FOR ONCE WE HAD A NIGHT OFF, but as I still have a lot of work to do preparing for the launch of my book (and anyway I haven't cooked for quite a few months - my wok must be wondering how come it has been made redundant) it was out to dinner on our own for a change.

We thought we'd try the new YYU YUAN Restaurant in Jalan Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah which I'd been told was quite good and not too pricey. Now who can resist that?

It's on the newly opened block with the Maybank round the corner, and (at the moment anyway) parking is fairly convenient.

As is usual with Penang, it was quite packed, as everyone goes to try a newly opened place. It's clean, spacious and relatively "modern", with one side painted a trendy dark grey and the other bright yellow.

It's run by the friendly Looi Chan Leong and his wife, and it seems a whole host of other family, friends and relations.

The menu is large, as it's seafood and western, rather like the Pg Swimming Club kind of food - this was obvious because the other tables were full of members who had absconded from the club restaurant (can't blame them, the standard has really dropped despite James Foo coming back).

Anyway I digress. As there were just two of us my husband ordered his favourite : western, and I had a Wa Tan Hor which was supposed to be very good and indeed it was, full of "wok hei" and gooey "lor" with an egg beaten over it. Excellent with the sambal.

However, the "Chicken Breasts with Bacon" wasn't that brill. Granted there was a LOT - so much so we had to "da bao" half of it - but it cost RM25 so they had to give value. But, as I told Looi, he should have given less and reduced the price which would still have been acceptable to us price-conscious Penangites. It was also rather tasteless - just salty - and the gravy was a blob of thick brown sauce which had no discernible taste whatsoever. Disappointing really.

HOWEVER I also ordered a couple of veg dishes; the brocolli fried with garlic was OK - I mean what can go wrong with that right? But the Kang Kong Belacan was also not up to scratch; I've had better in a lot of other places.

So verdict? Only 2 out of 4 dishes were good, so I'd give them just a 5/10 for the moment. However they are new (only one month old) and will still be learning the ropes. The good news is that they intend to create some private rooms which will be great, and the middle and top floors will be kitted out for functions and meetings.