Gurney Drive’s Bali Hai Seafood market

Our latest trip with the airline of Mr Tony Fernandes flew us back to…  Penang, of course.  A 3 hours 15 minutes flight and a 25 minutes taxi drive later we were ready for FOOD… even if it was close to midnight.   Again Penang, you may ask? Well, yes. I’m considering Penang like a second home [...]

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CHEE CHEONG FUN

Chee cheong fun (*see note below) is widely on offer by Chinese hawkers in Penang. Originally it came from Hong Kong and Guan Dong province in China. That makes it a Cantonese thin (well, sort of?) steamed rice roll. It’s sheets of rice noodles, made from a mixture of glutinous rice flour and water, spread open on [...]

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LOH BAK

Marinated spiced  pork, then rolled in thin soybean/beancurd sheets, crispy spring rolls with chicken and beansprouts, deep fried beancurd, cuttlefish, prawn cakes, prawn fritters, sausages and much more. Served as a snack or as a main dish they are deep fried and come with 2 sauces: a spicy chilli sauce and a sticky starchy sauce called loh. Bak means meat. At Kheng [...]

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GOH HUAT SENG Restaurant

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI… A special good address but in my view, not necessary only for the steamboat experience though. Steamboat is called “Chinese fondue” in mainland Western Europe and I prefer to have it at home because too messy to go for it in a restaurant. The other thing is that my “steamboat” cooking pot is heated electrically while the [...]

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Penang Hokkien Mee

I already wrote about Kopi Classic and its famous Hokkien Mee some time ago. See: https://diehardowl.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/kedai-kopi-classic-hokkien-mee/   I don’t pretend to have tried all the Georgetown Hokkien Mee stalls but this one remains my favourite. For those of you who haven’t visited Penang before and are going to look for a Café with a sunscreen like the [...]

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Finally we were back, … was about time!

Back from having been  away for some time lah!  Since our latest visit we have counted the months, weeks and days before finally touching down again in Penang some 10 days ago. And boy …  were we in need! Desperate for Food with Capital F. So, as from the moment of arrival till the eve before flying out one week later, I [...]

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Indian Rojak (pasembor)

 Location: Pulau Penang – Malaysia. – Gurney Drive North – Open air night hawker centre.  – January 2010. This Indian Penangite gentleman has a very well-known stall, selling Rojak. I also think he has a few talents as a performer. Perhaps one day he’ll be discovered by Bollywood, who knows. In the mean time he already is world-famous locally and [...]

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Durian? Yes or no…

Hello everyone. A belated happy new year for 2010 and also an early “kung hei fat choi” for the coming Chinese new year and the arrival of the year of the Tiger… (not the beer and… neither Woods.)  I’ve not been posting for a while but, as we just returned from a stay in Penang, the [...]

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Lok Pin Café – Anson Road, Penang

     Lok Pin at Anson road is a place selling Fish Head Behoon, Chicken Rice, Hokkien Mee, Wantan Mee, Loh Bak and (according to the stall’s owner own saying) “Famous Asam Laksa Anson Road”. On the street in front a few more hawkers selling pancakes, fruit, Mee Goreng… The café itself was under renovation. I don’t know what it [...]

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Shing Kheang Aun restaurant.

Contact Person: Mr. Ong Chin Hong This restaurant in Lorong Chulia is probably older than we are. Many Penangites know the place “since always”, they have been eating at Shing Kheang Aun with family, parents and siblings since their childhood. Some actually remember the present owner when he was a young pre-teenager and the restaurant was ran by his parents! It’s said to be renowned for its Hainanese [...]

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Kedai Makanan Heng Kee

This Chinese old style eatery is situated on Lebuh China, close to the corner with Lebuh King. China street is one of the oldest streets and used to be the main Chinese commercial street in the early days. In Hokkien it was called “Tua Kay”, meaning main street. Lebuh China starts just in front of  the oldest Chinese Buddhist Taoist temple in Penang, dedicated to both [...]

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Hokkien Mee & Penang Assam Laksa at Kampung Jalan Baru

After the accidental discovery of a Malay stall proposing a do-it-yourself Assam Laksa dish, we finally were about to reach the initial target of our expedition journey. It’s situated close to the sea, along a small river in the Kampung Jalan Baru, a Chinese community close to Batik Pulau. I saw a lot of private houses that were having [...]

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Malay stall selling Assam Laksa near Jalan Bharu

This was going to be a challenge: I only had very few information how to find a certain place I read about. It was way out of town, a private house in a fishing village on the West Coast, near to Balik Pulau. Anyway, we’ll be trying to find it. Moreover we wanted to drive via Batu Feringgi, the [...]

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Siang Pin Seafood

A well established seafood restoran mostly patronised by locals. Fresh seafood and many fishes like garupa and pomfret, depending on the catch. I especially enjoy their Shark’s finn soup. I understand that nowadays the PC police is frowning upon that dish but I  like the taste. There is crabmeat added. I normally spice it up by adding  white pepper [...]

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Penang Hokkien Mee: my ratings

Together with Penang Assam Laksa and Char Koay Teow, Penang Hokkien Mee is one of the signature dishes of the state and more exactly of the island [Pulau] of Penang. The soup is a ‘sourish’ and ‘shrimpy’ tasting seafood broth using fresh prawns, dried shrimps and pork meat.

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Sisters’ Char Koay Teow – Lam Heng Cafe

Lam Heng Cafe is a corner coffee shop at the end/beginning of Macalister Road. It’s in this place that the sisters operate their business. The kopitiam also offers Assam Laksa, Mee Jawa and their own Otak-Otak. They say the Laksa is also of superior quality but I haven’t tried it out yet. Next time…

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Char Koay Teow – Ah Leng hawker stall

Location : Kafe Khoon Hiang, Jalan Dato Keramat, Penang. Opening hours are from 8am till 2pm and their closing day is Thursday. It’s situated in the same neighbourhood as Padang Brown food court and Kedai kopi Classic. A highly recommended area for food lovers.

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Muar Chee stall near Sin Hup Aun Kafe

  For those with a sweet tooth: Muar Chee Sin Hup Aun Kafe is situated in Pulau Tikus at the corner of Jalan Pasar and Jalan Moulmein. On the street in front of the shop there always are a few stalls selling fruits and sweets like those colourful rice snacks and other candy or Muar Chee. Muar Chee is [...]

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Kopitiam Kek Seng

Located along Penang Road, near Komtar Kek Seng is well known for its  durian ice-cream and ais kacang. For my better half, Kek Seng brings back childhood memories about visiting the place with her school friends.  The shop started more than 100 years ago: established in 1906.  As the sweet stuff  is not exactly my thing, we went for some little [...]

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Kedai Kopi Classic – Hokkien Mee

Hokkien Mee     Address: 126, Jln Perak, Pulau Pinang. Open: 8am-12pm – Close: Tuesdays. Contact Person: Mr Ooi Hee Phen. Tel: 016-436 8910 Situated  close to Padang Brown food court, this coffee shop is known for its excellent hokkien Mee. A very popular venue among locals. Even if you show up before 8am you still might have [...]

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Padang Brown food court.

Padang Brown, also known as Padang Dato Keramat in George Town is bordered by Dato Kramat Road, Perak Road, Anson Road and Johore Road. The chinese section opens in the afternoon while the Malay section runs in the evening. At least that was our impression. The land on which Padang Brown is located was donated [...]

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Back To Penang. First stop: Sin Hwa Coffee shop.

We flew Air Asia before in 2004 but this was a first for a direct return flight from Hong Kong to Penang. Not a disappointment at all! Agreed, one has to walk a bit more to get to the airplane and you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get in the plane. [...]

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Seri Selera Kampung Air – Seafood Court in KK

Malaysia, truly Asia… Last year in January we quickly had to use up  free Cathay air miles as their expiry date was nearing. We decided to spend a week in Sabah on Borneo and booked a  little hotel, The Hamin Lodge.  Ratings on the travel websites were better than average and while the place was not High End, it was [...]

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Goodall Food Court – Penang

Being both customer and judge doesn’t make us foodies as if we were having a PhD in that inexact science called Epicurean Gourmetology. Admit it, we just are not objective when it comes to food. Our upbringing, our cultural inheritance, our traditions and also our instinctive aversion of some exotic dishes do play tricks on us. Hawker [...]

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Sea Pearl Lagoon Cafe – Penang

This place is situated at the seashore in Tanjung Tokong, next To Tua Peh Kong Temple. They serve Egg crab, Meat crab, Sand/Flower crab, cockle sheels, fried squid, fried shells, fried noodles / rice / vegetables.  There is also a little stall selling very good quality Malay satays. We ordered meat crab simply cooked on the [...]

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