I’ve posted about Penang in the past because it’s right around the corner from the Asian grocery store I frequent – I sometimes stop by after grocery shopping for a quick bite or to pick something up to go home. On this occasion, I actually tried to go to Pho Bang, but it was packed, so I turned around and led the way to the surprisingly empty Penang.
Since my friend wasn’t too familiar with Malaysian cuisine, I decided to commandeer the ordering. I’d just finished showing him around the Asian market and unlocking the world of cheap-Asian-grocers, so I proceeded to open up this ‘new’ cuisine to him. We started off with roti canai, a thin pancake style bread that you pull off hunks and then dip into the slightly spicy curry that has bits of chicken and potato in it. The pancake cools down very quickly, and as it does, it becomes very crispy, but initially – and the thicker parts – it’s very chewy, almost like a crepe but better. Mmm.
On this slightly hot day – our summer has been pretty wack so far – I ordered an iced coffee. Perfect to sip on this warm day.
Of course, more beef satay – tender as usual, super flavorful… and lovely peanut sauce. Nom!
Again as an introductory dish, I chose Hainanese chicken (and this time they had white meat – this is the only time I’ll order white meat chicken, but it comes boneless, whereas the dark meat requires a lot of frustration picking at chicken meat off bones!); poached chicken that is doused in a soy sauce dressing, served with rice that has been cooked with the poaching liquid. Cool and refreshing, I realized that this dish is actually pretty… well, boring. It tastes good, don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day, it’s poached chicken with a tasty dressing. I probably won’t order this again unless I’m craving it.
Char kway teow, which I have no hope of translating because I don’t speak Malaysian, but basically thin rice noodles that have been dry-stir-fried (by ‘dry’ I mean with no gravy, not without oil) with bean sprouts, squid, shrimp, ribbons of egg, and other assorted seafood goodies. I asked for this to be slightly spicy, because I don’t eat it spicy, and my friend eats spicy… and it was still too spicy for me. I ate a little but then had to stop, but he enjoyed it and chowed down almost all of it. Nice! (I love ordering things for people and then they really like it. Call me weird.)
After I’d finished ordering, the waiter had said, “And for a vegetable?” and totally shamed me into ordering another dish. Haha, it was a clever upsell, and I accepted his suggestion of ‘Buddhist’s delight’ which turned out to be a mish-mash of whatever veggies, tossed with a pretty standard (in my opinion; my dining companion didn’t think it was that standard) soy sauce-garlic + corn starch gravy. I liked it enough – the veggies were tender-crisp, not overcooked and soft, and there was a ton of flavor, but it wasn’t amazing or “I have to order this every time I go here from now on” either. Tasty, yes, but something I can easily replicate at home. Still, good job on the part of the waiter, and we were super stuffed by the end of this meal. So stuffed I couldn’t then introduce Malaysian dessert – 7-color-ice. Boo!
Yvo says: Considering my friend really enjoyed the food and now has an idea of what to order if he went to a Malaysian restaurant alone, I would say this was a successful mission. I personally like Penang – this location had its downswing and now is back on the upswing, it’s so pretty inside and the waitstaff is much closer to what you’d expect at a non-Asian Manhattan restaurant than an Asian restaurant anywhere (ie, pays attention to you) – and this time, the food proved no different from other times, when it’s been tasty and good. I will definitely be back…
recommended
Edie says
I love Malaysian food! So sad that Penang on Prince Street (related to the one in your review?) in Flushing closed; I introduced a friend who was unfamiliar with Malaysian cuisine too. He surprised me by ordering fried stuffed pig intestines; took one tentative bite and said it was awesome. Then scarfed it down. I love turning non-adventurous diners on to something new!
T.C. says
I’m down with Malaysian food. Penang is decent. My friends and I order there once in a while. It’s better than Coco in the hood.
I like their roti canai and char kway teow. And when in the mood, udang mee for noodles in spicy soup! I had their hokkien char mee the other day for delivery.
amy says
the curry chicken that comes with roti is usually chicken rendang, which is one of my absolute faves to order at malaysian places– chunks of potato, usually some green beans, and big hunks of moist dark meat chicken. mmmm.
Dean says
what? no beef rendang? that’s like my go-to when i hit up any malay restaurant. but it has to be dry rendang, like the versions at Jaya in CTown and Nyonya in Brooklyn (which i think is affiliated with Penang so they probably have the same version).
my friend swears by the nasi lemak but that’s probably too adventurous for a first timer.
they just opened up a new malay restaurant on 8th ave and i’ve already been there like 4 times in the past 2 weeks. and i’m going again this saturday 🙂 yay malaysian food
Witzel says
I didn’t realize that Penang was in the outer boroughs – used to be one on the UES (and of course there are still others in Manhattan) that seems like it was a lot foofier than this one. Decent food, and a much darker dining room. I’d like to visit a different branch of them now.