Gurney Drive @ The Gardens

Over the recent Chinese New Year holidays, I was down in KL and some relatives took me to the Gurney Drive @ The Gardens.  The tag line of this restaurant was 16 chefs from Penang bringing with them generations of famous recipes … I tried out a few of their menu items – namely the Kampung Malabar Char Koay Teow, Swattow Lane Lor Bak, Farlim Wan Tan Mee, CY Choy Road Hokkien Mee, Greenlane Koay Teow Th’ng, Kelawai Road Oh Chien, Pulau Tikus Nasi Lemak, Pulau Tikus Chee Cheong Fun and the Penang Road Chendol. These food are priced quite expensively as street food, but I guess rental at the Gardens are not cheap. As a Penangites, I think the food does not match up with the name.  The Char Koay Teow, Lor Bak, Hokkien Mee and Chee Cheong Fun was alright – nothing to boast about, Wan Tan Mee was more of the KL styled (not the way we do it in Penang), the rice on the Nasi Lemak was lacking fragrance – nothing like the nyonya-styled nasi lemak, and the chendol, although stated was from Penang Road, I am not sure which stall it was from, but definitely not from the “Best Penang Road Chendol”. Overall, was a little disappointed, but I guess for people who has not have Penang street food for a while, it was acceptable.  Relatives from Singapore and KL was enjoying it pretty well. So all in all – if you’re not from Penang, you can try it out, but for the best Penang street food, you still have to come to Penang!