CRC Restaurant @ Penang

Across Jalan Pangkor from the clubhouse of Chinese Recreation Club is its flagship restaurant, CRC Chinese Restaurant 美丽华鱼翅海鲜酒家. This restaurant shares the same building as North Malaya Cheah Si Chong Soo 北马谢氏宗祠.

In the 1900s, a group of Chinese sports enthusiasts established the Penang Chinese Recreation Club (CRC), a heritage clubhouse. Located at its premises in Victoria Green are two dining outlets – CRC Restaurant and CRC Victoria Cafe. Situated across the road from CRC is the “new” CRC Chinese Restaurant. Today, both the “old” and “new” CRC Restaurants are popular choices among Penangites for family meals, birthday celebrations as well as wedding and corporate dinners.

I came here once before when I was a small kid. Now 50 years later, I brought my Penang team to dinner here.

Deep Fried Prawn with Almond Chips 杏仁蝦球

The plating of the first appetiser, Deep Fried Prawn with Almond Chips 杏仁蝦球, really brought back a lot of memories. Orange slices circling the plate with the main attraction in the middle, I have not seen this plating since the 80s. And this dish, I have not eaten since the 90s.

Sweet and Sour Pork 咕咾肉

Next up, Sweet and Sour Pork 咕咾肉, a favourite among young and old, locals and foreigners. But their style was slightly different, with the tangy, sweet sauce separately presented as a dip. The crust of the pork was crispy with a nice glaze.

Sautéed Scallops with Walnuts 核桃炒扇贝

When the deep fried vermicelli bowl came with the next dish, Sautéed Scallops with Walnuts 核桃炒扇贝, I couldn’t help but smiled to myself. This is really very old school. But this dish was very well executed, with snap peas, celery, peppers, black wood fungus and crunchy sugar-coated walnuts with scallops all sautéed together. Every thing in this dish was crunchy, so 70s when dishes were not complicated.

Lemon Chicken 檸檬雞粒

Another classic banquet dish, Lemon Chicken 檸檬雞粒 was presented differently here as chicken nuggets instead of a chicken cutlet. I liked the way they had not drowned everything in sauce. And then I was proven wrong.

Siew Mai with Baby Abalone 鮑魚燒賣

Talking about doing too much, this Siew Mai with Baby Abalone 鮑魚燒賣 is one of the strangest dish I have eaten recently. In dim sum, there’s siew mai which some restaurants would add a small baby abalone on top of each piece to raise the price without really enhancing the flavour. Here, they did one step further with an abalone sauce smothered on the siew mais. Just like the Chinese idiom, “Drawing feet on snake” 畫蛇添足.

Shark’s Fin Omelette 桂花翅

This Cantonese-style scrambled eggs dish used to be made with shark’s fin until recent years, it was replaced with mung bean vermicelli 冬粉. I was surprised they still have this Shark’s Fin Omelette 桂花翅 in Penang using real shark’s fin. I really missed this dish, full of wokhei (smokiness from the cast iron wok.)

Double-boiled Superior Soup with Dried Scallop, Sea Cucumber, Black Chicken Meat & Pork Ribs 迷你佛垂涎

This is their version of “Buddha jumped over the wall” 佛跳牆. “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” is a luxurious and elaborate Chinese soup, particularly popular in Fujian cuisine. It’s known for its rich, complex flavour derived from a multitude of expensive ingredients and a long, meticulous cooking process. 

The name is said to originate from the dish’s aromatic appeal, with the story suggesting even a monk, despite his strict vows to abstain from meat, would be tempted to jump over a wall to taste it. 

Roast Suckling Pig 燒乳豬

A banquet is not complete without the Roast Suckling Pig 燒乳豬. A suckling pig is a young pig, typically under six weeks old, prized for its tender meat. The key to a great roast suckling pig lies in achieving a crispy skin and tender, flavourful meat. The presentation here was very old school, with every part of the suckling pig (head, trotters, tiny little tail) all intact. We asked them to chop up the head and enjoyed one of the most delicious part of the pig – the bits just above the neck and below the head.

Beggar’s Chicken 乞丐雞

Beggar’s Chicken 乞丐雞 looked quite a mess but it was delicious. The dish used to be popular in the 70s & 80s where it’s a signature dish in many restaurants. The chicken, stuffed with chinese herbs, are still cooked in the tradition of wrapping in clay and slow-baking, buried in the ashes of a dying wood fire. I was surprised it was so wet. Guessed using a plastic wrap trapped all the moisture within.

Conpoy, Hair Moss and Lettuce in Abalone Sauce 干貝髮菜燜生菜

This next course, Conpoy, Hair Moss and Lettuce in Abalone Sauce 干貝髮菜燜生菜, reminded me of the CNY favourite, Hair Moss with Dried Mussels 蠔豉髮菜. They looked and tasted similar, except the dried mussels had been replaced with dried scallops, aka conpoys.

Dry Sautéed Tiger Prawns with Superior Soy Sauce 豉油皇乾扁明蝦

This dish employs a dry–fry 乾扁 method – no gravy, hardly any oil – and the prawns are cooked on high heat, almost to the point of charring. The key to a successful dish is the quality of the superior soy sauce 豉油皇. This dish is always better in Malaysia because of the quality of the soy sauce they use here. If you disagree, please leave a comment below.

Steamed Oil Marble Goby Fish 油浸順殼魚

I always order this style of fish because it requires a lot of oil to flash fry the entire fish before finishing it with a delicious soy sauce poured over the flash fried fish. And the marble goby 順殼魚 is perfect for this style of cooking because of the delicate flesh and little bones of these farmed fish.

Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf 荷葉飯

Hor Yip Fan 荷葉飯 is a fragrant and delicious rice wrapped in lotus leaf, usually served at the end of a wedding feast or festival dinner.  This version is the one I remember eating as a kid at Chinese wedding banquets where it was served at the very end as a “filler” in case someone needed more food to fill their tummies.

Anyways, the server always cut open the bowl-shaped lotus leaf packet and the fragrant, delicious rice will spill out. It is moist yet fluffy and filled with goodies like lap cheong (Chinese sausage), mushrooms, and dried shrimps. This rice dish concluded the main course on a high note.

Honeydew Smoothie With Sago 蜜瓜西米沙冰

To conclude the meal, we each had a bowl of chilled, creamy honeydew smoothie with sago 蜜瓜西米沙冰. It’s like ice kacang but made with frozen honeydew.

Just to take note, there are two CRC Restaurants in Penang, both related but offering different cuisines. One is inside the Chinese Recreation Club, but this one that we went to was just across the street. Overall, I find the food at CRC Chinese Restaurant to be favourable, if not, old school. Considering the food quality, I think the price of today’s meal is very reasonable for such volume.

CRC Restaurant 美麗華魚翅海鮮酒家
22, Jalan Pangkor, George Town, 10350 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Tel : +60 4-229 9757

Visited Apr 2025