Penang Place Restaurant

[1]
I've heard a lot about Penang Place from quite a few blogs, and the Penang Fried Kway Teow was the one thing that was receiving rave reviews from many of these foodies. I also learnt that Penang Place doesn't serve pork nor lard, which was enough for me to bring the family here for dinner.

[2]
The interior decor of the place is very simple and unassuming, and if you like, you've got the view of a small pond outside, complete with a small waterfall heh. This place is normally quiet on Saturdays (or long weekends, since we were here on Boxing Day) because it's located in the middle of the International Business Park and if I have to add, almost in the middle of nowhere. It's quite a walk if you're coming from Jurong East MRT (my dad drove) so do take the shuttle bus if you're not too keen about burning calories before a heavy buffet.

Penang Place Dinner Buffet: 6.9/10

Instead of giving individual ratings, as a whole I think Penang Place deserves a fair score of 6.9. Their range is limited though, and you should like Malay-type cuisines to enjoy the food served. All of us do, though it might not be the case for everyone else. There's hits and misses here, with the Penang Fried Kway Teow and Chicken Curry faring very very well, while the desserts and Assam Laksa less so. To be honest, my parents would only give it a 5, given their preference for Carousel at Royal Plaza on Scotts. They agreed on the kway teow and curry, but felt the soup noodles, laksa and rojak was far below average. I suppose I left with a better aftertaste because I ate mostly the best the place has to offer.

Nasi Lemak


The nasi lemak was very fragrant and wasn't too moist or thick with coconut. Just nice, and goes very well with the other different dishes served, like the curry, beef rendang and otah-otah. You don't see the rice in the picture above (it's in the pot on the right) but they do have pretty good sambal chilli and crunchy anchovies to accompany the rice.

Chicken Curry



I liked this a lot, much because it was thick and spicy at the same time. Indeed, you can tell from the colour that it has some "kick" on tantalising your taste buds and bringing out some beads of perspiration. Good stuff.

Assam Laksa


I think this is really something of an acquired taste. It's not the usual coconut-curry laksa but one with a more sour and clearer soup base, something that neither me nor Daphne liked very much. One spoon or two was all we managed haha.

Penang Char Kway Teow


The winner for the night definitely. At first I was a bit concerned because I spotted the Chinese sausage in the noodles, but the waiters assured me it's chicken. Daphne's confirmation was good enough for me. The noodles are certainly a hit with customers, and the restaurant particularly replenishes it bit by bit regularly for quality control purposes. This is good because you won't be eating cold noodles and the freshness helps to retain the flavour and fragrance.


My attempt at a more artistic shot of the delicious noodles. The restaurant was very generous with the seafood ingredients (prawns, squids and cockles), and overall the dish had the right amount of oil, moisture and texture. I ate a lot of this really, because it was so good. Even my dad, who has often lamented the lack of good tasting char kway teow ever since he converted, agreed that this was good stuff and said that he would return next time just for the noodles. The noodles is sweet and spicy from the dark sweet sauce and chilli, with the beansprouts adding a little crunch to everything. I'm hungry for more as I'm typing this haha!

Roast Turkey


One of their special dishes because of the Christmas period. The turkey wasn't too tough, but you have to eat the skin (yes, a no-no for the health-conscious out there) to have a better taste of the spices and marinate.

Fried Nibbles


They don't call it nibbles, but it's finger-food really - spring rolls, chicken chunks and chicken bits wrapped in seaweed. You can also see that they serve "achar", which is a spicy, sweet and sour Asian pickle.

Our Plates





Just thought I should include some pictures of our plates haha. As you can see, there's also beef rendang (Malay-style beef in spicy gravy), "chap chye" (stir-fried mixed vegetables), fried chicken wings (yums!), otah-otah (grilled or steamed fish paste in banana leaf, here it's steamed and has a closer resemblance to a soft fish cake), satay and "siew mai" (seafood dumpling).

Desserts


You can make your own "ice kachang" (flavoured ice-shavings) or "chendol" here, and I'm sure the children would love playing with the ice-shaving machine haha. For the foreigners, these are two of the more popular and common desserts in Singapore and Malaysia, and I think it's a good way to wash down the usually spicy food served in these two countries. They also serve a few traditional Malay kuihs (bite-sized desserts). On taste, it's very ordinary, nothing to shout about. There's also fruits, which seems to be what most people turn to instead.

Service
Excellent. The waiters are very attentive, and they regularly replace our iced water jug as well as used plates. Polite and friendly too.

Price
We paid an extra $2 because it was the Christmas and NYE holiday period. Otherwise the buffet goes at $19.80++ (lunch) and $21.80++ (dinner) on weekdays, and $21.80++ (lunch) and $23.80++ (dinner) on Saturdays, Public Holiday Eve Nights and on Public Holidays. Closed on Sundays.



Place
6 International Business Park
#01-05 Atrium, Off Boon Lay Way
Website: http://www.penangplace.com/

Additional Comments


Penang Place claims not to serve any pork or lard, and that its meats are from Halal sources.

Photo Credits
[1]: rain82.multiply.com/photos/album/611/Buffet_at_Penang_Place
[2]: forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2190901

* All other pictures are taken by me with my Canon Ixus 80 IS and Nokia N85.