Shinjutei Japanese Restaurant

Best in town for: Pork Katsu Curry, California Handrolls, cheap prices.

Worst in town for: Toilets. Poorly lit and smells rather funky.

Opening times:

11.30am - 2.30pm

6.00pm - 10.00pm

Closed Mondays

CAT: We've been dining at this place for over 10 years now, and the amazing thing is that prices have hardly risen since we first started. This still is the best place for cheap, decent Japanese food.

One of my favorite dishes here is the Pork Katsu Curry. The price is reasonable (RM13), the portion is large, and the curry is very Japanese i.e. not spicy and rather unique. Few other places in town serve this dish, and if you're a fan of Japanese curry then you've gotta check this place out.

However, be warned that this dish is considerably more expensive at dinnertime (RM22 versus RM13), and the only difference is that the dinner set comes with Chawan Mushi (which is only RM5!), so I'd recommend that you come here only at lunch time.

One thing that I don't like about Shinjutei is the Miso Soup. I find it too salty for my liking, preferring instead the more subtle flavours found in Isaribi Tei's and Oh! Sushi's Miso Soup. On the other hand, Bear loves the soup here precisely because it's saltier.

BEAR: One of our all time favourite Japanese restaurants. It's a place you can come in, eat and get out all within 30 minutes. The service is good and fast. Please note its Non Halal though.

I ordered the Shake Don [Sha-Kay Don] today out of curiosity. It's not listed in the Set Lunch/Dinner Menu and Cat spotted it by chance on the wall menu.

 Shake Don (RM 17)

The Shake Don (RM17) is served with 5 pieces of salmon on top of Japanese rice sprinkled with ebiko (shrimp roe)

For just an additional RM3, we can upgrade the ala carte to a set meal. It's worth it! The set comes with miso soup, green tea jelly, pickles, chawanmushi and cucumber in vinegar and seaweed. The chawanmushi is already RM5.

I frequently have salmon in Shinju Tei and I am happy to report that they serve fresh, generous amounts of salmon every time.

I love the miso soup here as I find the other places' bland and a little tasteless. Cat hates it though, so I get his soup as well. Yay!

Another favourite of mine in Shinjutei is the Temaki set (RM16) It consists of 3 handrolls and a bowl of hot soba in addition to the usual miso soup, pickles, green tea jelly and cucumber in vinegar and seaweed appetizer.

California and Salmon handroll

Salmon skin handroll and a bowl of hot soba

The handrolls we usually order are; California, Salmon and Salmon skin handrolls. These handrolls are the fattest I've found and the Salmon is stuffed all the way to the bottom. I share them with Cat because two handrolls and a bowl of hot soba is enough to make me lose my ability to walk back to the car.

CAT: Best California handrolls in Penang, 'nuff said. Most places serve California handrolls with Avocado in them (which I hate), or else they don't come with Tamago (which I think is blasphemy). Shinju Tei's California handrolls are big, stuffed with egg, crabstick, shrimp roe, and you get 3 of them + hot soba for RM16. Amazing value.

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