GOLDEN QING

NOW THAT ALL THE EXCITEMENT HAS DIED DOWN, it's back to business as usual: the business of eating, I mean. And so it was that last night I was invited to attend the soft launch of Penang's latest outlet, GOLDEN QING.

The cavernous place at the corner of Gurney Drive and Jalan Concordia used to be called The Porch, but is now offering a Steamboat Buffet. At RM28 per person it seemed quite reasonable.

Their USP (unique selling point) is the stone hotpots that were specially imported from China, whic is supposed to disseminate heat more evenly and add a certain "je ne sais quois" to the taste. However, these are not too big and good only for 2-4 pax, although they have some big ones too. If you want to "split" stocks, then it will have to be the good old stainless steel pots.

But to me it's taste foremost, then value and quality of the food and last night I thought it was quite good, considering it was their first day. Pots like that need to be "seasoned", and that takes time. There are some six stocks on offer. Personally, steamboat for me always means qing tong - plain broth which builds up in taste the more stuff you cook in it.

They also have some charcoal barbeques going in one corner where you can grill the food, which proved to be a hit with the kids especially but of course they will require constant supervision.

I thought the spread was good: it all looked quite inviting, with a lot of meat including beef and chicken; seafood, vegetables and noodles and of course all the usual fishballs etc.

There's a bit of cooked food to one side as "fillers": fried rice, fried noodles, etc - the Belacan Chicken was excellent, succulent and tasty, unlike some which look dry and taste like sawdust - and there were plenty of condiments going.

The staff are dressed in traditional Chinese garb: red and black, which is a bit different. Their learning curve will be steep, but the location is great with lots of passing trade, so I think with a bit more experience, it will be quite successful. It was quite nice sitting there enjoying the night time passing crowd, in the short time I was there we saw and were seen by a number of friends and acquaintances. It was surprisingly busy too, for their first night although I think that was just as well cos I'm not sure they would have coped!