This post is not meant for true blue Penangites who grew up with Penang chendol.It is meant for out of state visitors who are wondering if they should give this dish a go.If you love Keng Kwee Street chendol and swatow lane chendol you will NOT like to read further because you are going to think that I am crazy for rating Penang chendol as mediocre.
For out of state visitors who have been enthralled by the likes of artic cold south indian chendol under cherry trees with sinful amounts of brown treacle,I am afraid that you will absolutely not like this.You will even question your goodself if there is something wrong with your tastebuds because you see so many people queuing up,huddled together under what little shadow there is,on the blistering pavement for their fix.
Penang chendol is chinese chendol,which just does not match up to the glorious indian versions* on the mainland.It is like asking a chinese to cook Malay nasi lemak.They can't.
First and foremost,they really stinge on the green worm thingys which compared to the indian one sends you into ecstasy.The flavour of the green chendol is lacking,the colour is nowadays getting to be a sickly green palor.You will ask yourself if this is chendol or this is kidney bean santan on the rocks with chendol trimmings.See,cos there is a great amount of kidney beans and pathetic amount of chendol which is good news for those that really like kidney beans.To me,that much an amount of kidney beans just spoils the spirit of the dish itself for me.
Next the darned ice melts at F1 rate,that there is no way you can finish without having your dessert spoilt by melted ice water.
Worst of all,it is less sweet.Yes,as we all know gula melaka is a costly thing.Having chendol with less gula melaka is like eating putumayam with brown sugar.Horror!
Why would they want to put less gula melaka?They reason that Penangites,the kind that starts exercising at 5am in the morning or 4pm in the afternoon or both,prefer a healthier version.
Fiddlesticks and bollocks.I say they're just trying to save cost as usual.
However don't just take my unrecommendation at face value.Try it for yourself when you come here to prove me wrong.
*Please note that this post does not include the Malay version of chendol on Penang island.I do not have sufficient experience downing their version from the pasar malams and mom n pop stalls around the island and am unable to make a comparison.Thus this Penang chendol post is specifically about the chinese operated ones.
