Sesame + Soy = Fusion at G Hotel

I have so many entries to catch up on but I can hardly spare the time. Right now, I'm taking a break as I to retreat to my happy place. No, I'm not at Overseas devouring char siu. Okay, second happy place, reminiscing about food. I just realised I've only posted one entry from my Penang trip. When I read about the G Hotel in a design magazine, I was impressed by the contemporary design of the lobby with its sleek designer furniture decorating a long rectangular space. I had also heard many good things about their fusion restaurant Sesame + Soy. If the hotel itself was anything to go by, I should've lowered my expectations for the restaurant. The picture is beautiful from far, up close you notice the details are missing. I for one, have a problem swimming in a pool that overlooks a construction site. Correction, where a constuction site overlooks the swimming pool. My first impression was already tainted when they couldn't find my reservation and then the room wasn't ready. It took almost 3/4 of an hour to check-in. We checked out the next day and moved to a less styled, more substance kind of hotel. However, if your idea of a holiday is shopping then by all means, G Hotel would be perfect. Its located right next to Gurney Plaza and you can have your Starbucks, McD's, cinema, F.O.S, Chilli's and other things you might be missing from Kuala Lumpur. Before we left, we dined at Sesame + Soy. Sesame offers a Chinese fusion menu while Soy (dinner only) is a fine dining Chinese restaurant.

Hunky ordered a fresh spring rolls with duck and mango chilli chutney which was a little on the bland side. We only ordered it because of the chutney but guess what? Its not a chutney when you have chopped mango swimming in bottled Thai chilli sauce. I supposedly had corn chowder with sesame crusted chicken. If I wanted Campbell's can soup, I would've bought one from the supermarket next door. Where is the corn? It was more like cream of cream soup. However, the sesame crusted chicken was fragrant and tasty. Hah, its all coming back to me now.

My grilled coffee and cocoa pork ribs sounded a lot more interesting than it tasted. First of all, it ain't grilled. It was definitely fried. Secondly, the sauce was too subtle and undefined. I think they should've gone all out with a strong and bittersweet sauce instead of an apologetic version which ended up tasting like mild kicap pekat. It was tender and tasty but not what I expected. The garlic fried rice was superb tho. Hunky's roasted belly pork spaghetti is the most popular item on the menu. I can see why. Siew yoke low meen instead of siew yoke fahn. Simple dish guaranteed to sell. The belly pork was very good. Warm and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. After the slightly disappointing starter and main course, we had hoped dessert save the meal. It wasn't wow enough to save the say but it was pretty good. Gula melaka creme brulee with coconut ice cream. The creme brulee was lovely and smooth with a hint of gula melaka. Very nice. The coconut ice cream was a little overwhelming for me.

Would I go again? There are so many other fantastic things to eat and if I wanted fine dining, I would stay in KL so I doubt I would. Having said that, do try their set lunch at RM22++. The friends who recommended the restuarant both had their set menu on separate occasions. So, maybe the magic lies in the set. Also, you get a 15% discount with HSBC card. We paid RM78 for our meal with the discount.

Comments

  1. Thanks for the review. Was going to check out G Hotel for an impending trip to Penang. Maybe not, huh?

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  2. hahahhaa... what a coincident... I'd just posted Sesame G Hotel. :D
    you wrote great post!!

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  3. Anonymous8:39 pm

    I remembered reading about this place from Chubby Hubby. If not mistaken, he's the food consultant behind the place. Now that you've taste the food .. aiya, his food entries don't sound so tempting anymore lah hehe

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  4. For some crazy reason I always thot G Hotel was a revamped Gurney Hotel, I guess not from what I read.

    Looks like some hits and misses.

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  5. Hmmmm shud we give a miss?

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  6. the menu does look interesting, too bad that some of the food turn out to be dissappointing

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  7. Well, like I said, depends what you are planning to do on your trip. Lone Pine was great for me because I just wanted to relax and hear the waves lap against the shore. If you stay in town, you get to makan at all the nice places as Batu Ferringhi doesn't have much to offer in terms of food.

    Thanks New Kid, will go check out your post after this!

    Hi Lianne! I've always felt fusion is a dicey cuisine. So many things can go very wrong/right. They are relatively new so I'm sure it will get better. They just need to get the execution right.

    Ah yes, it was a bit confusing. I thought the same thing. Think Gurney Hotel is further down the road. I think. :-0

    BBO & KBCG, if you are ever in Penang, might as well give it a try hai mo? Go for the set lunch!

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  8. Hmmm....will give it a try when I'm there for a proper trip and not running around like a mad person! :)

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  9. Hm, I stay in Penang but never tried G Hotel before. Penang's better off with its street food, no? (Except a few nice places....)
    Fine dining in Penang? I recommend trying the hotels up in Bt Feringhi - especially Golden Sands - Food is good there. Well, at least from my many many personal experience going there.

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  10. So pleasing to the eyes and definitely pleasing to taste. Love it!

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