Penny Restaurant 錢記

RESTAURANT IS UNDER A NEW OWNERSHIP

Post on the new Gold Penny 品味食館 [here]

I begged BF for a pretty long time to visit here and it finally happened last night :). The restaurant's decor reminds me of an old school Chinatown food court kind of thing. I think Penny's is considered a dirty restaurant, but it did not really bother me since I deliberately came here expecting that. Furthermore, Penny's is somewhat a self serve restaurant, you seat yourself and a dispenser of napkins are provided on every table.

SLICED BBQ DUCK WITH KAI CHOY IN SOUP ($7.95).

The broth tastes light, clear and has a subtle duck flavour, very homemade. In addition, there is a good amount of kai choy which are tasty and neither over nor undercooked. If the soup had a bit more salt, it could have tasted a lot flavourful. 

BEEF BRISKET AND TRIPE WITH RADISH HOT POT ($10.95).

The beef brisket tastes tender but also chewy, and has an odd gamey flavour. The beef tastes and smells like lamb, but is beef. Furthermore, the radish does not taste very fresh and has a weird sour taste. As for the broth, it tastes very gamey too... I do not know what they did to it but we did not like it.

SLICED FISH CONGEE ($4.95).

I asked for no salt as well as MSG for the congee, and the kitchen was nice to let me know the fish is already salted which I am okay with. The congee tastes creamy, a wee bit chunky, homemade and I like it. But why no peanuts or green onions? :(. The congee has only four pieces of sliced fish which are the size of half an ice cube and can be considered a bit skimpy. I guess the lower price justifies that? Meh, I enjoyed the congee.

DEEP FRIED TOFU IN PEPPERY SALT SPICY ($8.95).

The deep fried tofu looks so... plain, and tastes plain too. The tofu lacks the seasoning along with the spiciness, and tastes soggy. I find it odd because the waitress confirmed the tofu will be spicy... but I think they forgot?

STEAMED CHICKEN WITH GINGER AND GREEN ONION SAUCE ($8.95).

The gooeyness is not very appealing to me so it was a bit hard trying the first piece. However, the one piece of chicken I chose to have melted in my mouth! Although we were hoping for a steamed, ginger onion or ginger chicken but those are served cold and we wanted something hot. In addition, the chicken tastes luke warm and is most likely a regular cold served chicken, heated with a thick cornstarch sauce. Perhaps if the chicken was heated for longer, the dish may have tasted better. Nevertheless, the dark meat does not tender.

APPETIZER PLATE A: COMBINATION OF DEEP FRIED PRAWNS, GARLIC RIBS, CHICKEN WINGS AND DEEP FRIED WONTON WITH SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE ($10.50).

This is my first time having anything like this and BF calls it the "white man's appetizer". The chicken wings taste dry but not foul or gross at all (some restaurants have really nasty wings). Following, the garlic ribs are rock hard and inedible.

However, the deep fried prawns are delicious! I lost one because of an unnecessary photo and I was so upset… At least this time it is my fault, unlike the abalone incident at Yan's Garden. The prawns are nicely deep fried, perfectly battered and has a nice snap.

Last up, I was not about to lose these deep fried wontons so I used my hand! The wonton skin has a nice crispiness and is kind of fun to eat, but that is probably because I never have things like this. The wonton has a tiny piece of shrimp as well as ground pork and does not taste bad, but has practically nothing inside.

POSITIVES

- Open late

- Unlimited napkins at the table

- Waitress is normal, not rude or agitated 

- Cleaner than On Lok (I think the restaurant is 2 minutes away)

- Deep fried prawns are good! (not the kind of good that you'll make a trip for them of course)

NEGATIVES

- Some dishes are below average

- Wahhhh no fortune cookie?

LITTLE THINGS

- Post on the new Gold Penny 品味食館 [here]

- Western friendly (in the middle of ordering, the waitress left to take a non-Asian's order)

- How did this come up to $65.00? Seems like trying new restaurants without having expectations may be sort of wasteful

Food: 2/5

Service: 2.5/5 (kind of N/A)