Penang Malaysian & Thai Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland

Penang is the name of a state in Malaysia, hence one can associate the restaurant with local Malaysian tastes. I was introduced to this restaurant through a friend from Indonesia. Quite ashamed of myself as a typical American individual, I wasn't quite sure about some of the distinctive differences between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippine. Since I tend to group all of them together geographically, no doubt do I also group their foods together. Therefore, Penang, to me, became this restaurant that features foods in the southern eastern islands.

Grass Jelly drink. This black mess is made out of herbal grass jelly. It is made by mixing agar with leaves of a minty-plant (Mesona Chinensis, according to Wikipedia). It is perfect for the summer when you have the urgent need to cool off your body and facilitating the expansion of your blood vessels. It tastes slightly minty, but mostly sweet. I would recommend trying it due to its fantastic taste and its lack of ability to stain teeth.

Roti Canai, crispy Indian style pancake with carry chicken dipping sauce. It was DELICIOUS. The Indian style pancake was just a think sheet of dough with the texture of Chinese scallion pancakes. It is folded up to remain heated on the inside. You tear a piece of oily pancake with your hand and dip into the Indian chicken curry dip, taste of rich curry taste and the starchy oily pancake. A match made in heaven, and a definite must try in any Malaysian or Thai restaurants.

Salted Fish Rice Noodles: stir fried vermicelli in soy sauce with salted fish, shrimp & bean sprout. I was quite disappointed with this dish. I've had salted fish before. They are salty, they are fishy, but goes well with plain starch such as rich or plain flat noodles. The mistake about this dish was the conflicting strong taste of the salty fish on top of deeply seasoned noodles. It made the dish as a whole just full of salt. Not impressed.