Here are some things you can count on when you go to Penang in Chinatown: you won’t have to wait longer than a few minutes for a table, you’ll get to choose from a bunch of Malaysian (and Thai) options on the menu, and you’ll walk out having spent $20 or less on consistently great food. Penang is open from 11:30am until midnight every single day. That makes it an especially good place to stop into when you’re looking for a good meal at an off-hour, like a 3pm lunch or an 11pm dinner. But no matter when you come in here, the menu is always the same - with pages and pages of delicious and interesting Malaysian and Thai dishes. Some of our favorites are a crispy roti pancake with chicken and potato dipping sauce for only $4, satay skewers for $7.50, and a huge plate of coconutty, lemongrass-y beef rendang that’ll last a week for $15. Everything you order at Penang is meant to be shared family-style, and your time here is best spent ordering a few big plates of food and passing them around one of their huge round tables. You could probably come alone during lunch and have a great meal as well, but a place like Penang really shines when you show up with a few friends, share some great food, and don’t have to worry about how much you’ve spent.