Last Friday night, Jac and I had dinner with C and P at Penang Foods Restaurant (175 William St, Northbridge). C had told Jac and me about the fantastic laksa, and we were really eager to try it. I arrived first – I’d walked around the shops in town after work – and as soon as I walked into the restaurant, the glorious smell of curry laksa hit me. I waited impatiently for my dining companions to arrive, drooling in anticipation of a delicious dinner. Luckily, I didn’t have long to wait before the others arrived and the eating began.
Jac had coconut juice (AU$3.00), which was served in a tall glass complete with slices of coconut meat. I presume this was the coconut juice + coconut meat you can buy in a can. Jac’s quite fond of it.
I ordered lemon, lime and bitters (AU$3.50). I’d expected a bottled LLB, but was pleasantly surprised to be given the real thing, with a dash of bitters at the bottom of the glass.
C ordered cendol, which is on the dessert menu rather than the drinks menu, and served in a bowl, looking rather like ice kacang. Which is also on the menu, by the way!
We ordered a serve of loh bak to share. The dish conssted of more than loh bak – there’s also fried tofu, deep-fried battered fish paste, octopus tentacles and cucumber. It was a perfect savoury starter to share between four, especially as our dinners didn’t all arrive at the same time.
C, P and I all ordered the house speciality of curry laksa (AU$8.50). I ordered mine medium hot, with mixed noodles (egg noodles and rice noodles). C ordered hers extra extra hot, with mixed noodles. P ordered hers hot, with egg noodles. I was impressed with the generous serving – the bowl was piled high with noodles, chicken, fried tofu and sliced fish cake. The bean sprouts were buried underneath the noodles. The soup had a good, strong curry flavour. I’m glad I ordered mine medium hot – any hotter and I would’ve been in trouble! Similarly, Jac took a taste of hers and was relieved she had ordered hers mild. But C, who even had extra chilli in her noodle soup to make it “extra extra hot” thought her laksa could be even hotter still.
Jac ordered the seafood curry laksa with mixed noodles. It had big juicy prawns, fried tofu and fish cake in it. As you can see, Jac’s soup was not as vividly orange as my soup – hers had more coconut milk in it, presumably to make it mild.
We were all absolutely full to bursting by the time we finished. I couldn’t finish all my soup, but I trawled through the dregs and searched the last of the noodle and bean sprout bits to make sure I hadn’t missed any morsels of protein, before declaring I was done. :)
The people at the table next to us had ordered the Hainan chicken rice, and it looked really good. The steamed chicken looked moist and smooth (you know, that smooth, shiny white-skinned Chinese-style steamed chicken? It looked fantastic. We were also keen to try the nasi lemak. I just wish I could’ve ordered all three (laksa, chicken rice and nasi lemak), but that would’ve just been plain gluttony. :)
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh how I miss the food at Penang Foods! The laksa is great, and the nasi lemak is also pretty good – so do try it if you have the chance to.
If you’re ever in the Nedlands area, drop by Malaysian Gourmet in the Broadway Shops near UWA – we love their horfun and charkueyteow.
Next time, we’ll get the chicken rice. I want chendol all over again looking at that picture.
Went to Taurus tonight to get takeaway char kway teow and mee goreng for dinner. While waiting in line i was staring most greedily at the chendol of the guy sitting at the nearest table… it looked too good for words!
Jean,
Jac and I did return a week later and tried the nasi lemak and chicken rice! That will be coming up in a future post. :) Thanks for the tip re: Malaysian Gourmet. My mum works in Nedlands – I must ask her if she’s ever been there for lunch.
C,
Yes, we must go out again for another session.
Yum, I love Taurus’ char kway teow.
Having heard of this from the horse’s mouth (C’s) and seen an MMS picture of the finished product, I can only drool at this write up. Argh. Why oh why do I live on the east coast of this island??
I would have gone with C’s extra extra hot, too. When at her place last year I cooked up a curry dish that had HER crying and made her nose run. Hehehe.
Yum, curry laksa! :D I would’ve gone with the medium hot as well. Laksa is delish, but it’s one of those dishes I share a love-hate relationship with. Love the taste, hate the calories!
Penang! Oh Penang on William how I miss thee! Curry laksa was the 3rd most popular choice for lunch after church on sundays for my friends and I. I’ve never tasted anything quite so wicked as their curry laksa, not even in Singapore, seriously! Does it still cost $10-12?
Jean – I used to study in UWA and ate at at Malaysian Gourmet quite a bit too! But I reckon the food at Taurus is 10 times better though! Pity it was too far away from where I lived near campus.
TFP, get your mum to get some bread from Barrett’s Bread along Broadway! They have an excellent variety of simple, freshly baked breads. My favourite was this rosemary bread focaccia – i loved having it plain, with a coffee. They also make a wicked date cluster which I think you will like (if you like dates?). And the kebab stall in Broadway Fair (where Malaysian gourmet is) is worth a try too!
E,
Yeah, such a shame. Whenever you next come for a visit we must all go and have laksa together. Wow, your curry dish must’ve been super hot then! I am impressed.
dea,
I eat laksa less than every 2-3 months, so I don’t feel so guilty when I do indulge. :)
laundrydays,
I seem to remember it as $8.90, but I could be wrong. I’m sure C will remember though…?
I will tell my mum about Barrett’s – she does love fresh bakery bread, so she will be very interested. I’m not that fond of dates (don’t dislike them, but don’t actively love them either), but Jac is a big date fan.
We don’t go to Nedlands very often, but it’s good to know where to eat there for the rare occasions we may find ourselves there… thanks!
Interesting read about Penang Foods! Just wondering, do you have to book a table there? Or is it just arrive and wait for a table?
Hi Alex,
We got there around 6:30pm on a Friday evening and there was no problem getting a table. Be warned, they don’t open till very late – not even on a Friday night. C and P were there previously and left it too late to order cendol! They were told at 8pm that the kitchen was closed!
We LOVE the Penang on William!! Though we tend to take away rather than dine in most times. Invariably, it’ll be their holy yummy trinity of curry laksa, chicken rice and nasi lemak that we go for. The latter keeps well if the whole lot gets too much for one sitting.
If you’re in Northbridge, it’s also worth checking out the Hawker’s Kitchen just out the back end of the Old Shanghai Food Court. They do some Sarawak dishes…if you’re after some exotic Eastern fare.
cheers
cary
cary,
Do you mean Hawker’s Cuisine? The place that does the marmite chicken? We have been there but not for ages – see this old post http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=618
And we haven’t been to the Old Shanghai for a while either. I used to get Japanese from there all the time back when I lived in Highgate – my old favourite, teriyaki chicken.
Yeah my bad – Hawker’s Cuisine it is.
Old Shanghai does dim sum now!
Penang food! I am just counting the days left for me to go visit Malaysia in a few months to come. Can’t wait *drools*