Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine, Penang – Homecooked Peranakan Food
November 09, 2013
Hello world, happy Saturday! Today, I am back to sharing my Penang food post! Sorry ah, I took such a long break because I have been trying to write a humongous blog post on my Penang hawker food experience but there are soooooo many stalls worth visiting, I type until my hands pain also haven’t finish. LOL! So I decided I am going to share with you Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine first.
Penang is one of the birthplaces of the Peranakan culture. Recommended by a local, we visited Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine which is tucked away in a pre-war converted house located at Chow Thye Road (Off Jalan Burma). The cosy restaurant is run by a husband and wife team Mr Tan and Ms Ivy. It has simple decor and basic dining layout, with its name on a banner hanging outside the restaurant. It serves pork-free home-cooked dishes, authentic Penang nyonya cuisines, a variety of set meals, steamboat dinner, seafood dinner and fish head curry.
It’s my first time eating Joo Hoo Ban Kuang Char (RM25/40/55) which is traditional Nyonya mixed vegetables served with fresh lettuce. It resembles the complicated noodles I had at Greyhound Cafe in Thailand where you just have to wrap the ingredients in lettuce and add the super powerful chilli sauce.
Of course, Joo Hoo Ban Kuang Char takes much more effort the preparation is rather tedious. You have to shred turnips lah, shred carrots lah, and cut many other ingredients. Ivy’s version is very tasty and turnips are braised till very soft. Specially love the belachan which is super spicy but shiok. And thankfully, they have the Homemade Soya Bean (RM3) to tone it down.
When owner Mr Tan brings out his Beef Rendang (RM18), he proudly said that this is one of the restaurant’s signature. Indeed, the beef rendang has the right rempah – rich, thick, spicy and coconut-y enough. The meat is fork-tender, I gladly ordered a bowl of rice to pair with this.
King Prawns in Homemade Chilli Paste (RM8-10/pc, minimum 4 pcs) has a slight citrus flavour which added depth to this dish. It has a balance of spicy, savoury, sour with a tint of sweetness from the fresh prawns.
Black Glutinous Rice Bee Koh Moi (RM3/bowl) is thick and creamy. The addition of pandan leaves gives Bee Koh Moy a refreshing aroma.
I recommend you to have the set meals (RM55 for 2, RM72 for 3, RM 96 for 4-5pax) because you get to eat a much more bigger variety of dishes at an affordable price. We had lotsa hawker food before our dinner here so we decided to order ala carte. It was a wrong move totally. Nevertheless, we had a great meal at Ivy’s and will certainly return next time we are in Penang.
Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine
Address: 58, Jalan Chow Thye, George Town
Tel: +6016 433 7130
Opening hours: 12pm to 3pm, 6pm -9pm. Closed on Mondays
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