Neighbourwood Restaurant - Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang

Janice N.

Great service from the friendly and professional team there. As first time customers, I appreciated the time, effort, and patience from the server to explain to us the dishes and the recommendations based on detailed observation of us. They knew what would be ideal and gave us the right expectation.

The pricing was also very reasonable for the quality of food and service. Would definitely return during special occasions.

Angel L.

For Xmas Eve, our family of 5 tried this Michelin Bib Gourmand resto for the first time. Food was delicious and professionally plated, service and ambience were good. We noticed a crew of mostly young male chefs in the kitchen, and young female waitstaff serving the customers. We are pleased to see young locals of our neighborhood working hard and hope that this experience will become their training ground and stepping stone to something bigger in their future culinary career. We will come back another time for the desserts.

eddie C.

A most improbable location for an attempt in fine dining within a nondescript blue collar neighbourhood in BM - but I’m sure discerning mainland diners very much welcomed this outpost. Bib Gourmand did and inscribed it into their listing.

It was nice that they didn’t make a fuss when I showed up an hour early for my reservation. After all it wasn’t that busy on a mid-week evening. While the decor is intended to convey an upmarket vibe, it manages to feel quite relaxed, homey and casual, populated with Hokkien-speaking locals and families.

The manager who took my orders capably made some good recommendations, providing essential details about the preparation and key ingredients. She did advise that some dishes would require more preparation time and asked if it was alright with me. I wasn’t in a rush. The sizeable tomato salad (7/10) arrived first. I liked that the tomatoes were peeled, cured and had a very unique tasting dressing. Because the oysters needed more time to marinate, the lamb rack (9/10) was served first. Beautifully chargrilled to perfection, it was smoky, very umami and still moist. Kudos to the chef for pairing the strong meaty flavours with an aromatic turmeric curry leaf sauce. It went very well together.

The cold oysters (7/10) were last to arrive and although they were plump, sweet and appetising, the sequencing was very odd and not complementary to the meal on the whole. Picked the strawberry sabayon (7/10) to end the meal. Found the berries to be unripe and quite sour although the sabayon made with XiaoXing wine was excellent.

While I thought the food was uniformly good and of high quality, the service level was uneven. Aside from the manager, the rest of the service team was not very observant and neglected to clear my table promptly after each course. Rather annoying.

Prices are very premium for this location but deemed reasonable given the quality.

Ming

Found this place on Google Maps and was attracted by the high ratings and comments.

Sourdough, butter, mackerel with avocado (7/10) - Sourdough had nice soft chewy texture and slightly charred. Nicely paired with the mackerel avocado toppings.

Turnip, feta, croutons, balsamic eggplant (9/10) - A mix of the ingredients above may sound weird but the dish was refreshing, had a good play of texture and a sudden burst of flavour to whet our appetite.

Allspice chicken (8/10) - Stuffed chicken wings, grilled to perfection. Nicely seasoned. Tender and juicy.

Half chicken (8/10) - Nicely grilled. Chicken meat was super tender and juicy. Nicely seasoned as well.

Seaweed conchiglie (9/10) - Pasta was cooked al dente with chunks of sweet scallops and tender squids. Unique ingredient in the pasta, laksa leaves, made the dish unique!

Grilled pork loin (9/10) - By the time this dish was served, we were quite full already but the perfectly grilled pork loin was hard to miss. Meat was tender especially the parts near the bones and nicely seasoned. Fats were rendered properly.

Overall, this place surpass all our expectations. At such an unassuming place, BM, and to find such a fine restaurant is such a gem. We enjoyed the meal very much and thanks for the good service. Highly recommended. Will return.

Sarah L.

Michelin selected restaurant serving modern fusion restaurant located in Bukit Mertajam- the menu here is atypical compared to other restaurants with similar concept in mainland.

For appetisers, we tried the anchovy which had fish roe and cream on their flatbread which was tasty and addictive. Burrata and bangkuang was unique- burrata was fresh but the flavour profile of the dish could be elevated further.

The grilled lamb was fantastic- tender, well seasoned and cooked well. The complementary sauce paired well and cut through the gaminess of the lamb. Half chicken was juicy but could use a bit more salt. Try the yuzu hi to complement the meal as it makes it appetising.

Service was paced well and friendly. Environment is romantic and comfortable.

Eng K. T.

I was first impressed the young lady waitress that introduced us with the menu very professionally. Then followed by the good food. Worth the visit.

Kim G.

Overall the food is pretty good. Love the pork loin and half chicken. Service was not bad. But there is one critical issue that I can’t stand, the glass for water has a strong fishy smell, and is also consistent across all 7 glass on the table. For a bib gourmand restaurant, I think should pay a little more attention to details like this.

Jeff L.

Exceptional food at a casual setting. The owner was candid and frank and gave very good recommendations, including even the cocktails.

Caesar salad was one of the best we ever tried..remarkable details including the seaweed, and sliced eggs