nonya food | JahBella

The last weekend was quite the week of feasting in fact we decided to attempt something which we have never done with the kids before. A buffet!!!!! Ok to be fair this was their 2^nd buffet but their 1st with just us and with no aunties or uncles to distract them while mummy and papa gets to eat. So I was abit apprehensive because I really really needed both kids to be cooperative, like the food and the environment and allow us to at least have a decent shot at the buffet table. It didn’t help that Jah was being extremely disruptive just before lunch and Joel had suggested no less than 5 times that we should perhaps postpone the buffet lunch to another day. I was determined to have my Nonya buffet lunch that day but I was also really stressed out and worried that I was going to end up with an “I told you so” from Joel. Thankfully it turned out fine..better than fine.

We made a reservation for 12pm at the Katong Kitchen located on the 4^th floor of Katong Village Hotel. We were 10 minutes early and asked to sit around and wait while the staff continued to prep the buffet table. Jah was immediately drawn to the seafood table when he saw the mussels and Joel and I were really surprised that he actually went on to eating quite a number of these cold mussels.

Eager for 12pm to come

The spread was mainly Peranakan cuisine ranging from hot food buffet spread to a laksa stand as well as a DIY Rojak and Kueh Pie Tee. However they also injected alittle variety by having a seafood table, sushi area, salad bar, waffles stand and a dessert table which had a mix of nonya desserts as well as your regular cakes.

Cold Seafood Spread

Normally the first thing I go for but I didn’t even get the chance to eat these because the rest of the spread was just too good!

Hot food spread

DIY Rojak

DIY Kueh Pie Tee

I have to say I was very impressed with the quality of the food! While I probably would not equate it to the standard of a Peranakan restaurants. It was nevertheless a good variety of food with decent quality and priced very affordably. I usually don’t like going for buffets because 1) you don’t get to eat leisurely with kids and 2) it is always a struggle between variety and quality but I would say the buffet at Katong Kitchen hit the spot. There was really something for everyone! Even my pickiest child (Jah) ate…a lot!

Sure there were a few spicy dishes which the kids could not take but there were more than enough kid friendly items to keep them full and enticed. Jah enjoyed his silverfish fried rice with freshly bbq-ed satay as well as his cold mussels. He also enjoyed freshly baked waffles served with chocolate soft serve ice-cream that he got to decorate with toppings and drizzle with chocolate sauce and he got to make his own ice-kachang as well (ok mummy made the ice kachang). Bella savoured her ee-fu noodles and well ate everything else including tons of keropok (minus the sambal which was available in abundance).

Everyone had their own waffle with soft serve ice-cream

Ice-Kacang Machine!

Keropok with an abundance of sambal

Nonya Kuehs!

Super spoilt for choice

The adults ate everything and I even got to make rojak and kueh pie tee for the family by following the simple instructions they had on display. We spent a leisurely 1.5 to 2 hours at lunch which is unheard of in our family but everyone had so much fun and the staff were ever helpful and always on hand. Oh and before I forget, do order their own fruity ice tea concoction! It was simple thirst quenching with a little fizz..totally love! In fact Jah loved it so much that he was competing with us for refills.

Easy Peasy!

Mummy makes awesome rojak! 😉

Loved the laksa!

Yummy too!

At $38++ per adult and $19++ per child (above 6 years old) for a weekend buffet lunch (which ends at 4pm!), we will definitely be back for more! Yes and kids below 6, eat for free! 😉 so even more reason to try right? 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

So yes while we thought that the food at the Hard Rock Hotel Penang was pretty awesome, we did still head out for our food fix. No, travelling with two young kids was not going to prevent us from savouring the good food that Penang had to offer. We just had to think alittle more creatively and do alittle bit more research and planning. This meant no Gurney Drive Hawker Centre (although I would admit that we did try one evening but it was pouring!) and also meant that exploring the alleys and road side hawkers of Georgetown was out of the question. However I have to say we did really well and so if you are looking for something alittle more kid friendly (places where there are high chairs), something super yummy and authentic and something that won’t break the bank…Read on for our 3 recommended restaurants in Penang and we will let the photos do most of the talking…;)

Golden River Zi Char

Located in Batu Ferringhi and a 3 min taxi ride away from Hard Rock Hotel Penang. This zi char restaurant was not found on the main thoroughfare and we actually had to do abit of way-finding in the rain (walking over from our tailor) but we were well-rewarded with good homely zi char food.

Nonya Breeze

I did quite abit of research on this one..more so because I really wanted to try the Nonya food in Penang but most places were either really far out from where we were or were supposedly so good that you had to wait a long time for your food. Waiting is not really an option when you have kids who like to do things really ‘chop chop’ – yes I think they inherited that trait from me. :p So I kept Nonya Breeze on my ‘standby’ list of places to eat at if we were in the vicinity of Straits Quay Mall. I have to say that this place did not disappoint because Joel actually requested that we come back the next day for lunch. So please do not be shocked by all the photos, we ate there on 2 separate days!!!

Fishing Village Seafood

This place is really really rustic and you would need a driver to bring you in and preferably wait for you to finish. The drive was approximately 15 to 20 mins from Hard Rock Hotel Penang and in the other direction away from the city. So plan this for a night where you just intend to have dinner and head back because there is nothing much to see or do in that vicinity. The food though was worth it and we even indulged in some crabs which we don’t normally have when we eat with the kids. Portions are not huge so we managed to order quite a number of items and finished everything! (Note – there were only 3 adults and 2 little ones).