A Club that’s not just for Recreation

Recently we had a lunch gathering at the Chinese Recreational Club (CRC) in Penang to celebrate Hannah’s birthday.  I had only been to the Chinese restaurant there once before, and that was for a wedding dinner.  Food was so-so only, but hubbs has been telling me that the food in CRC is worthy of mention, it was just that I didn’t have the chance to try it for myself yet.

And try it I did….and I was WOWed away completely.

When I made the reservation, I had already pre-ordered the dishes, just so we could have the food served immediately when all the guests arrived.  The only dish that my hubby personally specified for the pre-order was this curried prawns dish.  Apparently it is one of the restaurant’s specialties, and this curry prawn dish (RM45) is served with freshly baked bread (shown in the foreground).  I have no idea why the bread is devoid of its filling, but I wasn’t complaining, because this curry is seriously GOOD.

Would have preferred it if the prawns were shelled, but in the end, I found out the shells could be eaten too…well, it’s an acquired taste. 🙂

We also ordered their specially made steamed tofu (RM18), which was done to smooth perfection.  It was a hit with the kids, and of course, the adults too.

Also for the kids, we had the honey ginger chicken (RM25).  I had expected it to be much oilier, but I was glad it wasn’t so.  The chicken meat was not hard, as was usually the case for some other fried chicken dishes, instead it was tender, and the taste of honey marinade really brings out the flavor of the chicken.  The tiny yellow bits on the chicken was ginger.  I had thought it was garlic at first.

We had spinach stir fried with century eggs (RM18).  Ideal combination of flavors, and ideal eye candy too…look how colorful it looks on the plate!  In fact, I loved this dish so much that I went home and tried to recreate it, thankfully with success 🙂

At the last minute, we decided to order one more vegetable dish: baby long beans stir fried with minced pork (RM20).  And we’re mighty glad we did.  The long beans were done just nice and crunchy and the minced pork did not overwhelm the dish.

Finally we had steamed red lion (RM42).  Personally I prefer the red lion to the garoupa, although I know the garoupa costs more.  This simple steamed dish is a firm favorite with the young and old and this time, it didn’t fail to deliver.  The sauce was delicious and the fish was fresh, as if it was just fished out from the sea.

I noticed there were also parties of 2 or 3 per table and they were having their regular rice and dishes lunch at CRC.  Hmmm…perhaps we could consider doing that do, some time? 🙂

I will certainly be back for more! 🙂