Across Pangkor Road (Jalan Pangkor) from the clubhouse of Chinese Recreation Club (CRC) is its flagship restaurant, CRC Chinese Restaurant (美丽华鱼翅海鲜酒家). This restaurant shares the same building as North Malaya Cheah Si Chong Soo (北马谢氏宗祠).
As Chinese New Year is approaching, many restaurants offer Chinese New Year packages to take advantage of the many appreciation meals that companies throw before the festive event. Our 8-course package costs RM628.00 per table of 10 persons.
Before the meal starts, it is common to keep the guests occupied with some titbits such as roasted peanuts and pickled papaya slices.
Although the first dish is supposed to be Salmon Yee Sang (三文鱼鱼生), the restaurant had to substitute with Four Seasons (四热荤) because several ingredients of yee sang are still not available. In fact, I actually preferred this arrangement anyway. This serving of Four Seasons consists of bite-size delicacies like braised fish meat, fried fish stick with salad, sweet & sour pork and scallops with cashew nuts.
The next dish is Braised Shark’s Fin Soup With Crab Meat (鲜蟹肉生翅). Unlike many Chinese restaurants, the soup is served in a shallow bowl, so it is not as large as it appears.
Nevertheless, the soup is rich in ingredients and is quite satisfying. The default amount of vinegar is insufficient for my palate, so I added several more drizzles from a small pitcher.
The next dish is CRC Roasted Chicken (美丽华掛炉鸡). Underneath the prawn crackers are delicious pieces of roasted chicken. The chicken is prepared well and are quite juicy. A saucer of sour plum sauce is provided to provide certain degree of tanginess.
The next dish is Braised Mushrooms With Sea Cucumber & Fish Maw (冬菇扣海参鱼肚). The main highlight are the lovely slices of abalone (鲍鱼片). Flanking on all sides are black mushrooms (香菇), sea cucumber (海参), fish maw (鱼肚) and broccoli (西兰花). I like the presentation of this dish as much as I do with its taste.
Moving on, Deep Fried Red Fish With Thai Sauce (泰式煎红狮) comes in rather large portion even for 10 persons. The choice of fish is red snapper (红狮鱼). Unfortunately, the fish is deep-fried instead of being steamed. I feel that deep-frying is a wasteful way to enjoy fresh fish – assuming that the fish is fresh. Thai-style sweet chili sauce is used to provide flavor.
The next dish, Glutinous Rice With Preserved Meat (腊味糯米饭), appeals to my palate. Glutinous rice is steamed with waxed pork (腊肉), Chinese sausages (腊肠) and liver sausages (润肠). This rice dish concludes the main course on a high note.
As for desserts, Chilled Lychee With Sago (荔枝西米露) serves as one-half of the dish. I like the way this dessert presents refreshing sensation as the soup flows down the throat.
Suspended within the milky soup are sago and lychee (荔枝). The taste is heavenly indeed.
The other one-half of desserts is Deep Fried Sesame Seed Balls (酥炸芝麻枣). Filled with green bean paste, the rice balls are coated with sesame seeds and then deep-fried to perfection.
CRC Chinese Restaurant also offers exotic seafood such as Australian Lobsters (澳洲龙虾), Loong Foo Grouper (龙虎斑) and Leopard Coral Grouper (星斑). These exquisite delicacies are not available in the regular course meal.
Overall, I find the food at CRC Chinese Restaurant to be favorable. In fact, several dishes here deserve special recommendation. Considering the food quality, I think the price of today’s meal is very reasonable for a restaurant of such ambience.
Address: 22, Jalan Pangkor, 10500 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-227-8777
Business hours: 12:00pm-2:30pm, 6:00pm-10:00pm
