Gurney Drive, Suntec City Mall
Gurney Drive, a new restaurant named after Penang's most famous food street, located in the food basement of Suntec City Mall, aims to bring the authentic taste of world-renowned Penang cuisine to our sunny shores. Apparently, their chef hails from Penang itself, so the food's bound to be good right? Besides, we were curious to see how this would measure up to the food at Copthorne King's Hotel, our favourite place to get our Penang food craving fix.
Generally, food was fairly authentic, portions were substantial enough to satiate your hunger but not overwhelmingly so, and prices were very easy on the wallet. We thought this was a relatively value-for-money option amongst the many food choices at Suntec.
We ordered several Penang staples to share, starting with the Penang Fried Koay Teow ($6.90), which was commendable but not mind-blowing. It just lacked that smoky accent and oomph factor of a really hot wok. The addition of the 3 fried pork lard pieces was an authentic touch though, and the cockles, prawns, fishcakes, Chinese sausages were fairly fresh whilst lending texture and flavour.
The Grilled Prawns ($8.90) didn't quite titillate our tastebuds, as the dish arrived looking quite unappetizing. The sambal-ish looking sauce wasn't so much spicy as it was sweet, and it had a very sad boring brown hue instead of a cheery energizing fiery red colour that would have made this dish look a lot more appetizing. I thought the sauce complemented the fresh prawns well, but the Fiance thought the sweetish, mildly spiced sauce was a huge disappointment. That said, the prawns could have done with a little more meat on them.
The Penang Chendol ($2.50) was just alright, there was just enough coconut cream to balance out the smoky sweetness of the gula melaka, making it a sweet and rich dessert that was just as refreshing. The green Chendol jelly really was the letdown, it was just plain frozen, so it was lacking in that distinctive slightly chewy and soft texture.
Gurney Drive
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard
B1-058 Fountain Terrace
Tel: 6336 8847
Website: www.gurneydrive.com.sg
Generally, food was fairly authentic, portions were substantial enough to satiate your hunger but not overwhelmingly so, and prices were very easy on the wallet. We thought this was a relatively value-for-money option amongst the many food choices at Suntec.
We ordered several Penang staples to share, starting with the Penang Fried Koay Teow ($6.90), which was commendable but not mind-blowing. It just lacked that smoky accent and oomph factor of a really hot wok. The addition of the 3 fried pork lard pieces was an authentic touch though, and the cockles, prawns, fishcakes, Chinese sausages were fairly fresh whilst lending texture and flavour.
The Grilled Prawns ($8.90) didn't quite titillate our tastebuds, as the dish arrived looking quite unappetizing. The sambal-ish looking sauce wasn't so much spicy as it was sweet, and it had a very sad boring brown hue instead of a cheery energizing fiery red colour that would have made this dish look a lot more appetizing. I thought the sauce complemented the fresh prawns well, but the Fiance thought the sweetish, mildly spiced sauce was a huge disappointment. That said, the prawns could have done with a little more meat on them.
The Penang Chendol ($2.50) was just alright, there was just enough coconut cream to balance out the smoky sweetness of the gula melaka, making it a sweet and rich dessert that was just as refreshing. The green Chendol jelly really was the letdown, it was just plain frozen, so it was lacking in that distinctive slightly chewy and soft texture.
Gurney Drive
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard
B1-058 Fountain Terrace
Tel: 6336 8847
Website: www.gurneydrive.com.sg
Comments
Penang Fried Koay Teow, grilled prawns, chendol, chicken rice, chili crab, fish head curry. :)~~
Btw, the photos are much sharper now. Did you purchase a new camera?
j
It's been a while! I haven't actually gotten a new camera, I've just learnt how to better use my camera. I didn't even know what the macro function was when I first started this blog, because I'd been using the auto function since I got it! What a tech idiot, right? It's my trusty IXUS 55, which I got like more than 8 years ago! Hahaa!
Actually, Gurney Drive isn't the best place to eat at in SG.
For grilled seafood, go to Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens, or Blk 85 Bedok North. While you're at Chomp Chomp, try the chwee kway and fried hokkien mee and fried oyster. If you hit Blk 85 Bedok North, get the porridge and soupy bak chor mee.
For chendol, go to Geylang Serai Hawker Centre. There are lots of stalls there, all pretty good.
For fish head curry, go to Muthu's Curry along Race Course Road. Or this amazing stall called Bao Ma in the basement of the Beach Road Hawker Centre (also called Army Market), opposite Golden Mile Complex. It's unbelievably cheap and fresh.
For chicken rice, please don't go to Boon Tong Kee. Their rice is tasteless. Try Loy Kee along Balestier Road, their chicken is good and their rice is yummy too. But their portions are quite small and pricey. Or Wee Nam Kee at Novena Ville, their rice isn't as good as Loy Kee's but the cze char and chicken make up for it. MY favourite place to get the best chicken rice type of rice is at Thien Kee Hainanese Steamboat at the basement of Golden Mile Tower, you can eat the rice on its own. It's that good. Also try the steamboat while you're there. Their chicken stock is really good. No MSG.
For chilli crab, go to Jumbo or No Signboard at Geylang and tell them "Chen Xiao Jie" sent you. They'll treat you well.
Last time, I took a taxi to Maxwell Food Court just to try the famous chicken rice at Tian Tian. The chicken was smooth but wasn't flavorful and too much skins that I had to toss them. So, will try your chicken rice recommendation.
For fish head curry, they probably will take me to Kim Long Restaurant in JB. It's good and inexpensive.
Can't blame you. Electronic gadgets are not very intuitive, except the stuffs made by Apple. They have too many functions that most people don't use.