Penang Restaurant @ Boston is part of a chain restaurant specializing in Malaysian cuisine. They have branches in Chicago, Philladelphia, and in NYC. I thought they have a branch somewhere in NJ, maybe not.
Hubby and I think that Penang Restaurant Chain is one of the best Malaysian food restaurant; at least we’ve always enjoyed what we consider our staple Malaysian food there. We’ve been to a couple other Malaysian restaurants in Boston, MA (which have now closed down) and a couple in Chinatown NYC and have quite often been disappointed with some of the menu items we’ve ordered; especially Char Koay Teow.
Some of our Chinese friends wanted to savor some Malaysian food, so we brought them here and ordered a various of Malaysian cuisine for them to try. We ordered some appetizers to start with.
1) Penang Satay Beef (Left) @ $6.90 - (Marinated chicken or beef on skewers, charcoal grilled to perfection served with peanut sauce; Malaysian Specialty) – I did not try this, and I’m not a big beef fan. Our friends seem to enjoy this. Hubby thought it was kinda dry and said that the Chicken Satay (which we did not order) taste better.
2) Home Made Roti Canai (Right) @ $4.50 - (Indian Pancake; Its Malaysian all time favorite, crispy style pancake & curry chicken dipping sauce) – This was pretty good, just like how the menu described it. A little pricey, but all worth it! This look a little different then how they make it in Malaysia, but it tastes the same if not better. =P
3) Char Koay Teow (Left) @ $7.95 - (Malaysian famous stir fried flat rice noodles with fresh shrimp, squid, bean sprouts chives, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste). This is one of hubby and my “staple” must order dish whenever we’re dining @ Penang Restaurant. Pretty close to what we get at home. Penang Restaurant @ Chicago even throw in some Chinese Sausages which make it even more oh-so-yummy and authentic!!
4) Kang Kung Belacan (Right) @ $10.50 - (Sauteed convolus with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce.) – This was delicious and I dare say everyone at the table enjoyed this very much. This was way better than the last time we had them there. We joked that the regular chef must have been on vacation at that time.
5) Hainanese Chicken (Left) Half Chicken @ $10.00 - (Steamed chicken with bone & skin on serve with Chefs soy sauce and chili sauce) – Simplicity at it’s best and everyone loved this. This chicken is served cold or at room temperature. I love to eat this with their Steamed Chicken Flavored Rice @ $1.25/small bowl and $5.75/large bowl. If you do not want to order half a chicken, you could order a single serving of the chicken which already comes with the rice (Hainanese Chicken With Rice) @ $6.50.
6) Beef Rendang (Right) @ $14.50 - (Tender pieces of beef simmered with exotic spices (cinnamon, cloves) lemon grass in coconut milk.) – Again, I did not try this… It did not look as authentic as what we have in Malaysia. I recall the rendang in Malaysia being a little drier and darker in color. Hubby said it was ok. The beef indeed looked tender.
7) Red Snapper Fish In Thailand Sauce (Left) @ Market Price. We forgot to check how much this way, but after taking our total bill and deducting the prices of what we know, this fish costs about $25. The fish was first deep fried till crispy on the outside then drenched with a sweet and tangy sauce. Thumbs up for this dish. We’ve never ordered this before, but our friends wanted to try some fish dish.
8) ABC (Right) @ $4.00 - (Shaved ice with red bean corn plum seeds jelly red rose syrup and milk) – I fondly call this Ice Kacang (like what we call it at home) and the wait staff will know what that is. This was just ok. I tasted some coconut milk in the mix, and I think we don’t use coconut milk in it at home, just evaporated milk. Nevertheless, it was better than not having it at all. Although this is listed as dessert, I always have it with my meal, just like how I would eat it at home( Penang, Malaysia).
Service was overall ok. Most of the wait staff in there are from Malaysia. We were there at about 6.15pm on Saturday, just in time before dinner crowd arrives. Penang Restaurant is one place we’ll always revisit to fulfill our cravings for some good old Malaysian food!!
Check out their menu HERE. Please note that prices differ from one Penang Restaurant branch to another.
2 comments:
You cannot find the other branches on the website you went to because it's under a different management. Different Penangs all over America are now owned by different ppl, it's all franchised now. Here is another website for more Penang locations :
http://www.penangcuisine.com/
This looks so much more promising than any of the Malaysian restaurants I've explored in London. I feel I haven't found a single Malaysian restaurant that provides a satisfactory meal in London. I was born in Malaysia (my mum is from there) and visit every couple of years and always miss the cuisine.
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