KEN HUNTS FOOD: Ben's @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Ben's @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

I've received quite an amount of positive comments from my readers and friends regarding this newly opened restaurant at Gurney Paragon Mall- Ben's. Ben's is being managed under the BIG Group and has been serving some gloriously good food in Kuala Lumpur. I was rather surprised that there were not any signs indicating the exact location of Ben's, which I've found it later on... at ground floor of St. Jo's at Gurney Paragon Mall. Diners are given the options to choose whether to dine in at their European style homely ambiance setting or al-fresco (only available at night). Ben's offers their diners a wide variety of delectable dishes from Salads, Soups, Sandwiches, Pies, Pasta, Mains and Desserts. Surely there'd be Coffees, Teas, Juices and Milkshakes etc.... I had my lunch and I was hoping to hunt for their desserts only... portions were big and sharing is highly recommended. Very good service with decent food quality. A very good place to spend an hour or two with your friends and family. We were rather unlucky on that day, we had opted to order their desserts but we were told that the desserts chosen were unavailable (ALL of them). Left with no options, we had to choose for some of their "available" desserts........

Banana Peach Crumble (Rm 12.90++) comes with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. It has a very strong Banana flavor and I would say it was rather over-powering for me. The sweeten Peach did not make its appeal to me. It would be ideal to savor the dessert by scooping the Vanilla Ice Cream and the Banana Peach Crumble together. It was a little bit too sweet to my liking, those with sweet tooth should give this dessert a try.

The waiter was kind enough to recommend some of their best-sellers to us. This was their Black Forest cake (Rm 12.90++) which got me confused about the name- Black Forest. As far as the name Black Forest is concerned, it should be a cake with few layers of Chocolate and Cherries but there weren't any Cherries to be seen out there (maybe there were some tiny chopped ones but too insignificant to realize their existence). Flavor-wise, I'll have to admit that it was good, moist and rich enough to my liking. My friend whom a chocolate lover finds this dessert heavenly. However, it would be better if they could have inserted more Cherries between the layers just to give the extra bite and flavor. It comes with some Meringue too.

Rocky Road Cake (Rm 12.90++) comes with some Marshmallows, Peanut Butter and Chocolate layering. This dessert has received the most "NO" votes from us. It tasted very normal to us and I personally find it too creamy to my liking for mixing both Peanut Butter and Chocolate together, with the extra sweetness from Marshmallows. It might taste better if they could slightly burn/char the Marshmallow to give it a semi-melted texture so that it flows into our mouth in a smoother manner. Anyway, not a fan of this cake.

The last one was Toffee Date Pudding (Rm 12.90++) was definitely one of the best desserts served that day. It was served warm, together with a scoop of icy cold Vanilla Ice Cream. The Pudding was so soft where it melts instantly in your mouth without any chewing. One can clearly taste the unique flavor from Dates which has been infused in the Pudding, further complemented by the Toffee and Vanilla Ice Cream. I do adore the hot-cold combination too, making it a very special and comfort dessert.