Desire for Nyonya

Nyonya is the combination of Malay and Chinese that is being popularly known in Malacca. The culture of the food has spread across Malaysia that we can find few restaurants in Penang as well. A strong recommendation from a colleague, we've decided to try out Nyonya Breeze that is located at Straits Quay. This is the branch whereby the headquarter is at the Abu Siti Lane. A branch shop, why? The main chef stations at Straits Quay currently and the quality is claimed to be better.

As a starter, we've ordered the Choon Peah. This is the spring roll that has been stuffed with minced pork, crab meat, carrot, onion and cabbage that is then being deep fried to golden brownish colour. It's served together with 'Ang Mo Tau Eu' or Lea Perrins Soy Sauce. The minced pork is loosely mixed with the vegetable that the Choon Peah doesn't taste hard. The Choon Peah is juicy and moist at the inside yet the skin is very crispy. I prefer it without soy sauce, how about you? Next side dish is the Otak-Otak that is the steamed spicy fish custard with 'Daun Gado'. Otak-Otak is a special dish for the aromatic smell of the 'Gado' leaves. The texture should be soft and compact that the fish custard is not watery yet it melts in the mouth. We dislike the Otak-Otak here as it's hard and neither the taste nor the smell is good.

Recommended by the staff, we've tried their Sambal Goreng. The prawns, eggplants and cashew nuts are cooked in the thick coconut-based sauce that is added with lemongrass for a refreshing taste. Additionally, fried onions and garlics are being used as garnishing to enhance the aroma. The next tasty dish is the Pork Rendang. This delightful dish is a thick-textured curry of pork slices that the taste and aroma is enhanced by adding the local spices, coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves. Both of the dishes are quite tasty except that they're sweet instead of spicy. Another pork meat that we've ordered is the Hong Bak. The pork belly is cooked with potatoes in a rich bean paste sauce. I've not really enjoyed this dish as it's quite slimy.

Followed by, we've the Asam Pedas Fish and Jiu Hu Char. The curry fish tastes sour from the tamarind pulp. The Jiu Hu Char is a famous dish among Chinese whereby the cuttle fish strips are fried with the turnip, carrot, cabbage, onion, pork and mushroom slices. The traditional and right way to eat the dish is by wrapping the mixture into the lettuce leave and then adding the Sambal Belacan or a type of chili paste before rolling it up. I'm not amazed by these dishes because the taste is not outstanding. My Mom has indeed a better cook of these tasty cuisines.

I don't feel regret to gather with the friends for a Nyonya meal here. Frankly speaking, I don't find the cuisines are special and they're not that delicious to trigger my eagerness to visit here again.