To kick off 2012, J.S. and I were invited to have dinner at Penang Delight Cafe, a little restaurant in East Vancouver that serves Malaysian cuisine. Being from Southeast Asia ourselves (him from Malaysia, and me from Singapore), we looked forward to trying Malaysian food in Vancouver. We have tried Banana Leaf, but that's another story...
We went a little earlier than his large group of friends so we would not have to wait too long for the food. We arrived a little after 7 p.m. and we got ushered to a small table close to the back. The restaurant is not very big, but there were a fair number of tables.
We sat in this little "corridor" at first. Our waitress served us tea, and we requested for water. She cheerily replied in a Malaysian accent, "I change for you?" She also asked if we want hot water or warm water, very considerate of her. After we had placed our orders, J.S.'s friends arrived and we asked if there was room to sit with them. It was a little chaotic at first but we made do, and ended up sitting beside the counter of the restaurant.
There were many decorations and photos on the wall, and the place got more bustling as the night went on. I felt relieved that our food arrived in about 20 minutes, since our friend who had been there had to wait for an hour for his food last time!
I ordered the Kari Ayam with rice which, simply put, translates into curry chicken with rice. Sorry, a little out of focus here, but there were three large pieces of chicken with a few cubes of potato, all served on a piece of lettuce, and a serving of rice.
You may think, it is just a curry dish, how special can it get? I must admit, I was not sure what I was in for. Will it be too spicy? Will it taste like Indian curry? Does it taste as good as it looks? All these questions were running through my head. I took a small taste, and boy, I was surprised!
The curry tasted exactly like what I've had in Singapore, and it was the kind that was not too spicy, nor did it taste like any other kinds of curry. It was flavourful, savoury with just enough spicy to define curry. When I tasted it, I thought, "This is the correct taste!" -- a feeling of home came back to me.
Sounds like I'm exaggerating, but it was genuinely tasty! The rice was perfectly cooked and went hand in hand with the curry sauce that I am so used to having on my rice. One downside to this dish -- J.S. and I both agreed they should have served more sauce, since we Singaporeans/Malaysians LOOOOVE to drench our rice with sauce (or maybe it's just us...). Nevertheless, it was good curry, perhaps even better than the ones I've had in Singapore! I would say it was regularly priced at $7.95 for a not-so-big serving of rice.
This was the dish J.S. picked -- Cantonese Chow Fun (Cantonese fried noodles). When I saw that on the menu, I thought, "Why would anyone order Cantonese food in a Malaysian restaurant?" But we did not regret trying this dish at all.
It had two different kind of rice noodles in it -- crispy, thin white vermicelli and brown, soft 'hor fun' (flat noodles). The crispy vermicelli was soaked in the glossy sauce, which made it soft and chewy, giving it a nice texture on the teeth. The brown hor fun was smooth and fun to slurp up. Having two noodles in one dish was a very exciting adventure for my tastebuds!
The sauce tasted also just like the kind we have at home; it was thick with some egg swirls in it. There was a generous assortment of toppings on the noodles -- thin slices of pork, thin slices of fishcake, large pieces of squid which were tough to chew (just like the ones in Malaysia, according to J.S.), fat juicy fresh shelled prawns, Chinese cabbage (choy sum) and I can't remember if there were black mushrooms... Everything went very well together and the portion size was definitely worth the price of $8.95 for this noodle dish!
For dessert, we had Kuih Dadar -- crepes rolled up in the shape of a spring roll with shredded coconut and 'gula melaka' (brown palm sugar syrup) inside. I had never tried this before. We initially decided to try other desserts but this was the only one they had that day. It took 20 minutes to come and we were almost about to cancel it, but they served it after we reminded them about our order.
I thought the presentation was good, since it was drizzled with the brown sugar syrup and shredded coconut, reflecting what was in the roll. However, J.S. was disappointed and thinks they could have done better displaying the dessert like the picture on the wall.
I wished I had taken a better shot of the inside, but this is all I have. The coconut was chewy and very sweet with the syrup, and the crepe was spongy and tender, which soaked up the syrup nicely. We both enjoyed this dish, but decided the price was too exorbitant since it was $4.95 for only two pieces.
Over all, it was nice to have food from our home countries and it left me with a good impression of the place. Our waitress was extremely helpful, courteous and went all out to cater to our table, especially when we were waiting for our dessert, she offered to bring us fresh napkins. The boss also walked around chatting with customers and frequently asked if we needed anything.
On the other hand, this place did get pretty busy past 8 p.m. and service levels dropped after that. No surprises, but if you want your food quick and your service good, go there before 7 p.m., when it is not too crowded!
I might or might not visit this place again, since it is quite far away from my neighbourhood
Penang Delight is located at 3885 Rupert St., Vancouver, B.C.
♥ Nikki
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