Penang Place Restaurant
With Mother's Day just round the corner, big brother brought us to Penang Place Restaurant for it's buffet dinner as part of our early celebration. The restaurant seemed spacious enough but strangely, the tables were all squeezed to one side which I find too cramp for comfort as I have to make detours just to get to the food.
The waiting staff were attentive initially but as diners began filling up the place, their responsiveness began to wane.
Penang Char Koay Teow (CKT )
During our recent trip to Penang's Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, the Penang CKT we ordered tasted just normal; in fact, it was disappointing.
There was nothing special and we did not particularly like it. Either we had ordered from the wrong stall, or Penang CKT was grossly over-rated.
The CKT from Penang Place tasted decent and is much better than the one we had in Gurney Drive. It was not greasy, had that smoky flavor and comes with fresh prawns and cockles.
Unlike our local version, Penang's CKT does not include yellow egg noodles and they do not use kecap manis. Their's is fried with duck egg and lean towards the savoury side with a hint of spiciness.
Rendang
The Rendang was slightly salty but very tender. I only took one piece. Wished I had taken more.
Springroll
The fried Springroll (they call it the "Choon Piah") tasted normal but the chilli sauce was very appetising!
Prawn Mee
The broth was exceptionally flavorsome and I could not help but finish up all the soup. It was too small a bowl and I wished I had gone back for seconds but I had wanted to leave some space for the other dishes.
Penang Laksa
I have a thing for soups made with Assam (Tamarind) as I find them so appetising. The cucumbers and pineapples made this a very refreshing dish.
Just watch out for tiny fish bones.
Nasi Lemak
I did not try the Nasi Lemak as I did not want the rice to fill me up too quickly. It is a strange sight to see Hae Bee Hiam (Spicy Prawn Floss) and okra placed alongside the other ingredients.
DIY Fruit Rojak
I forgot to try this.
Kueh
The assortment of kuehs were very pleasing to the eyes. They were not too sweet and comes in delectable bite-sizes.
Steamed Tapioca Kueh
Herbal Chicken Soup
No wonder the Herbal Chicken Soup is so tasty as it is full of ingredients! There were enoki, chinese mushroom, black chicken, normal chicken and other unidentified herbal ingredients.
Longan with Luohanguo (Monk's Fuit)
I like this Longan with Luohanguo drink. It tasted a little like Cheng Tng while the transparent strips (agar agar?) in it reminding me of imitation Birds' Nest.
Suggestion: Add some shaved ice (from the Ice Kachang machine) to it and you could have a very refreshing drink.
By now, I was already bursting at the seams but I have yet to try the Ice Kachang. I went to DIY my own Ice Kachang but returned with this instead...
Prawn Paste Chicken Wings
This was found in the same food warmer as the Choon Piah but we did not see the chicken wings there despite the many times we had passed it. The chicken is greasy but oh-so-yummy!
Ice Kachang
The pink syrup is forgettable but the brown syrup is Rootbeer! Nothing can go wrong with Root Beer and shaved ice!
There were lots of other dishes which I have yet to try like the fried cempedak, curry chicken with baguette, Lor Bak and Nasi Lemak. I might just go back to try these and have seconds of the Prawn Mee and Herbal Chicken Soup!
The standee outside the entrance
Directions: Penang Place Restaurant is located at One-North MRT Station (Circle Line).
PENANG PLACE RESTAURANT
1 Fusionopolis Way,Connexis #B1-20/24
Singapore 138632
Tel: 6467 7003 / 6467 7008
Closed on Sundays