The word "authentic" in a restaurant's name should set alarm bells ringing for anyone who is familiar with the cuisine that the establishment purports to serve. Little Penang Authentic Colonial Coffeestall is first of all not a coffee stall. Secondly, its huge menu, with dishes that range in provenance from China's Yunan province to Indonesia, has Penang and the colonial experience merely as a base note on which an inescapably Taiwanese dining experience is built. This isn't to say the food is bad; in fact, Little Penang has many dishes that are quite excellent. But for people who know Singapore and Malaysia, it is advisable to keep culinary expectations in check.
One of Little Penang's great attractions must be its coffee (NT$50), which is made with condensed milk and inexplicably called "nan yang memorably." It doesn't have quite the same "authentic" taste as it would if made at a ramshackle stall next to an open drain, with the coffee filtered through an old sock, but the bitter-sweet mix is still a delightful change from the ubiquitous Americano coffee that is the staple in this price bracket. Nan yang memorably can be had with Southeast Asian breakfasts such as butter and kaya toast (NT$65). Kaya is a spread made from eggs and coconut and is an acquired taste, but has the same kind of appeal to old Asia hands as Vegemite has to Australians.
Another Malaysian breakfast food available at Little Penang is roti canai (NT$100), or fried nan bread served with a warm curry sauce, which is sometimes eaten with the addition of sugar. At Little Penang, the sauce, though flavorful, seemed to have come straight out of the fridge, and even for its relatively cheap price, the quantity of sauce was less than generous. Another disappointment: the spicy curry fish ball (NT$100), which, despite the three red chilies tantalizingly placed next to the menu listing, had clearly been spiced up simply by adding chili oil.
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
While the snack foods underwhelmed, the stir-fry dishes on the menu were more than acceptable. A good balance of flavors could be found in dishes such as the Penang kway teow (NT$180) and the Malay-Indian fried noodles (NT$180).
As a chain with an outlet in Breeze Taipei Station, another on Keelung Road and more in the works, Little Penang has a mall-like impersonality, with staff who are helpful enough though not knowledgeable about the food they serve. The restaurant's new location off Zhongxiao East Road, which opened last week, does have a lovely veranda, and this is a good option if you want to nosh on a curry, knock back a Singha beer or sip on a coffee, and watch the world go by.- IAN BARTHOLOMEW
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