Penang Restaurant

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Location: Chamblee

Hours: Mon.-Sun. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Price Range: $8 - 15 per dish

Food Type: Asian (Malaysian & Thai)

Penang is one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Atlanta and I have yet to introduce the restaurant to a friend who does not fall in love with it! Located on Buford Hwy., the road known in Atlanta for its authentic and international cuisine, Penang offers customers excellent Malaysian and Thai dishes that please most pallets. 

Begin your dining experience with one of their flavorful appetizers. For those who find themselves dousing their mouths with water when it comes to spice, there are the non-burning dishes such as Satay (Chicken or Beef grilled on stick with a peanut dipping sauce) or Penang Popia (a non-fried vegetable spring roll also served with a peanut dipping sauce). For the more adventurous there is the Roti Cani (a light fried bread that is dipped in curry sauce) or the Satay Tofu (Tofu stuffed with cucumber and a spicy peanut sauce). 

Moving into the main course, the choices are more difficult to make. As a dinner guest you must decide if you want to enjoy a couple of noodle dishes or if you want to settle on rice for the evening with a few plates to share. When it comes to noodles, the Penang Char Kway Teow is a must try, but beware of its spiciness! For those who prefer a more mild noodle I would recommend the Hokkien Char Mee. If you decide to order rice and have a family style meal I would recommend the following dishes:

• Sarang Burong - nicknamed the bird's nest because it looks like one this dish is made of friend taro shaped like a nest and filled with chicken, shrimp, and vegetables.
• Kari Sayu - a vegetable curry with lots of flavor and great for soaking into rice.
• Lamb Rendang - a spicy lamb dish that melts in your mouth.
• Volcano Spare Ribs - these tasty sweet and sour ribs will show up at your table still on fire!
• Mango Chicken - mango and chicken cooked together in a sweet and sour sauce and served in the mango peels.

Last, but not least, you must try dessert. Penang offers two Malaysian specialties: Peanut Pancake and Ice Kacang. The first is a sweet peanut sauce wrapped in a thin, crispy pancake. It can easily be shared amongst the whole table. The second is the Malaysian version of a snow cone, but instead of flavored food coloring you get red beans, corn, palm seeds, and Chinese jelly topped with a sweet syrupy sauce. 

Now you have the scoop on one of the finest Malaysian/Thai restaurants in town. Let me know what you think of it!