Food review 2008 #03 - Blue Ginger

Strangely enough, my family had never gone for a full penarakan meal before. For myself, I've tried penarakan food in Malacca before, but not together as a family. Perhaps it's because we have kids amongst us, and penarakan food is usually spicy, so we kinda subconciously avoided it. For Mother's Day this year, my bro suggested to try food that we had not eaten tog before, and penarankan food sprung into mind. So I went ard asking for suggestions on penarakan restuarants in the town area, for the convenience of everyone in the family. Finally settled on Blue Ginger, after hearing good reviews from friends and on the net.

The variety on the menu is quite wide. And with suggestions from the waiting crew, we managed to shortlist some dishes that are not so spicy and suitable for kids.

These are the dishes we ordered.

Duck Salad as starter... It's not bad tasting tho' we would prefer more duck meat in it. It had a nice tangy taste and the vegetable was very fresh. But I got review from the family that it tasted too raw... hm... I thot salad containes raw veg... so frankly, I dun see their point...

Another starter... Ngo Heong. This is one of their specialities. I find it abit salty tho... but it's yummy with rice and the accompanying sweet sauce.

Next up... Ayam Panggang 'Blue Ginger"... This dish ROCKS! it's also one of the chef specialities... I'm blown away by it! It's deboned chicken thigh and grilled. Then topped with a sauce. The meat was really tender and well marinated. The sauce had a strong coconut taste to it and it's not that spicy.

Sambal Terong Goreng. It's eggplant and then topped with some sambal chilli. It's done to perfection too. Looking at the dish alone makes my mouth water... beautiful colours!

Steamed Seabass Nonya Style. This fish is quite delicious too. Very fresh and appetising.

Seasonal Green Vegetables with oyster sauce. This is a child-friendly dish. Quite well done... no complaints! :)

Otak Otak. Another chef specialities. Firm flesh with silvers of fish in it. Yummy!

Last dish... Sotong Kunyit. It's fresh squid stirfried with tumeric powder, flavoured with tamarind. This is another child-friendly dish as it's not spicy. However, it's well-received by the adults too!

For dessert, we ordered Chendol. They offered 2 types of chendols, one with durian and another that's the common one that's without durian. Frankly, we're all disappointed with this. We had expected it to be really special as it's also listed as a chef specialities. Howver, there's very little gula melaka and the ice shavings were not fine. In fact it's just a huge lump of ice. :(

Nevertheless, it's been a good dinner for us. At least I know Mommy is happy! (that's the most impt, isn't it?)