We were actually planning to check out Madam Kwanโs much talked-about new outlet at Queensbay Mall today when we came across the one-month-old Penang outpost of Bangkokโs popular ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ป restaurant chain.
Iโd been a customer of ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ป whenever I visited Bangkok for the past 4 decades. Founded by Athorn Wongweerathorn, and his wife, Naruemon Wongweerathorn, ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ป has more than two dozen branches in Bangkok, including those in top-end malls like Siam Paragon, Central World Plaza and EmQuartier.
Now, I donโt have to wait till my next visit to Bangkok to have ๐ฑ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ (Thai stir-fried yellow curry with lump crabmeat)! Super-happy to be able to get it here now at ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ป Penang. Interestingly, the most popular curry powder brand used in Bangkok for this dish is Waughโs, which is made in England.
What we had:
Deep-fried seabass with signature aromatic fish sauce (๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ณ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข - เธเธฅเธฒเธเธฃเธฐเธเธเธเธญเธเธเธณเนเธเธฅเธฒ). This dish was done to perfection - the fish-meat still moist inside, whilst the outer skin was crusty and tasty from being basted with a light fish sauce-palm sugar dressing.
Stir-fried crabmeat curry (๐ฑ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ - เธเธนเธเธฑเธเธเธเธเธฐเธซเธฃเธตเน) - one of my fave dishes of all time. The dish gets its richness from evaporated milk, and the light curry taste from English-made curry powder (Thais generally cannot accept Indian curry scent). The fresh crabmeat here was stupendous!
Creamy tom yum prawn soup (๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ - เธเนเธกเธขเธณเธเธธเนเธเธเธณเนเธเนเธ) - not as creamy-rich as weโd expected. A fail.
Prawn cakes (๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ - เธเธญเธเธกเธฑเธเธเธธเนเธ). Very average, and nowhere near the best ones weโd had in Penang, let alone Bangkok. Quite disappointed here. In Bangkok, Laem Charoenโs standards are generally held consistently high across all their branches. Looks like they could not do so here in Penang.
Green chicken curry (gaeng keaw wan gai - เนเธเธเนเธเธตเธขเธงเธซเธงเธฒเธเนเธเน) - this is actually the best-tasting Thai green curry Iโd had in Penang!
Red beef curry (๐จ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ข - เนเธเธเนเธเนเธเนเธเธทเนเธญ) - average rendition. I wonโt bother to order it again here.
Crispy morning glory salad, with sweet chili dip (๐บ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ - เธขเธณเธเธฑเธเธเธธเนเธเธเธฃเธญเธ)
Spicy basil chicken (๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐จ๐ข๐ช - เธเธฑเธเธเธฃเธฐเนเธเธฃเธฒเนเธเน) - a toned-down rendition here, with none of the heat nor the assertive spike of fish sauce one gets from this dish in Bangkok.
Thai omelette (๐ฌ๐ข๐ช ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ธ - เนเธเนเนเธเธตเธขเธง) - a simple but must-have Thai dish. Thai omelette involves cooking in copious amounts of hot oil, resulting in very fluffy egg omelette flavored with fish sauce.
Pad Thai (เธเธฑเธเนเธเธข) - no, just no.
Mango with sticky rice (๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ - เธเนเธฒเธงเนเธซเธเธตเธขเธงเธกเธฐเธกเนเธงเธ) - nowhere like the excellent renditions we get in Thailand. The sticky rice was also steamed and served plain, unlike the version in Thailand where sweetened & slightly salted thick coconut milk were stirred into the hot, cooked sticky rice and left to soak in. Very disappointed with the one we got here.
Thai iced milk tea (๐ค๐ฉ๐ข ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฏ - เธเธฒเนเธขเนเธ) - quite diluted and rather tasteless.
Overall, more misses than hits here. I might come back, but only for the crab curry and the signature deep-fried seabass. Guess the Laem Charoen brand doesnโt travel well outside Thailand.
Anyhoo, this is our last meal for this year. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง!
Address
Laem Charoen Thai Seafood (Queensbay Mall)
2F-50, Queensbay Mall, 51, Persiaran Bayan Indah, 14300 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +604-646 3882
Opening hours: 11am to 10pm daily