George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer (“GT”) is a Penang authentic restaurant in Boat Quay, Singapore offering quality Penang style Tze Char. It is helmed by award-winning Executive Chef, George Tan; Hailed from Ayer Hitam in George Town, Penang.
Chef Tan has more than 20 years cooking experience under his belt and won many accolades, including Asia Top Heritage Chef and his signature Rendang Crab won an award at Asia Top Heritage Food Award 2019 by IBF.
Located at Boat Quay, just beside the Elgin Bridge, this 50-seater al-fresco dining area showcases the charming view Singapore River. The settings of the restaurant is casual, where it feels you can just chill out and enjoy the dining experience there.
We are back to try their NEW Authentic Penang Creations and exciting drinks line up to their menu. These new dishes inspired by signature Penang dishes and perfectly complement the current craft beers, wines, cocktails and also the new range of craft beers, soju and sake.
We started the feast with Crispy Chef's Homemade Chestnut Beancurd ($12). Made from scratch with soya milk, sotong paste, water chestnut and vegetables. It has a light crispy exterior followed by soft, velvety soya beancurd texture and crunchy water chestnut. You will hardly notice the sotong paste, however, it contributes a unique savoury flavour to the dish.
Butter Prawns ($20). Huge tiger prawns, deep-fried and deliver a crispy and crunchy texture. The flavour bomb comes from the mini granules of the butterball, made from butter and coconut milk. Eat this together with curry leaves and chilli padi (if you like), it will be an explosion of flavour in your mouth. Best dish with their range of Hitachino Japanese Craft Beers, LD recommend their Red Rice Ale, as it paired well with the seafood as it gives a slight sweetness to the taste buds.
Salted Pepper Crispy Brinjal ($12). Probably the only way I will eat eggplant is when it is deep-fried as I don’t like the mushy texture. The crispy exterior, followed by a soft interior and seasoned with salt and pepper, does the trick for me. Pop a few pieces of the brinjal and I really enjoy it as well.
Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head ($28). From our previous visits, we know for sure that Charles (the owner) source one of the freshest fish head around. This dish delivers a nice balance of sour and spicy. It has a thick lemak gravy, haeko and topped with assorted vegetables that is signature to Penang cuisine. For those who like a spicier version, you might want to ask them to increase the heat during ordering. Definitely a rice thief! Cool the heat down with the Brewdog Craft beers from Scotland, LD loves their Hazy Jane.
Claypot Mutton Stew with Beancurd and Radish ($25). Simply the best dish of the night. Most of us on the table just nods in agreement. The mutton ribs are stewed for more than 6 hours in special sauce producing juicy and succulent ribs. The long braising time also extract the essence of the mutton into the sauce, absorbs by the radish and beancurd, creating another superb "rice thief" dish. Yummy.
Salted Egg Yolk Soft Shell Crab ($18). One of the easiest ways to enjoy crab without getting your hands dirty. The crispy batter filled with salted egg yolk, followed by juicy soft-shell crabs. A great dish to have with your drinks.
Penang Crispy Fish (Tilapia, $28). This dish brings back the memories of fried fish from a defunct Indonesian restaurant in Singapore. The fish is butterflied, then deep-fried until crispy to the bone. Topped with Haeko (Black Shrimp Paste) base sauce and refreshing garnish. It is delicious, enjoyable and finger-licking good. You can hear the crunch with each bite of the fish.
Golden Chicken ($20 for half chicken and $38 for whole chicken). A dish that requires great skill and painstaking preparation. The chicken needs to be deboned and meat removed. It is then blended with the sotong, stuffed back into the chicken and air-dried. Upon order, the chicken is deep-fried to produce that addictive crispy skin. The version here is has a bouncy flesh, infused with the chicken flavour as well. The taste itself is unique, different from what on offer in the market. A must-try dish here.
To complete the dining experience here, you can freely pair your meal here with craft beer on tap from Brewlander, bottled craft beer Hitachino Nest (Japan) or Brewdog (UK), fine wines, award-winning sake, soju and gin (including Chendol Gin and Rojak Gin). The drinks are curated by Charles, the owner and also drink aficionados, PLUS they are reasonably priced, almost like Happy Hour all day long.
You can check out the full review of the original dishes at George Town Tze Char and Craft Beer here.
Overall, it was indeed a pleasure to return to George Town to try out their new dishes. Our personal favourites this round is Claypot Mutton Stew with Beancurd and Radish, Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head, Penang Crispy Fish (Tilapia) and Golden Chicken. We’ll definitely come back for awesome claypot mutton stew and the rest of the dishes. Cheers!!
