Gala House (GPS: 5.42061, 100.33413) is a retro-themed restaurant in George Town, Penang. It started in 2013, where it occupied 102, Muntri Street. A year later it expanded to include the adjoining property, an Arts & Craft building at the corner of Muntri and Leith Streets. The original outlet as well as the upstair level house the retro restaurant, while the corner unit houses a bar.
Gala House signage, complete with light bulbs, gives the cafe a retro feel. (1 June 2016)
Gala House interior. (1 June 2016)
Front shell of a VW van, retrofitted as a pastry station at Gala House (1 June 2016)
The upstairs of Gala House has splendid views of Muntri and Leith Streets. (1 June 2016)
Upstairs, the old window shutters of the corner premises are reused as a wall art (1 June 2016)
My visits to Gala House
19 August, 2016
My wife and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Gala House today. We have been invited by its owner Monsak Ja Singh to try out their the dishes that the restaurant has newly introduced.
We kicked off our meal with Clams In Wine & Fresh Herbs Broth. This is a essentially clam soup, with the clams cooked in Sauvignon Blanc together with cilantro, chillies, onions, cherry tomatoes and a hint of fresh lime juice. The clams, or siput, are tasty. Served with toasted garlic bread, it was a good start to our meal.
Even before we could finish demolishing the clams, our second dish has appeared. It was Creamy Chicken. It comprises a piece of perfectly grilled (yet juicy, not dry) chicken fillet sitting on a bed of homemade mash potatoes and creamy sauce that has been cooked with mushrooms and smoked duck breast poured over it. Monsak explained to me afterwards that they were able to preserve the crispiness of the chicken by grilling it separately from the sauce, which is of course a good idea, for it tastes much better this way.
Next, we tried the Crab-Stuffed Seabass. Wow, I love this. The fish is baked and then stuffed with a stuffing the comprises crabmeat and onions. This nests on a bed of mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. We love this dish, though we did point out to Monsak that we would appreciate a little more sauce to this dish, if possible. But other than that, the seabass is nicely cooked and not at all dry.
It was a delicious and filling meal. We concluded it with yogurt served on platters beautifully painted with syrup. It was entirely a most satisfying meal, and we thank Gala House for having invited us.
Enjoying my lunch at Gala House (19 August 2017)
Clams in Wine & Fresh Herbs Broth at Gala House (19 August 2017)
Creamy Chicken at Gala House (19 August 2017)
Another view of the Creamy Chicken (19 August 2017)
Crab-stuffed Seabass at Gala House (19 August 2017)
Monsak and I at Gala House (19 August 2017)
1 June, 2016
My wife and I had a visit with Gala House on 1 June, 2016. We were met by its owner Monsak Ja Singh, who took us around. Monsak has done up Gala House to appeal to the younger crowd. A recurring theme seems to be the Volkswagen Beetle, which rears itself all over the place. On the wall upstairs is a handdrawn mural celebrating its location on Muntri and Leith.
The corner unit at Gala House has historic significance, for that was where world-renowned shoemaker and fashion designer Jimmy Choo once ran a shoe-making stall. The spot where that stall was located is just a stone's throw from Hong Kong Shoe Store, where Choo apprenticed.
Jack Daniels Chocolate Cake, GalaHouse (1 June 2016)
The bar occupying the ground floor of the corner unit. (1 June 2016)
The barkeep at Gala House (1 June 2016)
Gala House signage overlooking Muntri Street (1 June 2016)
If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.
Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang
Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.
Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.
About this website
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.