where and what to eat lah?

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Penang has developed hawker food to an art and has exported it to other states in Malaysia, some even found its way further abroad. But to taste authentic Penang hawker food, one has to come to Penang itself.


I stayed at Sunway Hotel which is located along New Lane (Lorong Baru), off Macalister Road - the famous street packed with hawker stalls and punters. From 5pm onwards, this street transforms into a busy food heaven which was quite convenient for me.


Assam laksa (RM ?), the #2 must-eat hawker food in Penang. However, it wasn't that great. The soup wasn't thick enough and it was no where near the assam laksa in Air Itam.


Popiah (RM ?), Teochew-style spring roll filled with grated turnip, lettuce, beancurd, egg bits, grated carrot, a dash of chilli paste and sweet sauce. I didn't really like it, it was expensive for the small size and the skin was a little soggy.


Prawn paste chee cheong fun (RM ?), steamed rolled rice noodle sheet served with prawn paste, chili sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was just okay. Could've gone for the Teluk Intan's chee cheong fun instead.


Fried oyster omelette (RM ?), it was actually quite starchy and small for that price.

Verdict: Always thought that you'll never go wrong with Penang street foods, but I was wrong. It would be unfair to say the food in New Lane is bad based on the few dishes that I've tried. Furthermore, there are few repeated stalls offering the same dish, I'm sure there are some good ones. Will probably try the other popular stalls like the pork intestine porridge, curry mee and Teluk Intan's chee cheong fun in my next visit.


Address:
Lorong Baru (New Lane),
Off Macalister Road, Georgetown
10040 Pulau Pinang
Business Hours: Opens daily from 5pm - 11pm.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 5.414704, 100.326504
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map

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Northam Beach is an alfresco food court set in a converted bungalow land, over-looking the seaside and located along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, formerly known as Northam Road. Unlike any typical Penang food courts that serve only char koay teow, Hokkien mee, assam laksa and rojak, Northam Beach Cafe offers a mixed variety local and Western cuisines.


Northam Beach Cafe seems to be a popular hangout place for many youngsters and tourists. It tends to get a little crowded especially during dinner time.


I always wanted to try the duck egg char koay teow (RM 5). The use of duck egg supposed to make the noodles more fragrant and richer taste with a thicker texture compared to the regular chicken egg. Unfortunately, this plate of char koay teow was quite bland and dry.


One of the stall, Wunderbar German Sausages that serves German sausages was apparently quite popular. We had the Vienna grilled pork sausage with mashed potatoes and grilled buttered corn (RM 9). Was expecting the authentic German sausages with strong flavored minced meat but didn't know that Vienna sausage tasted like frankfurters. The mashed potatoes were nice though, it was smooth and creamy.


Pumpkin soup pie (RM 9.50), it was decent, nothing to shout about. But for that price, I'm sure there are better worthy soups out there.


Colorful mua chee (RM 3), consisting of the traditional flavor, sweetcorn, pandan, green tea, black sesame, blackcurrant and lychee. In addition to that, peanut butter sauce were added on top to enhance the nutty taste of the mua chee. The outcome...it was weird with all the different flavors in it! Plus, I didn't like the mua chee texture and it wasn't warm at all, I'd still prefer the traditional flavor mua chee served fresh and warm.


Pork ribs Hokkien mee (RM 5), spicy soup of mee (egg noodles) and bihun (rice noodles) in a stock made from prawn, dried shrimp and pork ribs. It was just okay, it'll be better if only the soup has stronger prawn taste in it.


Grilled stingray fish (RM 13), the marination for the fish was lacking somehow. It wasn't flavorful and tasty enough, but at least the fish was fresh.


Rojak (RM 4), personally felt that the rojak in Gurney Drive was much better than this.


Didn't really enjoy the food at Northam Beach Cafe and I still couldn't understand why this place is packed not only with tourists but also with the locals. Maybe it's the breeze from the seaside and the sunset view accompanying the dinner which can be quite therapeutic for certain patrons? Not for me though, I hated the after-effects with sticky salty skin.

Verdict: Not the best quality of food at an expensive price in Penang. Even though the location is strategic with ample parking spots and wide variety of foods, I'm still a sucker for quality food.


Address:
58, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah,
10050 Pulau Pinang
Tel: 04-229 0362
Business Hours: Opens daily from 6pm - 11pm. Closed on Tuesday.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 5.427159, 100.323522
Map:

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Char koay teow (炒粿条), one of the Penang's most famous dish, it is also considered to be the best compared to the other states in the country. Look no further than Kafe Heng Huat in Lorong Selamat, Madam Soon Suan Choo's char koay teow claimed to be one of the best and she has been selling it for more than 41 years. Used to be by the road side next to Kafe Chuan Kee where one has to queue under the hot sun to order and collect your own plate of char koay teow. Ridiculous, but she has a legion of fans willingly to do that everyday! Since she has moved to herself owned coffee shop (Kafe Heng Huat) which is only a few doors down the road from its old premise, you don't have to queue up anymore.


Madam Soon's char koay teow fashion trademarks are her goggles and the famous red beret headgear that are easily recognized from far. Apart from whipping out world-class char koay teow, this grumpy owner is also well-known for her bad service and attitude! She even has a boycott campaign launched against her in the cyberspace via Facebook, you can read more about it here. Still, business as usual busy for her, it didn't affect her at all, you bunch of hardcore willing-buyers-supporters!


For the extra aroma, taste and oomph!, traditional charcoal stove is used here.


The crowd at 11.10am considering they open for business at 11am! It was already packed and congested with tourists waiting for tables.


Before I get to finish ordering what I wanted, the owner with the face as black as charcoal started screaming..."1 hour can wait or not!? If not then don't complain later!". Well, it's a norm here and you'll need to get use to their "friendliness" if you ever want to eat here.


About 45 minutes later, it finally arrived! Char koay teow (RM 9 for big! RM 7 for medium and RM 6.50 for small), served with four succulent plump juicy prawns, fresh cockles, bean sprouts, chives and chunks of crispy pork lard. The noodles was filled with wok hei fragrance from the usage of charcoal fire and pork lard. Sure enough, it was a little oily but tasted great! However, I remembered it was better many years before, not sure why. It's either my tongue is aging or the owner no longer fried the koay teow plate-by-plate due to the never-ending huge demands.

Verdict: If the waiting time isn't an issue AND if the price isn't an issue AND if the poor service with bad attitude isn't an issue as well, then you might have found your perfect plate of char koay teow. Personally, I don't mind waiting but I can't tolerate the bad attitude yet over-priced. I'm sure there are many more other char koay teow stalls that are better, cheaper and friendlier than this one.


Address:
108, Lorong Selamat,
10400 Pulau Pinang
Tel: 016-269 2222
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11am - 6pm. Closed on every Tuesdays.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 5.416996, 100.324752
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map