Penang

[ellencho]

My brother and I ate at Penang last night and were rather disappointed. We shared a roti canai (which incidentally was very nice so not EVERYTHING there was bad). And I had the beef rendang, and my brother had the beef tripe casserole. Now, this was my first meal there in a year or so, and my brother had only eaten there less than a month before. My beef rendang was sort of on the wet side (my understanding is that it's supposed to be a spicy dry curry) and it was extremely mild, with very little hotness at all. His curry beef tripe casserole didn't have any tripe in it and mostly had bits of beef. We both have had the same dishes previously in the same restaurant and we couldn't understand why our food was so disappointing. Neither of us complained about anything to the staff, we're just not going to visit again unless we get another roti canai craving.

[AzianBrewer]

I am not sure which Penang you are pointing out. But they pretty much suck everywhere.

[SG-]

I concur, went there a couple times earlier this year and basically everything I had was bad. I've since stopped going. The branch in Edison, NJ churns out more consistent results from my experience.

My brother and I ate at Penang last night and were rather disappointed.  We shared a roti canai (which incidentally was very nice so not EVERYTHING there was bad). And I had the beef rendang, and my brother had the beef tripe casserole. Now, this was my first meal there in a year or so, and my brother had only eaten there less than a month before. My beef rendang was sort of on the wet side (my understanding is that it's supposed to be a spicy dry curry) and it was extremely mild, with very little hotness at all.  His curry beef tripe casserole didn't have any tripe in it and mostly had bits of beef. We both have had the same dishes previously in the same restaurant and we couldn't understand why our food was so disappointing.  Neither of us complained about anything to the staff, we're just not going to visit again unless we get another roti canai craving.

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[ellencho]

I am not sure which Penang you are pointing out.  But they pretty much suck everywhere.

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Well, seeing we're in the PA forum, and there's only one in PA take a wild guess

[KatieLoeb]

I've always thought that the food at Panang had good flavors, but was much too oily and heavy. I inevitably get an upset stomach every time I eat there (I no longer do). Glad to see my experience isn't a "just me" thing.

I also thought the Roti Canai was the only edible thing on the menu.

[Rich Pawlak]

The newest branch of the chain, in Lawrenceville, NJ, does most of the classic Penang dishes quite well, with a much lighter touch than the Philly branch. I have also found the same lighter touch at the chain's Edison, NJ outpost, which does not share the industrial decor of the other Penangs, opting for a more kitchy, tropical grass hut look. I have eaten at a number of the Penangs, and these two Jersey locations seem, to me, to do the best job. However, beef Randang is beef Randang, always a wet, stewy dish. Never seen it served any other way.

[philadining]

With Penang, I think it often comes down to whether you find dishes that you like, and whether you like this style of cooking, which does generally tend to be pretty heavy.

I understand your disappointment, ellencho, if you've liked it before but then got a meal that wasn't as good as your previous experiences. But I'd be reluctant to call it a trend yet...

And Azianbrewer, there does seem to be a pretty wide variation on the quality between individual places, I've always thought Philly's was pretty good. Rich, big thanks for the reports on the Jersey locations.

And my experience is the same as Rich's, I like the Rendang, but anywhere I've gotten it, even outside the Penang chain, it's been a wet curry.

[ellencho]

Interesting about the wet curry thing. Honestly, I've had it made at people's homes, and made at Nyonya in NYC and it was always a dry curry. I mean, there was a bit of sauce around it, but it wasn't as runny as the sauce I got at Penang. From my experience, it's been a tighter sauce.

[philadining]

Interesting about the wet curry thing. Honestly, I've had it made at people's homes, and made at Nyonya in NYC and it was always a dry curry. I mean, there was a bit of sauce around it, but it wasn't as runny as the sauce I got at Penang. From my experience, it's been a tighter sauce.

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Shame on me for extrapolating from only a couple of experiences! I've had it a few times at Penang, and at a place called Melati in London which serves Malaysian and Indonesian food. And at both of these places it was always a pretty soupy, stewey dish.

But I just did an unscientific google bounce around the net, and found equal numbers of recipes that instructed one to simmer it down until the sauce was almost gone, as ones that instructed that there should be plenty of thick sauce.

So maybe neither is "correct", maybe it's one of those things that varies from cook to cook, and starts arguments between neighbors.

[ellencho]

I wasn't trying to start an argument and I wasn't trying to say if anyone was right or wrong. If that's the impression that you got then I apologize. Clearly, there are many ways to make beef rendang, but the main point of my Penang post was that my brother and I did not enjoy our food.

[philadining]

Oh no, I didn't mean to start an argument either, I was just trying to backtrack from Rich and I making unequivocal know-it-all statements that Rendang is always soupy....

And I totally believe you when you say you were disappointed, and I couldn't blame you for being reluctant to return. I'll just say I've gone a gazillion times and it's been generally good, occasionally not as good, but it hasn't seemed to be a downhill trend, just a random off-night, or an off-dish.

Of course a decline COULD be happening, and I'll look forward to eGulleteers reporting their experiences, I'll try to get there soon too.

Really, sincerely, thank for the heads up about your meal, and I just hope it's not a trend.

[SG-]

Interesting about the wet curry thing. Honestly, I've had it made at people's homes, and made at Nyonya in NYC and it was always a dry curry. I mean, there was a bit of sauce around it, but it wasn't as runny as the sauce I got at Penang. From my experience, it's been a tighter sauce.

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You are correct authentic beef rendang is supposed to be dry, and liquid should be completely reduced.

[Roonytunes]

However, beef Randang is beef Randang, always  a wet, stewy dish.  Never seen it served any other way.

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I am from the Malaysia/Singapore area (born and raised) and this is not an accurate statement. Beef Rendang is usually dry, but can be slightly wet, but should not be a curry of any sort.

[Gastro888]

The newest branch of the chain, in Lawrenceville, NJ, does most of the classic Penang dishes quite well, with a much lighter touch than the Philly branch...

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My friends and I ate there last month. It was fantastic! My only complaint was they didn't use the proper noodles for the chow kuway taow - they used noodles similar to pho noodles! Otherwise, everything was delicious. The space is small and in an unexpected strip mall near a Home Depot, though...

[philadining]

Sincere thanks to everybody for the Rendang lessons. I wasn't being snide upthread when I said "shame on me" for extrapolating from two restaurants, I meant it, I knew I had limited experience, but I thought I had enough to make a generalization. But it seems I was wrong! Judging from comments here, as well as looking at a LOT of recipes and descriptions on the web, it does indeed look like Rendang is more often on the dry side.

I'm always wary of the concept of "authentic" though, I've had this dish in two completely unrelated Malaysian restaurants, and in both cases, more than once at each place, the Rendang was pretty wet. They weren't trying to do a fusion cuisine or anything, it wasn't being made by people who didn't know what it was supposed to be, it was just how they did it there. Or maybe how it happened to turn out on those nights, I do not claim to have enough data points to make a statistically defensible argument about whether that's the way it's always done at either place. Many of the recipes I've found said something like "cook down until the sauce is almost gone" and I guess that "almost" leaves some latitude for the cook's preference.

I make no claims to be an expert in this cuisine, but when Rich mentioned that Rendang was always wet and stewy, that definitely reflected my experiences, at more than one place, on more than one continent (but importantly, I have not had it in Malaysia...) With the helpful comments here, most pointedly from someone who grew up there, and with further web research too, it seems to be that Rendang is usually on the dry side, but sometimes wetter. By a truly odd coincidence, both Rich and I have, completely independently, randomly experienced only the wetter end of the scale. Weird.

Anyway, getting back to the original point of this thread, I haven't made it back there myself yet, but a friend just went for lunch yesterday, and got the Roti Canai, and one of those huge Seafood soups, I can never remember which one he gets... but he said it was as good or better than it's ever been. Small sample, but he didn't feel like anything was in decline.

Edited September 13, 2005 by philadining (log)

[philadining]

Grabbed a quick, late bite at Penang last night, had the usual suspects:

Roti Canai - great as always..

Beef Rendang - not trying to start a fight, but it was, again, pretty saucy, a little oily, really tasty.

Didn't they have Singha beer there before? Maybe I'm confusing Penang with Rangoon... Anyway, Tsing Tao is fine, but I actually prefer Singha, or even one of the Indian beers with that thicker, murkier curry-ish stuff.

[philadining]

According to some press reports, some former employees of Penang left and opened their own place called Banana Leaf, around the corner on Arch Street, just a few doors north of the Troc. I got some take-out the other day, and there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that from my initial sampling, it's every bit as good as Penang. The bad news is that it's almost exactly the same as Penang. The menu has the same items on offer, described with seemingly identical prose, and what I ordered, and what I saw pass by, seems to be prepared the same way. It almost seems like a branch of Penang, a few hundred feet away from the other one... That's not inherently so bad, except if there are two Malaysian restaurants in town, it would be nice if there were some variety!

Service was very friendly, and they seem to be open even later than Penang, 10am until 2am, 7 days a week. So, I'm glad to have them, but wish they were a little more distinctive...

Edited July 5, 2006 by philadining (log)

[herbacidal]

According to some press reports, some former employees of Penang left and opened their own place called Banana Leaf, around the corner on Arch Street, just a few doors north of the Troc.  I got some take-out the other day, and there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that from my initial sampling, it's every bit as good as Penang. The bad news is that it's almost exactly the same as Penang. The menu has the same items on offer, described with seemingly identical prose, and what I ordered, and what I saw pass by, seems to be prepared the same way. It almost seems like a branch of Penang, a few hundred feet away from the other one... That's not inherently so bad, except if there are two Malaysian restaurants in town, it would be nice if there were some variety!

Service was very friendly, and they seem to be open even later than Penang, 10am until 2am, 7 days a week.  So, I'm glad to have them, but wish they were a little more distinctive...

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Well, at least there'll be less of a line for Penang.

Banana Leaf's a few doors west of the Troc.

[philadining]

Banana Leaf's a few doors west of the Troc.

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Oh, right, west.... I guess it would be tricky to be a few doors north of the Troc! Thanks, Herb.

It's in the space that was Shogun for a long time, then something else recently. North side of the street, mid-block between 10th and 11th.

Edited July 6, 2006 by philadining (log)

[philadining]

Some Pics from takeout at Banana Leaf...

Tofu Satay

Chicken Satay

Sweet Glaze, same peanut sauce as Penang...

Beef Rendang

Tasty, tender, a little soupy....