Shuttering of iconic eateries leave customers glum

End of an era: Empty restaurants along Gurney Drive in George Town. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Prior to the sale, these bungalows were the site of some of the most popular old-style restaurants here, one of which was the Zealand Bak Kut Teh and Seafood Restaurant, believed to have begun in 1947.Its next-door neighbour used to be another bak kut teh place, the Carnation restaurant, once popular for the herbal dish.

Carnation owner Ho Meng Kuan said he had run the place for 39 years before its closure earlier this year.

ALSO READ: The changing face of Gurney Drive

Ho, who is in his 70s, shared his happy memories of the restaurant, which he said led to him being made a “Culinary Grand Master” by the Escoffier Society International seven months before the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the movement control order began.

When his landlord sold the bungalow for about RM5mil early this year and told him that his tenancy was at an end, Ho decided that it was time to call it a day.

“I do a lot of hiking now and focus on being healthy. I am not interested in finding a new place and starting over.

“But if anyone wants to know my recipes and continue with the name ‘Carnation Bak Kut Teh’, I may be willing to share them,” he said.

A call made to one of the Zealand Bak Kut Teh and Seafood Restaurant’s old reservation phone numbers was answered by a woman, who only said that the restaurant owners had no plans to resume their business elsewhere.

At present, two of the bungalows are still being used as eateries, while one is vacant, and another has a for-rent banner.

Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit, whose constituency includes Gurney Drive, admitted that it was painful to lose the decades-old eateries that used to be housed by the bungalows.

However, he said that sentiments would have to be put aside.

“Penang can’t be frozen in time. Change is happening whether we like it or not,” he said.

Not all locals share his sentiments, though. That stretch of road has a lot of cultural and sentimental value for residents here.

“It bothered me when I found out that suddenly Zealand Bak Kut Teh closed down,” said one of the former restaurant’s regular customers, businessman Warren Tan.

“It was a regular haunt for us. Many of us went back to patronising the restaurant as soon as dine-in was allowed. It has been so much a part of us.”