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2012-12-18
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Heard good reviews about this place from friends, and reviews online seemed quite ok, so I finally got together a group of friends to go there for Christmas lunch. I heard rave reviews about the Penang char kway teow - the signature dish for Penang Place and so that was the first dish I attacked. I reached the restaurant at around 12 noon, but as you can see in the photo below, the char kway teow was emptied out already! Never mind, we attacked the keuhs section first, while we hovered around wa
I heard rave reviews about the Penang char kway teow - the signature dish for Penang Place and so that was the first dish I attacked. I reached the restaurant at around 12 noon, but as you can see in the photo below, the char kway teow was emptied out already! Never mind, we attacked the keuhs section first, while we hovered around waiting for the next round of kway teow to be replenished.
The keuhs were all pretty good, not too sweet. But the keuh ko sui, which is a bit like the ondeh ondeh is way too soft. The whole piece just collapsed in the mouth in a mushy mess. I expect the skin outside to be springy while the inside oozes out. A few friends liked the keuh ko sui though....oh well, differing tastes then
Aha, due to my ever-sharp eyes, I pounced upon the char kway teow once it's out. Being one of the first few to attack the newly dished out kway teow, I got myself quite a few nice, huge springy prawns. There are cockles too, although they are a bit small. The wok fragrance is good, and the spiciness is just enough and the kway teow not too greasy. There's plenty of chye sim vegetables in there too. Tastes really good! If you have a large appetite, one can easily polish off one or two plates at one go This is a dish that you must really try!
Hmmm, perhaps we already tried the good stuff at the beginning, the quality of the food seemed to go downhill subsequently. The platter below has nasi lemak rice, beef rendang, curry chicken, mixed veges and steamed otak otak.Let's start with the better item: The beef in the rendang itself is quite tender, but I find the flavouring to be a bit too sweet for my liking. Mixed vegetables were ok. Nasi lemak rice was just normal, nothing to shout about. In fact, I think it is too mild-tasting. Sambal chilli is too sweet and not fragrant enough. Curry chicken's curry is too dilute, and the potato could be cooked a bit longer for the curry flavour to be absorbed fully and for it to be softer. Sorry, potato person here My curry potato standard is high. The steamed otak is too mushy and a bit watery...not nice.
Moving on to the jiu Hu Eng Chai (cuttlefish with kangkong). I'm not a big fan of this dish, but my friend, another harsh food critic, is. According to her, the dish "cannot make it". She's Malaysian by the way, so she has her own high expectations of the dish. The sauce used is totally different from the authentic Penang version. They used the sweet sauce for the hawker-type of chee cheong fun instead. Ok disclaimer here - I dun like the hawker-type of chee cheong fun. I only like the hong kong dim sum style of chee cheong fun hahaha.
The Penang hokkien noodles is similar to the prawn noodle soup in Singapore, just that they use beehoon and add in half a boiled egg. I don't like this as the broth is too sweet for my liking.
The Penang assam laksa is pretty good and it really whets up your appetite.
For the fried food platter, the Penang Lobak was not bad and the chicken wing ok too. The spring roll is another must-try. It's really crispy! Shiok to hear the crackling sound as you bite down into the roll. I believe it's handmade, as the spring roll is quite huge and there is a lot of shredded turnip inside. This is another popular item that disappears very fast from the buffet table.
There's a fun area for you to make your own ice kachang or chendol. That can't go much wrong, since you can cater it to your own tastes Other desserts I tried: Pulut Hitam (quite good), Luo Han Guo with Dried Longans (not bad) and Gui Ling Gao with honey (yucks, no herbal taste at all in the jelly, and the honey is too thick)
Ah, almost forgot to mention that for the Christmas buffet, they charged us $3 more than usual, so it's $25.90++ per pax because they serve Turkey and ham. Aye, nothing much to shout about, the turkey tastes just like roast chicken and the ham is nothing special.
Well, in summary there is a large variety of food offered for their buffet. Penang Char Kway Teow, the fried springroll and the keuhs are the highlights. Other than that, the rest is mostly just ok stuff. Depending on how you see it, $30 will be expensive if are just here to try the kway teow. You can try ordering the item ala carte then. However, if you like variety and are not too finicky about your food (like I am), you can always try this place out.
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