GEORGE TOWN, May 20 — Though newly opened, a small Taiwanese-style restaurant tucked among kampung houses in Titi Teras has been getting quite a lot of attention.

Always crowded, especially during lunch and dinner on weekends, the Half Acre Restaurant is easily spotted because of the billowing smoke from its many wood-fired ceramic kilns placed in front.

The restaurant, a joint venture between Kegy Chong and his uncle Alan Teoh, opened only in January but has been enjoying brisk business since then.

The Half Acre Restaurant tucked within a kampung in Titi Teras, Balik Pulau
The Half Acre Restaurant tucked within a kampung in Titi Teras, Balik Pulau

The specialty of the restaurant is of course its kiln-roasted chicken that is served whole in a unique manner; it is skewered and hangs over a plate.

The juices from the roast chicken is served in a small bowl and on each table is a box of plastic gloves so you can tear into the chicken with your hands.

“I learnt this method of roasting chicken in Taiwan and decided to introduce it here,” Chong, who is the main chef, said.

Kegy Chong checking the wood fire of the ceramic kilns placed in front of the restaurant
Kegy Chong checking the wood fire of the ceramic kilns placed in front of the restaurant

He said it takes about 20 minutes to roast one whole chicken. The chicken is roasted twice; first to cook it and the second time, when there is an order, to crisp the skin.

HKegy Chong with the kiln-roasted chicken
Kegy Chong with the kiln-roasted chicken

e initially offered several variants: original, spicy, sugar cane and garlic.

“Due to the huge crowd we’ve been getting and shortage of staff, we may cut down the variants to just original until we are able to get more workers,” he said.

He said he never expected such huge crowds so they were unable to handle the demands which resulted in many customers leaving unhappy.

“We are trying our best to improve our service,” he said.

The Taiwanese style decor of the interior of the restaurant
The Taiwanese style decor of the interior of the restaurant

Other than the kiln-roasted chicken, there are also double-boiled soups every day.

“There will be two different types of soups each day such as papaya soup, wintermelon soup, bittergourd soup or ginseng soup... we will rotate it so it is different every day,” he said.

Other dishes available at the Half Acre restaurant such as the deep-fried crunchy tofu (left) and crunchy fried vegetables on the right
Other dishes available at the Half Acre restaurant such as the deep-fried crunchy tofu (left) and crunchy fried vegetables on the right

Steamed fish in a golden sweet and spicy sauce at Half Acre Restaurant
Steamed fish in a golden sweet and spicy sauce at Half Acre Restaurant

Due to its location within a kampung, Chong said they do not serve pork in the restaurant. “We respect those living nearby so we don’t serve pork and we use only chicken and seafood,” he said.

Half Acre Restaurant

Lot 403, Titi Teras MKM E, 11000 Balik Pulau.

Time: 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10pm

Opens daily

Tel: 04-8661151