Vegan Falafel penang — Restaurant in George Town

This falafel place in Penang has been here for years and I am one of the frequent customers who still look up to them when it comes to falafels. But there are few things that ultimately disappoint me every time I visit this place.

Food - No joke, it's good. Love the menu and the combinations. Staff - Friendly but they love to play things easy (not correctly) and get things done. Atmosphere - Horrible, every time we arrive with a happy mood, and because we want to eat there n enjoy, we will always purchase and return because sitting areas are horrible n not well lit.

Here is a list of improvements which I hope the owner would take with a pinch of salt and improvise:

1. If a customer ask for receipt, it's because they want it and they want it with correct information on it, not just a tie on figures with some other menus on the receipt. Print it with the correctly ordered menu!

2. Your tables inside the shop, do u ever wonder why nobody sits inside ur shop? Because it's horribly lit! You have a disco light and pitch dark! Ur customers are people who eat! They wanna see their food! It's not a club! Put some yellow dim lights lit the place properly and u will attract more customers!

3. Tables by the roadside, not gonna complain, it's your choice, but certainly not my choice of eating food while cars passing by right beside you, how dirty is that, if it was just drinking , it's fine, at least the bottle capped or bottle nozel is small. Food ? completely exposed. Again not complaining, it's fine if it's there but improvise ur inside shop condition so ppl like me can sit inside.

4. Don't tell your customers to pay cash only when u actually have touch n go and grab pay systems! Annoying as hell...

Excellent dishes (perfect really). I appreciate the high standard ingredients plus the salty and sour flavours. Serving size is rather modest. But everything is fresh, fresh, fresh.

I did not notice the add-on 6% service charge (it is printed on at least the cover and back) and so was a bit taken aback when presented with the bill. Something new? Drinks are costly relative to meals. Oddly, beer is cheaper than non-alcoholic beverages. Music sometimes is loud, suggesting this attractive but small restaurant caters to younger customers.

General comment about eating in Penang versus KL...

As a budget tourist who is price-sensitive, I find non-Chinese/Malay food is in a minority and therefore the market price is higher by comparison versus other cuisines. So, I will eat in such restaurants once per week instead of daily. South Indian is not as costly and seems to be in the intermediate zone, cheaper than western/foreign but higher than Chinese/Malay. Both food and accommodation in Thailand and Cambodia are better value. Be prepared. I would not call Malaysia cheap (like Vietnam). But it is also not expensive like Laos.

The challenge in Malaysia is finding freshly made hygienic food. Both ready-made and street food is nit as nutritious or safe. I have multiple times gotten food poisoning in Malaysia. Sometimes even from sit-down restaurants.

This falafel...

We ate dinner here on 3 or 4 nights of our week stay. It was close to our hotel and open late, and during the weekday, the servers had no issue with us not ordering drinks from them. By the weekend, we were told we needed to buy drinks from them per the owner, so we decided not to go back. The falafel itself is good, though not the best. I like herby falafel where you can see the green inside. This falafel is more bready, like a hush puppy, but always delivered hot and fresh. We got the Arabic plates which were delicious, and even ordered a spicy sauce to accompany, but there still wasn’t enough sauce. More hummus and garlic sauce would be better, and maybe a few more pickles (I think I had between 2-3 depending on the day). We also got the schnitzel on our final day eating here and it was a nice change, really good. The curly fries tasted a bit over cooked but still good.

Overall I’d say this is a nice dependable spot for falafel if you want to order...