Journey2Life represents one of the most high end (nicely put way of saying it is expensive) eateries in Penang. This restaurant also goes by the Chinese name 旅人蔬食 - Which also more or less translates to the English. Without further delay, let's see what Journey2Life has to offer the vegetarian scene in Penang, here we go...
Journey2Life RestaurantLocation: C-3-1, Lorong Bayan Indah 3, Bay Avenue (next to Eastin Hotel)Contact: 6046111184 Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11.30am-10.00pm. Closed Monday.
We started the meal off with a quick appetiser, which was the
Papaya with Passion Fruit Flower. The thinly sliced preserved papaya had a nice crunchy texture, and a slightly citrusy sour taste. Passionfruit pulp was smeared over the papaya, which heightened the flavour of this simple snack even more.
Price: RM3.90. 7/10On to the main course, here is the
Special Sauce Beancurd. I have to say that this sauce was anything but special. It was bland and lifeless, with typical (cheap) trite vegetables diced and added to it. Popping out of the sauce were two doughy sphere-shaped balls. These balls offered little in terms of taste, and I didn't particularly like the texture either. The portion size here was really small, especially so considering the exorbitant price tag.
Price: RM17.90. 4/10The next dish was
Toon Leaf Potato. The word 'toon' in this dish refers to xiang chun 香椿, which is a leaf from the
Toona sinensis tree. This leaf is a common ingredient in Chinese cooking, and one of my particular favourites. Unfortunately, for this dish the xiang chun was very weak, and didn't really add anything to the dish. The rest of the dish was very basic, with potatoes, corn, carrots and mushroom all swimming in the starchy (mostly flavourless sauce). Not an very impressive dish, made all the more infuriating due to the almost laughable price tag.
Price: RM16.90. 3/10Conclusion - Out of all the vegetarian restaurants I visited in Penang, I must say that Journey2Life ranked as the most overrated. For the price, the dishes were inexplicably average - The sauces in particular need significant improvement. The Journey2Life chef needs to go on a Journey2Culinary School, based on the efforts that I sampled. Not somewhere I would consider visiting again.Overall RatingFood - 4/10Ambiance- 6/10 Service - 7/10 Value - 2/10
