia Street-Rope Walk neighbourhood. It is also, thankfully, air-conditioned.
Main course items, such as noodles and meat dishes, are priced from RM10 to RM45. A trained chef with hotel experience prepares the food here, which is based on a menu that was apparently drawn up by a food consultant. The consultant is said to periodically check on the food for consistency.
Tucking in
But the test of the pudding is in the tasting, as they say, and we were ready to taste. Our gang of four — comprising a local architect, an Aussie expatriate and his Taiping-born wife who is an avid cook and baker — decided to go the whole hog and ordered as much as we could eat for dinner. And in typical Malaysian style, we shared everything.
Lychee Fried Rice.The wait staff happily supplied us with extra plates and forks without the usual scowl one elicits from certain over-priced Western food joints in George Town.
For starters, we had the Smoked Duck Salad (RM18) served with lettuce, cherry tomato, asparagus tips and slivers of red capsicum. This dish really perked up the appetite, especially the piquant dressing. The eight slices of duck meat had an appealing flavour and the proportion of fat and skin to lean meat was just right. The pickled onions added a complimentary flavour to the meat.
Both the organic spinach soup and wild mushroom soup (both RM9) had a creamy and smooth texture. While the former tasted of blended, fresh spinach, the latter had the unmistakable flavour of freshly ground mushroom.
The Malaya Spaghetti (RM16) we ordered was served with sizeable prawns, fresh basil and peppercorn. The portion is fairly decent but a big eater would probably hanker for more. The winning dish has got to be the Braised Lamb Shank (RM32), which was enhanced with a sprinkling of nutmeg powder. The imported lamb was succulent and the well-cooked meat came off the bone easily.
The delicious sauce went well with the mashed potato. We even ate up the sprig of cilantro, together with the side serving of carrot, broccoli, cauliflower and more potatoes.
As befits its colonial menu, Sri Malaya offers fish and chips (RM20). The battered fried fish fillet came with deep-fried, slab-cut chips. We left the chips aside and ate every bit of the Australian Pearlfish. I thought the Aussies used Barramundi or flake (shark meat) but the fish fillet was nonetheless quite lovely.
I still prefer cod or haddock. But I suppose that would be too expensive to import.
Another good dish was the Ocean Seafood Platter (RM38) which comprised fish, mussel, prawn and squid. Apparently, most of the seafood items are sourced from the Kuala Gulau fishing village (not to be confused with Kuala Gula) on the Penang-Perak border, about an hour’s drive away.
Those who love fried rice might want to try Sri Malaya’s version, which comes with bits of lychee. The Pineapple Fried Rice (RM14) is served with a tiny side salad of onion, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and pineapple slices. The delicious chilli sauce and well-flavoured rice cooked with prawn, diced carrot and egg is thoroughly enjoyable when eaten in cool comfort.
Being picky, I usually don’t like my rice garnished with pre-fried shallot, although I didn’t mind the cilantro.
The Mixed Seafood Curry Laksa was okay but a little expensive at RM19. Oddly, the restaurant also offers Teriyaki Chicken Burger (RM17) with the patty flavoured with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise. The sweetish Japanese sauce is made from soy sauce, sake, sugar, ginger and seasoning. Not too bad, but I prefer hamburgers smothered in ketchup and mustard.
Cheese cake
For dessert, we settled on Baked Cheese Cake, Brownie and Apple Pie (all RM10 each) — not very colonial but we didn’t mind. The cakes were certainly up to the mark. After all that grub, we needed a good cup of Italian coffee (nobody thinks of English coffee, do they?). The selection here includes the usual espresso (RM6), cappuccino and latte (both RM8). They are served piping hot, a vital factor not always observed in Malaysia.
Other Western fare include more pasta dishes (RM16-RM26) like with Aglio e Olio, Marinara, Bolognaise or Carbonara sauces. They also offer Sirloin Steak (RM45), Lamb Chop (RM30), Grilled Salmon (RM32) and Braised Spring Chicken (RM22). Malaysian delicacies include Sarawak Laksa (RM15) and Fish-head Noodle (RM14).
The wine selection is not bad, and includes offerings from Chile, Australia and New Zealand. German beer is also availabe. The restaurant also offers a very reasonable RM17 set lunch which includes one of five main course choices, dessert, and either a fresh juice, coffee or tea. There’s a 10% service charge on all bills.