好面善 Ho Min San at Gurney Plaza, Penang

好面善 Ho Min San, a subsidiary of Dragon-I restaurants that specializes on fusion of Asian cuisine by bringing the mix and match of Cantonese-style rice vermicelli (Mi Xian) and Shanghainese Pan-fried Dumpling (Sheng Jian Bao) has landed in Penang at Gurney Plaza basement, taking over the lot occupied by Siam Express previously. Ho Min San's menu features a variety of noodles, which has left us in a conundrum on what to pick as almost everything looks so appetizing. Well, regardless of your choice of main meals here, you should not miss out their Shanghainese Pan-fried Dumpling (Sheng Jian Bao) by adding it as a side dish.

The Shanghainese Pan-fried Pork Dumpling 猪肉生煎包 (RM 5.80 2 pcs/ RM 10.80 4 pcs) is a clever combination of dumpling and xiao long bao in our opinion. Its outer layer is crisp and yet thin, holding a delicious filling of meat and broth that left us yearning for more. You can choose to garnish it with the specialized chili provided on every table but we felt doing so caused the natural sweetness of the broth to be masked by spiciness from chili.

Two pieces of Shanghainese Pan-fried Dumpling cost RM 5 if we add-on it as a side dish to our main meal. It can be ordered as a side dish alternatively, albeit with a higher cost.

One of the item in the menu that immediately caught my attention was Noodle with Hong Kong Roasted Goose (香港烧鹅鸡米线; RM 32.80). Considering the price tag, it is definitely a luxury version of noodle but worth the penny. The goose has crispy skin and tender meat, along with a layer of nice fat beneath the skin that gives a wonderful aroma. Coupled with the signature Cantonese-style rice vermicelli and a sweet broth, the noodle is a luxury food to indulge in.

Another noodle we tried was Noodle with Pork Belly and Pork Meat Slices with Mala Soup (麻辣花腩米线, RM 15.80). The Szechuan spicy mala soup featured in this dish is indeed distinctively addictive. For those non-tolerable to spicy, you can opt for a light spicy level to feel the heat component. On top of that, it is commendable that generous portion of pork bellies and pork meat slices were served along with the noodles.

Combination Noodle (RM 20.80)

Noodle with Seafood in Tomato Soup (RM 20.80)

For us, we survived the medium level spiciness of Mala Soup that had a lot of Szechuan peppers floating on it without having the needs to drink any water, though we had a Red Bean Soup (RM 4) later. Perhaps next time we can challenge the extra spicy.

Besides, you can choose to have different type of noodles and soup for your meal. Nevertheless, the signature Mi Xian is still our favorite.