Penang Place

Mainly serve Malaysian food. Quite populated. $ 27 pp for dinner and 23 for lunch.
A lot of varieties and some of them are for self served. You can make your own Nasi Lemak and your own rojak. They have the tool for you to mix. In terms of the dishes, not a lot of choices but decent amount. Their noodle corner is very nice. Herbal chicken soup is authentic. I also like their colourful desserts with Pandan flavour and many choices. The dessert soup is too sweet though.

Good hearty malaysian buffet with a good selection of appetizers, main meals (chicken curry, beef, shrimp, mixed vegetables and yummy coconut rice). Good food, great service at a very affordable price. Not to forget a good selection of deserts and shaved ice.

Lunch buffet per pax SGD$ 23.90++
Forget the rest — just head to the first spread from the entrance, rush to the Char Kuay Teow. This is as close as it gets to Penang’s CKT you can find in Singapore and to have it fried in a large amount plus ALL YOU CAN EAT. I can’t remember if there are cockles in it.
The assam laksa is really good too! The broth could have abit more mackerel bits but that’s really nitpicking. It’s a live station (someone prepares it for you) but if you want, feel free to take control of what goes into your bowl of soupy goodness. There’s mint, onions, some unidentified bits that smells like prawns, pineapple and some chop veg. There’s also prawn paste on the side.
The nyonya kuihs are not bad as well. It doesn’t taste very sweet which is a really good thing — I had a few kuih talam, steamed glutinous rice with kaya, red bean kuih. The Chng Tng lacks flavor though — so I decided to pass that to my colleagues heehee.
I didn’t manage to try other desserts (pulut hitam, and I totally missed the fridge just opposite the dessert line). Also didn’t try the cendol.
I’ll be back after I’ve managed to work off this meal :)

Went to Penang Place in a group of 4 and we did a carb– and risk– averse move. We ordered ala carte. I’m still deliberating whether that was a mistake.
Most of us ordered the char kuay teow. It was delicious. Wok hei galore, fresh and large prawns and fish cake. Generous lashings of tao gay (bean sprouts) and scallions. Penang CKT tends to be a little drier than the ones here but its more than made up for by the wok hei. Oh man. I could just inhale that plate again.
One friend had the prawn mee and it was a generous bowl. I tried the soup and it was wonderfully rich.
For sides, we had the penang rojak, lobak and fried chicken. The rojak was ok though not terribly exciting. Lobak took awhile to arrive and was decent. I think my aunt makes better lobak! Finally the fried chicken was very well fried and definitely +1life point in my book.
This place is affordable and a rather casual, «canteen» style restaurant. Just go for the food and ignore the surroundings. I feel like doing back to do the buffet with my oh so greedy tummy. Gaaaah!

For a Penang kia (Penangite), going to a restaurant to eat Penang food just feels wrong. Penang food should be eaten out on uneven tables right by the hawker stalls, sweating away while I slurp the hokkien mee. But, that is in Penang. In Singapore, when you want Penang food, one of your few choices is Penang Place. As soon as you walk up to the menu located right by the entrance, you can’t help lau nua (salivate) as you go down the list. They have all the dishes you would try to fit into the short weekend trip to Penang.
Their menu items are pretty small (the bare necessity of Penang hawker food) but you can choose to eat all of that by opting for their buffet line. I opt to just order one dish. For the price they charge ($ 7−9/dish), you can easily get 5 items on their menu in Penang for the price of one. But, they made it worth the price — their hokkien mee comes with huge prawns and plenty of fish cake, all in a huge bowl. You definitely don’t need another meal after that. Their char keow teow is also served with lots of prawns and squid. It can’t beat the best in Penang but definitely one of the best in Singapore.
I had to cut that one star because ¹⁄₃ of their menu items are no longer available. The least you can do is to make sure that is clear before someone is seated, especially since they were salivating at some of the items that are no longer available while browsing the menu before entering.

I didn’t opt for buffet this time round as I didn’t want to gorge senseless (again). Going ala carte, i ordered:
1) Fried Rice — this was for my daughter who doesn’t know how to appreciate the other dishes. Truth be told, the rice was fried fragrantly and the chicken wing was beautifully seasoned & fried.
2) Penang Prawn Mee — I had mine with thick bee hoon. I love the fresh prawns and the thick flavourful soup! Add chilli flakes for kicks and vola! Magic in a bowl!
3) Char Kuay Tiao — this is the bomb! I honestly feel their char kuay tiao can rival many hawker ones out there. Of course theirs is more expensive but they do serve theirs with generous and fresh ingredients.
If I am younger, I would have conquered their buffet in style but now, I think ala carte is more my ability. Will return again.

Had the Penang char kway teow which was good! Friends also ordered the curry chicken set and nasi lemak set which were decent as well. Service staff was excellent, would return again! Did not get the chance to try the buffet though, so can’t say much about that.

This is a nice place to stop in for lunch or dinner. Their main feature is a Penang buffet line, which looks to be a bit pricey unless you are a heavy eater. Instead, I went for the ala carte option. Basically, they go to the buffet and get you just the dish you asked for at a drastically discounted price. Speaking of prices, they are on par with the quality and amount of food received.
I tried the Hokkien mee. It came with fresh and tasty ingredients, including shrimp, eggs, noodles, and sprouts. The quality of the ingredients was noticable. The red broth had a nice spice and slight richness to it.
The food may not be as good as the actual Penang, but this is an excellent stop for Penang-​like food in Singapore. I recommend going ala carte unless you are going to eat a ton of dishes. I would definitely visit again.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t know much about Penang-​specific food. However, a trusted Unilocaler who came for our mini-​UYE *was* and pointed out two things: (a) not very authentic; and (b) exclusion of pork… is weird since Penang uses it… OBSESSIVELY. [Halal-​face-​palm!]
That said, I’m writing this short review as a complete noob-​to-​authentic-​Penang-​food and taking the buffet as it is.
I must first say that the buffet selection is quite limited… and the atmosphere felt more like a catered event in some clubhouse rather than a buffet restaurant. There was about 6 main hot dishes, a few warm sides, and then it’s practically dessert and random fritters. So the fact that they managed to receive a 4-​star review means that they didn’t screw up most of their oh-​so-​limited-​variety.
Joe N.‘s is quite accurate when describing the Char Kway Teow (hereon, CKT). Our little group of 10 was really surprised how good CKT could get without the use of pork ingredients (lard, Chinese sausage). Charred right and bursting with amazing goodness, it made sense that every new batch continued to empty out within 5 minutes.
The ngor hiang was another dish that surprised our group. It was so good that most of us were fooled into thinking it was PORK. Omgosh, you wouldn’t have guessed it was chicken! (Am I right to say this… GOLD ELITE NIK T. lol)
While everything else was okay, there was one particular item that I completely HATED. If you ever dine here, do NOT take the freaking tiny chicken sausage that is placed in the same section as the ngor hiang. It was… DISGUSTING.
So why 3 stars? Seriously, $ 30.50 to pretty much binge on CKT? Well, that to me is no different from eating the «famous» chicken rice at Chatterbox, Mandarin Orchard — it doesn’t make sense to me. Not when you’re in Singapore and hawker centres continue to impress. =X
Unilocal 100: ⁴⁷⁄₁₀₀

Who knew Penang food could be this savory and diverse. I was introduced to a handful of dishes here on my first visit and have been a fan of them ever since.
There are lots of textures and flavors to explore. I like the noodles — both the assam laksa and the prawn mee. The currys, beef rendang, and fried veggies are also delicious, and the green pandan rice surprisingly goes well with them. I once ate a whole plate of rojak and regretted afterwards because I was too full to eat anything else. Same thing happened with the fried noodles (char kway teow). The chicken and beef satays are my husband’s favorite, but they are offered on weekends only. I don’t find their Chinese selections, i.e., dumplings and buns, worthy of the limited space in my stomach, so I stay away from that section.
The dessert bar is fabulous, and if I could, I would help myself to it before the meal. You can make your own ice kachang and eat as many kuehs as you wish. The hot desserts are also nice, and my son digs the fresh fruits.
The place is spacious inside and has an outdoor seating area as well, so it’s suitable for large groups. We usually make reservations for weekends, but not on weekdays. I can’t really comment on the service, because it’s almost nonexistent. It’s buffet, and you serve your own water out of the pitcher placed on your table.
The prices are totally agreeable considering the amount of food prepared.
SUM: A perfect introduction to Penang food.

Ok, I have a confession to make. I only REALLY love ONE dish at this place. The Char Kway Teow. It will likely be only this one dish that I will devote my entire review to. So if you’d like to find out more about Penang Place the restaurant, you should skip to the other more balanced reviews about this place.
This is THE BEST char kway teow in Singapore. There, it’s out there. I’ve got my armor on, let the slings and arrows fly. I not scared.
Really, Joe? In the basement of Fusionopolis? Way out in the West?
Yes!
Char kway teow is a deceptively simple dish. I’ve tried and failed more times than I care to remember to make my own, quite a few times with comedic results when a homesick student overseas, and even a few times here at home when I got my new wok burner. Ok, so it’s wok fried flat rice noodles, eggs, soy, dark sauce, bean sprouts, choy sum (cai xin), fish cakes, cockles, squid and shrimp. Other often added ingredients are Chinese sausage and yellow noodles, but the above ingredient list is what I can see goes into the version served at Penang Place. So it’s basically wok fried noodles, what’s the big deal, simple! As my Army buddy used to say, «you so damned smart, you do lah!»
Char kway teow is a ubiquitous dish in Singapore. But dear reader, many are called, but few are chosen goes the line from the movie. Few who start out and try their hand at wok frying char kway teow succeed in producing a successful rendition when done. Like I said, sounds simple enough, impossible to perfect.
Penang Place likely has ONE chef doing this dish. I’m almost 99.2% sure. The wok hei is phenomenal. They must have an F15 Eagle parked back there in the kitchen with the afterburners going full blast on that wok. I have a mental image of the si fu, his wife-​beater soaked through with sweat, non-​chalantly doing what he does best, producing magic, not letting the expediter or the waiters faze him, because he or she knows better than anyone else that you cannot hurry magic. The heat must be phenomenal and so masterfully controlled that what comes out of the wok is pure molten gold: the noodles are almost liquified and «wet» with the savory essence of the egg, noodles, shrimp and sauce. The veggies, especially the sprouts are crunchy, they are actually white, firm and crunchy (wtf? I can tell you, this part is especially difficult to get right, most versions usually produce soggy, limp, liquified sprouts). The shrimp is plump and coated with a nice layer of that liquified amalgam of egg, sauce and jellified noodle. There is no chinese sausage in this version, but if there was, I’d gladly pay more for it. Then you hit the earthy notes that the egg, dark sauce and cockles conspire to produce. This is one of the signature taste profiles of legendary char kway teow. The almost muddy taste of the cockles. Cockles have gotten a very bad rap in recent culinary history and some versions touted as being healthier have done away with cockles altogether… that’s not char kway tell, I can tell you. I say, you only go around once. ’nuff said about that. One of my favorite experiences with char kway teow is the pleasant surprise of biting into a cockle and getting that mini-​explosion of earthy primal flavor, flesh brine, mud, blood. If you’ve been around the block or enjoy raw oysters, you’ll start to understand what I mean.
Everything else at Penang Place is nice, but I will pay buffet price just to get at the char kway teow again and again and again and again…
The best char kway teow experience in Singapore. Them’s fighting words and I’m sticking to them! Ok, I’ve read and re-​read this review and words fail me. I have not captured the magic of the char kway teow at Penang Place. Please just go out and try it before slinging arrows, poorly done char kway teow or Wendy’s burgers at me.

A great place for a large group, practically able to fit 20+ pple in a long table. Food wise has been both excellent n average. Menu does not change much, but so far, big prawns or chilli crab. Without fail the variety of nonya dishes, is constantly the favorite highlight here.

Located at the basement of Fusionopolis, the restaurant serves buffet and ala carte menus. With over 30 items on the buffet menu with lips-​smacking favourites such as beef rending, assam laksa, chilli crabs, including desserts such as chendol, gingko nut barley soup and a colourful line of nyonya kuehs such as kueh salat and pulut enti, it’s surprisingly priced below $ 30 per pax.
The place was bustling and packed, a busy atmosphere but not so crowded that the buffet line was not replenished in time — a major drawback of most buffets.
Many reviewers have given thumbs up for the char kway tiao — Business Times reportedly claimed it to be the best char kway tiao in town. It is true to its name because it appeals to the palate that wants the authentic char kway tiao taste — one that is savoury with smokey flavours, with flat noodles springy to the bite and generous servings of fresh ingredients.
One unique feature that makes Penang Place stand out from other buffets — besides its Penang fare — is that it has stations that allow customers to try a hand at mixing their own ingredients into their own creations. Two such examples are the laksa and rojak counters.
Another must-​mention is the fried chempedak which is a rare sight in Singapore. This is a success as the fried chempedak manages to combine the crispy exterior with the rich sweetness of fruit within to an interesting result. Warning: one is not enough.
Headed by a large team of chefs from Penang, the rest of the dishes maintain similar standards and do not disappoint. The dining experience is complete with free refill of iced water and the service staff are attentive — plates are cleared away promptly even in peak period. Its comfortable and open setting is recommended for family get-​togethers.