Ferringhi Grill and Macarons

To commemorate a special occasion, a special celebration is needed. A visit to Ferringhi Grill, Rasa Sayang Hotel to try out the French cuisine. Surprisingly, there is a promotion on.

Here it goes, we have 3 types of menu, Two Feet ( Chicken, Duck but no Foie Gras ... ) , Four Feet ( Beef, Lamb ... ) and finally No Feet ( Fish and seafood )

The menu comes with a complimentary glass of sparking wine, specifically Chandon Sparkling Wine.
The menu in detail, we ordered 'Four Feet' for RM 145++ and 'No Feet' for RM 135++

Apart from the french cuisine, my beloved also got 2 boxes of Macarons.


John Paul Hevin macaron


Lovely chocolate macarons


Box with nice wrappings


Another box of Macarons


From a new french restaurant.

Back to the nice french cuisine in Ferringhi Grill.


The table setting with Aqua Pana, expensive still water from Tuscany, Italy.


I was so happy that the waiter actually refilled another basket of bread after I finish the first one. Nice tomato based sauce too.


Big plate, just for starters, a kinda of fish. Forgot what was the name of this 'dish' ? Or rather tit-bit.


Nice sparkling wine in champagne wine, too bad it was champagne, but Chandon is quite good actually.


Another snap of it. A bottle of Chandon would be nice, then 1 glass is better than none.


We also ordered additional food for this, RM26 for four slightly bigger than 50 cents coin scallop. Saute with carrots, peanuts and some vege. The scallops were cooked just right and tasty.


Fresh oyster with fried oyster rings, the oyster is indeed fresh but then it was not freezing cold. Just nice.


Steak n eggs( just one, should be egg not eggs), overall it is ok, however the steak was a tad bit dry.


Carrot cream soup, with smoked lamb bacon with watercress pesto.


'She crab' and corn chowder, tomato dust, purple potatoes, crab fat, madeira. This soup is creamy and fulfilling, very nice one indeed.


Chef Adam Roy in action ? Well he isn't but then we had a nice view of the french style cooking


At the carving table.


Exquisite ... smoked salmon-mascarpone cheesecake with muesli macadamia nut crust, green onion horseradish cream.


Crispy smoked lamb belly with pure Canadian maple syrup, the lamb belly again was a tad bit too hard.


Lemon sorbet to clear the palate before the main dish.

Between the meals, I was also helping myself with breads, so despite the small portion of meals, we have enough breads to go along too.


The 'main dish' , such small portion , smoked beef rib with horseradish mash, smoked tomato-mustard, chocolate barbeque kick on house rub. I might be able to finish the dish before the waiter finishes the details of the dish.


Another exquisite ... grilled black cod with grilled green beans, sour cream-sweet potato mash garnished with red wine cream ... such a delicacy, the mash wasn't quite there but the fish was superb.

And finally the desserts ...


Sticky date pudding, not too bad but again not really out of the world.


Special ... chocolate lava 'Bombalai', peanut butter ice cream with port wine and berry sauce.

Finally,


Minted chocolates leaving an after taste.

The menu is detail :


The verdict ...

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 4.0 stars ( Exquisite ingredients, specially prepared )
Service: 4.0 stars ( Very good service, the even refilled the breads. )
Food portion: 2.0 stars ( Small portion of fine food )
Value: 3.33 stars ( Expensive, no doubt, but for the experience, quite worth it. )

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 )