Shah Alam's Restoran Penang Gulai serves their own spin on dishes like ‘sambal petai ikan bilis', ‘inchi kabin' and ‘assam' curry fish, as well as Chinese dishes
I often feel food evolves with time and place to fit people's needs and economic situation as that's the only way to survive in this harsh F&B industry.
Penang Gulai is a prime example of how to stay long and prosper since 1979 — a lesson many new start-ups should learn—by reading the moment, giving people what they want.
Rarely seen in restaurants, this Sambal Petai Ikan Bilis is a rice killer with its dry 'sambal' and those crispy 'ikan bilis' with a hint of sweetness.
The name may suggest a focus solely on Peranakan food but that's just the tip of the iceberg as the pork-free menu also includes Chinese classics like yam ring, butter fried prawns, shark's fin stir fry with eggs and even tomyam soup appears next to shark's fin soup.
Reality bites once you see its surroundings — an industrial area with names like Tamco and Pharmaniaga as their neighbours.
That's where you may see customers who have called ahead to order easy-to-go meals collecting fried noodles or fried rice to bring back to the office, or even Malay families from Shah Alam drop by to enjoy a communal meal.
This version of Inchi Kabin isn't too loaded with spices but it's light, crispy golden batter will have you fighting with your friends for the last piece.
On every table with a big group, a fish or even two, takes centrestage, to be eaten together with other dishes and rice.
It's a long list of different kinds of fish like pomfret, siakap, grouper, cooked in your favourite style, whether it's steamed, deep fried or served in their signature assam curry.
A testament to the assam curry's popularity is its appearance on all the tables including ours.
As they usually serve a whole fish, go for the grouper fish meat (RM39 or RM13 per 100 grams) if you're a small group of diners.
Assam Jawa Prawns gets the flavours right but needs to be cooked a little longer for the tamarind sauce to coat the prawns.
The highlight is the mild spicy yet tangy curry that pairs beautifully with rice.
Now I know why you're given a huge bowl filled with rice for you to add more and more to soak up the curry, which has a looser consistency.
Inside the curry, vegetables like ladies' fingers and brinjal are also added together with beancurd puffs, although the brinjal needed more time to reach a softer texture.
Sambal Petai Ikan Bilis (RM25 for a small portion) is a dish I would happily eat again and again.
It's rare for stink beans to be paired with dry, fragrant prawn sambal (hae bee) as usually it's made with a wetter sambal with sliced onions.
The final flourish for a contrast of textures came in the form of crispy ikan bilis slightly sweetened as a dash of sugar was added to make sure it maintained its crunchy texture.
During the weekend, it's mainly families enjoying a communal meal.
Inchi Kabin (RM20 for a small portion) will have my Penang friends screaming that it's not the real deal.
It's not dark brown with the spices nor does it come with that Worcestershire-mustard sauce, everyone swears by.
Yes, it may have a lighter hand with spices but judge it solely as a fried chicken and it will win you over with its light, crunchy batter with moist meat.
It had us scrambling to finish every piece of chicken, together with the deep fried ginger cut into matchsticks.
Assam Jawa Prawns (RM40 for a small portion) was a letdown for us though. as their style didn't quite infuse the prawns with the tamarind flavours.
Even though they had a dark, sticky tamarind mixture, the prawns weren't fried long enough with the tamarind mixture, leaving it uncoated and mostly on the plate.
Most of their diners seem to prefer the butter fried prawns instead, which look covered with the fine, crispy egg strands.
The restaurant is within a commercial area where it's surrounded by factories and right across the main road, you will find AEON shopping mall.
This place definitely warrants more visits, when I am around this area, as they also serve crabs, Rendang
Chicken, Sambal Sotong and definitely repeat orders of that amazing Sambal Petai Ikan Bilis and Inchi Kabin.
It also has an old school air to it, with the usage of a trolley to bring the dishes to your table, and the walls are peppered with faded photographs of their signature dishes that haven't changed much after 46 years.
Parking is also a breeze during the weekends as most of the shoplots are offices with a few eateries that include the famous Nasi Kalut Jitra Mai.
Restoran Penang Gulai,
37, Jalan Keluli Am7/Am,
Section 7, Shah Alam.
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Monday to Sunday), 6pm to 9.30pm (Tuesday to Sunday).
Tel: 03-33431979/ 010-9125323.
Facebook: @penanggulai
• This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
• Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
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