There's so many times when I miss working in Campsie. Not the job of course, but the people, the suburb and the amazing variety of food. The thing about Campsie is that is has such a nice 'village' feel. All the shops from restaurants, grocers, fashion, variety, healthcare, banks are situated along the main Beamish Street and it makes the community feel very close knit. At least that's what I recall a patient telling me and I definitely could not agree more.
It was around a few months in that I discovered Penang Hawker while doing a morning coffee run and decided I had to try it. Since then I introduced it to colleagues, friends and my dad who all love it just as much as I do.
For Fathers Day in the weekend that has just passed, my dad insisted we have dinner at this place just so that he could introduce my mum and sister to it. I think it's his new favourite and local Malaysian restaurant.
It was super busy on this particular night but as we arrived a little later, we were lucky to get a nice table in the back! The above picture is from the last time I went here with my dad though, which was for an early dinner around 5pm.
As you can see, the inside is very cosy and humble with few scattered decorations and a wall full of pictures and artwork reminiscent of life in Malaysia. According to Broadsheet the story of how Penang Hawker came to be is a simple and uncomplicated one. Owner, Jenny Tan couldn't find a Malaysian restaurant in Sydney that she liked so she opened one. The menu is an assortment of her favourite foods as well as a fare of classic Chinese-Malaysian dishes you may find at any Penang hawker market. The style is entirely traditional with "no Aussie style" and I really like that.
We are handed our menu by the friendly server, who I believe is also manager. The staff are in high spirits and before we can even finish discussing what we should order they are back with lots of suggestions for us. It feels a tad pushy especially for someone as indecisive as me but as the server starts discussing Malaysian culture and Vietnamese culture with my parents, we all find ourselves warming up to the service.
Usually when I used to go here during lunch times, the service is not this upfront - it is more laid back. But on this special night, I find myself appreciating all the effort they put in to make our dining experience more fun and comfortable.
We start off with some drinks.
Left: Ribena Sprite Longan drink $4.80
Right: Bandung $3.80
Both drinks are very aesthetic and pretty. The Teh Tahrik was sold out this night so my sister went for the suggested drink. The Ribena Sprite Longan drink unfortunately just tasted like Sprite, nothing more or less.
As for the Bandung which is an evaporated milk mixed with rose cordial syrup, I love it. This is always my go-to drink whenever I can spot it on the menu. Except other Malaysian food places haven't been able to achieve this level of sweetness and deliciousness. Or colour for that matter, the colour is HIGHLIGHTER pink. Both yikes and wow. The first time I ordered it I didn't know what it was and was hoping it would be like Boon Cafe's Nohm Chompoo, but it wasn't and instead I found my new love for rose-flavoured food and drinks. So I highly recommend it, you must try this!
Not too long after our first dish came out, followed by the next and the next. Nothing I could do to stop my hungry family from digging in, but hey that's all part of the fun right 😂
Let's talk about this dish first:
Sweet Sauce Chee Cheong Fun $6.80
I LOVE this dish. I love this dish so much that in all the times I have eaten here, I still can't bring myself to order the version of this dish with curry sauce. And I also love curry. Oh man where do I begin. Okay, so this dish is an assortment of steamed rice rolls, fish balls, and tofu skin with a generous heaping of sweet sauce and fried onions. This is a very popular street food and I think nearly every Asian culture has their own version of it. But this is really delicious I tell you!
For the price, there is a lot on this plate and it's very substantial for a quick lunch. See my below pics:
Throwback to the time I was working in Lakemba and got this delivered over by Ubereats 😂 Or the time I scoffed it down during my 30 minute lunch break (even though it takes me and my short legs nearly 10 minutes to walk up the road) 😂 Now fast forward to me craving it right now as I type this post and look over the pictures 😂
So. GOOD.
Hainanese Chicken Rice Set $11.80
For this price, this rice set is honestly such a steal. Where else in Sydney can you get great food for great prices like this! The set comes with rice, a quarter of boneless Hainan style chicken, soup, and two sauces. The chicken is actually really good being really tender and quite silky (some pieces more than others) - never dry. It is placed over some light soy sauce, and cucumbers or tomatoes depending on the day. The rice and the soup are quite standard. And lastly the dipping sauces are delicious! One is a red chilli sauce which is not too hot and on the refreshing vinegary side, whereas the green one is a scallion and ginger one.
Malaysian Curry Laksa with Chicken $11.80
Such a huge and generous serving. First thing I noticed upon digging up my first bite is that there is a mix of thin vermicelli and thick hokkien noodles. I thought it might've been a mistake but on the menu it definitely indicates both will be served. I really like it because it provides such a nice range of texture. They taste awesome with the laksa and why choose when you can have both. This along with the bean sprouts, which I'm happy to say - there wasn't too many, is all so welcome. The bean sprouts soak up the creamy laksa broth and retain a great crunch. Chicken was so tender and juicy and loved the addition of tofu puffs and fish cake to the mix. The laksa broth was very hot, creamy and more-ish. Only thing is that I wish it was a little more spicy, but other than that - perfect!
Beef Rendang $16.80
Such a huge plate of beef rendang! This dish is a family favourite so I had to order it. The beef is very tender, juicy and full of rich and intense flavours from the aromatic coconut sauce. Also a bit of heat. Nothing not to love about this!
Steamed Rice $2 each
Roti Canai Set $7.80
Half way through our dishes, my sister declares that she wants to try the roti so we grab two of these plain roti canai sets. They don't come with sambal or anything, just a small and plain bowl of curry sauce for dipping. I think there were other options but I can't recall right now.
Anyway these roti were really good. I watched my sister scoff down an entire plate of it before trying a piece myself. While they are not fluffy or airy, they are very fresh, golden and buttery. They are also not too flakey either but I don't mind because the edges are nice and crispy and hold everything together.
Penang Fried Koay Teow $11.80
Last but not least is this beauty right here. I legit think this might actually be the best char kway teow I have ever had in Sydney because nothing else quite comes to mind. The noodles come steaming hot, fresh off the wok and has the most amazing fragrant and smokey wok-hei (wok breath). Again there is not too much bean sprouts, and a generous scatter of fried egg, green shallots, fish cake, prawn and Chinese sausage which my mum and sister really enjoy.
A look around the restaurant reveals this is one of Penang Hawker's most popular dishes. Even the table of two next to us both have ordered one each of this same dish and were happily chowing it down.
Of course even between four people we didn't manage to finish this huge feast so we asked for some take-away boxes. I thought it was really nice how they didn't charge us for the boxes. And even nicer that the server came back out to sneakily gift us dessert. But what was over the top was when my mum joked "Only one box?" and he snuck us a second box. Thank you so much! 🙈
Malaysian Soya Pudding with Longan
Not sure how much this is as it is not on their regular menu. However I'm sure its extremely reasonable as everything else has been. The pudding itself has such a nice and silky smooth texture. The addition of longan gives it a refreshing and sweet taste. Such a great way to end the meal!
And before I end this post, I also tried another of their dessert on different occasion:
Tau Foo Fah with Ginger Syrup $5.80
A classic Asian dessert. This silky tofu pudding comes with a warm and sweet ginger syrup that pairs perfectly. If you have never had tofu pudding, you need to try this. There is also the option for gula melaka instead of ginger syrup. But I really recommend the ginger syrup because it is just as sweet and as my mum says, ginger makes you feel warm from the inside.
So there we have it. My extensive review of Penang Hawker. A big question I have received lately is how does this compare to the other Malaysian restaurants in Campsie.. or mainly, Albee's Kitchen - one of Sydney's most beloved Malaysian restaurants which is literally only two doors down. Well, I can't say I've been there but my workmates and family strongly insist this 110% is much better. A second review coming your way as well as that for the 'other Malaysian restaurants' mentioned above!
All I can say to end this post is that I really love Penang Hawker because I feel like they serve amazing food at affordable prices. The location is great for me as well but for anyone wishing to go here, it is only less than a 5 minute walk from the station. It is also worth mentioning that they open at 5am - 7am most days for an early breakfast crowd!
TL;DR:
Price: Affordable
Quality: Fresh and great food
Service: Friendly
Ambience: Cosy, humble, can get busy at times
Penang Hawker
275 Beamish Street
Campsie NSW 2194
Open 7 days a week
Mon-Fri: 5AM-7AM, 11AM-9:30AM
Sat: 5AM-7AM, 9:30AM-9:30PM
Sun: 9:30AM-9:30PM
