Penang Malaysian Cuisine

2201 S Wentworth Ave Chicago, IL 60616 (between 22nd Pl & Cermak Rd)

Penang is the most popular Malaysia restaurant in the United States. We had tried other chains located in New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. We think Philadelphia is the BEST. We had visited the Penang in Chicago for couple times. I loved their décor when I first came here 4 years ago. Now, they are a bit old and dirty. Also, they do not keep the same quality and taste of foods at all time. Though, they are still the best Malaysia cuisine in town. Last week, we had a great experience in Penang for a weekday lunch.

I ordered the Penang Char Keow Tiao. It is a popular Malaysian Chinese dish, stir fried rice noodles with bean sprout, green onion, egg and seafood. It was so delicious. The authentic flavor really satisfied my craving. It would make it perfect to substitute the squid by the cockles.

Eric ordered the Prawn (shrimp) noodle. It was a dish with egg noodles, shrimps, hard-boil egg, kangkung (water spinach) and deep fried shallots in a fragrant shrimp stock. Traditionally, the stock is made from shrimp shells, dried shrimps and chicken. Some people will tell you it is made from fresh shrimps. In fact, those hawkers in Malaysia will not use the fresh shrimp to make the stock, as it is too expensive. The shrimp shells work well for the fragrant and sweetness. And, it taste equally good as fresh shrimp. Eric finished it all in minutes. I could only taste some of the soup. It was excellent! I love kangkung so much. How good if they could have more kangkung on this dish.

I wish I could have more room for others. But, we could only have a dessert for sharing. We had the traditional dessert, Cendol. Basically, it consists of shaved ice, coconut milk, red bean, palm sugar and green starch noodle. I always judge Cendol by its palm sugar. Malacca (one of the states in Malaysia) produced the best palm sugar in the nation named sugar Malacca or coconut sugar. Therefore, they have the best Cendol in Malaysia with rich and savory taste. I would say Penang made a good Cendol as it tasted very similar to Cendol Malacca.