Nona Bali @ Persiaran Karpal Singh is probably the only authentic Balinese restaurant in Penang. You can observe that painstaking effort has been taken to give the restaurant a “Balinese” setting, right from the shop front to the interior décor. Well done!
Co-owner Peter Tait, who incidentally speaks fluent Penang Hokkien, claims that the chef only uses the best ingredients, mainly imported from Bali! Well, the dishes didn’t disappoint. In fact, we were quite impressed with the Balinese flavour that they served – a delightful blend of herbs and fresh ingredients.
We sought to try both satay dishes – the sate lilit which is an aromatic fish paste wrapped around lemon grass stalks and sate de siap (grilled chicken skewer) which comes steaming hot on a portable “mini stove”. The sate were really very tasty even though they came with minimal sauce (against our local kacang kuah).
Jukut cantok or gado-gado is delicious but a bit different from the Malaysian version. Again, a little short on the kuah. It’s probably the Balinese style.
We opted to try three of the poultry dishes namely ayam penyet (literally “smashed chicken” that is deep-fried), ayam bakar sambal matah (grilled chicken with sambal) and be siap betutu (slow roasted chicken with Balinese herbs). Each provided its own unique flavor. Bebek crispy (fried crispy duck), another Balinese specialty completed our lunch.
Nona Bali is definitely worth another visit with its fine Balinese cuisine. More sumptuous options to explore! Make sure you call to make a booking. The restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.
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