Dad was kind enough to finish his rounds and drive me to Koreatown today. On the way, we discussed the possibility of stopping off in El Monte--directly off the 60 freeway--to try Little Malaysia Restaurant. I haven't had good Malaysian food in a while (since London, strangely enough), so I've really been craving something, anything related to Malaysian cuisine.
After a productive meeting in LA, we headed back towards home. Using Dad's trusty Blackberry, we Yelp'd the location of the restaurant. Fortunately, Dad thought to call ahead and find out whether or not they close for the afternoon. And sure enough, they were just about to close. So we changed plans (and freeways) and headed towards West Covina. Dad is something of a human compass; so despite my faulty sense of direction (I'm completely lost without a GPS), we made it to Penang Malaysian Cuisine.
The restaurant is tucked into the corner of the very randomly-located Hong Kong plaza (South Glendora and Vine). Since it was already almost three in the afternoon, the place was pretty much deserted. Not that we minded--Dad doesn't like crowds, and as long as the food's good, I don't care either way. Needless to say, Dad and I were the only patrons in the restaurant.
Penang Malaysian Cuisine is definitely a far cry from the usual humidity, dustiness, and buzz of the open-air hawker restaurants. But I don't expect a southern California restaurant to exactly replicate my travel experiences. It was clean, quiet, and nicely decorated; the ambience was somewhere between a modern Thai restaurant and a Mexican cantina (if you can imagine such a place).
I think I surprised the waitress because I ordered without a menu: teh ice, roti canai, satay, and char kway teow. She actually asked me if I was Malaysian. I suspect most people just look at the pictures and point at what they want, or "point and click" as my dad calls it. Weirdly enough, the waitress is Thai, the cooks are Chinese and Mexican, and the owners are Burmese.
I don't think exported cuisines will ever be as good or authentic as the original, but the roti was still pretty good. It was flaky and thin and the sauce tasted almost exactly like what they served us in Penang. Dad had never had real roti before, so I was pleased that he finally got to try it (I'm dying to take him to Penang myself).
The satay came out shortly after; we ordered combination chicken and beef. Dad couldn't help saying over and over, "it's the best satay I've ever had." And he's tried a lot of different satay. It brought back very fond memories of trying satay from the vendor off the side of the road on the way to Tesco in Penang. The meat has a nice sweet glaze and a smoky flavor, and the sauce that came with it was great. Those who know my dad know that he's a sauce person; I suspect the sauce is what won him over.
Finally, we split the char kway teow. The noodles were actually the kind normally used in pad thai, so that was a little disappointing, and it wasn't as flavorful as I was hoping. It did have a spicy after-kick. I think it's probably pretty hard to match the char kway teow I've had in Malaysia, but it was still edible.
I was telling Dad about how people in Penang are fiercely proud of their food. Although I was only there for three weeks, by the end of the trip, even I was ready to defend Penang's cuisine against anyone from KL or elsewhere. It's been over a year now, and I still miss all of the food and all of my friends in Malaysia. I wasn't blown away by this restaurant, but it was still really fun to go adventuring with Dad and re-eat some good memories.
Penang Malaysian Cuisine
971 South Glendora Ave.
West Covina, CA 91790
(626) 338-6138
Sun-Th 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Fri-Sat 11:00 am - 10:30 pm
For those who might be interested, they also give you a 10% discount, a song, and a free ice kacang (think shaved ice) for your birthday.
