RM18 Set Lunch @ Opera Oriental Cuisine

I had the chicken dish – Grilled Chicken with Spicy Mushroom Sauce served with fried mantaus and vegetables. The dish had very vibrant colors thanks to the side vegetable salad. They were very generous with the spicy mushroom sauce which as you can see from the photo, kinda buried the grilled chicken! lol

The grilled chicken was also a surprisingly generous portion. I loved the spicy mushroom sauce! Slightly sweet, with the spiciness from the dried chillies. I would say that it tastes similar to Chinese ‘kong po’ style sauce. Perhaps it was the freshness of the ingredients used, for this dish, though simple in looks, definitely hit the right spot with me.

We also tried the fish – Steamed Fish Fillet in Banana Packet, served with rice and vegetables.  We unravelled the banana packet with care (hot steam!) and revealed…

A tasty fish fillet – delicately infused with ginger. It was steamed just right and made for a very light, healthy meal! But, if you wish to give the fish an extra ‘oomph’ try the accompanying sambal – spicy, hot and fragrant! We couldn’t get enough of the sambal and polished it all off – even mixing the sambal with the white rice!

I noticed an interesting trend from the both times we had lunch at Opera. The chicken dish would have stronger flavours while the fish would be lightly seasoned and flavored.

The meal was going very well, and we were already stuffed from the mains… but we were curious what would the dessert of the day be…

I was expecting it to be a scoop of ice cream or a small piece of cake (as with other set meals offered at many other restaurants) So imagine my delight when we got this!

Deep fried banana wrapped in popiah skin, served with coconut ice cream with gula melaka drizzled on top! And again, generous portions of the coconut ice cream. The combination of hot banana, cold coconut ice cream and sweet malty gula melaka is simply…. out of this world! I only have praises for this dessert. It was so good  that we went back to Opera for set lunch twice in the same week! And for RM18 each, we both thought the meal was value for money – great ice lemon tea, generous portions with no skimping on the ingredients, delicious fresh food, and amazing dessert! Oh and at an elegant setting too!

Set Lunch at Opera is available from Mon-Sat (12-3pm). Opera Oriental Cuisine and Lifestyle Gallery is located at 3-E Penang Road (along the row of shops opposite Slippery Senoritas and Momo).

For reservations, call 04-263 2893 (oh one thing to note, I noticed that they were closed for lunch during the 2 recent public holidays..not sure if this is just a coincidence…but in any case, just to be on the safe side, do call up the restaurant if you’re planning to go for lunch on a public holiday!)