If you've never tried Malay cuisine, you MUST try these restaurants. All of the Penang group are owned by the several sons of the Cheah family and all of the recipes used are personally created by their Mother. In the restaurant business in New York City since 1993, the fame of these restaurants has steadily grown in acclaim. They have been praised in new York Magazine, the Times, the Daily News, Zagat, News day, Dining Out and others. The decor of bamboo walls and wood plank floors over water and artfully created rock wall garden with waterfall (in Manhattan) is romantic and exotic. Whether you visit Penang in the East Village, Soho, Flushing or New Jersey you can count on the same quality and freshness, wondrous dishes and good service by waitresses in colorful sarongs. Food is prepared promptly in the well kept kitchen open to your view as you pass by.

Malaysian cuisine is a combination of the influences of that part of the world -- Chinese, Indian, Japanese and the indigenous island population. The use of lemon grass and coconut and red pepper in some dishes is reminiscent of Thai food, while the curries are closer to Indian. although they, too, may have lemon grass or coconut added. Enhancing the mystique of the decor, all the names of the dishes are in Malay, with brief English explanations. The waitresses, manager and the owner will be glad to help you with any questions you may have. Most people order by number, however, thus avoiding errors of pronunciation. We've tried some of the dishes so far, and report on them here.

We highly recommend the Seafood Tom yam Soup, a peppery, sour broth with shrimp, scallop, squid, vegetables and coriander leaves. Not fishy, nor overpoweringly peppery, it is a pleasant start for your meal. Follow with a Gado Gado salad if you like,.. a julienne of cucumber, turnip and cabbage with egg, tofu and a sweet, tangy peanut sauce on the side. Or, you may prefer Penang Lobak, a mixed appetizer of spicey-sweet pork roll, fried tofu, pickled ginger and fried shrimp pancake served with a light hoisin sauce and a sweet chili relish. A delicious alternative is the Roti Canai. This large, very thin and flaky award-winning flatbread comes with a side dish of brown (Japanese style) curried chicken and potato as a dipping sauce (or use peanut sauce, if you prefer, and if you have some left over from the Gado Gado). This is definitely 'finger food'. Actually, in Malaysia chopsticks and fingers are used most often,... forks less often, and knives never appear on the table.

The serene early dinner hour turned to bustling activity with a cacaphony of voices from many arriving patrons as the evening ripened. We were served our entree choices on a collection of decorative serving pieces typical of Japanese crockery. Beef Rendang was chunks of pot roasted meat in a thick coconut, lemon grass and chili gravy, not unlike a curry, but dark reddish brown and served on a broad, green banana leaf. White steamed rice in crocks was served on the side. We tried the Nasi Lemak, billed on the menu as a Coconut Rice flavored subtly with cloves and pandan leaves topped with chili sambal (sauteed onion chili) and dried curry chicken (not completely dry, of course). The mound of rice was accompanied by an almost equal amount of Curried Chicken. Finally we had Udang Penang, one of the most highly recommended dishes. This is most assuredly to be eaten with the fingers! The jumbo shrimps are butterflied and sauteed with shell and heads on, and served on a bed of spicy curry leaves and lemon grass in a dark brown sauce. With care, you may want to eat the shells, or discard them.

No fine meal is compete without dessert, and Penang has some fabulous ones. Fried Ice Cream consists of a light crisp tempura-like shell containing a large ball of rich French Vanilla Ice Cream (don't ask how they do it... it's a secret). The pastry has a sweet taste of its own. A very nice effect! Another simple but exotic choice is the Peanut Pancake -- actually a very thin crepe, sandwiched around a thin sweet filling of gritty peanut sauce and sweet corn. This is made to order, served warm, and is truly a wonderful treat.

You won't be able to determine your own favorite dishes until after several visits, since there are almost seventy items. We will be back to report on more dishes in the near future. Hope to see you there.