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Zhou Restaurant

  • Restaurants
  • Air Itam
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
Zhou Restaurant
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Time Out says

4 out of 5 stars

October 2013

This Chinese restaurant specialises in congee or rice porridge. They’re said to be MSG free but one thing we can confirm is, their congee is silky, smooth and utterly tasty. At first, there’s a bewildering amount of choices from which to choose and each looking more appetising than the next. The trick is not to let your eyes be bigger than your tummy, as the Chinese say.

Another thing we discover here is that their portions are generous. The congee comes in a clay pot and piping hot from RM9.80+. Their ten popular ones are textured with toppings such as Swiss chicken that’s roasted and slathered with thick, dark sauce, minced broiled fish and egg, slices of smoked salmon, braised pork ribs, barbecued pork and beef. Then there’s the exotic pumpkin and frog congee for the adventurous ones or even curry flavoured for a touch of spicy.


Silky-smooth, fluffly-soft texture of the signature congee

Alas, we’re not that adventurous. For a late breakfast, we settle for their signature, plain congee sprinkled with spring onions. The beauty of its simplicity is, we get to taste the true flavours of the mushy rice, the slithery, rich texture and delicate, starchy flavours. Now, imagine that somewhat blank canvas when topped with assorted fried, barbecued or roasted meats. It’s really satisfaction guaranteed!

For lunch or dinner with a group, we recommend their congee steamboat. It gets curiouser and curiouser, doesn’t it? What it is basically, is a large clay pot of boiling hot congee, enough for four people. In it, you dip all the raw ingredients you order separately and there are 40 raw ingredients choices available. The choices include fish balls, pork balls, lobster balls, sausages, barbecued pork, minced meat, prawns, clams, mushrooms, leafy vegetables and right up to frog meat, fish maw and deep-fried pork intestines from RM3+ to RM13+.


Practical and bright interior of the restaurant

If you want a bit more ‘oomph’ to the steamboat dish, forget the plain signature congee and go for one of the other four flavoured ones of tom yam, curry, prawn or herbal at RM6+ for a medium pot or RM10+ for a large. However, if congee is not your thing, you can opt for either tom yam or fish soup base instead. There’s also chicken rice to accompany their array of barbecued meats such as pork and chicken.

Don't be fooled into thinking this is light food. Despite it’s fluffy-soft appearance, a bowl of their congee is very filling and is bound to keep you full for hours. Needless to say, we’re quite addicted to the congee choices here and it’s the perfect meal during days of torrential rain in Penang. Kitty Kaye.

Details

Address:
6G-1-15 & 6G-AF1-15, All Seasons Place, Lebuhraya Thean Teik
Penang
11500
Opening hours:
Daily, 11am-11pm
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