Hola By Javu — Restaurant in George Town

[got event ah?]

1. overall - sea view-relax-chilling comfortable environment, Spanish cuisine, book in advance for big group, clean place, enough seating, plenty of parking, must order iberico pork paella, seafood risotto, quality coffee, tapas and many more from Hola by Javu
2. Iberico pork paella - aromatic, flavourful, full of animal fat making the base of paella crispy yet soft rice, good portion of rice, do share with others, highly recommended
3. prawn and scallop tostada - prawn and scallop were grilled to perfection, crunchy and juicy, great pair with baguette
4. seafood risotto - flavourful, creamy, yummy, mushy, fresh seafood, top with truffle oil, must must order
5. mushroom risotto - same as number 4 if you cannot take seafood, vegetarian option is available
6. smoked salmon tostada - loved the smoked salmon, tasted lightly with baguette, natural salmon taste remained mild
7. truffle fries - typical dish but tasted well with truffle oil and flakes
8. cafe latte - Hola by Javu served premium and quality coffee, order if you are a coffee lover, no doubt
9. Roast chicken with spinach mashed potato - tasted average
10. Iberico tostada - yummmm.... great amount of fat layer with the best pair of feta and tomato, great combination
11. Ensalada hola salad - tasted okay
12. Aglio olio - oily, not recommended
13. spinach and mushroom plateadas - tasted average
14. creamy seafood (caldo cremoso de mariscos) - creamy and sweet seafood broth, best dip for the baguette, fresh seafood too
15. smoke salmon with baguette - tasted good too, good combo of salmon and citrusy mayo
16. churros! - perfectly fried churros, crunchy outer layer, soft and buttery inner, comes with chocolate and ice cream dip as well, can top up cinnamon sugar if you liked
17. seafood paella - flavourful and aromatic, fresh seafood, had a huge scallop, slightly burnt paella, tasted good, recommended
18. harissa pork chop with mashed sweet potato and French bean - thick and juicy pork chop, charred skirting, mashed sweet potato was creamy and sweet, crunchy French bean, overall tasted great, good flavour too
19. stuffed cream cheese capsicum - juicy capsicum with super creamy cheese...

Located at Tanjung Point, this place specializes in Spanish food. I'm greeted with a warm welcome upon entering the cafe, the ambiance and the view is spectacular. I particularly love the widely spaced tables and chairs. Also amazed with the quality of the tables and chairs made of possibly solid wood. They are so heavy and sturdy.

The QR code for the menu showcase all the pictures of the food. Frankly, these photos look so good. They are vibrant and have nice presentation.

I would like to also compliment the waiter who waited on us. (Very sorry I didn't get his name), apology for changing our tables a couple of times. Anyway our waiter is very attentive, and he can suggest meal options for us. He often confirms our order and makes no mistakes. Drinking water was replenished quickly as well.

We ordered a pan con tomate, patatas bravas, Iberica paella, mushroom risotto, seafood paella, aglio olio, and the desserts. The appetizers (tapas on a plate) are small, no wow factor. Personally I love the patatas bravas. Iberica paella is really good. The burnt bits of rice at the base, the fatty pork belly and the lard infused rice, there's no better way to enjoy this dish. Seafood paella has an earthy seafood taste, they are very generous with the seafood as well. The scallop is big and juicy. Mushroom risotto strong mushroom flavour and umami taste. I have to say... Most of the food here are nice, it's just the use of olive oil is a little too much. For example champinions Al ajillo which is the mushroom sauteed in garlic.. it's very oily.

Moving on to the desserts. We tried the Churros, burnt cheese cake, and Chocolate lava cake. They are delightful, especially the lava cake, it's so moist and has a melt in your mouth experience. The churros is airy, soft, and has a crispy skin.

The price is slightly on the higher side. For the quality of food and the view, this is worth it.

The overall experience was very pleasant. I...

Second visit to Hola and I am still happy with their food 👍🏻

The reason they are missing 1 star from me is the waiting time for the food when I have already preordered my food earlier when I did the table reservation. It was about a 30 mins wait or so after we sat down. But once the food started coming, the flow was ok.

Food wise, everything was good and tasty.

• Clams in white wine tapas I personally like this and enjoy dipping my toast in the sauce. However my dining partner reckon it would be better if the taste was stronger. • Oxtail soup Good as usual, soup has curry base and it’s a Javu specialty. • Seafood paella Quite tasty with generous amount of seafood, like the char of the rice too. • Iberico pork belly burger I enjoyed this one but it was slices of pork belly between the burger so it tends to fall apart easily, could be a bit messy to be eaten with hands hence I ate my burger with fork and knife haha! • Churros Lovely done churros with sides of cinnamon powder, melted choc and ice cream (we prefer to go with choc and ice cream).

Ambience wise, it’s fine but I think they need to do something about the sound insulation. I commented before when I visited the first time that it could be quite noisy in the restaurant due to poor sound insulation and customers got to raise their voice slightly to talk.

#cheryllameats #honestfoodreview #penangrestaurant #penangeats...