KEN HUNTS FOOD: Peninsula House @ Beach Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Friday, April 25, 2025

Peninsula House @ Beach Street, Georgetown, Penang.

Hidden in one of the heritage buildings along Beach Street, Peninsula House has been around for quite some time. Word of mouth has it that the place serves some really delicious Aussie-inspired dishes. On its official website- Peninsula House is a modern Aussie restaurant with casual contemporary Dining. Make your way up the stairs from the unassuming entrance (opposite to The Whiteaways Arcade) and you will be welcomed by a well-spaced, modern-casual restaurant with high ceiling... as well as fog machine setting the mysterious tone. They serve different menus for lunch and dinner, our visit was on a fine Saturday Noon. Not overly crowded but if you are visiting in a large group, early reservation is suggested.

House-made Bread (Rm 19.90)

Potato Hash (Rm 25.90)

Garlic Thyme Roasted Chicken (Rm 45.90)

Duck Cannelloni (Rm 58.90)

We started with the House-made Bread served with Taucu-Sour Plum Mousse. The Bread was expertly toasted to perfection- crispy on the outside while still moist inside. The real draw was the Taucu-Sour Plum Mousse. Taucu is Chinese fermented Yellow Soybeans. They have created this mysterious silky smooth concoction replacing butter completely and it worked! The presence of Taucu was weak here but you could taste the Asian element here, almost like Asian Cheese. Salty but not overly so, with a hint of sweetness. Another starter we had was the Potato Hash- crispy fried julienned Potatoes as the base and topped with Mushroom Duxelles, Black Garlic Aioli and Cured Yolk. Very amusing concoction but we clearly tasted the earthy Mushroom element here with a mild acidity that cuts through the greasiness. Not exactly our favorite but we appreciate the fresh and new flavor combo.

For mains, we had both Garlic Thyme Roasted Chicken and Duck Cannelloni. The former one was served with Cashew Cream, Roasted Pumpkin, Chimichurri and Soy-Gula Melaka Butter. The presence of Chimichurri was really strong and bold but it was really good; it offered the distinctive herbaceous aroma to the dish while the Gula Melaka has this sleek sweetness in the background. A very safe but lip-smacking dish. My partner in crime found the Duck Cannelloni was overly creamy and greasy to her liking. It was basically shredded Duck meat (with Ricotta concoction) stuffed in the Cannelloni Pasta. The flavors were really good and multi-dimensional; the use of Bigarade Sauce cuts through the greasiness a little but I guess the Cheese-factor was a little too bold. A very good attempt and I totally appreciate the effort in crafting the flavor-combo while retaining the al-dente texture of the Pasta.