This is a mixed of Malaysian, Thai (Pahd Thai, Tomyum), Chinese, Singaporean and Indian (roti bread) foods. There is also vegetarian options. I enjoyed the coffee spareribs (similar to Peking spareribs - boned, sticky and sweet) and the mango slices/dried tofu served in a mango shell (it would taste much better with firm or soft tofu). The dishes look the same in coloring but each had a distinct taste. The banana crepe was okay - it was a regular crepe filled with sliced bananas folded in half. Food came out quickly and was temperature hot. However, tea was lukewarm - my preference is temperature hot tea. read more

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Mix of Malaysia, Chinese, Singaporean dishes. Nice portions for the price, but dishes were just alright. I went here for dinner on Tuesday, party of two, and was seated right away. Interior is bigger on the inside once past the small entrance, with plenty of tables which could accommodate larger groups, and quite a few round tables which would readily seat nine. Service was not great, with my friend and I repeatedly having to try and get someone's attention throughout the entire meal. Decoration is a mix of harsh lighting, softer lighting, wine display and palm tree wallpaper walls, all varying greatly depending on where in the restaurant you are seated. Peanuts on the table come complimentary and are a fun plus. We ordered the curry laksa, roti canai and fish head rice noodle soup (the fish head rice noodle soup was a last minute change as they didn't have rendang and they said it was their number one dish). The fish head rice noodle soup was a creamy coconut milk base with a slight sour tang. Comes off as something which could be made at home with random vegetables thrown in. The roti canai was the best dish we got, though the roti was more on the flaky side and lacked having any chew to it. The curry laksa felt like a mix of both the other dishes: same curry as the roti canai, and same eclectic mix of vegetables which would have fit well in a stir fry dish. Flavor was so-so, but felt too oily which was strange as the roti canai was great and not as oily. The staff gave us a complimentary red bean dessert to wrap up the meal which was superb. Overall, I'm glad there's a spot for Malaysian/Singaporean dishes in Chinatown, especially as it's slim pickings for the cuisine in downtown SF. However, I feel this spot misses the mark. read more

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I am writing this review while still sitting inside the restaurant. The place is barely 30 percent occupied, yet the service has been extremely off putting. After placing our initial order, we politely asked to keep one menu at the table so we could order more food later if needed. Our server responded by saying, "You have to order everything at once. No later orders. We are busy tonight." This was surprising and frankly unreasonable, especially given how empty the restaurant was. I have never encountered such a rule at any other restaurant. Dining out should feel welcoming, not rushed or restrictive. This interaction completely soured the experience. I will not be returning and cannot recommend this place based on the level of service we received. read more

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Hidden away from the Washington Square Park. Service it's great, they speak perfect English and Chinese. The lobster noodles dish big enough to serve 4 people. It's $108 dollars, definitely worth it had a big amount of meat, it's the whole lobster about 4 pounds. The quail are one of their famous dish, it's delicious! The crutch of the skins and the juice from the meat is falling out with each bite. The fish is cooked perfectly, the sauces they used it's definitely hit homemade fish dish from your grandma. Will definitely come back here for birthday celebration! read more

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Our friend, Aroon joined us and tried to explain Thai cuisine and guided us through the menu that's entwined with Malaysian and Singaporean fare. I did learn that as great as everything tasted, it was Americanized a bit and not really all that authentic, which makes sense to me. I played it safe with a sizzling beef plate that couldn't be beat. Everything came across the table from a rich flavoured Santan Lamb to Curry Fish head in Hot Pot. For six people we paid just under $200. Which I'm not sure, but think is reasonable for Bay Area, the tastes and the service (not that the service was all that great). There's not much in the way of ambiance or atmosphere. Generic but comfortable with a garden like feel. Even large leaves for chair backs! Unfortunately, those in the know in our group described a bland, uneventful experience and won't let me choose the venue again for awhile. read more

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I came here twice for my company's lunch and with friends for the lunch specials. They gave us complimentary tea which is really nice! The food is really yummy. The first time I tried a variety of food that my manager ordered. My favorite is the bbq ribs and the seafood dishes. The second time, I ordered the lunch special shrimp paste with chicken chow mein. I really liked it and had half of the plate for leftovers. Plenty of seating and very spacious. read more

We were getting ready for my first Chinatown bar crawl and had to grab a bite before getting feral. I hadn't had Malaysian food in a while, so we decided to go here. WHAT I ORDERED: Roti canai Nasi lemak Beef satay THE FOOD: The nasi lemak was flavorful - super fragrant rice and every part of it was well done. The beef satay was also super flavorful, and was nice and juicy. I definitely need to order roti canai every time I eat Malaysian food and this one did not disappoint, very flaky and light. SERVICE: Great straightforward service - food didn't take too long to come out. BOTTOM LINE: Good place to catch up with friends as we did, or eat out with family. Glad to have this in my repertoire for whenever I visit SF again! read more

Penang Garden - Beef satay - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I went to the most recent Chinatown Night Market, and since it was so crowded, I went down one of the side streets to get food. I decided to come here because this was the only place that was busy, but not too packed. I asked to get to-go, so they told me to go to the counter on the right. After looking through the menu, I decided to order Seafood Fried Rice. I asked if they could put it in my reusable container, and they obliged! When I asked if they take card, they didn't, so we paid with cash (at a slightly smaller amount than the original quoted price). It was a bit odd that they lowered the price, but I'm not complaining. After about 11 minutes, I received my order. My container had a few patches of oil residue, which was disappointing, but nothing I couldn't handle. The food was pretty hot, and when I ate it about 5-10 minutes later I thought it was pretty good. It had the "wok hay" and wasn't too oily or too salty, which is usually a high risk with fried rice. Overall, the service is quick and to the point, and the food is pretty good. I'm especially glad they accepted my clean reusable container for my to-go order. ECO NOTES (To-Go) I brought my clean reusable to-go container, and they accepted it. They didn't provide any napkins or utensils, which was exactly what I wanted. I'm sure they would've provided it if I asked. read more

A decently busy restaurant, and a + if you can speak cantonese, but not necessary. Three of us got seated pretty fast but then the restaurant started filling up shortly. I come from Malay heritage so I was interested in being able to find something that reminds me of Malaysian cuisine. Balajan Kang Kung (4/5): nice and crunchy, but the balajan is pretty strong flavor and a bit salty if you get a lot of it on your leaves. Hainanese Chicken (3/5): we got half the chicken, not bad. it was pretty soft, but the chicken rice that it came with was not super authentic and very yellow so it was a little bit of a let down. Salted Egg Shrimp (3/5): I am not a fan of salted egg so I didn't try but my parents thought it wasn't bad. Beef Rendang Red Curry (3/5): the beef was really chewy, there wasn't much flavor inside the curry. i wish they had more sauce so you could put it on the rice and eat it. Overall, I was looking for a decent Malay restaurant to remind me of the staples that have to go back to Malaysia for and I wasn't too thrilled about the flavors and quality of food here, so I might not come back. read more

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Penang Garden's pineapple fried rice, served on half a pineapple rind skin photos on the Internet looked attractive. Sadly, I can only order it without the rind skin. The waiter explained, a large pineapple has five servings of pineapple and only two of those will be served on half of a pineapple rind skin. Ridiculous if you ask me. I ended up getting the seafood pan fried Hong Kong style noodles $20 and a satay beef $16. The noodles came out surprisingly quick. That is because the vegetables were under cooked, especially the broccoli. The scallops, shrimps and squid needed more seasoning. As for the crispy noodles, most were already soaked making them not crispy. There weren't any burnt ends on the noodles and missing good wok hei (distinctive smoky, charred, and flavorful taste.) The satay beef skewers were OK. The clientele for Penang Garden was mostly Toisan speakers and some Cantonese speakers. Surprisingly, it was 70% full and the waiters seem to know everyone there. Service was excellent. It made up for the lackluster food and sans pineapple fried rice order. I would have been pissed if I ordered it and it came out without the pineapple rind skin. As with life, we don't always get what we want. read more

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bad quality food where food was not to the standards. Chicken was rubbery and satay did not taste like one.

Yum!! For anyone who has traversed to George Town on the Malaysian island of Penang, and indulged in the incredible street food, this restaurant is gold. I first tried roti canai (pronounced chanai) some 30 years ago as a wandering backpacker. I never forgot this delicious roti canai. This particular roti is not oily or greasy (discuss amongst yourselves; not a critic, just a hungry eater!). In addition, it keeps you warm in the cold!! Perfect for vegetarians. Lots and lots of additional selections of entrées with meat, seafood, chicken, etc. Quick professional service. Cash preferred. Chill ambiance and welcoming staff. Saved myself a trip back to Georgetown. Thank you so much! Yum read more

Penang Garden - If you're walking up or down Washington, this is the sign you will see. It's between Kearny and Stockton. - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Hours listed on yelp is not accurate, by the time we arrived they are closing. I like their roti, thin and crispy. I've been here a few time for dinner, I might try their lunch special next time. read more

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I went here for lunch for a meeting and had walked by many times without knowing the treasure that's here. The ambiance is lovely, filled with your typical Chinese decor of statues and artwork. The food and service were pretty amazing. The grilled pork was a stand out for me, and we also had a shrimp curry that was super yummy. Overall, will be back and will bring my Indonesian friend who visits! read more

We came for a weekday night and there were several parties that took up more than half of the restaurants so they only had a few open tables for other patrons. The menu is huge making it hard to make a decision! We ordered the Penang Salmon, Belachan lady finger, Belachan eggplant and Seafood chow fun. I would recommend the penang samon and belachan eggplant. The sauce for the penang salmon was good and I liked the spiciness and light coating of the eggplant. The rest was also good. Service was ok. As it got busier in the night, it seemed the staff forgot about us. We ordered two dishes to-go: chicken chow fun and a soup. They gave us a quail instead of chicken chow fun which was disappointing. There is an underground parking garage (Portsmouth Square Plaza Garage) across the street that's $8 after 5pm. read more

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It's a 3.5 star for me! This place is quite unique in Chinatown because it serves Malaysian food -- I don't think there are a lot of Malaysian food in the area. I also learned that Penang is a state in Malaysia! Food: 4/5. We got a variety of food from soup to small dishes. The food is decent and delicious! Price is decent, around ~$18 per dish. - Bak kut teh: delicious soup!! I'm so glad we ordered it. One of the best dishes, the umami soup with a hint of bitterness just hits right for me. There's also some pork belly and meats in the soup. - Pork chop: meaty, honey glazed pork chop, super tender and melts in my mouth. - Nasi lemak: pretty average They gave us a free dessert soup at the end! Delicious purple rice dessert. Service: 3/5. They are kinda under staffed and it was hard to make an order. The food however came out really quickly! The restaurant is quite big, they have several big tables that are already reserved. We were able to get in quite easily for a small table. read more

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I went for a late lunch with a friend. I was pleasantly surprised that the food was good, service was efficient and the price was quite reasonable. read more

They are always my first choice who go SF! Good food! Good service! I like it a lot! 123456 read more

Penang Garden - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

What a gem! A cute little Malaysian Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. There's a bit of street parking but also a garage right across the street which makes it more convenient. My family and I came in for a late lunch and were sat promptly. We ordered a bunch of dishes, but my favorites were the roti canai, the satay chicken, the pineapple fried rice, the roasted squab, and the mee siam with beef. Roti canai came nice and crispy. Definitely eat it as soon as it comes out! It's nowhere near as good once it has time to cool. Satay chicken was super tender and flavorful. Always love the peanut sauce, makes everything better imo lol The braised/roasted squab is like a better leaner roast duck. The skin was crispy, meat was juicy, and held the flavor throughout. Pineapple fried rice is served in a pineapple half and it had pineapples, some shrimp, peas throughout. The rice had a nice umami sweet salty flavor My all time favorite was the mee siam. It's sour and a bit spicy. Also comes with pineapples, bean sprouts, some onions and bell peppers, and a nice sprinkle of peanuts. I loved the spicy sour flavor combination and the thin rice noodles were perfection. Service was also good! There were only 2 people serving the entire restaurant so they were running around the whole time. But they were super quick and prompt with everything we needed. read more

We only come here to eat their hot and spicy crab, which is lickilty lick yummy! I love those deep fried buns to soak the sauces with, it is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Hmmm.... The other favorite dish is the Indonesian shrimp! OMG, the flavors are addictive. We don't always order this dish because it costs $$$. But it's a must try when you dine here! Service is good. They added 18% service fee even when there's only 2 ppl dining. Unfortunately, I no longer work in SF and need to drive in to eat here, so, they no longer provide validation for parking, pandemic has killed a lot of perks for small businesses like these :(. OK - that's it for now :) read more

Penang Garden - Chili crab and noodles - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The waiter here is hella shady! Overcharged our bill and tried to play it off. If you're a tourist, please watch out. Don't buy the crab advertised on their poster out front, it's a waste of money. There's way better food options in Chinatown. read more

Penang Garden - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

I got a COVID test at Portsmouth Square one weekday afternoon and was looking for some takeout lunch I could take home with me. I saw Penang Garden (which I'd walked passed many times) and thought I would try some Southeast Asian cuisine--Thai, Malaysian, and Singaporean, to be specific! Service was great as was the decor. I appreciated the cultural dress of one of the servers! I tried the roti canai, a durian pancake, and the Hainanese Chicken Rice. Everything was delicious--I loved the chicken rice and the ginger sauce, and it was plated so nicely. The roti in the roti canai was soft and had just the right amount of chewiness, and the curry sauce was rich and flavorful. I had the durian pancake the next day and it was thick and not too strong. I will be back to try their unique dishes. read more

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It doesn't look like much from the outside - this little gem sits right at the edge of Chinatown where it meets the financial district. We stopped in for dinner - it was close to the hotel we were staying in. I ordered the Singapore Crab. When it came out it smelled amazing and was covered in such a flavorful sauce! It was so messy to eat but absolutely delicious! Stop in and get yourself one! read more

Penang Garden - Singapore Crab - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I came here for lunch alone on a weekend. It wasn't busy and was able to get seated quickly. I only had the nasi lemak (coconut rice). While the portion was large, it doesn't taste quite like the nasi lemak in Malaysia. The chicken was tough and each component of the dish was a different temperature. read more

Penang Garden - Nasi Lemak - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

Didn't believe that my first meal here was in my pre Yelp years.. as in early 2000's?! A friend actually introduced me to this unicorn of a restaurant serving southeast Asian cuisine in the heart of Chinatown. I do remember that my friend ordered a southeast Asian style dungeness crab but little else. A couple of years ago, a neighborhood friend suggested coming here for lunch so we did on a weekday afternoon. We both ordered a lunch special which came with soup, rice, and tea if I remember correctly; we both had curries with different proteins. I decided to get some takeout food from here on a weekday morning. I phone in my order and picked up my meal about fifteen minutes later. I enjoyed the green curry with chicken lunch plate (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=gci9OXlGA3WhwyuwqVOhnw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) which was nicely packed in a soup container with the rice separated; it was slightly tingly spicy with a feint ginger flavor but certainly plentiful in ingredients with lean chicken breast pieces, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, and basil leaves. I wanted to order the satay tofu appetizer but it was not available. Instead, he recommended the stir fried ong choy with tofu paste (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=gf5jCIz5PbVebiyMZ_6Gbg&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) which I nibbled on along with my lunch plate. It was a great suggestion since ong choy (aka water spinach) is just now in season. I shared this with my family for dinner. I ordered when they first opened and picked up around 11:30 am so there were no dine in customers yet though it looked like tables were set. There was one other guy folding napkins as I paid for my food. Solid meal option if you are weary of Cantonese cuisine as a change of pace. Looking forward to dining here again with my neighborhood friend when things return to pre 2020 atmosphere wise. Been eating a lot of Japanese curry of late so this was a nice change too. read more

Penang Garden - Green curry with chicken lunch special - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Food was excellent. My relatives treated me to this wonderful Malaysian Restaurant located in the heart of San Francisco Chinatown. This was one of my best birthday celebrations. We started off with Walnut Prawns and it was amazing, the dish came right off the wok, big fluffy lightly coated with so little flour it was pockets of plump prawns. And the walnuts was fresh and crunchy. Our second dish was a Curry Fish cooked in Clay pot and that delicious sauce was so good we had to order more rice. The fish was fresh filleted pieces lightly breaded accompanied with fried tofu and soaked up the mild spiced curry sauce. The sauce was so addictive. The last dish was a family favorite, Stir fried fillet of Beef Bean Sprout Chow Fun. Very silky rice noodles without a sauce. We ordered it cooked Dry style. The noodles were delicious and the portion size was good. I forgot to mention my favorite dish, The Bittermelon Black Bean Sauce. It was very good, the chefs tend to cook the bitter mention on the crunchy side and I prefer it cooked longer. The wok, black bean, garlic flavor is the best. The freshness, portion size and quality of all the dishes we ordered warrants a repeat visit. So, wait no longer, I recommend that you and yor family or friends make a trip to S. F. Chinatown's PENANG GARDEN and enjoy a wonderful Malaysian restaurant. read more

The bak kut teh is SO GOOD! Service was fast. I saw some earlier complaints about tips being automatically added to the check for a small party but that didn't happen for me. read more

Service was great even though there was only 1 person serving all the tables and doing hostess duties. He was running all over the place but he was super efficient, friendly, and knowledgable. We got a large tom yum soup for 4, roti canai, buddha's delight vegetables, and 2 orders of the hot and spicy chili crab. The portions were huge and we had leftovers. Everything tasted great and we left full and happy we stumbled into this place. The tom yum soup was spicier than I've had in the past but it was delicious. It had lots of shrimp, squid and scallops. The roti and canai sauce were both thinner than I've had too but still good. Now onto the hot and spicy crab - that was the definitely the star of the show and could see why Food Network recommended it. It's a huge dish and could easily feed 2-3 people. The flavors were fabulous and not too spicy. The buns it came with were filled with red bean and sopped up the sauce nicely. The combo was great. The crab was perfectly cooked, tender and sweet. And they also cracked the crab pieces to make it easier to eat but it was inevitable to get messy. Totally worth it though. read more

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(COVID review): Haven't been here in years. But when our social bubble was spending the day in the city and we were thinking about dinner, this seemed to get everyone excited. So I volunteered to do the ordering and pickup. We got the chili crab (of course) which they're famous for. Then some fish rendang, wah tan hor (scramble egg chow fun), pea sprouts, and eggplant belacan. All of it was good overall. Chili crab was pleasing, rendang was average (a little mild for a rendang), and the rest was good. Everyone was satisfied. Pickup was very small (at their doorway entrance), luckily no one else was picking up when I got there. A little slow to wait for the order, especially for a sunday night. But the server was very friendly and apologetic. Nice Malaysian option in downtown, so would recommend for that. But there are better options in the South and East bay. read more

Penang Garden - Wah tan hor - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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My childhood favorite! Sure you can go to banana island in Daly City, but this is sometimes closer to me with zero wait! The roti is a classic, as well as the bbq pork. The flavors are IMMACULATE for both. Cannot leave without ordering those two!! This time however, the kabob's marinade was very mustard-heavy, which caught me off guard. read more

Penang Garden - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

I have been coming to Penang since I was a little kid. My family would come with friends all the time to have dinner, or even celebrate a birthday dinner here. I myself definitely had my share of birthday dinners here when I was really young haha. When you come in, you are greeted with a very nice man named Steven or any of the waitors there. The vibe of the restaurant has a sense of asian tropicaliness to it and it's pretty cool. You definitely won't that vibe elsewhere in Chinatown. They actually have a lot of food here! It's been a while since I've eaten here so I'm only getting to show what I ate recently. I always start off with the Hainan Chicken. It's not the best, but it's definitely a standard when it comes to any asian cuisine. My favorite is definitely the sea bass with the vermicelli noodles. It's super flavorful and the noodles are soaked in the tub of soup, and the fish is very tender. One of my family's absolute go-to's. The other things like ribs and I actually recommend getting the coffee pork ribs. You would think that combination is strange, but it works, and it's pretty delicious! But my favorite is their Singaporean Tofu. I like it because the tofu is battered with an egg wash, fried, and is soaked in this sauce that they made. It's so eggy and soft. Other than that, they do a pretty good job preparing the food. They have a huge menu so not everything will be the best, but the food is good in its own right. I also love their okra dish but maybe cause I love okra. They have this banner with this crab dish this in front of their restaurant and I do actually recommend ordering that! read more

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The restaurant is nicely decorated. But there was one table asked for an electric fly swatter. Not sure if it's because they were sitting in the corner. But we ordered the roti, combination beef and chicken satay, pineapple fried rice and Singapore noodles. The beef and chicken satay skewers was not the best. The chicken was dry and the beef skewers were ok. The peanut sauce was decent. It has chunks of peanut in the sauce it self. The pineapple fried rice was one of more decent dish. It had a pretty decent amount of pineapple chinks. They also plate the pineapple fried rice in am actual chunks of pineapple. they offer chicken, pork or seafood to add into the pineapple fried rice. The rice in the pineapple fried rice was a bit moist. I am assuming it's because of the juice from the pineapple. But either way thus was the dos with the most flavor among all the dishes we ordered. We also ordered the quail. Ehich was nice and juicy. But 1 quail was $18. They forgot to bring the salt to dip the quail and by the time we finished rhe dish they remembered to bring the salt. The roti was ok but seemed kinda lacking and thin. And the roti was $6.80 and I have seen other places that offer the roti for the same price but seems bigger portion size. We asked for Spicer Singapore noodles. But it was not spicy enough. I am not sure it I'm just immune to the spice. But to my friend he said it was way to spicy. And I thought it was funny because I didn't feel any type of kick to it. There was only two staff members working. And both male staff. They didn't even ask if we wanted napkins or anything which was disappointing when there was only 4 tables of customers. And it appeared that the one big table was given more attention and service. read more

Haven't been and almost forgot this CTown gem, but went for the first time today because I had an Malaysian and Pernankan food craving after a friend vacationing in Malaysia sent me pictures. . This is as close to authentic as you going to get in the Bay Area. The Hainan Chicken is standard fare at Malaysian restaurants. While simple few restaurants get it the right. It starts with a certain type of yellow feathered chicken which is smaller, more flavorful and cost double compared to Supermarket chicken. They did not skimp and prepared the Hainan chicken with near perfect tenderness and flavor. The Malaysian shrimp paste noodles also well done. Prices reasonable, quality good and ambience nice. Two thumbs up. read more

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I used to really love this restaurant a few years ago and came all the time. I went back recently and it wasn't the same. We always get the pineapple fried rice and the sizzling superior tofu. The rice was fine but the tofu wasn't the same. It didn't have quite the same texture and flavor. The eggplant was just fried in batter. The coffee ribs at least had a good flavor. The bread before the meal is a highlight. It's delicious and goes great with the sauces. This restaurant is in Chinatown and was a nice change from the straight up Chinese food. I ate at this restaurant before I went to Malaysia and the food at this restaurant is what I judged the Malaysian food against. read more

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[3.8/5.0] Yeah Hainanese chicken lowkey mediocre. Porkchops is dummy fire, its sweet, tender and crispy. I also got the squab, hit that thang with the salt and it goes crazy. Its also very tender and very cripsy. Not as bad as some of the other yelpers say, I had a good time with the family. read more

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I've walked by this so many times and never realized it was a Southeast Asian restaurant. It looks pretty unassuming from the outside, and letters are even missing from the name. I came for lunch with two coworkers on Thursday around 11:30 and it was pretty empty inside. The inside is decorated pretty nicely with an actual fake tree in the middle of the restaurant and tropical paintings on the walls. We ordered a couple of dishes to share (* means recommended): * Roti canai ($6): one of my favorite apps at any Southeast Asian restaurant and always a must order. The one here didn't disappoint! The roti was soft and flaky and the curry dip was flavorful! Satay combo ($13): comes with two beef and three chicken skewers and a peanut-based sauce. The skewers are already marinated with a sweet sauce, but it was even better with the peanut sauce. * Pineapple fried rice ($16): I'm personally not a huge fan of pineapple in my food, but this was good if that's your thing. It was served in half a pineapple which I always appreciate! Hainanese chicken ($14): eh this was just okay. I'm personally not a huge fan of this dish to begin with, and the chicken pieces here were a little bit dry. The ginger sauce was bomb though. *BBQ pork chop (#40 under beef / pork / lamb section, $16.80): OMG GET THIS! It was so soft and tender with the perfect amount of flavor. This was hands down my favorite dish of the whole meal. According to my coworker who has been here multiple times, it's the same every time, so yay for consistently good food! read more

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Penang Garden is a Malaysian Restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown, across the street from the Portsmouth Square Garage. There aren't a whole lot of Malaysian places in the Bay Area in general but this place is pretty solid and has good sized portions. I've recommend their Beef Rendang, their Laksa and their veggies including the Belakan Kang Kung. read more

Penang Garden - Beef Rendang - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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They did not get it right. It tastes nothing like malaysian food. We ordered laksa and rendang.

Initially I had my doubts - peeking in at 6pm, there was nary a table filled...the interior was kitchy and there was a rather large poster advertising that they were once featured on Food Network. But, it came highly recommended, so let's go. We began our meal with the roti which I thought was just okay. I felt it was cooked unevenly, one side was beyond paper thin missing some flakiness while the other side was almost too doughy. We were also warned to eat it quickly or else it wouldn't taste good...I admittedly wondered why because roti is usually flaky yet moist due to using a lot of oil (or butter). But I think I figured it out: Penang Garden's version probably doesn't use a lot of oil, which explains why it became hard and dry rather quickly after delivery. Next came our entrees, we opted for the Hainanese Chicken, Shrimp Paste Okra (aka, "Lady Fingers"), Tom Yum Noodle Soup, and Golden Sand Fried Pumpkin and Frog. Originally we wanted the Hainanaese Chicken Rice but we were informed that this plate isn't really for sharing cause it only comes with 5 pieces of chicken. So we "built" our own version ordering the Hainanese Chicken and a bowl of chicken rice on the side. I will give kudos to the chicken. It was a skinny ground runner salted right and cooked perfectly. It was tender and moist and accompanied by a delicious garlic ginger sauce (very gingery btw). The chicken rice, though, lacked some oomph. It was also a bright yellow which points to the fact that it was probably just flavored with chicken bullion. Continuing on, the Shrimp Paste Okra was cooked very well. It was fresh, bright green, crisp and not slimy in the slightest. The Tom Yum Noodle Soup was sufficiently sour and hot without being overly salty or wayyy to spicy. I also loved the assortment of fruit and vegetables within especially the quartered tomatoes and bright green, still crisp snap peas. The amount of noodles was also very generous. As for the Golden Sand Fried Pumpkin and Frog, it was deep fried very nicely and not too oily. The "golden sand" which is basically salted egg yolk was also not too heavy/overbearing on the pumpkin or frog. The frog was also separated nicely at the joints and did not contain any broken bones. All three of these dishes, I'd recommend! At the end of dinner, we looked over their dessert menu but nothing really stood out. We were, however, given complementary bowls of the house dessert - black rice simmered in coconut milk. This was a really nice creamy end to the meal. Overall, I thought this meal got better and better as it went on. I wouldn't say I highly recommend Penang Garden, but it certainly warrants a try if in the area. It also wasn't too expensive at the end of the day ($25/person for dinner). read more

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Nice ambiance, cute (fake?) tree in the middle of the dining room. Food was pretty good. Favorites were the special Malaysian coffee short ribs and curry fish head hot pot. Service was friendly, a little slow but might be because they were short staffed. read more

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