The 50 best Asian food in Penang Island (2025)

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My partner booked us the 5-course vegetarian meal to celebrate my 40th Birthday. The food was incredible! So imaginative and delicious. In a country where veggie food hasn’t (yet!) been fully embraced/ understood, it was awesome to have a fine-dining experience that was so fabulous. I’d guess the food was at least 80% vegan, so I’m sure they’d be willing to make the meal entirely plant-based if requested.Beyond the food, the building is incredible and the staff were extremely attentive. It was a wonderful experience. Comparable meals at home in the UK would have cost at least double the price, so it felt like a steal as well.

It is a restaurant inside a heritage building. Celebrated my husband's birthday here. He absolutely loved the food and ambiance. We had the 3 course lunch meal and it was plated well and tasted delicious. Very reasonable for a fine dining experience. The waiter who served us was very helpful, friendly and courteous. Great atmosphere with light music. Very clean and well maintained.Blue mansion1. Very well preserved heritage building2. Welcoming ambiance3. Interior decoration and furnishing is on point4. Nice information on the history of the building and the family who owned it5. Friendly staff, helped to take pictures of us and the lady staff at the gift shop was pleasant and welcomingBoth indigo restaurant and blue mansion earned our adoration and respect. We will definitely pay a visit every time we are in Penang.

My second visit to Penang this year was memorable, especially with the fantastic dining experiences I enjoyed across the island. A highlight was finally visiting the iconic Blue Mansion Hotel, a landmark I missed during my last trip. I was eager to try their Lunch Set Menu and immerse myself in the rich history of this approximately 100-year-old establishment.From the moment I arrived, I was struck by the warm hospitality. The staff welcomed me with genuine kindness, creating an inviting atmosphere that set the tone for my visit. The Blue Mansion is not just a hotel; it’s a beautifully preserved piece of history that adds to the charm of Penang.After some exploration, I settled in at Indigo, the restaurant within the Blue Mansion. I had been searching for a unique place to have lunch, and Indigo seemed perfect. The staff presented me with their lunch menu and described each dish in detail while soft music played in the background. Their enthusiasm gave me high hopes for a wonderful meal.I decided to try all the main courses available in the Set Menu, and I was not disappointed. I began with the Laksa Cold Capellini, a refreshing dish that was visually appealing and delicious. The cool noodles were enhanced by a hint of fruitiness that complemented the ocean flavors, and the Assam Laksa Foam added a delightful twist. Next, I enjoyed the Grilled Japanese Cuttlefish, perfectly paired with tamarind vinaigrette that provided a pleasant acidity.The highlight of the starters was undoubtedly the Hokkaido Scallops. Each bite was an explosion of flavor, with the richness of the truffle oil balanced beautifully by the earthiness of the hazelnut purée.For my main courses, I started with the Sous Vide Australian Wagyu Beef Cheek, which was incredibly tender and practically melted in my mouth. It was beautifully presented with bordelaise sauce, sautéed spinach, and mushrooms—a fantastic combination of flavors.Next, I tried the Loin of Chicken, a delightful mix of salty and sweet. The avocado puree and sweet potatoes complemented the juicy chicken perfectly, while the honey-soy sauce added depth. One of my favorites was the Pasture-Raised New Zealand Lamb Mosaic, flavorful and bursting with taste. The green peppercorn sauce and pomme puree enhanced the lamb's natural richness.The Pan-Seared Halibut Fillet was served alongside a polenta cake and piri-piri marinade. As someone who doesn't typically eat fish, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this dish. The halibut was delicate, and the marinade added just the right amount of spice.To finish the main course experience, I tried the Truffle Mushroom Spaghetti. This dish elevated a simple concept to extraordinary levels, with truffle oil infusing each mouthful and pine nuts adding a lovely crunch.Throughout the meal, the service was exceptional. The staff members were friendly and attentive, making me feel valued. A special mention goes to Shamim, whose calm demeanor and excellent service stood out. Nehru and Earnon were also fantastic, contributing to one of the best service experiences I’ve had in Penang this year.For dessert, I opted for the 70% Guanaja Chocolate and Pecan Tart. This decadent treat was smooth and rich, perfectly complemented by a refreshing raspberry sorbet. I also tried the Ice Kacang Gateau, featuring layers of red bean ganache, cendol jelly, and pandan sponge, topped with gula melaka syrup. This dessert was beautifully balanced, especially with the accompanying vanilla ice cream!Overall, Indigo at The Blue Mansion is a must-visit in Georgetown, even if you aren’t staying at the hotel. It’s an integral part of the island’s history and offers an unforgettable dining experience. I absolutely loved my time here and highly recommend it for a memorable lunch!

Love the atmosphere and the staff crew name: Rusty, who gave us wonderful services.After the fine dining, they shared with us some interesting details of the building and history.Nice environment we can spend the whole afternoon with sweet desserts and nice coffee.

The food was excellent, the service was great and very professional. They were very helpful with our son. The vegetarian options are delicious and we had some very interesting explanations. The place is just fantastic, the decorations were great. I would just suggest to wait that everyone at the table is done before taking the empty plate away. I definitely recommend this place!

I adore how elegant this place is, as well as how friendly the staff is. We appreciated every dish because it was perfectly cooked and well mixed. I will absolutely recommend this place to my friends and family!

Indigo Restaurant @ Blue Mansion for fine dinningRich history, my wife was so impressed that she spent a great deal of time reading the exhibit and researching the history online. Restaurant is at level 2, decor was amazing and beautiful, service was average and we went for the Chef menu, food was a bit salty, steak was not of good quality and the rest of the dishes was average. Food does not live up to the impressive history and decor, disappointed. Skip the food, just come in for the history and photo taking.

Best steak I’ve ever eaten!!! And I’ve had a few.I had the 5 course chef choice meal with the Changu Chinese Wine pairing. All courses were good, with the Cuttlefish fish and scallops and the steak outstanding. The wines were a bit of a let down, good but paled in comparison with other the food.

LOVE IT!The restaurant is located in a really fancy traditional building that gives you the unique old Shanghai upper class atmosphere.Upon entrance, there's a piano man dressed in old Chinese clothing playing classy music at the lobby.Some of the areas of this building are blocked if you're not a resident here, however, it seems like you will be able to explore those places if you purchase a self guided tour on their website.The restaurant:Good service. The staff offered to help us to take photos when they saw us taking selfies.All of the ingredients were really fresh.The cuttlefish starter can be more flavorful.We do love their mains (lamb & chicken).I don't normally like chicken breast but they totally nailed the dish. Excellent combination of different flavours (especially the mushrooms!).It's our anniversary so they gave us complimentary chocolate cake dessert with a raspberry sorbet on the side. It was lovely! Just like a well made chocolate cake you get from a good patisserie in Europe.If you're craving for western dishes, this is the place you want to be. Or at least come to enjoy the building on its own with a glass of wine at their bar!

The place and food made it magical to dine at Indigo in the Blue Mansion. The 5 course set menu deserves special mention as the chef had successfully fused and optimised the East and West influences. It was not pretentious and brings out the best of the ingredients. With a little more training and coaching the staff should be able to deliver greater service and be better informed of the food that they are serving. For the dinner we paired it with Penfolds Reserve Chardonnay and a Barolo. Overall, a good experience and deserving of another visit when there is a change in the set menu.

Had a pleasant date night. The staff were helpful with our menu selection and offered exceptionally good service especially with our attendant Kanu and Vincent. The desert "ice kacang gateau" is savoury and unique. Will recommend to others to come.

The Indigo restaurant in the Blue Mansion (a heritage building) is well decorated with fusion of East and West styles. We came to celebrate our anniversary. We took the 5 course meal. The food and service provided here did not disappoint us. This is one of the best fine dining restaurants in Penang. If you are looking for a fine dining restaurant, you should consider this one. Not sure why this is not a Michelin Star restaurant or Michelin recommended restaurant!

The Blue Mansion is special. So dining at the Blue Mansion should be just as special. In this case, Indigo did not fail.It is excruciatingly charming (timber floors, cane furniture, tapestries). It oozes elegance (table linens, proper silverware setting). It is classy but comfortable (with perfect low level lighting). It is well staffed (engaging, intuitive, soft spoken). Appreciated that they seated the guests discreetly apart in the dining room.Now the food. Nearly perfect. The 5-course is very well priced and portioned. Laksa Capellini 9/10. (subtle, inventive) Scallops 7/10 (overcooked, rubbery). Duck Foie Gras 8/10 (slightly gamey). Sirloin 10/10 (melt in mouth marbling, excellent Bordelaise, a bit of tough silverskin). Lychee 5/10 (watery, limp). Plating 6/10 (run-of-the-mill, sliced radish pops up everywhere!) Served by Kano 9/10 (kind, genteel, gracious). Malbec 9/10 (full bodied, smooth).Recommended.

Food is good, atmosphere also good, but one of the staff service very rude, make the whole dining experiences very bad, eat also no mood, rather just pay and leave. Staff need more training about customer services.P/S: the manager did take action and return a call to follow up. So i decided to increase the star for review

We had a birthday celebration at Indigo Restaurant @ The Blue Mansion, and I was impressed by the service. The restaurant was able to help me receive a bouquet I had ordered online and present it to my friend before surprising her with a complementary dessert with "Happy Birthday" written on the plate. The restaurant manager, Vincent, even offered to take photos of us at a couple of nice spots. We ordered the 5-course vegetarian course, and the food was good.

I attended a wedding dinner reception and was pleasantly awed by the high quality fine dining experience. Of course, the Blue Mansion estate itself was simply amazing and gave the time travel nostalgic vibes.I had requested for the vegetarian 5-course meal and unexpectedly I got some of my favourite food like buratta cheese, tempe with miso and out-of-the world cendol-like dessert.This is a great place for special occasions.

Went for a 5 course meal with my wife without an expectation to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Totally blew out of my mind with the food, the service and the atmosphere. Definitely better than all the restaurants that we had in Melbourne. The waiter, victor is excellent with his service and knowledge. He even stayed back to take photos for us. My wife and I had a great anniversary dinner. Thanks for making our wedding anniversary memorable. We will certainly recommend this place to anyone else who visits Penang and come back again.

"Cheong Fatt Tze - The Blue Mansion" is probably the most iconic boutique heritage hotel in historic George Town, Penang. It was made famous by the movie "Crazy Rich Asians", where the pivotal mahjong scene with Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh) and Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) was filmed.After a hot day at the Chew Jetty, Penang Street Art and Armenian Street, we had lunch at the Indigo Restaurant at The Blue Mansion. The three course lunch costs RM95++ per pax, which was quite reasonable especially if you factor in the RM25 entrance fee for The Blue Mansion (free for diner).Appetizer was "Laksa Cold Capellini", a modern twist of the Penang Laksa with ikura, condiments of assam laksa, mint oil, kelp, pineapple, torch ginger and assam laksa foam.The main course was "Sous Vide Australian Wagyu Beef Cheek" with pomme puree, sauteed spinach, portobello mushroom and sauce bordelaise. The beef cheek was so tender and flavourful with the sauce! 😋Dessert was "Ice Kacang Gateau"- red bean ganache, cendol jelly, sweet corn curd, pandan sponge, coconut mousse, gula melaka syrup, red treacle and vanilla ice cream.Considering the food quality and ambience, it is worth a visit if you visit Penang.

Had the 5 course meal. Very delicious, especially the seared scallop and Angus steak! 😋. Also special thanks to waiter Kanu, who was very great and accommodating!

We could not get a room at the hotel but managed to spend a wonderful 2 hours at the Indigo restaurant in the buidlng. The staff are fantastic, well-trained, attentive, said all the right things at all the right imes. We watched as they quietly manged the whole atmosphere with a monastic-like discipline.The lamb shank was huge but delicately seasoned. Desserts were refreshing and not too sweet.The food was excellent and great value at RM99 for the 3-course menu. We even ordered a bottle of wine which did not carry too much of a 'sin tax' here in Malatysia despite the surroundings. A great way to finish a long weekend in Penang before getting a Grab to the airport.

Among what I had here my favorite dish will be the Ice Kacang Gateau, I’m impressed with how the chef compressed every single element from the ice kacang into this dessert. Another notable mention will be the Foie Gras with Sticky Rice, the flavours are amazing, love the chemistry they had in my mouth. I explored the mansion after my meal which is free, and took lots of beautiful pictures in the mansion

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, 14, Lebuh Leith, Georgetown, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia•

•+60 4-262 0006•Tips and more reviews for Indigo Restaurant @ The Blue Mansion