Here comes again the special occasion of Penang Food Bloggers Gathering where not only Penang Bloggers were attending but also a few bloggers from outstation, met up with us that night.
About 2 months ago during one of our meet ups, we elected Alan and Allie to be our organizer. Later on, we were given a month's worth of time to cast our votes to decide our gathering location.
Based on the scoreboard, apparently almost everyone happily said "Aye" to the little Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant which is located at the hillsides of Tanjung Bungah :D Our last count on the invitation list was 42 people. What a feat!
Here we are...the restaurant is just in between the shops.
To reach this place, you just need to be more aware when you are about to reach Copthorne Hotel/Toy Museum. There is a traffic light junction and Medan Selera Food Court. Turn in and you would be able to spot the shop lot immediately. I haven't been there, so it was a good experience.
I like the deco a lot. The restaurant did live up to its name 'Vintage' Bulgaria. Haha!
Peering through the windows, I could already see the lovely restaurant setting and cannot wait to go in! Hehe...
The restaurant has 3 levels. The area I saw when peering through the windows was slightly below ground level.
At level 2, there was the bar area. Tastefully decorated with rows of empty wine bottles and some Bulgarian decoration items.
Pretty isn't it? Skillfully woven Bulgarian Rugs.
On my way to the top floor, I saw these cute dolls below the stairs. Never knew their national clothes are so colorful.
Yupz, this should be the way XD
The restaurant were caring enough to print out a banner for us LOL! Kudos to them~
The whole concept of the top floor was to make the diners feel as if they are eating in a restaurant veranda located on top of hills overlooking a small typical Bulgarian village.
Thus the outdoor elements such as lamp post and windows were placed in there together with some flowers. All tables were placed with real flowers.
Cordial drinks were served while orders were taken.
We had the menu with us more than a month ago but eventually we made our decision by having all of the dishes on the menu. With 6 of us, we ordered 3 mushroom soup, 3 seafood soup, 2 Plovdiv Pork Ribs, 1 Djolan Pork Knuckle, 1 Bulgarian Platter, 1 Cod Fish, 1 Chicken Stroganov, 3 Chocolate Creme Brulee and 3 Chocolate Soup XD
I believe if we were to put all these together on the table, it would be very scenic feast LOL!
The soup in front was Mushroom Soup with 'Vintage' Garlic Bread. Tasty. It had the right thickness and not overly flavorful or too much cream. They are only starters, so no need to be so heavily flavored right? Besides, we were having the soup with garlic bread. It was just nice.
However, their Seafood Soup caught my attention. It was really good. I never had seafood soups as good as this. Fresh and savory, no weird fishy smell. Subtle taste of seafood. I think the soup was made primarily using fish and crab meat. Good ah :D
We tried the Baked Cod Fish with Creamy Mushroom Sauce first. The fish was soft and feels almost like jelly. We must have been given the tummy area of the fish. The sauce was good. Creamy but it did not overwhelmed the fish. We wiped the plate clean.
Next, Chicken Stroganov. Since they use chicken drumstick, the meat was bouncy and smooth. The sauce was also cream based but with the addition of bell peppers, it has a different fragrance to it which encouraged us to continue having more of it. The mash potatoes were quite special. Herbs and spices were mixed in it yet we do not know what are they. Cariso mentioned it reminds her of an Indian dish. Haha!
Next, Bulgarian Platter (mix grill of kebapche, kyofte and karnatche) According to the menu, they are traditionally home made Bulgarian sausages and pork fillet. Certainly home made sausages when take note of the sausage texture. The herbs in meatball (kyofte) were a bit heavy for me. Maybe others would like it more.
Yeah! Plovdiv Ribs! Thumbs up :D Honey glazed outer surface and well marinated. Some find it a bit salty but it was alright for me. The meat easily comes of the bone and I was surprised at the rib's tenderness.
We can forget about roasted pork ribs from other chain restaurants. Haha This is the taste I was actually looking foward to if I have pork ribs. Maybe because I like things sweet haha!
Here comes the star of the restaurant, Bulgarian Pork Djolan or traditional roasted pork knuckle. Not only thumbs up, our fists were up as well XD wahaha!
We barbaric-ly tore the meat from the roasted kunckle. We absolutely enjoy it! Cariso was happily sucking the bones while I chew on the perfectly honey glazed skin...good ah! The pork knuckle was really huge. I think 2-3 normal eaters might be able to finish it off :D
Here are the in house desserts. Chocolate Creme Brulee.
Creamy smooth and rich. Not overly sweet... well if don't count the burnt sugar layer on top :P
That was my first time trying Chocolate Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream. Hard to resist myself from trying eventhough I know its heaty :P
It comes in a HUGE mug. An scoop of vanilla ice cream inside with some chocolate flakes as a finishing touch. The chocolate soup wasn't too sweet and not overly thick with chocolate. When you sip it, it smoothly flows down your throat, NOT stick there lol! I think the ice cream plays an important role of softening the chocolate taste.
Hohoho after this meal and the lunch, I was cholesterol and meat overdosed : P Aiks...its not over yet...
PS: Please be aware that the set menu was tailored to our occasion. But somehow there were so many of us, so other patrons had the same food as us on that day.
Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant & Bar (Next to Ingolf’s Kneipe German Restaurant)
Add : 1-E, Jalan Sg Kelian, Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 04-8981890
Business Hour : 12 pm - 12 am (last order at 10pm)
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