JIN XIU ART GALLERY & TEA HOUSE BY GNEB

It’s Sunday evening again…Like many Penangites, I often find it a headache having to find a good place to have dinner during the weekend. This problem usually happens on Sunday, when you want to find a decent place with delicious food, excellent ambiance and inexpensive price (as Penangites say “pang gi tua tay”, which literally translates into “cheap and big piece”) to end your weekend with and reward yourself enough before the start of another awful working week. The thing is, there are so many good places for food around the state and most of us have already tried out most of them. Frequenting the same place week after week will only make me sick!

I chanced upon Jin Xiu Art Gallery and Tea House when I was doing my usual weekend-driving-around-looking-for-new-hangout-places-activity. It’s located in Muntri Street (a place I seldom step foot into) and trust me, if you don’t pay enough attention, you’ll surely miss it (being hidden and surrounded by a row of pre-war historic houses which look almost the same). Otherwise, you’ll think that it’s a tea house cum gallery which was exactly what I thought it was – another place to hang out with friends in the afternoon to have a cuppa. To my surprise, it actually serves food. Not finger food, but decent Chinese and Nyona dishes! So, here’s the verdict.
















Exterior of Jin-Xiu Art Gallery & Tea House








We ordered Rendang Chicken, Sambal Kangkung and Claypot Tofu. All of them were very nice, especially the Sambal Kangkung which had a rich and aromatic taste of shrimp paste (belacan). It was perfect to go with rice. The only minor disappointment was that the Chicken Rendang was not warm enough, which the waiter obligingly took it back to heat it up for us.










Rendang Chicken RM10











Claypot Tofu RM8












Sambal Kangkung RM9








We also ordered Chinese Tea which came in a full set (with all the gadgets and stuff). Complicated it may seem, you could actually get the waiter to show you how to go about making the tea.





Tea RM13 (depending on the type of tea leaves you select)








As for the ambience, it’s typical Nyonya heritage setting. The doors reminded me so much of my old house’s. There’s an array of teapots on display and tea leaves for sale. Also, the detailed wood carvings in the house are also something worth paying attention to.



































Little painting on the table













The painting becomes a menu when flipped over








Then came the bill. It costs us RM42 for the above 3 dishes, 2 plates of white rice and the set of brewing tea. I’d say better than I expected in such an environment. I was definitely well fed both gastronomically and visually.


My Scores:
Taste: ☺☺☺☺
Environment: ☺☺☺☺☺
Service: ☺☺☺☺ (no service charge)
Price: ☺☺☺
Parking: ☺☺☺ (parking spaces available along Muntri Street, even right in front)



Address: 58, Muntri Street, Penang
Website: e-art2u.com
Others: This is a gallery cum tea leaves shop cum restaurant. I believe the gallery is upstairs.

Wi Fi available.