Words by Marina Benjamin Malaysia Kitchen recently invited Norman Musa, executive chef of Ning Restaurant in York to demonstrate the best of his country’s cooking for a gathering of game journalists and food bloggers who were then tasked with cooking a meal themselves. The hands-on approach worked, because unless you grasp that Malaysian cooking is a sophisticated fusion of Malay, Indian and Chinese influences, that builds complexity from an interchangeable mix of base components – ginger, shallots, garlic, lemon grass, curry power, star anise, pandan, tamarind, coconut, chilli pastes, lime – it’s impossible to appreciate the depth of taste sensations that ends up dancing on your tongue.
The first dish we made was Kari Ayam, or chicken curry. In delicate bamboo bowls we mixed together minced onion, garlic and ginger. Then we popped in a star anise, a piece of cinnamon bark and a knotted pandan leaf and tossed the lot into heated oil. Instantly, the aromas transported us to a real Malaysian kitchen. Next, we mixed curry powder (lots of it, to deliver a good kick) with tamarind juice, sugar, salt, and a little water to make a paste, and added that to our cooking pans. Norman was a gentle guide through all this, reminding us to cook the curry powder properly – till the oil separates – since that way you get the kick of heat as an after taste (which is where you want it) rather than as a hot blast on first contact. Once the curry base was ready, you add chicken or vegetables and a cube of shrimp-paste for depth. The dish is then finished off with coconut milk and water, and voila! you have the kind of curry that your guests will never believe came from the kitchen of a novice.
No Malaysian demonstration would be complete without showing off the cuisine-defining Laksa, a spicy noodle soup that has spawned numerous local variants across the country. Norman’s version contained fresh prawns (in their shells, for added savour), crispy tofu, spinach and bamboo shoots. But, as always with Malaysian cooking, the engine-house of the dish lay in the combination of spices and pastes that lay at its base. This time the flavour base was a mixture of minced shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, chilli and shrimp pastes, and an array of dry Indian spices. These are the kind of vibrant ingredients that put a smile on your face, even before they release their spectacular aromas in the pan.
Laksa, it turns out, is a fun dish to make as well as eat, because you get to pour your piping hot spicy sauce over pre-cooked noodles and delicate vegetables, as if bringing dead matter to life with the sheer force of vital liquid and heat. It’s more like chemistry than cooking, and the result is a delicious blend of textures and temperatures, bite and give, all washed down with the soothing warmth of spice-laden coconut milk.
By now, all the rookie cooks were salivating, intoxicated by the inviting smells of frying spice. But before we could eat we made pancakes called Roti Jalas, spiked with coconut and turmeric. These were cooked on flat pans that reminded me of Indian tarvas that are used to make chapatis: the key to using these is to keep the use of oil to a minimum, and the heat fairly high. Norman used a plastic scoop with holes in the bottom, making the pancake batter drizzle out onto to pan in lovely, arcing curves. His pancakes looks liked edible doilies – but they tasted like a little bit of spongy heaven.
All the cooks felt they’d earned their supper by time we finally sat down to eat. And to complete the feast, Norman plated up a zesty beef Rendang stew, spiced with kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and galangal, that had been slow-cooking all afternoon, and several steaming bowls of jasmine rice. The condiments on offer included dried crispy shallots, chilli sauce and sweet soy, or kicap manis, but the food was so stonkingly good in itself that you barely needed them. To finish, we demolished a serving of seri muka, a double-layered dessert made from coconutty glutinous rice and topped with bright green, pandan-scented custard. To accompany this unusual stripy confection, we drank a frothy tea made with sweetened condensed milk called teh tarik. If you would like to try Norman's Laksa, below is his tried and tested recipe. Curry Laksa Ingredients (serves 2):
6 deep fried tofu cake cubed (optional) 75g bean sprouts 10 king prawns, with shells on 150g vermicelli noodles 100ml coconut milk Juice of 1 lime Dry ingredients ½ tbsp ground coriander ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp crushed black peppercorns 1 star anise 1 cinnamon bark 2 green cardamoms ½ tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp shrimp paste 20g chilli paste (optional) Wet ingredients 2 lemongrass stalks (only use bottom halves) 8 shallots 4 garlic cloves 1 inch ginger Method: 1. Soak noodles and beansprouts in boiling water
for 10 minutes and set aside.
2. Blend the wet ingredients until pureed. Using a bowl,
mix the dry and wet ingredients together with 50ml
water, 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar. Mix well.
3. Heat a wok and add 6 tbsp cooking oil. Fry the
mixture until fragrant. Add 750ml of water and
prawns. Bring to boil and then simmer on a low
heat for 15 minutes. Next add coconut milk and
tofu. Cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
4. Put noodles and beansprouts in a separate big
bowl and pour over the gravy with prawns and
tofu. Garnish with fried shallots, coriander leaves
and sliced chilies. With his business partner Andy Spracklen, Norman Musa will be launching a Malaysian supper club in Hackney next month, and he’s even talking about bringing Ning to fans of Malaysian cooking in London. In the meantime, Musa-philes can roadtest some of his favourite recipes at www.Normanmusa.com.
One Island, One Resort Our final destination in Malaysia was also undoubtedly our finest. Pangkor Laut Island is the home of Malaysia's top luxury resort hotel and this is where Dr G and I spent four unforgettable days.
Located on a small private island three miles off the West Coast of Malaysia along the Straits of Malacca, Pangkor Laut Resort is reached from the much larger Pangkor Island, where guests check in at the jetty before being whisked away by speedboat for a 15-minute ride.
Stepping off the launch onto the impressive pier brought back childhood memories of Fantasy Island, but unlike the 1980s TV show, sadly there was no Tattoo in sight, but rather an army of staff to welcome guests with ice-cold drinks and towels, take care of luggage and help guests with their every need. For those to whom Fantasy Island means nothing (or for those who want a trip down memory lane), watch the video below.
Where to Stay Pangkor Laut Resort The hotel was opened in 1985 and then extensively redeveloped and re-opened in 1993 as the first top-class luxury resort in Malaysia. It is currently owned by the YTL Group, which has hotels all over southeast Asia. Over the years, it has been awarded many accolades including the "Number One in the World 2003" by Condé Nast, as well as being voted the world's best spa resort by the readers of Travel & Leisure World in 2011. There is only one resort on the island, and no other hotels, restaurants or businesses. Of the island's 300 acres, only a small part has been developed to house the resort, leaving plenty of beaches and natural rainforest (which still makes up 80% of the island) to explore.
There are various grades of accommodation at the resort, including the Spa Villas where we stayed, next to the spa, built on stilts in the sea. Spacious, elegant and stylish, they offer great privacy, and are fully equipped with a king-size bed, a massive stone bath, air conditioning and a stunning veranda over the sea. These rooms are mainly used by couples, and no children are allowed in the Spa Villas and Spa Village.
I loved my room -it was elegant, beautifully decorated, and very spacious with a private balcony overlooking the ocean.
Welcome into my office....
Alternative accommodation is available further inland at the nearby Sea Villas (also on stilts but closer to the resort's main reception and restaurants), and also Beach, Garden and Hill Villas respectively, which are built on solid ground, are aimed more at families than couples, and include television and Wifi. Also, these rooms are closer to the forest, and to the main reception, restaurants, bars and tennis courts.
Pangkor Laut Estates For those in need of greater privacy or a dread of paparazzi (and with deep enough pockets), there is the option of the Pangkor Laut Estates. There are nine estates, tucked away very discretely near a private beach, or in the hills, one of which is owned by Mr YTL himself and not available for hire.
Each estate has between 2 and 4 bedrooms, as well as its own infinity pool, dining room, living and sitting pavilions, and beautiful private walled gardens. Staying in one of these estates is not cheap, but most will hold 6 to 8 people, and each one comes with its own private car and chauffeur on permanent call, as well as a chef and two butlers to organise your every wish. Guests at the estates are free to join any of the restaurants in the resort, but equally can dine in the privacy of their own estate at times of their choosing, with a menu of their choosing.
Where to Eat As mentioned earlier, there are no other restaurants on the island apart from the six belonging to the resort. They vary in cuisine and formality, including Chinese, Malay, Indian, French fine dining and Japanese. We were lucky enough to be able to sample all these restaurants, and our favourite was the Chinese one - Uncle Lim's Kitchen.
Uncle Lim's Kitchen This was in my opinion the best restaurant on the island. Built on top of a rock surrounded by fig trees, it is named after the chef who has been with the resort since it first opened. It specialises in Nyonya and Hockchew Chinese-style home cooking. Booking is strongly recommended.
We started with Peranakan fish soup - fish fillets in a fragrant broth of lemongrass and pineapple (£7), followed by another Nyonya dish of assam prawns with stir-fried tamarind and sweet soy sauce (£25), and an oyster omelette (£12). My favourite dishes however were the Drunken Chicken in Shaoxing wine (£17), which I enjoyed with the Kang Kong Belacan, a vegetable similar to the Thai Morning Glory, cooked with Belacan - an aromatic shrimp paste with chilli (£8). For dessert, we had banana fritters and avocado cream with citrus pearls (both at £5). These were both very good.
Being an open air restaurant (as are all others on the island), there were quite a lot of mosquitoes, so bring a good repellent. Fisherman's Cove This is the resort's fine dining restaurant option situated in the Spa Village. It offers western-style grilled meats, seafood and Italian and French cuisines. With an open kitchen and spectacular sea view, it is a good venue for an elegant dinner with prices to match. A more formal dress code is in place for both men and women and advanced bookings are required. Of the dishes we had, highlights were the Maguro Sashimi (£10) - sashimi tuna with a herbal jelly and ponzu dressing, and the grain-fed beef served with foie gras butter, abalone mushroom and truffle soy reduction (£38). The Ocean Trout Confit (£32) was succulent and very tender due to the prolonged confit in oil, and was served with shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and sea urchin sauce.
As is typical of South-East Asian restaurants, the wine list was limited and pricey. Houses wines started at £24 and prices quickly escalated to well above £40 for most other wines.
Jamu Bar This small restaurant overlooks the infinity pool within the Spa Village, and is open for lunch, serving mainly Japanese food. We had a well-made Japanese lunch there on our first day, including Chilled Somen - a very thin Japanese noodle in a light dashi broth, with fresh salmon roe, diced seared tuna and dried seaweed (£13) - which was very light and refreshing.
We also enjoyed Robatayaki ika or grilled squid (£5), a refreshing salad of warm scallops, shiitake mushrooms and soy dressing (£11), and a platter of tempura of soft shell crab (£7), as well as a selection of sushi.
Chapman's Bar This is named after a famous British Colonel who, after more than three years evading Japanese soldiers in the jungles of mainland Malaya, sought refuge at Emerald Bay before escaping to a British submarine just outside the bay in 1945. It serves light lunches and drinks to people on the beach during the day, and at night serves candle-lit dinners on the beach.
Following a guided excursion to the nearby Pangkor Island, Dr G and I returned to the resort and had a fantastic "Banana Leaf" lunch at Chapman's Bar. The food was Indian, and quite varied including a selection of curried vegetables (ladies fingers, fine green beans, cabbage and rice), beautifully seasoned meats and fresh fish and seafood served on banana leaves. The food was delicious and some of the best we had on the island.
The Private Dining experience is also offered on Emerald Bay. This is a special dining experience for those honeymooning or looking for a romantic dinner. Dr G and I (whom I assure you fall under neither of these categories) were lucky to have one of our dinners there - with only two tables located on the entire Emerald Bay, positioned well apart from one another, dinner was served by a private butler under the stars, accompanied by candlelight and the sound of breaking waves. Some of the highlights of the 5-course Western menu included grilled lobster and rib-eye steak served with vegetables.
Feast Village This is where breakfast is taken, and also has a patisserie, cafe and wine cellar. It is also open for dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed breakfast at Feast Village, this was for me the main meal of the day - the sheer variety of dishes and styles makes for a very long breakfast (if like me you want to try a bit of everything).
Nasi Lemak
The teppanyaki noodles with a fried egg on top were so good, as were the selection of dim sum, the chicken congee, or the Malay options like Nasi Lemak and the sweet tropical fruit on offer. The breakfast buffet at Feast Village is every foodie's paradise, do allow for at least an hour or two for your breakfast at the resort!
Chicken Congee
The Straits Restaurant Next to Feast Village, this restaurant is set against the rocks by the beach, and is lined with dining booths which overlook the sea, a really stunning setting. The signature dish here is their "Nasi Hidang", a selection of 5 different dishes with accompanying rice similar to an Indian thali. Priced at a reasonable £18 for the set, the nasi hidang option can be served either spicy, non-spicy and vegetarian.
We went for the spicy option which included beef, chicken, fish, seafood and vegetable. It was delicious and well flavoured and I enjoyed the opportunity to have different textures and flavours without having to order a huge number of dishes.
What to Do There are dozens of different activities offered at the resort. We took part in a few of these which kept us rather busy during our stay. I reckon that what we managed to cram in over those four nights, could easily be spread over a week or two to allow for some relaxation time by the pool or beach. Jungle Trails The resort has a resident naturist, who conducts a 50 minute gentle jungle trek daily through the northern perimeter of the island. Having worked as a forester and botanist with the Malaysian government for many years, he was extremely knowledgeable and observant, pointing out plants and wildlife which would otherwise never have noticed.
Although only a small forest, it has hardly been touched by human hand and is full of amazingly ancient tropical hardwood trees, as well as exotic birds and monkeys. The walk ends at Emerald Bay with an iced drink, from where it is possible either to take a shuttle back to the main hotel, or remain on the beach for the day - we took the latter option followed by a picnic on the beach which can be pre-booked and arranged by the hotel.
Pangkor Island Excursion The resort can arrange a guided day trip to the nearby island of Pangkor by speedboat. We arrived at Pangkor Jetty, and were then conducted on a short tour through the island, including the Dutch fort (a remnant of the island's Dutch colonial history) and the Fu Lin Kung temple. This short tour takes 3 hours.
Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly and had good English. Having quizzed him on just about everything that was possibly edible in Pangkor Island, he kindly took us to some Malaysian food retailers, local fishermen selling their daily catch, and a home-factory of Pangkor's best known noodles (who incidentally supply Pangkor Laut Resort).
Chef's Kitchen Experience The Chef's Kitchen Experience was in my opinion the most interesting activity I took part in while at the resort. This started at 8.30am with breakfast with the chef and a tour of the kitchen at Feast Village. We were then taken to the resort's fish farm by speedboat, where we "caught" a seabass for our lunch at the hotel.
Back on dry land, Ramlah (our Malay chef) taught us to cook some fantastic local dishes including Ikan Bakar (grilled seabass wrapped in banana leaf). The fish was filleted, then marinated with blitzed onion, shallot, garlic, red and green chillies, shrimp paste, turmeric powder, salt and sugar. After wrapping in banana leaf, it was baked for 20 minutes.
We also learned how to make Chicken Rendang and Soto Ayam (Chicken Soup) as well as a fish curry which was totally divine. I can certainly say that chef Ramlah's cooking on that day was the best Malaysian food I experienced on that trip, I remember those dishes very well - they were beautifully seasoned, sweet but salty, sour, creamy but also refreshing. If you get to try the Chef's Kitchen Experience at Pangkor Laut Resort, do ask for Chef Ramlah as your instructor, you will not be disappointed.
Having prepared these dishes, the experience then includes an hour's massage, before returning to eat the cooked food. A wonderful way to spend a day of cooking at Pangkor Laut.
Fruits of our hard labour...
Sunset Cruise on Teakwood Oriental The resort has a teakwood oriental junk, which sets off at 6.30pm for a sunset cruise. It includes wine, beer and snacks, and a gentle cruise round the entire island. This was a magical experience with the most breathtaking views of the island at sunset.
Spa Village I've been to a few hotel spas in my time, but the one at Pangkor Laut was quite something. Covering about an acre of land, it has a very peaceful quality, being mostly in the open air, surrounded by running water and with the sound of the sea audible throughout.
The Spa Village includes a Japanese onsen-type experience, herbal steam inhalation and of course fine Malay and Balinese massages among others. I had the Bukit Gantang Warrior Treatment (£172) for 3 hours, and also another full-body massage on another occasion (part of the Chef's Kitchen Experience), they were both fantastic experiences by well trained, highly experienced masseuses.
The Spa at Pangkor Laut Resort was opened by Luciano Pavarotti, who by all accounts was a very regular visitor, having his own permanent suite at the resort. Other Excursions and Classes There are several other excursions offered by the resort which we did not try, including the sea sports centre, which offers snorkelling, kayaking, water-skiing and banana-boating. There are also complimentary classes in Yoga and Tai Chi Quan each morning.
Travel Essentials Direct flights from London to Kuala Lumpur are available with British Airways and Malaysian Airlines. Middle Eastern airlines provide indirect flights at lower cost, with a 60-120 minute stopover. For example Etihad (changing at Abu Dhabi), or Qatar Airlines (changing at Doha). Pangkor Laut can be reached from Kuala Lumpur by taking an express bus from KL's Puduraya Terminal to the nearby town of Lumut (takes 5 hours). From there, you can take a taxi to the Pangkor Laut Resort jetty. We came by car from Cameron Highlands, which took 4 hours. Pangkor Laut Resort Jetty Complex Marina Island Pangkor KM1, Teluk Muruh 32200 Lumut, Perak www.pangkorlautresort.com Pangkor Laut Resort's rates start from around £156 per night for the Garden Villas, to £365 per night for the Spa Villas, including breakfast. All the restaurants are owned by the resort, and they are not cheap. It is worth considering a package which includes meals, and these vary according to the season, but in early 2013, a 5 day stay including breakfast, dinner and one picnic lunch ("Extended Escapade") costs from £233 per day per couple for the Garden Villas, to £435 per day for the Spa Villas via the hotels website. It is also possible, and may be less expensive, to book the resort via travel agents including Kuoni, which is currently offering full board for 7 nights in the Spa Villas from £2038 per person in summer 2013, including return flights from London. Pangkor Laut Estates can be reserved for 3, 5 or 7 nights, and range in price from US$14,000 to US$24,500 for 7 nights.
Penang is considered by many to be the most gastronomic destination in Malaysia. Street food is undoubtedly Penang's main attraction for KL urbanites and international visitors alike, and with Air Asia flights costing as little as £20 for a one way flight from KL, it should feature in any gourmet Malaysian itinerary.
A relatively large island, Penang was home to fewer than one hundred fishermen until it was settled and developed by the British in 1786. Its capital is Georgetown, a UNESCO world heritage site, which boasts the largest concentration of pre-war houses in all of southeast Asia. Most visitors stay either in Georgetown (see "What to Do" below), or on the northern beach at Batu Ferringhi where the resort hotels are.
Where to Stay Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa I stayed at the five-star Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, located on Batu Ferringhi Beach in the northwest of Penang, around 20 minutes drive from Georgetown. Opened in 1973 as Malaysia's first deluxe hotel, it was closed for 21 months and given a £20m refit to re-open in 2006 as a luxury resort, with a 30 acre landscaped garden overlooking the sea. It is part of the Shangri-La hotel group, which owns hotels throughout Asia and the Middle East.
The decor of the hotel is luxurious, as befits its five star status, but in an elegant local style. Its distinctive Minangkabau architecture is home to artefacts of Malaysian culture including traditional jewellery, batik-printing moulds, and coral sculptures. The gardens are particularly impressive, the hotel having been built around some massive trees thought to be over 200 years old, between the building and the sea. More recent planting has served to provide a great deal of privacy for guests and pool users, and has some unusual features including bamboo topiary.
The hotel has two different grades of accommodation - the original building, known as the Garden Wing, and since 2003, the Rasa Wing with some additional exclusive features. These include larger rooms, a separate private swimming pool for those aged over 16 with a free soft drink waiter service, and complimentary afternoon high-tea, pre-dinner cocktails and canapés.
I stayed in a Rasa Wing Premier room, which had an oversized balcony bathtub and private veranda, as well as a massive interior bathroom, wet room, living area and bedroom.
I loved the spacious and elegantly decorated room, but particularly enjoyed having a soak in the balcony bathtub during a fierce tropical storm. The view from the balcony was also stunning, overlooking the gardens, swimming pool and spa.
We had breakfast in two areas - a la carte at the Ferringhi Grill within the Rasa Wing, and in the Spice Market Cafe in the Garden Wing. Both were good, with the Ferringhi rather quieter and more formal, the Spice Garden offering a wider variety and a more relaxed feel.
I had the feeling that whichever part of the hotel I had stayed at, I would have had a great time. However, I felt that the upgrade to the Rasa Wing was well worth the extra if only for the fantastic Negronis and glasses of sparkling wine we had during the cocktail hour of 6 to 7pm, with accompanying Asian tapas.
On one of our evenings there, we had Roti Jala Rolled Cone, Ginger Chicken Rice Paper, Curry Potato Samosa, Salmon Fillet Terikaki and Russian Filled Potato. These all tasted freshly made and delicately flavoured. Golden Sands Resort Next door to the Rasa Sayang, and also owned by the Shangri-La group of hotels, is the Golden Sands Resort. It has been a favourite family holiday destination in Malaysia for locals and visitors for many years. Surrounded by tropical gardens, it has one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in Batu Ferringhi.
View from my room at Golden Sands Resort
We spent two nights in this hotel, and stayed in a deluxe sea-facing room with a private balcony offering great views of the beach, pool and gardens. Although not overly luxurious, I felt that the room was tastefully decorated and of a good standard for its class. It also had a flat screen TV, DVD player, satellite TV, an iPod dock and free broadband internet access.
The hotel caters for young children with a Kids Club offering educational programmes for children aged 4 to 12. There is also an indoor entertainment complex equipped with drop slides, multiple sections of modular play equipment, and a game zone.
These areas are supervised, freeing up the parents who can relax by the two lagoon-shaped pools, or enjoy some of the activities available at the hotel including paragliding and canoeing, golf, three tennis courts and cookery lessons.
I felt the breakfast was quite something at the Golden Sands, with a huge buffet of dishes including Nasi Lemak, Congee, Roti Canai, Dim Sum, as well as western favourites like fried bread with cinnamon and butter, and waffles with maple syrup, cooked English breakfast as well as a wide variety of juices, yoghurts and cereals.
The Garden Cafe is the hotel's all day dining option, serving local as well as international dishes, while Sigi's Bar and Grill on the Beach offers child friendly options such as burgers, fish and chips, wood-fired pizza, and other dishes to munch on by the pool or beach.
Where to Eat Famous for its street food, Penang's hawker specialties are endless, and if this more casual style of eating is your thing, Penang is bound to tick all the boxes.
Some of Penang's specialties include Assam Laksa (a hot and sour fish soup), Hokkien Mee (prawns in chilli noodle soup) and Inche Kabin (chicken marinated in spices and then fried). Penang as well as Malacca are the culinary centres of Nyonya cuisine in Malaysia.
Whether staying at the Golden Sands or the Rasa Sayang, the hotels have two restaurants each, catering for different styles of eating and budgets. Golden Sands has casual, family oriented dining options in the Garden Cafe (set price for a buffet style dinner) and Sigi's Bar and Grill (a la carte menu). Rasa Sayang has an upmarket buffet at the Spice Market, and a western fine-dining option at the Ferringhi Grill which is said to be one of the best restaurant in Penang.
Spice Market Cafe at Rasa Sayang Resort
While staying at the Rasa Sayang, one of our most memorable dinners was at the Spice Market Cafe. Fixed-price buffets change daily, but on the night we were there, there was an excellent fish and seafood themed evening, with plenty of freshly shucked oysters on ice, crab, lobster and a sushi and sashimi counter.
Sushi Counter at Spice Market Cafe, Rasa Sayang Resort
The dishes were varied, including some Chinese, Malay, Nyonya and western favourites, like Wok Fried Garoupa Fillet with Macadamia Nut, Saffron Rice Salad with Seafood, and a whole station dedicated to a wide selection of desserts including Nyonya Kuih, cakes, waffles, chocolate fruit dips and a tempting variety of ripe tropical fruits.
On another night, after an overly boozy cocktail hour at Rasa Sayang (which ran to three), and several Negronis later, we stumbled across a collection of hawker stalls at the nearby Long Beach Food Court. We made for the Chinese Cuisine stall, where I had one of the best (and cheapest) meals of my trip.
The Crispy Belacan Chicken at a mere 10 Malaysian Ringgit (£2.50) was richly flavoursome, with a pronounced umami character from the belacan, as was the Kangkong Belacan at 8 Ringgit (£2), and the seafood rice also at 8 Ringgit. It is definitely a place I would seek out if I should ever return to Batu Ferringhi.
During a visit to Georgetown, we were advised to avoid the touristic street food options at Gurney Road, and instead to try the hawker stalls at New Lane.
There we had an oyster omelette and char koay teow. I thought the oysters were disturbingly gelatinous, and the char koay teow was far from memorable, but then they cost almost nothing and I guess you get what you pay for.
We had some hawker stall recommendations in Georgetown made by my friend May, of Malaysian by May, which unfortunately we didn't have time to pursue. These are below: The best Hokkien Mee - Penang specialty ( Prawn Mee Soup) is on Jalan Burma ( Burma Road) at Swee Kong Coffee Shop, directly opp the Pulau Tikus Police Station. Daily except Thursdays. From 6.00am to 8.30am. The best Char Koay Teow is of course the Lady With the Red Beret on Lorong Selamat. Daily 11.30am to 5 ish. The best Nonya Restaurant is Rumah Perut on Kelawei Road. Otherwise try E.T Restaurant on Rangoon Road. It is a steamboat restaurant but for the locals who know, they serve home cooked Nyonya Food. i.e. Joo Hu Char, Gulai Assam Fish, Lor Bak, Assam Prawns. Also - Mama's on Abu Siti Lane. The best BBQ crabs are in a run down rustic seafood restaurant on the way down from the beach: The Sea Pearl Lagoon Cafe in Tanjong Tokong. Have the crabs, salt baked prawns, the oyster omelette from the stalls and the char kway teow. Whatever else you may eat in Penang, one thing you should not miss is the Ice Kacang. We had a lovely example of this at the Rasa Sayang hotel. This is a sweet and refreshing dessert made from shaved ice, vanilla ice cream, sweetened red bean, creamed sweet corn, palm fruit, strips of dried nutmeg as well as colourful jellies drenched in palm sugar syrup and rose syrup.
What to Do Visit to Georgetown Wherever you stay, a visit to Georgetown is essential, with many colonial buildings still in existence, as well as a thriving Chinatown with it original shophouses and mansions, Little India, and the elegant Eastern & Oriental Hotel.
Relaxing on Batu Ferringhi Beach In Batu Ferringhi, there is the beach during the day, and shopping and eating in the evening. There is a coastal road with numerous simple stalls along the way, as well as a few internet cafes, trinket stalls, tailors' shops and street food hawkers, as well as some more formal (and relatively expensive) seafood restaurants. If you stay, like me, at the Rasa Sayang Hotel, there are two adult and one children's outdoor swimming pools, a tennis court and golf course, and a nearby water sports centre offers water-skiing, jet skiing, kayaking, windsurfing and deep-sea fishing.
There is a health club with a full range of gym equipment, a hydropool, sauna and steam room, as well as daily Tai Chi classes. Children can make use of the Adventure Zone indoor supervised playground located between Rasa Sayang and the next door Golden Sands resort.
The Rasa Sayang Spa is large, with 11 private villas, offering Himalayan barley rubs, healing stone and traditional Malay massages. The interiors are luxurious, with granite walls, timber flooring and silk furnishing. I unfortunately did not try any of the treatments at the spa during my stay so I cannot fully recommend them; although if the high standards everywhere else in the hotel are anything to go by, the treatments at the spa are also likely to be very good.
Travel Essentials Direct flights from London to Kuala Lumpur are available with British Airways and Malaysian Airlines. Middle Eastern airlines provide indirect flights at lower cost, with a 60-120 minute stopover. For example Etihad (changing at Abu Dhabi), or Qatar Airlines (changing at Doha). Penang can be reached most easily from Kuala Lumpur by flying with AirAsia (http://www.airasia.com) (approximately £80 return). Package tours including flights from the UK and accommodation at Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa and Golden Sands Resort are available from Kuoni Travel (http://www.kuoni.co.uk), and Virgin Travel (http://www.virginholidays.co.uk). Interesting sites about Malaysia:
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