Famous Bowl (旺盅宝) @ Gurney Plaza, Penang.

Previously Xuan Xin Lok Lok Steamboat Restaurant, it has now turned into this brand new restaurant-Famous Bowl (managed by Xuan Xin Sdn. Bhd.). Famous Bowl is located at the same place as Xuan Xin Lok Lok Steamboat restaurant does earlier ago, which is on the 7th floor of Gurney Plaza, Penang (behind SenQ and beside Next Stop). As the name suggested, Famous Bowl had most of its dishes served in a bowl, instead of plates, which here, referring to rice/noodle dishes. Famous Bowl categorizes most of their dishes (Chinese cuisine/dishes) into few categories, namely "Hong Kong Famous", "China Famous", "Taiwan Famous", "Local Famous", "Thai Famous" and their "Famous Double-Boiled Soup". Most of the prices ranging from Rm 8.80 to Rm 16.80, which I find them pretty economical due to their portions. However, their beverages are rather pricey (mineral water costs Rm2.50). Improvements on service needed, the waiter whom served me seemed to be very impatient from the questions I've asked. 

Honey Barbecue Chicken with Rice (蜜汁鸡腿肉捞饭, Rm 10.80) comes in a rather big portion. It has some scrabble egg as sides too. The chicken was slightly burnt and was full of the aroma of honey. The chicken was succulent and juicy in my opinion but it lacked of a pinch of salt in my opinion, it was rather "bland" aside from the sweet honey flavor on the skin, I was expecting more from this.

Roasted Four Mix Rice (港式四宝饭, Rm 11.80) has Roasted Pork Belly (Siew Yok/ 烧肉), Barbecue Pork (Char Siew/ 叉烧), Chinese Pork Sausage (Lap Cheong/ 腊肠) and a braised egg. Portion-wise, was okay, would be better if they could have included  more meat. Moreover, this dish was a bit dry to my liking, extra of their home-made soy sauce needed just to spice things up a bit. As for the meat, most of them were decent, the roasted pork remained its crispiness and crunchiness too. Not too shabby.

We get to try their Tom Yam Seafood Noodles (东炎海鲜汤面, Rm 10.80) too, instead of the usual instant noodles, they used Ramen (拉面) instead. It gives the special al-dente texture even though I've soaked the noodles for quite some time for photo shooting, the noodles don't turn soggy either. A wide variety of seafood was added to the noodles namely Prawns, Squids, Fish etc. Same problem whenever I had my meal at Xuan Xin, their prawns' textures seemed too unnaturally "elastic" to me. The Tom Yam soup lacked of sourness and it was way too sweet to my liking. Additionally, the soup was a bit oily to me either.

We had this extra order of Dumplings with Special Chilies (京式水饺, Rm 8.80) either. This dish was rather a disappointment, the dumplings were so bland that no extra sauce(s) or season added to them, except the chilies. Some soy sauce or vinegar would be great for me. Oiliness (you can judge from the photo) aside, the chilies were rather bland too, in fact, they tasted very similar to some chilies of mine (bought from one of the stalls selling China-made products Prangin Mall), brand name is 老干妈 but it lacked of the saltiness in my opinion. Some deep fried shallots can be tasted as well. As for the dumplings, it feels like they just blanched the dumplings using the frozen dumplings (the ones we can purchase from any wet market easily). I don't quite adore this dish personally.

Ratings:

Taste: 7/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)

Price: 7/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)

Ambiance: 8/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)

Service: 6.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)

Parking: 7/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)

Service Charge: Yes 5%

Government Tax: Yes 6%

Additional Information:

Address: 7th Floor, Plaza Gurney, Pesiaran Gurney, Georgetown, Penang. (Beside SenQ and Next Stop)

Business Hour: 11am to 10pm. Daily.

Contact Number: 604- 226 0830

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