The one with Penang Hill

Last Saturday, my family and I had to go to Greenhills to buy Mommy Jane a new mobile phone (yeah, first the side mirrors, then the phone. You think God's trying to tell us something?). Before we bought the phone, though, we wanted to eat lunch, so we crossed the street to the Promenade to eat at Burgoo's, our favorite family restaurant of choice.

It was full - some party, apparently. So we decided to eat at Penang Hill.

The restaurant is Malaysian-Singaporean fusion. It's a really good place - neat, well-appointed tables with fortune plants as table decor. Paintings on the walls, and very efficient staff. As for the food, well...!

Cathy loves tom yum goong, a hot and sour Thai soup with prawns, mushrooms, and lemongrass, among other exotic ingredients, and prior to Penang Hill, her favorite was at Oody's. However, this particular one was more flavorful, and had more meat (and mushrooms). It was less spicy, though, which is a catch for some who like their tom yum spicy, but I loved it, and Cathy proclaimed it the best tom yum she's had locally.

Other great dishes we had were kangkong with garlic (which they topped with tiny danggit fish), moist and exploding with flavor. I don't normally like samosas, the Indian empanada, but their version was delightful, with the right mix of meat and vegetables, and was especially delicious with the peanut sauce that came with it (it was so good, we ordered another after the first one disappeared in a matter of minutes). The beef rendang was okay, but I wasn't too much of a fan because I picked tendon from the batch and it was terribly tough. We also had an amazing pork barbecue that was truly delightful, with the right mix of fat and meat that just melts in the mouth.

The meal itself wasn't cheap: we spent more than P1,600 for all that food, but we left satisfied and carried through until the next morning (yes, that's right, we didn't eat dinner because the meal was that filling). Give it a shot - I think you'll find it quite the experience.