Penang Road Cafe – Moving out of Novena Ville in March 2013

Being the only child in the family, I spent my childhood playing with my cousin most of the time. She is like a sister and friend to me. Whenever we meet, we just have endless topics to talk about. So when I knew the cousin has a boyfriend, I arrange for a double date, just so that I can take a look at the new boyfriend.

Penang cuisine is getting popular in Singapore with so many Penang cafes opening up in Singapore. We always satisfy our Penang food craving in Gurney Drive because there is one outlet in Ang Mo Kio, very near to where I stay. But because it is a unique dinner date, we decided to have dinner at Penang Road Cafe.

The menu here is small enough to squeeze onto one side of A4, including appetisers, drinks and desserts. It featured the essentials such as assam laksa, hokkien mee, rojak etc.

Char Kway Teow Seafood Special ($11) has slightly charred kway teow which gives the right texture. Though I have slight complaint about the noodles sticking together, but I really like the wok hei within the dish. The crunchy beansprouts gives a crunchy contrast with bits of crispy pork lard all over.

Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee with Pork Ribs ($9.90) has a robust body and is only of the best Penang hokkien mee I have tried. The soup is rich and spicy with prawn and pork flavour.

Maybe because I have tried the best assam laksa at Penang Seafood Restaurant, the Penang Assam Laksa ($7) here didn’t quite please me. Yes it has a nice tamarind flavour, but I feel the fish broth is slightly bland. And it could have more prawn paste.

Chicken Nasi Lemak ($7) is only available during the weekend only. The rice has a mild coconut fragrance and is served with rendang chicken, sambal ikan bilis and hard boiled egg.

The vinegar in Achar Fish ($11) was too sharp. We didn’t like it.

Nothing can go wrong with Penang Lorbak ($6). It is meaty with crispy skin and thick brown sauce.

Penang Rojak ($6) has chunks of pineapple, cucumber and other fruits mixed with rich and yummy prawn paste.

We ordered two desserts for sharing but I think you can give them a miss. Cendol ($3.50) has a nice gula melaka fragrance with big kidney beans. Cendol strips are from supplier though.

On rainy days, we would love a warm bowl of Pulut Hitam ($3.50).

If you are wondering, here is a shot of my cousin and her boyfriend.

And us! 🙂

For those of you who don’t know, Novena Ville has been en-bloc so Penang Road Cafe will be moving out this coming March. When I last spoke to the lady boss, she said she has yet to find a location. So if you are a fan of this cafe, be sure to check it out soon!

Penang Road Cafe
Address: 275 Thomson Road, #01-08 Novena Ville
Tel: +65 6256 3218
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6pm – 9.30pm, Closed on Mon