KEN HUNTS FOOD: SAMBAL 三佰 @ Beach Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Monday, May 31, 2021

SAMBAL 三佰 @ Beach Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Penang welcomes a spate of restaurants serving modern fusion cuisines lately but it is fun to see restaurateurs putting in effort to reinvent existing dishes and blend in other elements. SAMBAL 三佰 is one of the new restaurants with such concept, the restaurant at Beach Street serves a fusion menu that blends Oriental flavors into Western dishes. The mains are quite limited on the menu but the flavor-combos are unique. The price points are of restaurant-standard; the interior is in shades of grey and fully conditioned- a place where you can enjoy some unique dishes with a sip of alcohol (watch out their Cocktail menu as well).

Sotong DeSumbat (Rm 54)

Grilled Rempah Chicken (Rm 36)

Teow Chew Nang (Rm 22)

Aglio Olio Shitake Mushrooms (Rm 24)

The menu barely gives an idea on how the dish would be served- probably the novelty excitement is part of the package. The Sotong DeSumbat was probably our favorite dish of the day- huge squid stuffed with minced Meat and grilled over fire for the smoky touch. The dish was served with 2 types of sauces- a Vietnamese-inspired Fish Sauce dip and a Honey Mustard-like dip; both went well with the Squid though we would prefer the Fish Sauce dip for a more refreshing touch. The Grilled Rempah Chicken was good but nothing out of the ordinary- the Chicken was nicely marinated and expertly cooked, served over Rice and a side of Greens. The flavor-combo was as direct and straight-forward as you could see. Teow Chew Nang would sound attractive to those who love crispy Pork Lards as there was a handful of them sprinkled all over this dish. The noodles were chewy but got clumpy, affecting the overall texture. The Pork Lard aroma was dominant in this dish and when enjoyed with Sambal Belacan, we thought it was quite good.