Swedes will be amused by the sight of the name, since its meaning is ’cutting area’ in Swedish, while Danes will get excited; encouraged by the prospect of possibly have found a Danish waterhole in a territority far away from Danish homeland. Because ’hygge’ is an important Danish word and concept.
In this particular case we are referring to Hygge Dining & Bar in dowtown George Town, on the island of Penang in west Malaysia.
It is situated really close to George Town’s most visible landmark: Komtar, and situated along one of the heritage districts many long roads as part of the Unesco heritage matrix. The sign appears along Jalan Kangsar (58), one of the many narrow roads roads with the intact low-slung architecture, with European facades, so characteristic for downtown George Town and whatever is left of ’Peranakan’ houses within the Straits peninsula.
However, despite its name, this Hygge is and Asian contemporary restaurant, though with a strong element of European cuisine; namely Spanish! So while revealing itself neither run by Danes, nor focused on Danish cuisine, it will nevertheless be a positive dining and drinking experience, regarding anything from lunch to a late night out including having drinks in its adjacent Japanese bar named Er Yi Tai. Expect great food, service, comfort and atmosphere!
Talking to the restaurant hostess, Hygge Dining & Bar, she informs was started by two chefs – one Singaporean and one local. The liked the word ’hygge’ because of it means meaning comfort in life, a good environment and good food.
“They can serve good food and create a warm and cosy atmosphere and environment, to enjoy the good things in life with good people,” she said.
“The concept is focused on Spanish food, with a little bit of fusion: our food is not really authentic Spanish food but we mix with flavours from our location. So you can also try the curry Laksa, which is local food while at the same a little bit Chinese. And then we have Spanish paella and usually our version comes with softer rice, less “burned”, which is how our customers usually want to have it. But the chef will cook it according to the preference of the customer.”
Paella has certainly become more common in five star hotels in Asia in recent years, but overall it is still quite rare to be able to find restaurants serving it, and in the food Mecca of Penang it certainly feels appropriate to find it, as this is a melting pot for all the cuisines of the world, to which many travellers come from far and near to enjoy the destination’s famous food and dining.
A few choices from the menu are: Sakua Kakiage (a wonderful shrimp snack with beetroot and sort of onion taste), Iberico Pluma (grilled Spanish corn-fed pork) and Singaporean Laksa soup.
And do Scandinavians enter this Hygge establishment to find out what it has to offer? The answer is yes: “Mostly tourists from Denmark come in and ask about why we are using this name, and being curious what it has on offer. Then I explain that we have embraced the concept of ‘hygge’ and they go ‘Wow!’ and are surprised about this.”
“And they do they like our curry Laksa and our Spanish seafood paella,” she adds.
Hygge Dining & Bar also, which has a rustic interior, serves a Chef’s tasting menu and is opens 11:30 daily until 22:00, while its Japanese bar next door Er Yi Tai – with a selection of Sake and lots of signature cocktails for enthusiast – closes later. The two outlets are interconnected and guests can enjoy Hygge’s food also within the bar, which has a much darker, dimly-lit – speakeasy sort of – atmosphere.
