Penang Delight Cafe at Rupert St

Happy New Year! I wonder if there are any remaining readers here.. I apologize that this space has gotten a little dusty, but that was because I was tied up with my course exams! Now that is finally done with, I am determined to get this back up and running!

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 of comfort. At least, the place is easily assessible by bus but the journey is still long. If I ever visit this place again, I'll look forward to trying other dishes on the menu!

Penang Delight is located at 3885 Rupert St., Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Pondok at West Broadway & Oak/Laurel St

Pondok is an Indonesian restaurant located on the second floor of a building in between Oak St. and Laurel St. I don't remember the exact reason why we were there, it might have been because another place we planned to go was closed on that day.



We went there around 6 p.m. and to our surprise, it was not very packed. In fact, it was very empty as the restaurant was the size of a large Chinese banquet restaurant hall, complete with a stage, gigantic flat-screen TV and a karaoke system. I imagine they have large functions with entertainment here.

Everything on the menu looked intimidating in terms of price, so we decided to go for one of the "Rice Tables" which were two-person combos that come with rice and a few dishes. We chose Combo #3 which came with spring rolls, vegetable stirfry, prawns and chicken for $29.



This was not what I was anticipating. I had imagined two servings of rice and a separate dish for each of the sides of the combo. Instead, this huge platter came to us and we were shell-shocked for a few seconds.

I mean, what kind of two-person combo comes with a single mound of rice? Pardon me if I am not respecting the dining culture of Indonesians, but I would think that we would at least each get a bowl of rice for the price that we are paying here.



We ended up getting another side of rice which cost an extra 2 bucks, because we are both bottomless pits when it comes to rice. *big grin*

After recovering from the shock that we were not going to get little plates separating each dish, we moved on to tasting each one. First up was the vegetable stirfry dish.



The menu calls it "a traditional dish of shredded cabbage and carrots stir fried with eggs and herbs." I found it no different from the food I usually cook at home. Cabbage, carrots and eggs all jumbled with some simple condiments was all this dish had to offer. The portion was quite generous, but this was not a dish I expect to taste at a restaurant.



Next up is the chicken curry with some potatoes and sauce. The curry tasted alright and not too spicy for my tastebuds. I would say they could have been a little more sparing with the chicken, as you can hardly see any in this picture.



The bright colour of the sauce the prawns came in scared me at first, but a quick taste told me the colour was more sweet than spicy. The menu said they were tiger prawns simmered in a tomato and chilli base sauce. The prawns did not fail -- they were juicy and fresh and went really well with the sweet red sauce. There was no hint of spiciness at all and there were about 6 to 8 prawns there, pretty generous of them.



And finally, the spring rolls! Indonesian-style spring rolls stuffed with minced chicken, shrimp, bamboo shoots and tofu served with a peanut dipping sauce. Again, very generous as there were four (as pictured) large rolls of deep-fried goodness.



They were good enough for me to take a picture of the inside! As you can see, there are lots of skinny tofu bits peppered with pork here and there. Dip it in the thick, creamy peanut sauce and it's a nice crunchy burst in your mouth! Definitely the best dish out of the entire meal!

So I was a little disappointed by the presentation and portion size of the meal, and the taste of everything was everything but extraordinary, so I doubt I would come to Pondok again. It might be good if you have a large party, since they have an abundance of tables in their spacious restaurant.

Pondok is located at 950 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki