Greetings Penangites (and honourable visitors)! If you’re looking for a fine dining experience right here in the locality of Penang, this is for you. In this article, you will be virtually visiting 半月居Yuè Penang — an eatery that describes itself as a ‘Penang Classy, Sensual Avant-garde Modern Cuisine Restaurant’. Does it live up to its name? Let’s dig in and find out for ourselves!

This elegant, upscale restaurant located on Jalan Irving, George Town is built upon a fusion of old fashioned and contemporary and it welcomes you with an air of class when you enter. Despite offering a higher class of the restaurant experience, 半月居Yuè Penang has a cosy, homey ambiance that makes you feel comfortable right away.

Now to the most important part of a restaurant review — the food! 半月居Yuè Penang offers two experiences; the afternoon tea (available from 3pm to 5pm) and dinner (available from 6pm to 10pm). We tried (and enjoyed!) both packages and are certain that you will also if you’re a fan of modern Chinese cuisine. Be sure to dress for the occasion! Smart casual is recommended (and slippers are definitely not!).

If you’d like to enjoy the afternoon tea, you’ll have to make a reservation at least one day in advance and a deposit of RM50 is required for the booking (this deposit will then be deducted from your total bill).

The afternoon tea, priced at RM68, consists of mui choy dumplings, char siu buns, foie gras chous, red velvet cheesecake, rouge strawberry, stone lion, lotus cake, and osmanthus jelly. They say that good things come in small packages and we say that these gastronomic delights have proven them right!

The selection of afternoon tea delights was well balanced and complemented each other. Our personal favourites were the mui choy dumpling, foie gras chous and lotus cake because we could really taste the difference between what we got at 半月居Yuè Penang and what we had tried elsewhere. The other goodies were delicious but rather standard. We would definitely recommend the afternoon tea package for those looking to enjoy some light but high quality bites with a classy ambience.

If you’d like to dine in for dinner, you’ll have to make a reservation at least one hour before your intended visit and pay a deposit of RM50 (which will later be deducted from your total bill). You will also have to inform the restaurant a day in advance if you have requests for kids’ meals or special meals.

半月居Yuè Penang offers two packages for dinner; one with 11 courses and one with 13 courses. Remember, quality over quantity! Prior to dining in this restaurant, we heard a lot of positive reviews about not only the exquisite taste of the food but also its unique presentation; something we looked forward to very much during our visit. We can tell you with full confidence that we were not disappointed!

We opted for the 13 course meal which comprised of amuse-bouche (bite-sized appetisers), entrees, a main course, a pre-dessert, and a dessert priced at RM338 per person.

For our amuse-bouche, we were served pickled cucumber, chicken dumpling, glutinous rice, kataifi prawn, and bread. Every bite was an explosion of flavour that tickled our taste buds! The appetisers had the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty and umami for the palate.

The chicken dumpling, glutinous rice and kataifi prawn stood out to us; we’d definitely go broke if they sold these by the dozen! These “everyday snacks” are spiced and garnished with simple yet effective ingredients such as ginger, truffle, chilli gel, and many other spices that really bring out flavours in the foods that you won’t be able to taste otherwise.

Our entrees were scallop, xian, foie gras, braised short ribs, and granita. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better from the appetisers, it did!

The xian was our personal favourite; it is a barramundi fish with minced lamb, Shanghai soy sauce, black caviar, and vegetables. The flavour combination and the combustion of different tastes in your mouth is truly one of a kind! The scallop, foie gras and braised short ribs were also tasty on their own.

The granita was an interesting addition to the entree list as it is a frozen dessert but the jelly and fruit complemented the other entrees very well.

Finally, we had our long-awaited, most anticipated main course. We were presented with a choice between chicken, cod, lamb (surcharge of RM50) and wagyu (surcharge of RM150). We opted to try the lamb for our dinner.

The lamb was, simply put, succulent! It was the highlight of our dinner experience at 半月居Yuè Penang. The meat was very tender and flavour-packed as it was well-seasoned and accentuated with their special szechuan pepper sauce. It was also served with a side of sauteed vegetables. While we haven’t tried the other mains to compare, we would highly recommend that you opt for the lamb as your main course.

Last but not least, we had our dessert to conclude our meal. The dessert comes in two tiers, the pre-dessert that was the “24K Bing Tang Hu Lu” and then the dessert that was a tofu texture.

The 24K Bing Tang Hu Lu was a very fancy and interesting twist on the traditional bing tang hu lu sugar-coated fruits. This one was coated with not only sugar but also gold flakes! While it was sweet and tasty, it tasted much like the regular dessert with the added texture of the gold flakes. The tofu texture was the more interesting dessert for us as it consisted of fried tofu skin served with tofu ice cream and tofu tiramisu. For tofu lovers, this dessert is heavenly! If you’re not a tofu fan, we recommend that you bring one along with you so that this dessert can be appreciated the way it’s meant to be!

Overall, we loved our dining experience at 半月居Yuè Penang and we call all fans of fine dining and modern Chinese cuisine to visit this restaurant for an experience that will fill your stomach and your heart! 半月居Yuè Penang may be upscale but it is relatively affordable for one that offers a fine dining cuisine with food as delicious as it is. Great place, great food, and great environment for your next fancy meal in Penang!

Address: 93, Jalan Irving, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Operating hours: 3pm – 11pm (Tuesday closed)
Social media:Instagram | Facebook
For reservation: https://letsumai.com/widget/yue 

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