Opera Oriental Cuisine @ Upper Penang Road

While Franco and I were out for training, he was half-heartedly 'forced' to lunch with me at Opera as I've been raving to try it out ever since I've read about Cariso and Lingzie's good reviews on their set lunch menu


It was a nice lunch indeed - not forgetting our talk about bank deposits and offering our 'sorrows' to others :P - thanks Franco for giving in haha!

Hence we finally set foot in Opera and tried out their set lunch which comprises of an appetizer, a main course, dessert of the day and a drink (choice of coffee, tea, warm or iced lemon tea).

We were greeted by a friendly and professional gentleman who ushered us to our seat, right next to a big-ass mirror where we can check out our pretty faces with :P

The first thing Franco commented was 'How come so dark one?' Indeed the interior was not brightly-lit, which promotes a slightly romantic tone. I joked that we're having a candle-light lunch what :P

Check out the contemporary interior





Franco liked the piece of frosted glass behind this equally astounding piece of decor

Our table setting - the cutlery were pretty unique and solid too



Because the gentleman who served us was too fast, I did not manage to take a picture of our set lunch menu of the day :(

First up - our drinks - Iced Lemon Tea


I told Franco that their iced lemon teas are freshly made - and I was a bit fascinated that the colours were different :P

But it tastes very refreshing indeed - considering the fact that we walked there under the hot sun

Appetizers were served next - Vietnamese Popiah served in cups (if i'm not mistaken)


The fillings - made up of vegetables were nothing but burst of flavours - sweet, sour, etc. The cup was equally crunchy and made just right. Franco didn't really fancy this though.

Main dishes finally came - Franco had the chicken while I had the fish - and we exchanged small portions of it for testing

Franco's Chicken Main Course


(notice Franco waiting pretty impatiently for me to finish snapping pic so he can get on with his lunch :P )

I really agree with Cariso that the dishes were made like art - the garnishings were pleasing to the eyes indeed

The sauce that came with the chicken was a mixture of flavors and we couldn't really figure out what exactly was used to make it - but it definitely was not something we can recognise e.g. BBQ, sweet and sour, etc. But it actually tasted pretty good.

Franco did mention that he wasn't really sure if the chicken was over-grilled or not - since the lightings were not so bright and there were traces of black stuff in the sauce.

My Fish Main Course (wrapped in banana leaf)



When my dish came, immediately I could recognise the rice 'tower' as I've seen it in Cariso's post before.

I noticed later that I forgot to take a pic of the fish after unwrapping the banana leaf :(

Honestly, the fish was very nice - it was pretty flavorful to me - wrapped and grilled just right as the sweetness, moisture and flavour were still very much intact. There were 2 pieces of fish within and they tasted like otak-otak. Very nice texture and portion - and it went well with the rice.

I'm not really a big fan of the Thai acar-acar thingy so no comments on that, except for the fact that it was pretty spicy and I guess that's a good sign for acar-acar.

After they cleared off our main plates, smaller dessert cutlery were neatly arranged for us - they were equally refined.


Finally, we were served Dessert of the Day (which I still couldn't figure out what we had until today)


(I was secretly hoping it to be the same Deep Fried Banana Popiah that Cariso and Lingzie had but was slightly disaapointed that it wasn't)

The dessert was served with ice cream topped with gula melaka - but both Franco and I couldn't really tell what was underneath the ice cream - it's round and orangey in colour, slightly chewy in texture - our guess is dried persimmon :P

In all, set lunch cost us RM 18+ (10 % service charge) each but I do feel that it is value for money - considering the service, ambience, elaboration in food presentation and quality, not forgetting the variety of menu they can come up with - so far, all the appetizers and main courses that Cariso, Lingzie and myself tried are all distinct.

I'll definitely come back again on a Saturday since Opera is so thoughtful to have their set lunch menu on a Saturday as well! :)