BY CK LAM

Penang can pride itself for having a fine dining restaurant with quality fine Hunan and Sichun cuisine from Chin’s Stylish Chinese Cuisine.
This latest new addition to Penang fine dining restaurant has its prime seaside location in Church Street Pier overlooking the calm waters of the harbor and George Town behind it. This restaurant opened a few months ago was everything of a fine dining restaurant, casual and elegant dining with delicate and delicious food, wine and a sense of pampering.

The restaurant was tastefully decorated, ceiling with modern Chinese contemporary art pieces and dangling chandeliers. It has the luxury of space. The glass-enclosed dining hall room can seat approximately 90 people comfortably.
Crisp table settings added to the finesse, including the gorgeous hand painted dining plates with various designs which are for sale exclusively at Chin’s.

The flavor of the food at Chin’s opened up an excellent new experience in fine dining. Its menu features a wide selection of appetizers, specialties, meat, poultry and seafood prepared by a creative culinary team from China headed by Executive Chef Wang ZhiZhong. Varied spices are used in the preparation of wholesome traditional Chinese recipes with unique flavors and aromas.

Diners get to choose the matching wine from the good wine list to enhance the dining experience.
There is a choice of cold and hot appetizers. We had a very interesting hot appetizer, Heavenly Blessed Joysticks. It was an impressive sight with the skewers of Seashell meat, Baby Abalone and Sea Fungus soaked in spicy and pungent chili oil beautifully presented in a bamboo holder. Each morsel was delicate and simply delicious with its own distinctive texture.

Chin’s Aromatic Crispy Duck is the specialty on the menu at this restaurant. The duck is prized for its crispy skin with fragrant and tender meat. The quarter serving of the Aromatic Crispy Duck was shredded at-the-table. The meat is roll-up in a homemade pancake with a light stroke of Hoisin sauce and accompaniments of scallion and cucumber. The pancakes are of the best texture and made without any coloring or essence - exactly as they should be.

It was followed by the Double Flavored Wild Fresh Water Fish with the Patin fish steamed under a layer of garlic, chili peppers in delicate gravy. The chili was simply awesome. Surprisingly with the generous amount of it covering the fish, it was not overpowering. The sweetness of garlic and hint of chili heat paired well with the juicy fish flesh hidden underneath.

A mix of other dishes, like Sautéed Vegetable in Red Rice Yeast, Cumin Mutton Skewers and Crab ‘N’ Yoke completed the meal.

The dessert of Pumpkin Cake with Sweetened Bean Paste was a nice finale. This hot sweet treat with pumpkin teamed with filling of red bean paste was truly delightful as the flavors combined very well.

Currently this Pork Free restaurant is bringing in business, attracting guests with its tasty food and elegant settings. It is only open for dinner with private bookings as it is not officially open to the public. There are plans to open for lunch as well after its official launching which is most probably happening in early June.

There is a choice of seven Set Meals with prices ranging from RM 78++ per person to RM 218++ per person.

Chin’s Stylish Chinese Cuisine
Tanjong City Marina Church Street Pier (Next to QE II)
8A Pengkalan Weld
Georgetown
Penang
Tel: 04 261 2611
Fax: 04 261 3128

Mobile: 012 4781262 (Dave Chin)

Business Hour : 6pm till 11.30pm daily

GPS Coordinates :N 05 41564   E100 34375

For further information on eating in Penang, as well on its culture and heritage, log on to C.K. Lam’s blog at http://www.what2seeonline.com