Already a haven for street food, the burgeoning fine-dining scene in George Town is turning Penang into Malaysia’s most exciting gourmet city
Lauded as one of Asiaʼs hottest cities for street food and with designs to have its hawker culture listed as a Unesco intangible cultural heritage, eating out in Penang is serious business. Yet, despite Penangites’ reputation for exacting food standards, fine dining never seemed to feature prominently in the island’s food scene except for in the various 5-star hotels scattered across the island.
But times, they are a-changing with chic independent restaurants opening to appreciative audiences. The next time you make a trip to the Pearl of the Orient, you would do well to take some time between the char kway teow and assam laksa to check out these four dining hotspots.
1. Au Jardin
Home is truly where the heart is for the all-Penangite team at Au Jardin (no affiliation to the Singapore outpost by Les Amis), who have been working together since their days running Basil de Bistrot in Penang and Taipei.
Despite their success in Taiwan, both the front and back of house team lead by Chef Kim Hock Su could not deny the pull of home and returned en masse a year ago to launch this modern French restaurant.