I'm sure most people have heard of Sarkies Corner at E&O Hotel Penang but I would presume not many have heard of Planters Lounge that is located on the 6 floor of the Victory Annexe wing of the hotel. The reason is that Planters Lounge caters exclusively to staying guests of the hotel as the only way to reach the floor would be with a key card at the lift. Of course, if you have friends staying at the hotel, they can surely bring you to have a great dinner there.
Thus it was with delight that we got to sample dinner here and its really a nice place as being on the 6 floor, we get a birds eye view of the surroundings and actually the view is amazing overlooking the Strait of Malacca. The menu here doesn't offer the sun and the moon in options, but really have focus and works very well for almost everyone. I really prefer such a menu as it shows that the chef here has taken the effort to streamline their offering and only gives the best choices available (it also means the ingredients are fresher)
Thus, do keep a read on this post, about the food, and of course there are some photos of the beautiful scenery as well. Cheers.
This was their pure fruit juice. Its 100% fruit juice smoothie and it tasted great. I would say, it would have been perfect if they have moved to a slow juicer where the consistency is so much better, and much more flavorful too. Kudos to the staff for making a strawberry smoothie for my daughter on request as it was not on the menu, yet they happily obliged and it tasted great! These are the kind of service which I truly appreciate and admire.
Well, so did I tempt you already with the smoothie? Well, before showing more yummy foods, here are some photos of the lounge itself. This is how the entrance look like, nice.
This is the indoor seating area which is fully air conditioned and they have a variety of seating sizes that can even cater to a large group.
Comfortable sofa seating area which I find is a great place for some chit chat or bumming around for some coffee!
Oh did I mention that hotel guests can have snacks and unlimited coffee here all day? There is also happy hour which sadly I missed on that day.
Then lets have a look at the place where we had our dinner, which is at the outdoor seating area. This place is windy and most importantly offers a great view! I also like the rattan seating and classic wooden tables.
Just look at the view here! And this was on a hazy weekend in Penang
More views
The unique salt and pepper holders
There is also more areas here as it also leads to the pool area.
OK so back to the food ya. They serve some buns prior to the mains coming along which is a nice touch especially when the buns are warm and soft
For starters, we had the "Spicy Pulled Chicken Mango Salad" which was nicely presented and it has a combination of broiled chicken that as the name suggest is "pulled". The base is of pea and alfalfa sprouts and slices of fried wanton skin. I wish the wanton skin used was thicker and thus wouldn't soften as fast as it is after all sandwiched between the sprouts. The delight was the mango cubes which has been lightly grilled and when you blend it all together, this is a refreshing starter.
We also tried the soup of the day which was a great tomato pumpkin soup that really was filling. The taste was great and the accompanying piece of toasted bread worked very well with the soup.
As the sun started setting, the view changes too
A view of the private pier of the hotel. I understand that there will soon be a water taxi from here to Straits Quay. Hopefully will get to try it out one day
Moving on to mains. This is the Grilledd Salmon with soba noodles. The salmon was nicely done and not overcooked as so typically made. The honey soy sauce worked very well with the fish and noodles and gave it a much refreshing taste.
OK, when we saw sandwiches on the menu, we didn't expect it to be a huge meal on its own and was hoping for something to fill the stomach while waiting for the mains. But lo and behold, the Club Sandwich is a a whopper and will easily fill one up very well. The sandwich comes with a large side of fries as well and this is surely way better than your Subway.
Another main we had was the "Breaded Chicken Schnitzel" which has a large piece of deep fried chicken breast and it came with a bunch of leafs on top as well as thick slices of Parmesan cheese. Squeezing the side of grilled preserved lemon on the chicken really gave it the extra zest to bring it up a notch.
And something which my daughter managed to finish probably 90% of it is the "Spaghetti Aglio Olio". This to us was probably the most simple, yet toughest to make dish of the night. It was very good and tasted great! I wish I was able to replicate this in my home.
For desserts, we had different flavors of icecream ordered and what a great way to end the dinner on a sweet note! They have a few flavors to choose and could change depending on whats the best available, thus do check with the staff on what they have to offer!
Overall, I feel its a great experience to have a meal here at Planters Lounge. Good food at very affordable prices and top tier service with much attention to detail. Highly recommended if you are staying at the E&O Hotel! I would presume this place would be packed if it was opened to the public.
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