On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Chinatown (Orange, Silver)
Boylston (Green, Silver)
Downtown Crossing (Orange, Silver, Red)
Loading...
When I saw the menu I was pretty excited. My mom is Malaysian and I loved when she made me authentic dishes.
I ordered the Asam Laksa which is similar to Tom Yum in Thai cuisine, my boyfriend ordered Penang Seafood Rice Noodle, and my other friends ordered the Chow Kueh Teow and Nasi Lemak. Everyone really enjoyed their dishes I would recommend the Chow Kueh Teow for sure. The Nasi Lemak was really fun too and I liked most of the ingredients on the dish except for the anchovies, but that is just personal preference. The Penang Seafood Rice Noodles were pretty good, but it just tasted like bland Chinese rice noodles and I was hoping for something more flavorful.
My dish was really tasty too, except for the huge amounts of tiny little fish bones. I can't handle that so I just drank the soup because it was so lemongrassy and delicious and gave the noodles and the fish remains to my boyfriend who rather enjoyed it.
I personally don't like ingesting itty bitty fish skeletons so I am going to take away a star.
I also thought their tea was pretty strange. I it tasted like Lipton.
The people there are pretty nice and the ambiance is like being in an asian-syle cabin kind of reminiscent of an Islands restaurant. It's cute.
I'm not a big fan of Penang though all my friends love this place. It's ok. Some dishes are def. 5 star quality but some dishes just dry, plain, blend and flavorless...
You gotta try their roti canai, probably my fav. dish here. Absolutely fell in love when i had it for the first time 5-6 years ago. When it just comes out of the kitchen all steamy and hot, i feel like the happiest man alive.
I think their noodles and fried rice dishes are pretty much average (pad thai and all....it's just dry and flavorless) and 3.5 star is a fair rating of this joint.
But i'll be honest. When I see Malaysians ordering all these crazy dishes that only natives know about, I wonder how different my reviews would be. Think about that. I come here like a Korean-American noob that knows nothing about Malasian food, I'm just gonna order my typical mango fried rice, roti canai and few chicken/beef dishes....but I know that's not what Malaysians order when they get here....i wish i knew what they were ordering and how good those dishes are. So Penang is one of those places where my rating could go up as I try more dishes (mostly, my update review ratings go down for most restaurants).
Actually for all my reviews on restaurants that are from different culture than American or Korean, I'm seriously gonna be fairer in my reviews, knowing that I'm very limited in my selection of dishes.
It's like when a American comes and orders bulgogi at a Korean restaurant....you see, we Koreans never order bulgogi...but somehow, the most popular Korean beef is bulgogi and they review accordingly...ahhh...they are missin out on kalbis, ahnchangsals and sachisals....you get my point.
Penang, I will give you guys more chances. Don't be disappointed with my 3 star review just yet.
Quite centrally located in relation to public transport, Penang is a nice, safe option in Boston's Chinatown. Overall, the food was amazing, but the service (both quality and frequency) were noticeably lacking.
Interior: Well outfitted and clean, the ambiance was still enjoyable--especially for a busy Friday night. It was pretty loud and packed, but the set-up is such that you still have personal space and can carry on a conversation.
Appetizer: You absolutely must try the Roti Canai. A delicious crispy pancake with curry chicken and potato is a wonderful (and flavorful) way to start off the meal! We also tried the chicken satay, which was more 'home-style' than other satays I've had in the past. There was a nice, chunky peanut sauce and nice skewers of chicken to go along with it.
Entree: I thought the Ginger Chicken was pretty standard and not terribly impressive. That said, the quality of the meat and flavors was there, but I'd be interested to try something a little more exotic next time I go. The person I went with the Young Chow Fried Rice and really enjoyed it. It looked delicious from afar and the portion was sizable.
Tweaks and Trepidation: I completely understand when restaurants are packed on a Friday night, but what I hate is when guests are served out of order. Even after I told the waitress I was in a bit of a hurry, it took a long time for the check to come and then paying it was even more of a hassle. They might need to instill some better quality control with the service.
Finishing Notes: I will definitely go back to Penang and highly suggest in--the quality and selection are outstanding and it's a fun place to take a visitor or someone unfamiliar with the area. There is something for everyone and you know that the quality and flavor are going to be there.
I really like this place. I do. But they only had TsingTao beer the last time i went and I was about to rip the head off a chicken. I was pissed, and contemplated buying a beer at some other restaurant and bringing it over to Penang but then I knew they'd be pissed and that would lead to bad news bears.
I recommend the hainanese chicken and the noodles (whichever one is the popular/favorite one... it says it on the menu). I also get a good laugh out of some of the menu descriptions every time i go there. The two calamari dishes --- one says that it's the most popular one, and the other says it's chef recommended with two thumbs up. Hahaa. And there's also a dish where they advise/warn you to ask your waiter before ordering... it's THE OLD CHICKEN MCNUGGETS WITH DARK MEAT! hahaa
Good place to eat if you're not in the mood for chinese or vietnamese. Hahaa, good luck figuring that out.
My husband and I are both Penangites. Whenever we come across restaurants that dare to use the name of our island, we have high expectations as to its authenticity and taste.
Well, we yelped for Malaysian food in Boston, and went in on a Friday night for dinner. Had to wait 20 minutes as the place was packed and busy. When we were finally seated and placed our order of Char Koay Teow, Satay, and Prawn Mee Noodles, we were starving and not in the best mood.
However, when the aroma of the Char Koay Teow drifted across our nostrils, we inhaled deeply the "wok-hay" (translated as breath of the wok) that gives the noodles the slightly burnt taste. It was by far the most authentic Penang-style Char Koay Teow that we've had in the 20 years of living in the USA. The satay was absolutely heavenly!
For those of you who want authentic Penang food, this is the place. We went back the next day for Assam Laksa (another Penang specialty which is an acquired taste). Poh Piah (Jicama Spring Roll) fell below standards as the Penang hawkers usually drench the Poh Piah in broth instead of serving it dry. But it came close.
Service was efficient and the wait staff kept coming by the tables.
I'm sad that we don't live in Boston now.
This place is alright.
The space is big and the set up is pretty sweet with the bamboo and all.
Service was decent. They come around every now and then to ask how things are and overall, nothing special, just doing their job.
The food is like this rating, good but not amazing. My favorite would probably be the salted fish fried rice. Ive had it at tons of other places and by far this place was probably best. The roti appetizer is the shit, love it every time.
Its a little on the pricier side of Chinatown but you get what you pay for. The portions are pretty good and the presentation is fine also.
Its a good place if youre in the mood for spicing things up from the usual in chinatown.
I liked Penang though I'm not exactly certain why it's a Malaysian restaurant. The food choices seemed quite Pan-Asian and we made the most of it.
Based on some of the Yelp reviews I ordered the Hainanese chicken and rice, which was quite good. The way they cut the chicken pieces gave easy access to the bone marrow. Big fan of that.
We also got (among other things) spring rolls, an appetizer I can best describe as a fried sausage, fried tofu and scallion pancake plate. My FIL got a clay pot green seafood curry which was very, very good. It was hot like a green curry should be, not at all tempered down to suit Western tastes. The Malaysian noodles (the one Malay dish we ordered) were very good as well.
All told, no complaints at all. We will definitely be back.
A Chinatown dream come true !
After a day of walking around the city we wondered through Chinatown to find this gem !
The restaurant manager was our waiter - he was warm, welcoming and patient. He explained almost every dish on the menu you to us ... it was so helpful ...
Every morsel of food that came out was incredibly fresh, tasty, mouth watering and SPICY !!
We ordered the Roti Canai (crispy pancake with coconut curry chicken dipping sauce) - it was a nice start ! although it was startling to almost choke on a bone and cause an emergency ... when eating the chicken out of the dipping curry ...
My entree was - Spicy shrimp pad Thai - very delicious but the shrimps were not cleaned ... yuck !
My mom ordered the - Spicy Curry Mee Seafood Soup - it was so tasty. it was a huge portion served an a large bowl enough for at least two people. The dominant flavors were curry, coconut milk and seafood ... so good !
For dessert we shared a coconut pudding which was served in a hollowed coconut .... it was a gift to my taste buds ... a perfect finish to the meal !!!
definitely going again !
Nothing too memorable about this meal that blew me away. but i don't recall eating malaysian food anytime in recent history but i'd say it was a good first experience. i don't remember what it is i ordered but i think it was some sort of chicken dish and some curry dish, but theres pictures if you wanna figure it out.
Don't even think about ordering food from here if you're doing take-out. On a gross, rainy day, we decided to head here for some laksa soup and noodles. You'd think it takes about 10, 15 minutes for takeout, right? I mean, somewhere in the definition of takeout is "sort of quick", no?
Little did we know it would take nearly an hour for us to get food. The whole reason we decided on takeout was so we could bring the food back to work. We saw a few of our coworkers walk in to sit down and eat, and they got their food and FINISHED IT before we ever got ours.
I mean, this is Chinatown, so I don't expect customer service to be their top priority--it never is, but the dumb girl at the front never even thought to say, "I'm sorry it's taking so long". When we asked her how much longer it'd take, she said, "I think it's coming" but didn't even bother to check. I speak Chinese, so I know she didn't even bother to ask anyone.
Needless to say, we ended up angry and annoyed. If she hadn't already charged my credit card, we would've left. And the laksa soup was definitely not worth an HOUR-LONG WAIT. For that, I'd expect the soup to be stewed by some magical unicorn from Narnia or something.
Not impressed. Overpriced and uninspired food. I was excited to try the Buddhist taro bowls - a nest of fried taro filled with vegetables. They were brought out to us almost instantly after we ordered them, which means they had been made in advance and sitting around long enough to turn from crispy, fried goodness to soggy, heavy goo. The "vegetables" ended up being a bunch of snap peas and baby corn. The $13 price tag must have been for that one piece of previously frozen broccoli. They no longer carry any beer but TsingTao.
Here's #200, dedicated to CeCe C. Hope you like it!
Went here for a celebratory one-year older day for yours truly...me!
The homemade roti canai and the roti telur are delicious ways to start off a meal. The roti canai is really light, with more of a puff pastry-like feel than the roti telur, which has egg and onion. The curry dipping sauce for both are the same, and has a hint of spiciness, but I feel like I could drink it all day! The penang pad thai was was nothing extraordinary - in fact, I've had much better pad thai elsewhere. What was really delicious was the Indian mee goreng, which looks like it would be more salty than it actually is, but is actually a little on the sweet side. So different and unexpected! I also really liked the beef rendang, which is REALLY SPICY...just the way I like it! It's not the kind of spicy where it burns the insides of your eardrums, but more the "I've already burned off a lot of my taste receptors so it should be spicier than it really tastes, but is still delicious" kind of spicy. MmmMmm. The beef chow fun was your typical chow fun dish - simple and a bit on the greasy side, but a refreshing breather from the spicy rendang.
Delicious meal, great company! Cheers for another year, and many more reviews to come (as long as the wallet can take it!).
It's like my momma always said, "You can't get by on looks alone." Although the truth of this statement could be refuted, it seems that Penang has indeed survived solely on its decor.
With walls, ceilings, and entryways resembling Vietnam jungle huts, Penang proved itself to be a theme restaurant which struggles for any hint of people-friendly flare.
From the moment we entered Penang, to the end of our meal, we were treated, not like a burden to the staff, but like we did not even exist. Our server spoke to the wall, not to us. A smile? Give me a break, absolutely not!
The food was just decent.
There are a gadzillion choices in Chinatown for Asian dining... so I'll pass on the bamboo tomfoolery and take my business to an establishment where I'm treated like my patronage is appreciated.
A tasty place. I had the Malaysian fried noodles and a dish with fried taro and chicken. Extremely well made. The fried taro nest was perfect!! The noodles has great "wok hay". A must have!!
I love it here and have never been disappointed in any of my several visits. My favorite dish is the Singapore rice noodles, then the mago dishes and finally the drinks are great too.
Service is above par, and there has never been any reason to complain.
I can't say five stars, but I would go as far as 4.5!!!
Omg the pickled vegetable appetizer (called "achat" or something like that, the last on the list of appetizers) is amazing. It comes with tasty peanut crumbles all over the pickled vegetables. I'm into fermented food (healthy!) so I keep begging people to go back with me so I can have it again.
The language barrier was an issue with me because I can't eat gluten. I asked whether a few things had gluten, and they were like - yeah, we put soy sauce (which contains gluten) in everything - why don't you have this hot pot? So I got a plate of completely unseasoned vegetables and seafood for $15. Not really happy about this. I wish we could have figured out some sort of sauce that didn't contain soy sauce.
If you are in Chinatown, Penang is the only Malaysian cuisine worth going to. I have dined there many times. They have been opened for 10+ years. The atmosphere there is nice. It has a relaxing island vibe to it. The dishes are not that big. I always think about their soups(very good). I usually order the Seafood Tom Yum or the Chinese Herbal for soups, both are usually pretty good. I tell them to tone down the salt when I order because it could get pretty salty. Appetizers, almost always the Curry Pancakes. The Fried Calamari is not bad, too. For the main dishes, usually Hainanese Chicken, with a side of Chicken Flavored Rice or Fried Green Beans and Shrimp topped with spicy paste, which is not that spicy. I love spice. I ask them for some fresh chopped chili pepper with soy sauce to eat with my food. For desert, I get the Coconut Pudding, whenever they have it. It is so GooD, rare chance you will encounter it. Service is ok, nothing special. The 4 seat tables are too small, it would be good for 2 people. If you have more than two, ask for a bigger table, which is very limited. It is a passing grade in my book.
I will preface this review by saying, I don't really know what malaysian food is and to me, it tastes like a fusion of thai and chinese food. With that being said, I don't know what the "proper" items to order are. Nevertheless, everything I have ordered from this place has been pretty solid, from the curry to fried rice and soup. =)
I really like this place, its like a fusion of Chinese/Malaysian/Thai cusine. For starters, I recommend the ROTI TELUR ( a traditional Indian pancake, filled with egg, onion. Served with curry chicken dipping sauce). If you like Indian food, this is what to eat.... and for entree I love the GREEN CURRY CHICKEN CLAY POT
(sliced of chicken breast in green curry coconut broth with eggplant & string beans). If you like thai curry this is the dish to get.
The sizes are pretty reasonable, I usually do a family style food-combo when going with a group of friends. The restaurant's decor is nice and unique, you kind of feel like you're in another world! :D I def. recommend this place. (also a cute date place~)
I work just around the corner from Penang and this is a spot I frequent for take-out. I usually order Penang Pad Thai without squid, which is delicious, could be a little more moist or the House Special Fried Nasi Lemak, it did look boring but ended up being very tasty.
The takeout helpings are large also.
The inside is very cute, definitely would like to find the time to eat there.
Okay so now I have had lunch there. Ginger chicken was delicious (I thought the ginger was water chestnuts so watch out!).
Pretty good if you can't swing the $5k for ticket to Malaysia. It's definitely more Chinese-influenced Malay cuisine, but the roti canai (doughy bread with a side of chicken curry for dipping) is on target as is the beef rendang (a reduced curry with a coconut milk base). I do like their Indian mee goreng (seafood noodle dish with squid ink--don't let that put you off, it only adds a taste of saltiness), although the spiciness of this dish tends to vary everytime I order it.
It keeps my bank account a bit acceptable rather than my having to fly to KL every month.
The short:
Nice ambiance, clean, quick service. Good for a casual or slightly more than casual date, good for lunch. I'd eat here again if I'm in the area.
The long:
Came here with a friend during her lunch break. It was busy but not packed, which meant we got a table for 3 right away, and the waiter came a couple times within 10 minutes while we looked at the menu. The food came reasonably quickly after we ordered as well. Tea and water was provided no issues. Service was fine.
We ordered the hollow vegetable, fried ham rice, and a fried squid+onions+peppers dish. The squid was excellent, crispy and hot and not oily. The vegetables were good, as most restaurants make it. The rice, however, was a little sticky and oily, and really not worth anything special. Given that this place presents itself as a good restaurant, it was not up to par with what I felt I should expect. I would have expected this fried rice from Panda Express, not a fresh preparation. But let me end by saying that the squid was excellent.
Why not 5? The fried rice. Why not 3? The squid, the service, the scenery.
Mafan! (mandarin word meaning TROUBLESOME) Move over Zagat and all those GREAT reviews you got.. let me spill the truth.
That WORD landed this restaurant a star instead of a possible 4. My fam (just the 2 and a half of us) and I arrived in Boston last Friday afternoon. Took a strolled in the beautiful, friendly (yes, very friendly people) city and headed down to Chinatown looking for some comfort food. I, in particular was elated upon seeing a restaurant named "Penang".
I thought, "Oh so familiar.." (I've lived in Singapore for many years, familiar with the food that region including Malaysia, Penang and sort..) Lets go for it! The restaurant was crowded, so that must be a good sign, food must be good. We waited for about 15 minutes to be seated.
We're lead to a table right at the entrance of the kitchen. I knew my seat will get bumped into from time to time. So, I placed my daughter in the outside so hubby and I sat facing each other and we both can attend to our daughter.
Well, one guy came over and mumbled to the waiter. The waiter told me its better to moved my daughter over where I'm at cos a group of people are coming to the BIGGER table (more $$$$$$ spent I guess, so prefered treatment).
Those people on the BIGGER table came 40 minutes later, when we're almost 3/4 done with our food. So, what's the big deal?Anyway, I asked for milk and my hubby asked if they can helped toss the old milk out of our baby's bottle since the toilet was occupied. he said - "ok, ok" and as he walked away, I heared him mumbled "Ma fan..." Well, I don't have to look chinese or a certain way to know mandarin or 16 other languages out there!
Lets fast forward to food.. I'm know what indian mee goreng tasted like (it was my twice weekly lunch staples when I lived in Singapore) and nasi lemak.. lacked the lemak (creaminess). Roti canai.. oh so delicious and ooo ever so expensive for a thin piece of of dough.
It doesn't matter if I'm spending $30 or $300 on food. I expect some courtesy. A "Hi" and "Thank you", that's all if you can't do the rest. Is that so difficult to deliver?
Very nicely decorated and good ambiance in the restaurant. However, you're obviously paying for it in the food prices, which are a few dollars higher here than your typical chinatown restaurant. Still, where else can you go for Malaysian? Hence, if you eat here, sitting down is a better deal overall than take-out.
The food itself was alright, had some roti canai that was a bit limp from steam and a beef rendang and rice plate that was not bad - maybe a touch too well done, but not by a whole lot and still juicy. Decent sauces. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, therefore 3 stars.
My coworkers and I came here for dinner to eat a smorgasbord of food, but in all honesty I don't remember anything but the lobster. Oh, the noodles weren't good, but the Hainan chicken rice was great.
Then the next day, after an awful client meeting, we returned here instead of catching an earlier flight home. Each one of us ordered a lobster to ourselves. I went to change out of my abhorred suit in the spacious bathroom, while my male coworkers ripped their ties off in their seats.
We each got a different flavor. The lobster made each one of us feel a teeny bit better about ourselves.
I recommend the lobsters, especially the curry one.
This is the best Malaysian restaurant i ever crashed into (well the only one). Ive been here since i was a baby and the food is delicious. The ambience is nice and gives you the Southeast Asian nightlife feeling.
Though the staff can be slow and the food is slow the food is worth its wait. Bubor Cha Cha has opened recently and some folks say that it cannot compete with Penang and i havent been there. The food in Penang is excellent ranging from my favorite soy sauced chicken to gigantic fried shrimp bursting with flavor to refreshing coconut sodas and fried ice cream and fried bananas.
I wish I reviewed this earlier but i forgot since its near the Chinatown neighborhood limits.
3.5 stars (will return but not exactly a "fan" yet)
Came here for the first time after going to school across the street for 2 years. I always glance across the street when eating at Pho Pasteur or Emperor's Garden.
My parents were in town as well as my aunt and uncle so we headed over fr something different.
The service was ok. Nothing to impress. We had to ask a few times for water and then for refills.
The food was better than the service. We starte out with the roti canai. It reminded me of a thinner scallion pancake. Pretty good.
For entrees we ordered seasonal fish steamed wth garlic and ginger, seafood delight, Malaysian noodles, green curry clay pot chicken, and chicken flavored rice. The fish had a very nice presentation and nice flavor. The Malaysian noodles tasted like Thai pad see ewe but a spicier version... pretty good. Everything was tasty enough, but I need to give it another taste as my taste buds aren't quite accustomed to the spice yet.
We really enjoyed the chicken flavored rice and even took the leftover home for fried rice the next day!
Seriously, this is probably one of the best Asian restaurants I have been to in my short time here in this world and I have been to many. My girlfriend introduced me to this place and I had eaten here two times, both on a Saturday night at around 6 PM before seeing a show (Blue Man Group and Rent). You can't beat the location of this place (right on Washington Street near Boylston). The portions are generous, depending on what you order, and the prices are just right. Each visit my girlfriend and I were seated right away. The service the first visit was okay in regards to speed and attention, but the second visit we had at least 3 servers helping us and the service was quick (especially with us rushing to catch a show). The interior is interesting and fun - better than the norm - and the ambiance is energetic and bustling (if that makes any sense).
As for the food, it's top notch. From the two different appetizers I've tried (both variations on the pancake served with tasty curry flavored dipping sauce) to the two entrees, they were very delicious and somewhat spicy too, which I like. The menu is huge and offers a variety of Asian dishes that you do not normally see. My girlfriend always gets the mango chicken and she loves it. It comes served in a mango shell with a generous portion of mango and the sauce is similar to a sweet and sour.
I can't wait to visit this place again and again to try out all the different stuff they have to offer. Try this place out and you will either like it or love it!
I went here with a friend and we had the roti appetizer. It was pretty good. I also had the beef chow fun as a main course, it was awesome and the beef was cooked just right. My friend and I shared some fried ice cream for dessert which was good too, but the sauce on it was a little odd-tasting. Overall, it was a good experience!
My friend, Cody, and I stumbled upon this place, when we were turned away from Pho Pasteur, which was closed.
Panang was OPEN - and it was past eleven at night! Being girls from the Southcoast area, and NEVER being able to get, do, or eat ANYTHING late at night or on Sundays, this was particularly thrilling.
The place is really spacious with fashionably faux-rustic booths and floor-to-ceiling windows (which we sat by.)
Our order came out, like, unreasonably fast. The appetizer was delish - a steamed, spring roll-type thing, with fresh veggies and shrimp inside and a spicy sauce on top - AMAZING. I got a fried noodle dish that was loaded with squid and was good - maybe needed a tad more soy sauce or salt or something? And Cody ordered a seafood Tom Yum soup that was only $8, packed with crisp, just-cooked veggies, and was about the size of her head!
All-in-all, we had a great time. This would be such a fun place to come with a large group of friends and order one of everything! I am not familiar with Malaysian cuisine, and Penang's menu has lots of interesting stuff, I've never tried before.
I want to go back soon and sample the deep-fried pig intestines!
Food was ok. Service at lunch was rushed and indifferent, even before things got busy. Prices were high, and they charged me $1 extra for rice, which I did not order.
love this place. I used to go to the original Penang in Queens, NY with the fam all the time. I would've given it 5 stars if I wasn't born in Malaysia and had the real thing. The Roti, hokkien mee, and chicken rice are good. I've had some food that didn't really meet my hopes (lobak, sarang burong) but it still quenches my thirst to malay food!
I can't find anything better in Boston so I would recommend it.
Penang is one of my fav spots in Chinatown. We went there by suggestion of a friend.
Have been a fan of Penang for a handful of years.
For those who have never had Malaysian food it's a great place to go and try it. The atmosphere in the restaurant is fun, it's like an outdoor island with exposed shed roofs and doors with a semi exposed kitchen. They are always super busy (which means a lot of people agree!)
The food, in my best explanation of Malaysian, is a mix of indian (the use of curry) and authentic mandarin (clean flavors, white rices, stews). Their drink menu is basic, wines, beers and Malaysian drinks.
My fav dishes are the spicy spring rolls, indian pancake, veg. fried rice, mango chicken, salty squid, and satay. If you don't know how to use chopsticks, remember to ask the waitress/waiter for forks.
The only reason I took a star off is the dessert menu. Malaysian desserts are soemthing I am not thrilled about..but my husband loves the peanut dessert (name escapes me).
One word:
GOLDENCRISPYFRIEDSQUIDMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!
It's worth the four stars for that. Plus they have other yummy dishes like the Roti Canai. AND if you order pineapple fried rice, it comes IN A PINEAPPLE! Amaze.
Ericalynn G. and Tara C. decided it was time for a girls lunch, and what a better place to go then Chinatown... obviously! Ericalynn is a huge fan of Penang, and Tara nor I had ever been, so we decided it was perfect!
I'll admit, I checked out the menu online beforehand and was a little hesitant. I'm not a full-blown vegetarian, but I prefer vegetable dishes. I also do not eat cooked eggs, and many of the dishes had eggs in them. Luckily, I was able to make a modification to a Prawn Mee (egg and rice noodles, shrimp, vegetables, in a spicy shrimp broth- usually with pork). Tara C. had a little more of a difficult time... I believe a combination of language barrier and just overall confusion. I'm sure she'll be reviewing her experience.
The Prawn Mee was awesome. Honestly, I was surprised at how good it was. Huge portion of broth and the aforementioned goodies. The "spicy" shrimp broth really wasn't spicy, but the flavors were much more complex than Pho you would get at a Vietnamese restaurant. The only type of veggie that was in the soup was spinach, but I love spinach so I was happy. The combination of egg and rice noodles (thin one and thick ones) was great. There were so many noodles, though! I didn't eat half of them, and I always finish all my food :)
I wish Penang had lunch specials like nearly every place in Chinatown does. I really wanted to try their Mango Chicken and Ginger Chicken, but $12.50 for lunch in Chinatown is a little steep. OK for dinner, though. Their seafood sound great, too. Fun atmosphere, very clean... service needs some help, though. Lots of different servers with a general feeling of confusion.
Amazing curry and roti.
I was walking by this restaurant and didn't realize that it's the same Penang as the giant chain I've been to in Philadelphia and DC. It doesn't help that the vast majority of Malaysian restaurants are name Penang.
We started with the roti canai and teh tarik, which were fine but nothing special. The roti was a little soggier than it should be, and the tea was slightly too bitter. We ordered the beef rendang and sauteed squid as our main course. The beef was good, but the squid tasted really fishy and not fresh at all.
The worst part of the experience was the service. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all on a Thursday night, and yet the waiters seemed very annoyed, bordering on angry, whenever we asked for anything. I definitely won't come back to this location.
I am new in town and all excited to check out this Penang for some authentic Asian cuisine. I had previously been to NJ Penang restaurant and had excellent experience.
The service is bad. The waiting staff has no smile when they serve us. We ordered Chicken Satay ( very juicy, but the peanut dipping can be better.) which we were informed, during ordering, the wait time was 10mins. We agreed. And we also ordered Wonton mee ( Soup ok, but the wonton is not so nice.) and Nasi Lemak (Portion is big, achar is crunchy and nice). Drinks we had a durian shake (Love it, taste like real durian and only durian in it) and coconut drink ( with a few pieces of floating coconut flesh.)
We waited for long while for our food to be served. But we were not so happy not so much of the wait, the food, rather, the attitude of the service. What's wrong with some smile for the customers?
We will go back for the food when we miss the durian shake, but not so soon.
Haven't been to this location in years, but I've always been a fan.
Recommend:
- Roti Canai (an obvious choice)
- Taro/veggie dish. I don't remember the name, but it's a deep fried taro in the shape of a bowl filled with mixed vegetables.
- Chicken and mango (but only when mango is in season)
I went here for dinner the other night and was seated quickly (it was a Sunday night, so not that busy)...the service was really fast, almost too fast boarding on pesty, but i guess if you are in a rush this may be the place to go.
I got a veggie spring roll which was really yummy, but very spicy, i loved that and then i got the ginger chicken. I really like everything about the ginger chicken except for the HUGE chunks of ginger...it's really difficult to chew on that and then taste anything else.
Otherwise i really enjoyed the meal and would go back.
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Taiwanese
Neighborhood: Back Bay
Category: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Harvard Square
Category: Chinese
My obsession with Chinatown has gotten a…
For when you want a tasty meal without the hefty…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Stuff Asian People Like. Oh, and eggs (white on…
How I entertain myself before after or during work…
When I feel more exotic than usual and am willing…
I lived in Boston for four years, and though it…
I need to go back and eat more in North End. For…
