CRIZ BON APPETITE

Sigi’s Bar & Grill on the Beach (SBG) held its Arabian Night Beach Party on 25 June 2011 for a second time after receiving tremendous responses in 2010. It was indeed a more successful one this year with more delicious Middle Eastern dishes and a unique setup in line with the exotic theme of Arabian nights. The entrance had an arch depicting a mosque like structure with lacey curtains. Walking through the passageway, there were tents scattered everywhere on the beach side garden with low tables and low cushioned stools, bean bags, banquet tables with beautiful ribbon tied on the chairs and an ejected stage by the sandy beach to entertain the guests. Some street vendors can be seen displaying their unique looking items as well. At RM158++ per pax, it included Arabian themed buffet, live action cooking stations, MYO (make your own) stations, free flow soft drinks, wine and beer plus loads of activities, fun and games.

Classic Arabian music with mix of modern ones can be heard playing on the stage with acts by the band, fire jugglers, snake charmers and belly dancers, wooing the guests with their great performances. One of the main attractions would be the snake charming act. Would you be interested to kiss a king cobra live on stage? Well, I won’t but the snake charmer did. Catch some glimpses of his act here in the video below.

Classic Arabian music with mix of modern ones can be heard playing on the stage with acts by the band, fire jugglers, snake charmers and belly dancers, wooing the guests with their great performances. One of the main attractions would be the snake charming act. Would you be interested to kiss a king cobra live on stage? Well, I won’t but the snake charmer did. Catch some glimpses of his act here in the video below.

The belly dancers also did a great job in entertaining the guests. In one of the performances, you can practically see every part of the belly dancer moved energetically with hardly any pauses. Maybe I should learn some moves like hers to trim down my waistline. LOL! Anyway, let’s have a look on how she moved that body~ 🙂

Varieties of exotic and modern food were served at many scattered stations in food market styles starting with dinner rolls with Lentil Soup. It tasted like a thick an Indian dhal-like curry with strong hints of thyme and bay leaves. The next few stations consisted of salads and mezze (a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch). On one table was the MYO Caesar Salad station while the other had Lavash, Panzenella Salad, Marinated Olives, Marinated Feta, Marinated Mushrooms and Sundried Tomato. I loved the Lavash (commonly known as cracker bread), a crunchy flatbread topped with some poppy seeds. This went well with the rest of the condiments, especially with the lovely marinated feta in herbs and olive oil.

The next station consisted of Fattoush, Tabbouleh, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Falafel, Hummus, Baba Ghanoush and SBG Slovaski Pizza. The Fattoush was practically some Arabian salad with fresh greens, mixed with some lemon juice and olive oil. The Tabbouleh on the other hand looked like our local Nasi Ulam but the ingredients were very different. Instead of rice, it had bulgur, a wheat processed cereal-like food, combined with chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions, mint, etc, with lemon juice and olive oil. It had a very unique sour herby taste. The Lebanese Stuffed Vine Leaves somewhat had that overpowering sour and salty taste. The stuffing tasted almost similar to the Tabbouleh but with a stronger sourness. Next was the Falafel. To me, it tasted almost like our Indian street food, the Parippu Vada, with traces of cumin being used. This went well with the Hummus, a spread made from blending cooked chickpeas with grounded sesame paste (tahini), olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It had some cooked chickpeas and kalamata (black olives) as decoration. Another spread which went well with the pita bread was the classic, slightly pungent Middle Eastern Baba Ghanoush. This is a healthy spread with mashed roasted aubergine (eggplant) mixed in with some chopped garlic, parsley, cumin, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and garnished with some chopped tomatoes and parsley.

At the main grill station, we had the Grilled Morrocan Prawns and Seafood Kebabs. The Seafood Kebabs was lovely as it had well marinated prawns, calamari, fish and capsicum skewed and grilled to perfection. The next station was the Pita Bread Pocket Station with Spit Roasted Lamb and Chicken Shawerma.

There were also the Chicken Briyani Rice, Eggplant Rice to go with Moussaka and Lamb Meat Balls. The casserole dish of Moussaka, made by layering eggplant with a spiced meat filling, topped with a creamy bechamel sauce with hints of Parmesan cheese and baked to golden brown was the perfect dish to go with the rice. The Lamb Meat Balls were also marvelous as it got me going for more. Next to this was the beverage station with free flow soft drinks, wine and beer for everyone.

The dessert section was places within the passageway near to the entrance with many delicacies such as Baklava, Muhalabia, Bassboussa, Rosewater Crème Brule, Warm Apple Crumble Vanilla Anglaise, Chocolate Brownie, Mini Fruit Tartlets, Baked Cheese, Lemon Delicious and Cream Caramel.

This beach party was one of the uniquely planned ones by SBG and of course it was a memorable one which I would remember for some time with the great taste and party moods. Chef John Brock, the Executive Sous Chef of SBG sure did a great job in pepping up great dishes for this party.

The restaurant is just located within the premises of Golden Sands Resort. Drive all the way up towards Batu Ferringhi. When you see the Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa on your right, slow down and watch out for the Golden Sands Resort entrance which is right after the Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa. Park your car at the ample car park there and walk into the main lobby of the resort. Head towards the beach area and you would see Sigi’s Bar & Grill on your right.

Name: SIGI’S BAR & GRILL ON THE BEACH @ GOLDEN SANDS RESORT
Address: Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-886 1852 (Direct Restaurant Line)
Business Hours:
11.00am-6.00pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm (Bar: 11.00am-11.45pm)
GPS: 5.477405, 100.251657

RATING:
Ambience: 9/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7.5/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)