Sin Tai Tung Seafood/Joo Seong Restaurant @ Macalister Road, Penang

Sin Tai Tung Seafood has ceased operation.

Presence of enormous restaurant and hawker centres in the heart of Georgetown seems to belittle its existence, Joo Seong Restaurant. A small corner restaurant with Zhu Cha stall called Sin Tai Tung Seafood, serving about 10 over tables, situated in the junction of Jalan Zainal Abidin and Jalan Macalister, they offer astonishing Zhu-Char to my surprise. On top of that, it is common for some regular patrons to use Cantonese when ordering their food.

The dishes offered were not an act of rocket-science cookery but just some simple yet astonishing home dishes. Fried mantis prawn with salty egg is definitely one of the worthy try. The grainy salty egg particles coating the mantis prawn provide an extra sensation to the chewy mantis prawn, to the extent that I feel like having this dish as my “popcorn” during movie time. Nevertheless, the salty egg and frying of mantis prawn may have overshadowed the taste of original mantis prawns but it remains one of my favorite dishes.

Their curry is one of the major hit as well. The curry is neither too viscous nor watery and it just come great served with fish. The curry may be spicy for some people hence do prepare to order extra drinks for non-spicy lovers. You may opt the curry to be served with sting rays, fish heads or other fishes available.

The roasted chicken meat is tender that it saves your teeth from too much grinding process. The perfectly roasted chicken provides the crunchiness to the skin till you can hear some crackling in your mouth for every bite of the skin. Half a chicken is a portion to go for a group with 4-5 people but on certain occasion their roasted chicken may be finishing due to high demands. The crackers served with the roasted chicken are a disappointment though as it was soggy.

To balance the carnivorous diet, we had a small plate of pea sprout with salty fish. It is well cooked and the compliment salty fish enhances the pleasant scent of the whole dish.

Overall, all the dishes served was good. On a separate occasion, I had kailan, spinach soup and chicken and it did not disappoint me. If you are someone who has affection for a stronger taste of food then you will be pleasant to dine here. Parking may be a challenge around here but further up in Jalan Zainal Abidin offers you plenty of parking space.