Whenever it comes to recommendations, I often get asked by my dearest readers, friends and family the golden question of them all -

"Jess, what's the best place to have a fancy, classy dinner ah?"



To be honest, the list I can come up with, would be an endless one. (Malaysia is awesome like that!)

But if you narrow it down to Asian cuisines in Penang, only ONE will always remain on the top of my list.

Before I begin, let me share a little bit of trivia to those who thirst for its background story.enlightened

CHIN’S first opened in London back in 1987 by a Malaysian entrepreneur, Mr. Dave Chin. This classy Asian eatery took England’s Food & Beverage scene by storm, winning two highly coveted and prestigious awards – ‘Best Restaurant of The Year’ by What’s On in London Magazine and ‘The Best Chinese Restaurant in UK’ by Stores Magazine, USA.

On this blazing trail of collective accolades, CHIN’S Restaurant was recognized as “Best of the Best” by Good life Magazine, UK.

Upon setting foot into CHIN'S, the first thing that greets its patrons is a large and rather unique, psychedelic framed modern art mounted onto the indigo wall. This is something you don't see very often - especially in Chinese restaurants!

Then again, CHIN'S never fails to surprise, does it?

The modern art depicting artistric portraiture of iconic figures placed behind traditional Chinese furniture

of solid wood and gold trimmings make a delightful and cosy patio for guests to sit before or after meals

Walking past the patio, I entered the main dining venue of CHIN'S.

I was taken aback at how elaborately stunning the interior was! surprise It was not only extremely classy, but it came with a modern twist as well. Apart from being well-lit with chandeliers, various forms of contemporary art hung from the walls and ceilings.


Thanks to CHIN'S, I was fortunate enough to be reserved a table directly adjacent to the sea and night sky, despite it being in full capacity. They seem to know my fondness towards picturesque views while dining. smiley

Even the spotlights were specially adjusted for me (to take nice photos)! How thoughtful.

I began to realize that every table had intricate settings - which included a hand-painted ceramic plate each too.

Paying attention to the fine artwork by hand-painted artisans, I could decipher that each artwork had an emotion within and a story to tell. Below is a compilation of some of my favorites!

Decor and interior aside, I know you are dying to know how good the food at CHIN'S are.

They knew I didn't exactly fancy anything too sweet and especially nothing too spicy, so they hand-picked a menu that would suit my taste best.

I am usually not a picky eater, but who doesn't like having their preferences catered to?

They made me feel so welcome with their simple, thoughtful gestures and friendly demanour, and I could see how every customer in the restaurant was attentively paid attention to.

This makes CHIN'S stand out even more, with their impeccable customer service.

Fairy Blossom tea (comes with free refills!)

This delightful herbal tea was served piping hot, was smoky and had a light floral aftertaste to it.

You gotta admit – it looks pretty too! This is a perfect alternative to some of the more commercial types of teabags/teapots/tea leaves that we see in repetition everywhere.

Four Seasons Appetizer

This platter was served with four mini dishes.

From L-R: Gele Mountain Chicken, Citrus Winter Melon, Prawn on Toast and Spinach with Pinenut & Mustard.



Gele Mountain Chicken

This came in chicken chunks with peanuts.

The chicken was tender, flavourful and presented in an (edible) miniature crispy basket.



Citrus Winter Melon

As I wasn't a fan of winter melons, I was rather hesistant. But to my surprise, I loved it surprise

The winter melon came in tiny cubes and each mouthful was burst of citrus wonder.

This dish is served cold and it tastes just like sweet tangerines!



Prawn on Toast

This crispy toasted pastry is laden with sesame seeds and shredded prawn meat.

It is also a tad spicy from the prawn paste and XO Sauce. I loved its smoked, burnt after-taste!



Spinach with Pinenut & Mustard.

I liked how the spinach leaves were presented so adorably. devil

It was neatly stacked up in a tiny pile with the pinenuts!

This dish was slightly sourish and spicy to open one's appetite for the next meal; serving the purpose of an appetizer altogether.

Golden Needle Mushroom



This was one of my strong favorites. Deep-fried to crispy goodness, these little ones were irresistable to ever stop digging in for more. I liked how it was tassled with thinly sliced onions and spring onions too. yes

Comfort food, I must say The kind that you wish would come was bottomless (much like Nachos!) with your beer.

Szechuan Flame Codfish Soup


This dish made a grand entrance towards my table.

THIS. BOWL. IS. ON. FIRE!! It was was accompanied with flaming charcoals encircling the bowl.

The soup was hot and had a spicy as well as a slight sourish tang to it. Inside, lay tiny bits of winter melon, chilli slices, pickled chilli and of course, codfish fillets.

I liked how this instantaneously warms up my tummy and cleared my nasals with its hearty, warm piquancy.

Aromatic Crispy Duck
The taste was mind-blowing! yes The flavour of the crisp, yet tender shredded duck slices was bold and the accompaniment of the duck sauce, cucumber and spring onion complemented this dish so well.

Red Lantern Chinese Cabbage

Just like the Garlic Cucumber, this was also a very simple looking dish that exceeded my expectations.

These slices of cabbage were cooked until soft, warm and had this unique twang of sweet and spicyness, as this dish was cooked with chilies and whole garlic cloves. This is arguably one of my favorite dishes here!

Double Flavored Freshwater Fish

There's an obvious reason why this dish was given its name.

It comes in two very contrasting parts of flavour and garnishing.

Left : Hot & Spicy side | Right : Pickled and Garlic side

This recipe originated from the Hunan province!

This dish was comes in the variant of a very popular freshwater fish, the Patin Fish or also known as the Iridescent Shark Catfish.

Despite having two very opposing tastes, both flavours jive together very well with my palate. The juicy fish broth taste was distinct in both sides of the fish, and this dish is usually best eaten along with steamed rice.

The two flavours were very strong contenders in being my favorite, but if I had to choose between them, I liked the left one best!

Beef Tenderloin in Mustard and Garlic

I've always had an eye for aesthetics so I've gotta say, this one takes the cake for the most beautiful food presentation, hands down!

This medium well chunky beef cubes were mighty succulent, bursting with flavour and tender-soft, unlike plenty of beef I've eaten elsewhere where you'd bothersomely chew and chew to no end but just refuses to disintegrate. -___-"

Sesame Black Bean with Crispy Pudding



We have finally come to the desserts. Sweet tooths, rejoice! devil

I would say that this savory dessert is most apt for those who dislike anythin too sweet. The pudding, although deep fried, was not oily but crispy on the outside and soft on the inside; flowing with custard the moment you sink your teeth into it. yesVery carefully made, CHIN'S!

The sesame black bean ice-cream is also self-made by them, mind you. It had a vanilla base but a recognizable sesame after-taste.

Maltose Toffee Apple Banana Fruits

As if one dessert wasn't already enough, CHIN'S pampered me with one more epic, gravity-defying dessert! heart

This dessert had to be eaten with extra care, for each fruit is coated with extremely hot toffee at boiling point. You would be writing a deathwish if you put one directly into your mouth immediately after this dish arrives! surprise

Which, is why CHIN'S practices caution and had a waitress conduct the very interesting cool-down method for me.
This dessert is leaning towards the sweeter side but hey, after the scrumptious feast, I could go for something sweet to wrap up my evening.

Once you get past the hard, crunchy toffee bite, your tastebuds are treated to a warm, fruity taste of apple or banana (depending which one you ate!) An excellent alternative to how you would usually eat fruits!

I decided to check out an Italian restaurant, Silver Spoon, for dinner as we have both not dined there before.

Plus, some fancy Italian delights sounds good!

More often than not, the four of us always opt for alfresco dining, so a nice table right out front was booked for us. Thus, I took the chance to explore more of Silver Spoon to check out its lovely interior. devil

To my right, there was a rather elaborate bar, counter and a cake display below.

I liked how neatly they exhibited their bottles of alcoholic beverages and wine glasses.

They seem to complement the chandeliers above, which looked like glasses themselves!

As I walked in further, there was an wall almost entirely dedicated to their bottle display shelf

and huge flat screen TVs adjacent to the dining area.

To my left, there were more dining tables, catered to fit a bigger number of patrons.

To the left of the entrance, were even bigger tables for maximum capacity! Group dining would be a breeze.
Did you know that their chandeliers are made of actual silver spoons itself?
Hence the name of the restaurant.

Let's get on to the food shall we?

We didn't have to wait long before the first dish came. The rest all came consecutively – all at one go!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

It was made with oven-roasted pumpkin puree blended with vegetable stock, with croutons on top.
I didn't quite fancy the rather oily, cream based on top of my soup, although aesthetically, the design was pretty creative, forming a beautiful presentation for a soup dish. yes
It tasted wonderful, made with just the right consistency of a perfect pumpkin soup!

Caesar Salad
This is one unique Caesar Salad, that's for sure! Instead of the regular ingredients like chicken strips and regular hardboiled eggs. tandoori chicken chunks and hardboiled quail eggs were used. yes Delicious!
Apart from that interesting twist, it came, typically, with baby romaine lettuce, caesar dressing, croutons and parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These were fantastic! The mushrooms were so soft and juicy, bursting with even more goodness of herbed mushrooms stuffed inside. Very flavourful, though I was expecting more stuffings than just mushroom inside.
Either minced meat, bacon bits, sauteed onions or capsicums would be a nice addition to the stuffings inside the mushroom caps. But I guess this works as well.

Norweigian Salmon Fillet

The risotto was made with squid ink, hence the blackened colour.
I loved how thick the flesh of the salmon was, and it was grilled to perfection too. Soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. The spinach was a nice touch to balance the meal.

Chicken Tandoori Pizza

This thin-crust pizza was very well made and crunchy with each bite!
The mint sauce yoghurt goes very well when paired with the tandoori chicken – pretty sure the Indians would approve! It also had mayo underneath, tomatoes and onion rings, decorated sparsely with mint leaves.

Braised Lamb Shank
I couldn't find a single flaw in this dish. It tasted too good, tender and tasty, exceeding my expectations!
It is rather balanced a meal with a generous helping of vegetable sides too.

From their array of cakes, I chose their Molten Lava chocolate cake.
Molten Lava Chocolate Cake.

Had a lovely time in a wonderful, cosy and quiet environment!

We arrived at just about the same time and got a tad lost because we didn’t know where PickNik was located exactly. It’s probably more difficult for patrons new to the Publika establishment (like me) to locate this cafe off-hand.

But after making a quick phone call to PickNik, we landed ourselves there in no time!

They chose this restaurant as Chef Nik Michael Imran is the mastermind behind it.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell, he’s one of the finalists from MasterChef Malaysia Season 1, and has since opened his own outlet!

Without waiting long, the dishes began arriving our table consecutively. We ordered lots of tapas for sharing!

Here’s what we had for the night:

Deep Fried Squid. Battered squid fried to golden brown served with wasabi mayo. Yum!
Sauteed Mushrooms. Button mushrooms sauteed in butter and herb. Yum!

Nachos. Tortilla chips served in guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos and minced beef tomato salsa.
It was delicious, with a good variety of toppings/sauces. But the portion of tortilla chips was ridiculously meagre.
In the end, we were left with lots of toppings with nothing to dip it with.

Soft Shell Crab deep fried with wasabi mayo.

Papardelle Bolognese. Authentic beefy italian
This was very flavourful but EXTREMELY SPICY! Caution! Do not be caught unaware.

Peanut butter slice: Peanut butter with cream cheese on a biscuit crust
This was heavenly! I chomped it down like a voracious glutton.

I was a very delighted girl that night.
Picknik was a great choice, which set an evening like this perfectly.

Changkat Bukit Bintang is an enclave all-too familiar to KL city-dwellers, tourists and food afficionados alike.

Though more commonly recognized and famed as an upbeat bar street where nightlife sees no daylight, Changkat has also carved a name for its exquisite dining outlets and fine choices of international cuisines.

When we sat down, the waiter opened a bottle of mineral water and poured it into our glasses, before gently placing a napkin onto our laps very courteously.

He soon returned with a basket of The Steakhouse KL's own complimentary house bread and butter.
It was very soft, fluffy with a light, herb aftertaste. yes Lovely, but I would have prefered it to be served warm!

The dining lounge area boasted a very rustic atmosphere enhanced by soft, sombre luminaires. The arches were reminiscent of a traditional European tavern. Dimly lit, a chandelier hung from above and wall lighting which resembled street lamps flanked each column. It also had a fair share of traditional bare brick-walls, exposed beams as well as ornaments of classic, whiskey pin-ups and dark walnut wood surfaces complemented by a similar dark, leather upholstery.

The al-fresco dining area utilized wooden wicker chairs and bare tables for a more casual, outdoor feel.

Our meals arrived before we knew it; leaving no room for us to be kept waiting.

Escargot

As a dish known for its acquired taste and indulgence, these baked snails with garlic herb butter was a sure winner in my books.
The escargots came in a hot plate and were presented still in their shells. Caution: Hot!
I loved its charred and smoky flavor, enhanced by the sharpness of the cheese and the piquancy of the herbs.
I know making snails edible require lots of work. Toxins have to be purged, shells are to be cleaned thoroughly
The Steakhouse KL did a marvellous job! Thumbs up.


French Onion Soup

This soup, I swear, is unlike, I repeat: UNLIKE the French Onion soups I've ever tasted in my life!
Nevermind French Onions, it is unlike ANY OTHER soup. It doesn't even look like soup, but pot pie sans its crust.
This was the first French Onion soup I've had that stuck close to its 18th century French roots, as it was traditionally topped with baked cheese and croutons. yes This "soup", baked with two different types of Swiss cheese – gruyere and emmental cheese – was thick, decadent and extremely flavourful.

Some may find it too cheesy, too thick and chunky. I may not disagree, but then again,
I'm certainly not going to slam the merits of its fine originality and the uniqueness of the soup in itself!

This bowl contained explosive flavours of sweet and tangy french onion, tantalizing each and everyone of your tastebuds the moment you indulge in so much as a mere spoonful. yes
Mining through it was like a treasure hunt, for I found caramalized onions aplenty hidden at the bottom and as you can see, this soup was laden with croutons as well.
This soup was undeniably filling too, and those tasty croutons soaked in the flavours of this soup? No crouton was left untouched wink

Mains: Grilled Black Cod Fish

It was well-presented, with good colour combination and, despite the flowing juices, boasted a clean arrangement.
The black cod was grilled and lightly charred around its sides and skin.
The fish was very tender and warm inside, bordering it was a yummy, crispy skin.
It was served with sides of baby spuds, mushrooms, baby tomatos, chili flakes (underneath) and garnished with parsley. The creamy wasabi pesto sauce gave this fillet of perfection an extra zest too! yes
Cooked to the most accurate time and temperature, the flesh of this black cod was tender and gently came apart section by section.

24oz./750gm T-Bone Steak – cooked medium rare

For all of their Chilled Australian Grain Fed beef, the steaks are served with a side of grilled vegetables, a choice of sauce and a choice of potato.
Sauces: black pepper, red wine, mushroom, BBQ or Béarnaise sauce.
Potatoes: french fries, mashed potato or sauteed potato.
When asked for our preference, we opted for the latter for both choices.
The steak was divine! It was huge slab of Australian T-bone; very tender and juicy, still pinkish towards the middle and almost bloody right in the centre – the perfect embodiment of a medium rare steak. yes
It was firm on the outer surface, with its sides well-browned and the top and bottom part of the steak charred to crisp, dark brown.
The steaks at The Steakhouse KL are all charcoal grilled on the open fire! ye
Though I usually prefer my steaks medium well to well done (not quite the fan of blue, raw cuts and anything close to it), this steak got my date whirring with culinary delight. smiley
Still, I had a quarter of it and loved it nonetheless!

Andreas Special – A Dream in Chocolate

This fantastic dessert comes in an excellent combination of tastes and sweetness.yes
It consisted of white chocolate ice cream, milky chocolate mousse, chocolate syrup, banana in passion fruit, and pear in red wine.
Carefully arranged layer by layer and presented in a glass, Andreas Special tasts just as good as it looks.

Classic Italian Tiramisu

Its presentation intrigued me. Not only did it not come presented still in glassware, as do most tiramisus I've had, this one came neither in a cube form but in a shape of sphere.

This piquant coffee-flavoured dessert came garnished with strawberries and drizzled with mango sauce, and tasted molto buono! The Italians would be proud yes?

I had a brilliant dining experience at The Steakhouse KL that Tuesday night. heart

Shall be back to try their Deluxe Chilled Seafood Mountain, BBQ Short Ribs, Shanks and
Roulades some time soon, as I was not able to stomach anymore that night!