So, you have just landed in Kuala Lumpur from your drive or flight in. Now, your tummy drums to the beat of hunger. And you long for some local delicacies in the comfort of the cool of a shopping mall.
Here’s Little Penang Cafe, a place that never fails to draw in a sizable dining crowd of locals and tourists. It’s a popular joint that provides the ultimate fix to savor hawker delights in an Old Malaya themed restaurant interior of colorful tiled walls and high wooden booth chairs.
If you happen to visit the outlet at Suria KLCC during lunch hour and dinner time, you will likely be part of a long line waiting to get a table. While the queue appears long, it moves pretty quickly within a handful of minutes. But if you are not one for queues, you can skip the line by beating the crowd either by being at the restaurant early or much later.
Once seated, you would have encountered first world problems just trying to decide what to eat from the menu. The menu features familiar street favorites from appetizers, mains to desserts. Dishes that have been popular hits have tended to be char koay teow, pai tee, lobak and for dessert, cendol. Though generally, the meals arrive before you can completely hum a 3-minute song. You should be aware that a team of pretty swift wait staff would mean that great food + efficiency may be at the expense of hospitality. But really, no harm done as the crux of it is, that the food is above average.
Selected dishes like char koay teow can have a longer wait time. This is due to the high order volume, which can result in a 15 to 20 minutes wait time. One other detail worth pointing out is that it is possible to adjust the spice intensity of each dish. So if you find you have a lower tolerance, be sure to ask the waiter for a possibility of reducing the heat to a bare minimum!
The portions of Little Penang Cafe’s mouthwatering dishes are plentiful. It’s the right enough size to satisfy those cravings. Whether you are an interstate or international traveler with no plans to go up to the Northern part of Malaysia (Penang is a 4.5 hours drive) anytime soon, Little Penang Cafe is undoubtedly your closest option for a place with a taste that delivers!
If the price is a factor in your purchasing behavior, and you have an inclination for street food served under the humid balmy weather, you might then find Little Penang Cafe on the pricier side and possibly less satisfying than it actually is.
A Piece of Malaysia 