04/14/09

Perfect Girls Night Out

by FirstClass

I went to Penang this weekend with a 3 friends and we all really had a great evening. After reading over the menu, we ended up making it a long dinner with both appetizers and desserts!

I highly recommend the Chicken Satay with Peanut dipping sauce appetizer . I don't know what all is in that sauce but my friends and I are still taking about how delicious it is! Secondly, I highly recommend the Ginger Chicken. The dish was really tasty with a light sauce that was a perfect blend of ginger, spices and scallions. Used my side of brown Rice to soak up the sauce--perfect.

At first we found it difficult to find parking, but we were told about the 2 parking lots on Roberson St: one directly behind the building (Courtyard parking lot to the Left) and the other to the right in the Bentley Building's parking lot (after office hours (aka 6 p.m.)). This made it much easier/faster to get a spot than trying to find a rare open spot on Franklin St.

Our server was really nice and helpful, answering all of our questions about the menu and giving us great recommendations (aka recommending Ginger Chicken!).

Next time I go I'm going to have to try a drink from their bar. The menu has about 5-6 fancy, fruity drinks and a long wine list. They also have a full bar so you can order any classic bar drink too.

• Pros: Great Atmosphere, Price for Quality, Short Wait, Bar
• Cons: Only Splits Group Check 5 ways, max

01/17/09

Asian Delight

by DiningDelight

I recently attended a birthday dinner at Penang and was pleasantly surprised. After reading the reviews on citysearch, I wasn't anticipating an exquisite meal let alone a welcoming experience. An intimidating group of 10 gathered for a 50th birthday celebration and was gladly received by our waiter who wasn't a bit turned off by our numbers. He was appreciatively welcoming and warm. We immediately ordered an appetizer of lettuce leaves paired with a Thai chicken dish that was hot and spicy. We didn't have to wait long for it. The waiter graciously gave us time in between each segment of our dining experience keeping tabs on us frequently. The 10 of us ordered a broad range of dishes from the menu such as spring rolls, Pad Thai, Thai salad, ginger chicken and so on. The food wasn't overly salty and came out warm and timely. While all of us were pleased with our dishes we didn't hesitate to share our choices with each other. The waiter patiently cleared our dishes and left us alone while the birthday man opened his gifts. Keeping the birthday celebration in check, the waiter and staff brought out a free dessert and sang happy birthday! What a surprise, as it wasn't even requested of them. All around, this was a dining extravaganza that was heightened by the Asian delight that Penang represents. I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone!

• Cons: parking

12/09/08

horrible horrible horrible food

by localPastryChef

I am a local Pastry Chef and have been in the food industry for many years and I can honestly say the dinner we had at Penang was some of the worst food I?ve ever eaten in my life. Our order was taken on the back of a reciept the waiter had in his pocket. Our drinks were in old beat up plastic mugs just like the kind you would find at a BBQ restaurant with the indoor picnic tables. We ordered spring rolls and Kha Gai soup for apps. The rolls were very ordinary, tiny, but good none-the-less. My soup arrived in a hot bowl, but the soup was a little more than warm, although,delicious, we thought we were off to a good start, then our entree came, Red Curry and Lemongrass Chicken. The curry was dark brown, not red. I couldn?t eat it, it was disgusting, I can?t even describe the flavor. They used chicken thighs (why? cheap?) and I don?t think they were cooked through. This no more resembled Red Curry than the used oil from my trucks oil change. My lemongrass chicken tasted like dirt, really! not even the slightest hint at lemongrass flavor. I think it was in there because the dish was full of some sort of inch long fibers. The chicken bits were tossed in some sort of thick yellow/red fiber paste, no salt, no flavor, just plain gross. OH, THEY CHARGED US FOR WHITE RICE! $.80 each! MY GOD, ITS AN ASIAN RESTAURANT! HE ASKED US IF WE WOULD LIKE RICE WITH OUR MEAL, WE SAID YES.... NO MENTION OF ADDED PRICE! Our LUNCH order came to $50.00 and we didn?t order any alcohol. We didn?t eat hardly anything and they didn't care, nor questioned why we refused to take it home with us. The total lack of care, interest, or concern and the absolute horrible food left me feeling like we had just been had by a con artist. I would have had a better Asian meal if I had put peanut butter on chicken McNuggets. Read the reviews, I wish I had. Do you notice all the ones with 5 stars that read like an ad? I bet they wrote those to try and counter all the bad ones, take my advise, eat elsewhere

• Pros: the decor was nice
• Cons: everything was just plain bad