There are, broadly, 2 kinds of eating: stuff yourself like a Christmas stocking, or dainty nibbles at cute cutlets. Either way, we await the pleasure of a warm gurgle at the pit of our stomachs after every meal. Hard Rock Café Penang certainly seems dedicated to this end goal. ‘Generous’ would be a modest word to describe their portions; four of us did little damage to our appetizer of nachos, and the side dish of mac and cheese stared back at us with a silent fury.
The standard American fare favors portion over flavor, and makes eating an endeavor of bravado. Without a doubt I was never a fan of such dining. Hard Rock Café Penang’s menu parades an array of American dishes – so what prompted my interest to even set foot in the place? It was easy: American fare also tend to serve up a good slab of steak, at least in my experience. I haven’t had red meat for a while, so I knew exactly what I wanted.
To start, the Hard Rock Nachos came highly recommended, and it did not disappoint – if you could eat it fast enough. The fresh corn tortilla chips, buried under a mountain of Jack and Cheddar cheeses, are addictive to the last crunch. The spread was big enough to appetize four people, and the salsa was so fresh I could still hear the swishing of a knife slicing through the tomatoes as I sink my overflowing nacho into the dip. A hotter version of the salsa doesn’t exist yet, but I am bating my breath for it and will continue to shamelessly pester for it. It was a shame to bid goodbye to the still half-full plate of nachos as it sinks under the cold heavy cheese – we were ready to move on to the mains.
My medium-rare New York strip steak arrived with a chunk of butter sitting at the top – melting rapidly – beckoning. I vacillate between rare and medium-rare for my steaks, and medium-rare for this strip steak was the perfect cook. The strip steak is a cut right next to the tenderloin, comparable in tenderness with the tenderloin, with a fuller bite. It is also leaner, but still succulent to sink your teeth into. Because of its own complex flavour, strip steaks are best grilled and paired as simply as possible, and marinades and sauces are kept to a minimum.
The steak was almost perfect. Its flesh was tender and squished ever so slightly every time I sunk my knife into it, revealing a shade of pink light as a girl’s fading flush. Although the smokiness from the grill lingered a little longer than I would have liked, the satisfying chew more than made up for it. I was pleased to dig into the simple sides of fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes, which went with the steak seamlessly.
Another signature dish on the menu is the Legendary 10-oz burger Facing with a tower of a 10-oz patty topped with strips of bacon, cheddar, an onion ring, lettuce and pickles, one might wonder how best to eat this. After a brief stare-down, we went the fork and knife way in an effort to invoke a sense of class. With a burger. Also done medium rare, the patty is tender and thick. While we found that the onion ring did little to the symphony of patty-lettuce-pickles-cheese (in the end we just picked up what’s left of it and ate it on its own), the bacon strips blended gloriously. The somewhat tight grind of the patty gave out juices sparingly, which in the same instant seeped into the bacon and created a fine concoction of flavor in the mouth. At the same time, though, I wished the patty would flood up more at each bite. Towards the middle, we put away our fork and knife (neatly), and started picking the burger apart with our fingers. A highly recommended way to finish.
While the side of mac and cheese met expectations, there simply wasn’t enough room for sides. And as expected, halfway through my main I was hit with the realization that there was absolutely no more room for dessert. But being troopers, we forged on and got mini versions of the Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae anyway, upon (little-needed) insistence of the manager, and needless to say, this was the one dish that everyone cleaned through with licks and smacks.
Another thing worth noting is the Hard Rock cocktail menu. It was fun choosing from the crazy variety and then wrangling with the waiters on what best to order. If you are adventurous enough, flag over the restaurant and bar manager Ah Beng and he would be more than delighted to have you road taste his funky concoctions. Which he might or might not name after you. At Hard Rock, experiments tend to be more hits than misses, but playing it safe can also satisfy more than you expect.
By: Grace Liew
