Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine 品馨

Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine (31 October 2020)


Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine (GPS: 5.4102, 100.33062; Chinese: 品馨) is a vegan restaurant in George Town, Penang. Occupying a double-storey pre-war terrace house at Tye Sin Street, the restaurant offers exquisite vegan interpretations of many local fare, such as nasi kandar, curry mee and so on. The name Pǐnxīn can be roughly translated as a fusion of the quality of taste for the undelectable aroma. This restaurant is at the forefront in championing the switch to non-meat cuisine by creating tasty items that rival the meaty version.

My visits to Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine

31 October 2020
My wife and I visited Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine for the first time on this day. I was on a food trail of all non-meat restaurants and eateries in Penang, so naturally we eventually dined at Pǐnxīn.

We arrived at 12:22pm and saw that the restaurant was packed. We were told that we have to wait. We saw that a food delivery man was also waiting to receive his order. While we waited, more diners arrived and also had to wait their turns. There was no vacant seats for two, but a table opened up for those in group of four, so a group of four got to take their seat first.

It took a good half an hour before a table opened up for us. By then, a queue of diners was already forming, and some had to wait in the hot sun.

After waiting for half an hour, I finally got a table at Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine (31 October 2020)


As we were settling down, there was a commotion in the restaurant. Apparently, the food delivery man was getting furious that his order was not prepared. He still had to wait another fifteen minutes or so before storming out of the restaurant with his food delivery. I wonder, the person who had ordered the food would also be wondering why it took so long for his order to arrive, and would be giving the poor delivery man a dressing down when he brought the food.

Ordering at Pǐnxīn is App-based. Diners scan the QR code which immediately identifies their table, and they simply select the items they wish to order. Payment, however, has to be made at the counter.

I ordered the Fiery Curry Noodle (RM17) while my wife selected the Hericium Dark Sauce Rice (RM18). Our drinks were brought to us promptly, but twice! When they brought the same drinks again, we showed the waiter that we have already received, so it was brought back.

Fiery Curry Noodle (31 October 2020)


My order arrived first. By then it was 1:00pm and we have been at the restaurant for over half an hour. I thought of waiting for my wife's order to arrive before I start eating, so that I could take photos of both items together.

We waited and we waited, but it failed to show up. My wife checked on her order three times, each time with a different waiter. They scanned her order chit, then went back to check, but no order arrive. My wife was quite annoyed to see other diners who arrived later receiving their food.

After a long wait, my wife's order finally arrived at 1:30pm, a good half an hour after mine arrived. We were astonished that a restaurant that uses such a high tech ordering system could so screw up the fulfillment. Based on what we saw with the food delivery guy earlier, we imagine that the kitchen at Pǐnxīn to be a chaotic battleground. It appears that the restaurant's success has completely crippled its capability to delivery food promptly.

Hericium Dark Sauce Rice (31 October 2020)


Now let's talk about the food. My Fiery Curry Noodle is indeed spicy. The taste is good. Portion size is also good. On top of that, they use quality ingredients such as asparagus instead of long beans. I am quite satisfied with it.

My wife's Hericium Dark Sauce Rice also has good portion size and good quality ingredients. We liked the idea that they use hericium to create something like dark sauce char siew. It offered a lovely texture that went well with the rice.

We have no issue whatsoever with the food at Pǐnxīn. It's only the speed of fulfillment and order of delivery that we find wanting. It is good to be able to observe a restaurant as a regular diner, which we often are not able to do, as we are often invited food reviewers. I look forward to returning to Pǐnxīn to see if there is an improvement to their chaotic delivery.

Address

Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine
38, Lebuh Tye Sin,
10300 George Town, Penang.

Business Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm daily

Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine 品馨 is on the Map of Lebuh Tye Sin, Penang

Pǐnxīn Vegan Cuisine (31 October 2020)

List of Vegetarian Restaurants in Penang, Restaurants in Penang and Restaurants in Malaysia