人生有幾多個十年, 最重要活得痛快!
The above statement is something that ponder me always. How
many of us could stay at the same work place for 30 long years? Well, I
guess without your persistent, patient and courage, I believe no one could.
After 30 years of working, my manager will be retired from this hectic,
stressful and “fun” work place and will be enjoying his retirement journey with his loved
one. Due to his retirement, our boss gave him a luxury dinner which we never
have the opportunity to try it, I guess when you work for the same company for
30 years. Thanks to him, we managed to enjoy the meal and it was a wonderful
gathering among the staff.
We chose 1881 Chong Tian Cultural
Hotel as the venue. First of all, it’s a heritage hotel, secondly, it’s newly
open after a massive renovation to its original
heritage design and it’s a place worth of
visiting. The hotel has 11 suites, and the 11 suites designed or rather
represent the 11 Chinese surnames that first
landed in Penang, if am not mistaken as it consists of Khoo,
Lee, Tan, Lim, Ooi, Ong, Chuah, Yeoh, Koay, Loh and of course the owner’s
surname Seah which represent the largest suite in this Hotel. The owner of the hotel even bought those antique
furniture and artifacts from many countries; the one that is more significant is the Emperor’s China brush (毛筆) which
cost millions. The whole building is painted with heritage colour to make it
look more authentic of olden days building. Again… anyone knows what colour is that?
Before I proceed with the intro on those dishes… how many of
us know about this building’s history. I was told, this building was once a
brothel. The women were all kept in a special room before they were called to
provide the service. All the ladies are kept in this special dedicated room
with a rope tied to a bell. Whenever there’s customer visits, the owner
will ring the bell, and the woman will come forward parading in
line to the presence of the customer to pick their choice of lady.
After many years passed by, less and less people patronized
the brothel, and it was converted to a residential building then. Before the
building was sold to current owner, it was being left vacant
for a long time. And after Penang was awarded the UNESCO title in year 2008, it
has brought the entire Pearl of Orient a new life. Thus, 1881 Chong Tian was
borne and established.
A man with strength, patient and persistent in his beliefs
has contributed much to his service, his knowledge and passion into
his job. To celebrate his retirement journey, we celebrated with these luxury
food to indulge ourselves within the few hours!
First dish is the appetizer… which is highly recommended by
the staff. That is fresh scallops with mushrooms, macadamia nuts and beans that
was served
in a nice champagne glass. That made the appetizer more delicacy, the chef
added a prawn that is covered with almond slices, and a bacon that nicely
wrapped with asparagus.
Next come the second dish which is Conch Meat Fish Maw
Double Boiled Soup (花膠響螺燉老雞). The
soup is tasty and it’s definitely good for health especially for us that is
working under such intends stress environment. Why would I said so, well
basically next year economy isn’t that promising especially many investors
have predicted it would be a tough year ahead next
year.
Typical Cantonese delicacy dish is Braised Goose Web and
Abalone (鵝掌燜鮑魚). Isn’t it indulging ourselves? I could taste
the gravy was braised with specific ingredients like clove (丁香), and abalone sauce. If you’re not a fan of
any creatures’ feet, you can opt for Lamb instead. A pan fried lamb also goes
well with the abalone, it doesn’t have the smell that overcome the abalone.
Cantonese Steamed Pomfret (斗底魚), another indulging dish.
An expensive pomfret that go as high up to RM90 per fish. In
order to know the fish freshness, best is to go for steaming, especially
Cantonese Style.
Last, Sambal Fried Four Heavenly King was the last dish served
on the round table. The sambal was sourish and it was honestly appetizing,
especially after a heavy meal. It does help in terms of digestion.
Nothing could end without a dessert. Peanut Paste Soup (花生糊), Honeydew
Sago and a plate of Chinese Pancake (鍋餅) was the last
dish of the dinner with a perfect mark and a respect to our dear
manager that has been working for the past 30 years.
Other Reviews
Address & Contact
No. 38, 40 & 42
Jalan Pintal Tali
Georgetown Penang
Tel: +604-263 1881
Fax: +604-264 1881
Contact hotel for any enquiries
Lawrence Seng
Mobile: +6019-409 1881
Lawrence Seng
Mobile: +6019-409 1881
Email: lawrence.seng@1881chongtian.com
Opening Hours
11am to 2pm
6pm to 10pm
