Penang Malaysian and Thai Cuisine - Princeton, NJ

Well, we've never been fans of big restaurant chains, but last night we heard a few people talking about Penang's in Princeton, so since we were out and about running errands, we figured why not. Upon entering, this place was nothing like I had pictured it. I pictured a very small, bright place, with a dirty white tiled floor, ala Chinatown in Chicago, but we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant was rather large, with Asian décor throughout, and the place was packed! We were seated right away, with a good view of the open kitchen that seemed to be pretty busy. It took a few minutes for our server to come over, but we started with some appetizers. First out was the: Rice Net Spring Roll ( 5 PCS) 6.95 Fried spring roll with shrimp and crab meat, onions, glass noodle skin and taro crusting with plum sauce for dipping. This was a nice dish, and had me intrigued from the get go. It had a nice crunch to it, but the true flavors of the shimp and crab did not come through. Had I not known, I would have sworn this was chicken, but it was still delicious. Out next was the: Thai Spring Roll 6.95 Deep fried rolls stuffed with cabbage, bean thread, carrot and shrimp served with plum sauce. This too was fried to a nice golden brown, and came out of the kitchen smokin' hot! Regardless, it was tasty, and made with good vegetables. I would order either of the appetizers again. For lunch, we went the comfort food route and ordered the Sesame Chicken 12.95 White meat chicken sauteed with sesame seeds & brown sweet & sour sauce, as well as an the Chicken Fried Rice 7.95. The sesame chicken had a nice crust to it, and the brown sauce was delicious. It had a very nice sweetness to it, and it was cooked beautifully. The rice had great flavors as well, and you could tell it was made with lots of garlic and onion. Regardless, both dishes were delicious. The one negative thing I will say about Penang is that their service could use some improvement. The staff was slow, and they were not friendly in the least. Regardless, the food came out hot and fast, and that is what made it worth the trip. Will we try Penang again? Sure, the food was good, and fast, and reasonably affordable, but I won't go out of my way to go back there. In short, worth checking out for the food, but prepare yourself for mediocre at best service. www.penangcuisine.com 635 Nassau Park Blvd Princeton, NJ 08540 Phone: (609) 897-9088