La Chica Mexican Grill Penang — Restaurant in George Town

For my son's 4th birthday, we decided on a quick getaway to Penang, my mom's hometown. My sister recommended La Chica Penang, where we'd celebrate. A week before, I spoke to Joshua, the manager, to make reservations. He was incredibly attentive and helpful, listening to my needs, advising where needed and promising us a table with a lovely sea view.

I’d arranged for a cake from a home baker and informed Joshua she will deliver it to the restaurant, but the day before, she had to cancel due to illness. We opted for Secret Recipe instead, but I forgot to inform Joshua. At 6pm, as we were getting ready, he called to check on the cake, and I apologized for the oversight. We were impressed by how attentively he followed up on such a small detail.

When we arrived, we were greeted by vibrant Mexican decor, live music, and a friendly staff. Just as promised, Joshua secured a cozy table overlooking the yachts and sea. The food was amazing—don’t miss the spicy lamb side dish and lamb tacos. The vegetarian nachos were also a hit, and my mom who is a pure vegetarian had an array of options to choose from. Even the kids’ carbonara pasta was a surprise hit with adults.

The birthday boy had a special shoutout with the team at La Chica singing for him and celebrating him. We were all adorned with vibrant Sombreros to vibe with the atmosphere and fun photo ops.

Joshua was attentive and ensured we were well taken care of. Towards the end, he made time to speak with us despite busy time buzzing with customers. He definitely superseded in ensuring my requirements were all catered for.

The team of staff were amazing. From ensuring we were comfortable to getting our orders on time and checking if everything was good, they nailed it. A special shoutout to Bharat Singh, whose genuine care and diligence made the evening even nicer.

La Chica Penang overlooks a beautiful se view, especially on a full moon night. After a nice dinner, you can take a romantic stroll with your beloved or take a 10 or 15 minute cruise on motorcars for kids and scooters, if you are with family. Or you can just sit and enjoy the sea view lost in thoughts.

My son loved his birthday celebration. ‘ Thank you amma for bringing me here. I want to come to La Chica again tomorrow.’ - His words...

Mixed bag of experience while dining here. Sample shots of frozen lime margaritas as welcome drinks are a nice touch, but they forgot my actual frozen margarita order. The prices for margaritas here are actually very tempting as well, and you can get them by the glass or pitcher.

The bottomless Totopos are freshly made per order and refills, so expect to wait a little bit prior to their arrival. We ordered the beef brisket taco, fish taco and shrimp fajitas as our main entrees. The beef brisket was nice and saucy; messy to eat but great flavors. The fish in the fish taco on the other hand was a dry and slightly fishy deep fried fish finger with more breading than fish, and I immediately had a flashback of frozen fish fingers from the supermarket. I drowned it with salsa to give it the moisture it deserves. The shrimp fajitas were good with sweet, plump, deshelled and deveined shrimps which contrasted well with the charred onions and bell peppers on a sizzling pan. The only surprising part of the fajitas were the 3 small tortillas that came with it; I thought they brought out the tortillas in small portions to make sure we always have warm tortillas, but to my surprise, a request to refill the tortillas came with a RM10 charge. I'm glad the waiter was upfront with me prior to carrying out the order. The instant look of disbelief on my face triggered an understanding smile from the waiter 😅.

Like I said, a mixed bag of experience. I missed the frozen margarita, but since we had another appointment after the meal, it was too late to order it again by the time I realized it was forgotten. I may visit again, but maybe just for the margaritas and...

I came on a Saturday and it was bustling! Superb place to have a meal and to meet up. I am happy that I am the one that added the place in Google map. Haha.

I love the vibe. Music is lively and not overwhelming. Sat at an optimal place where the background music was soft and enjoyable while the live music wasn't overpowering. The decor was interesting and eye catching.

I loved the coronarita. Perfectly balanced taste. Nicely frozen. Superbly enjoyable. The strawberry margarita however was a little sweet. Something to avoid if sweet cocktails are not your taste.

As for the food. Yummy. Loved the taco. Nicely spiced and flavoured. The pizza had a tasty thin crust but the topping was a little too light in my opinion. Need a little generosity. The chicken tapas / skewers however was delicious. Moist flavourful meat but a little tiny in size. The chicken chimichurri was generous and the filling extremely tasty and enjoyable.

I finished up with the churros. Crunchy, tasty but one of the hidden at the bottom piece was overfried and a little burnt. Maybe that piece shouldn't have made it to be diner and stopped by the chef.

In summary, good place for food, drinks and atmosphere. Will come...