The Sire - Museum Restaurant

The Sire located at King Street( Lebuh King), Penang is a Museum Restaurant ( a restaurant and also a museum, sounds interesting ehh?? ). We went without a reservation, which you can if you are early ( 6 pm) to try out the food and ambiance.


Dinner served at 6 pm.


The front facade of The Sire. Situated almost at the intersection between Lebuh King and Lebuh Light, The Sire serves a variety of western food.


The thick menu of The sire.


Kerosene lamp, quite artistic.

Due to not having a reservation, we had to sit on the upper level, overlooking the tables and chairs below.


Ambiance in The Sire


Table of 6 persons


The other part of the restaurant, the museum, no camera allowed.


View from the top.


The busy kitchen


The chefs about with cooking


Luckily they are wearing white, would they pass as pirates ?


French Onion Soup served with cheese croutons ( RM18 )


Grilled portabello mushrooms ( RM18 )


The salad that comes with the mushrooms.


Cinnamon coffee, quite unique and nice.


Poached salmon


Seafood pasta


Spaghetti aglio olio in tomato basil sauce

Overall the dining experience is nice, old building with lots of antiques giving a glimpse of life and luxury of the rich and famous of 1930s era. The food serving in overall is okay but can be improved on, the taste is rather bland for my liking. But you could go there for the dining experience too and additional things to explore and see, a change in a normal restaurant environment.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 3 stars ( Taste rather bland, ingredients can be improved on )
Service: 3 stars ( Fair service )
Food portion: 2.5 stars ( Portion wise it is a bit little )
Value: 3 stars ( Dining aside, go there for the experience! )

A high at Rasa Sayang

Rasa Sayang Hotel at Batu Ferringhi is( not sure I should put it was) serving high tea at a promotion price, so we have to go and try it out.


Lobby lounge serving high tea.

The lobby lounge is surprising quiet and tranquil, you could meditate sleep at the lounge.


Nice ornaments at the serving tea table


The ambiance with cozy and quiet environment

We promptly ordered the high tea set(RM 30++) per person. The promotion set comes with only 'English Breakfast tea' or 'Freshly Brewed Coffee'


The tea set with fresh milk.


English Breakfast tea.


Freshly brewed Coffee, a high caffeine charged, strongly roasted coffee, better than the coffee made by our widely available, famous and expensive barristas.


The serving stack with three plates.


Wafer-like pastry with cream and fresh strawberries, chocolate mousse, cream tart.

The pastry is a bit too 'creamy' for my liking but surprisingly not sweet but very fluffy. The chocolate mousse is freshly made, you can tell if it is not so. The wafer-like crust will 'flatten' down if it is not consumed quickly.


Scones with cream cheese and strawberries

The scones were not too hard, in fact it is just nice to go with the fruit jam.


The variety of jams served.


Mini size sandwiches, curry chicken sandwich surprising well prepared with hint of freshly grounded black pepper.


Mozzarella cheese sandwich with red pepper.

The strong fermented taste of the mozzarella is powering, leaving a pungent after taste. It is quite nice to eat it with sweet tea or coffee.


Salmon sandwich tasted fresh.


Ornate items on display at the lobby lounge.


Rattan made furniture outside the lobby lounge.


Lazy effect in the lobby lounge, very relaxing.


Some books for reading, probably donated by hotel guests.


A canopy of tree leaves.

High tea at Rasa Sayang Resort is relaxing and calming. The pastries are nice, the sandwiches are uniquely done and tasty. Scones are fresh, served with jam and cream cheese. The service is good, very nice ambiance, slightly expensive but the high tea is worth it.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 4 stars ( Lesser cream would be better, the sugar level is just right )
Service: 4 stars ( Food introduction needed, otherwise top notch service )
Food portion: 3.5 stars ( Portion wise, it's okay, it's tea it isn't dinner or lunch )
Value: 4 stars ( The promotion gives it a good value )

Miraku Japanese Restaurant (味乐) at G Hotel

It's been awhile since tasting Japanese food, it has been mostly Italian dishes. There is this Japanese restaurant at G Hotel first floor serving Japanese cuisine.


The name suggests 'Happy Taste' or in Japanese, 味乐


The front facade of Miraku restaurant.


Decorative chandelier ?


The sake menu serves spirits, sake, wines from Rm40 - Rm400, rather expensive


Ceramic condiments containers almost Zen styled.


Pickled Japanese red potato with honey and sesame


Satoimo karaage, Konyaku jelly(yam jelly) served with dried bonito(Katsuobushi, かつおぶし) (RM 10.00 )


Oyakudon, rice steamed with chicken meat and eggs ( RM 18.00)


Unadon, rice served with unagi in shoyu sauce ( Rm26.00 )


Salmon sashimi sushi, thin sliced salmon with wasabi ( Rm 9.90 )


Cold cha soba on a decorative zaru ( RM 20.00 )


Tsuyu(Cold soba sauce) with scallions, wasabi, raw quail egg, minced daikon with ginger


Konpiri, Yam balls with salt and edamame

Overall, we find Miraku as an uprated version of Sushi King chain restaurants. However as a resident restaurant of G hotel, it has much room for improvement. The service is not up to the par of similar stature Japaneses restaurants in Penang. With the decorative ambience, Miraku lack proper ventilation especially at the Teppanyaki counter. There are other better Japanese restaurant in Penang.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 2 stars ( slightly better quality than Sushi King outlets )
Service: 2 stars ( understaffed, our ocha required reminders to fill up )
Food portion: 3 stars ( portion wise, the food is okay )
Value: 2.5 stars ( there are better Japanese restaurants with similar price )

Louis Cafe at Jalan Argyll

Decided to visit Louis Cafe at Jalan Argyll right smacked opposite Hotel Mingood opened no so recently but less than a year. Some online, blog, food critic has mentioned that Louis Cafe serves good italian dishes ... hmm ...


The facade of Louis Cafe.


Interior of Louis Cafe


The main door overlooking Mingood Hotel

Located at Argyll road, the area is rather quiet and parking is not a problem in this area of Penang city. Looked at the menu, the price is at par with most italian offerings in Penang.


Ice peach tea ( RM3.80 ), a bit expensive with rather bland taste


Fresh orange juice ( RM3.80), still juice albeit diluted.


The set dinner is going for RM26.90, I didn't take the set though.


Ordered appetizer, salad and scallop with home-made apple sauce ( RM20.00 )

The testing of the scallops, in overall, is okay, but rather dry. There are a few improvement areas, toast the scallops on butter to bring out rich taste and smell. Scallops are neutral in taste. Toasting in butter will also cook the scallops while retaining the moisture. Served with the home-made sauce will be perfect.


The ordinary thousand island dressing salad. Some alternative dressings can be explored, french dressing or salad dressing with virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.


Fettucine arrabiata, tomato based pasta ( RM 16.90 ), served with chinese mushrooms and chicken ham.


Seafood mariana, tomato based pasta ( RM19.90), served with fresh prawns and chinese mushrooms.


Seafood scallop closeup.

An interesting note is the fettucine arrabiata tastes the same with seafood mariana, although both pastas are tomato based, it shouldn't have the similar taste. Another note is both pastas were served with chinese mushrooms (香菇) but not the typical white button mushrooms normally served with italian dishes. Both pastas were served using typical chinese herbs but not the ordinary herbs like sweet basel, rosemary or chives.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 2.75 stars ( would be better with white button mushrooms, garden herbs )
Service: 3 stars
Food portion: 3.00 stars
Value: 2.75 stars ( beverages quite expensive )


The damage so far ...

In conclusion, there are some other restaurants that are serving better value, but visit this place if you prefer privacy and some ambience