Travel: The Best Part of Penang (Part 2)

Check out The Best Part of Penang (Part 1) for more cast iron cartoons.

Travel: Best Part of Penang (Part 1)

Isn’t the street food.

It’s finding gems like the graffiti and cast iron cartoons below that make the trip to Georgetown worth while. These tongue-in-cheek cartoons tell Penang’s story in an interesting and appreciable manner that doesn’t seem like a stiff roll of parchment paper.

Of course, their kick ass black as sin coffee helps too.

Eating My Way Through KL & Penang (Part 2b: Everything Else)

Penang’s a Chinese-ified city with lots of Chinesey food that I can get in Singapore. As with regional differences, dishes with the same name might not be cooked in the same way – like Char Kway Teow or Lor Mee.

Regardless, food is food. When in Penang (or anywhere else), eat like siao*.

Nasi Kandar

The Indian version of the Nasi Padang, Nasi Campur or Economic Rice. Pick from whatever meats and vegetables – sometimes stir-fried, often curried or sizzled – and chuck them onto your plate of rice. Douse with slaps of mutton curry, licks of beef something, drizzles of some dark gravy with mussels in it. That’s Nasi Kandar.

Sounds better than it tastes. But I find it too heavy for my liking

Nasi Kandar Line Clear
177 Jalan Penang

Bak Chang (Meat Rice Dumpling)

Apparently these stuffed rice dumplings are da bomb in Penang. They serve Hokkien, Cantonese and some “Golden” rice dumpling that suspiciously resembles a Hokkien dumpling on steroids. Soft, savoury, not too oily, and the accompanying sweet dark sauce was surprisingly apt for this dumpling. Not my kind of dumplings but I much prefer the Cantonese versions.

Cintra Food Corner
Lebuh Cintra

Char Kway Teow

Penang’s pride and joy. Flat rice noodles fried with lots of bean sprouts, cockles, oil and wrapped in an egg. Salty, not sweet. Not enough wok hei (smoky taste), but worth a wolf-down snack.

Some Coffeeshop that also sells solid Penang Coffee
Lebuh Kimberly

Beef Satay

This is good. Facing the sea, pieces of charcoal-fired beef and drippy which I dip into peanut sauce. Best.

Food Court Facing the Sea
Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakah

Grilled Fish with Sambal

When facing the sea, must eat something from it, Like fish, or mermaids. Tangy, powerful chilli slathered on grilled fish. Very much like the seafood stuff that comes out from Newton Circus, but much cheaper.

Food Court Facing the Sea
Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakah

Everything Else Verdict

I think I went to all the wrong places in Penang. Regardless, that’s a snapshot of Penang food. The only real difference between that and Singapore lies in a few tweaks here and there.

Next time, I’m heading up along the East Coast of Malaysia.

* siao = mad

Eating My Way Through KL & Penang (Part 2a: Breakfast)

Two days in Kuala Lumpur and I’m antsy. Hop on a night train and I’m in Penang by 7am, 30 minutes after the ferry sailed across the channel from Butterworth to Georgetown.

Why Penang? Why not? I once passed by Penang a few years back, liked the little place, and thought it was quaint, quiet and kind of crumbly.

Still do actually.

But I do think that Penang food is somewhat better than Kuala Lumpur. And here’s the breakfast edition as per the morning step off the boat.

Kopi-O Ais

This rocks. Thick, syrupy, rich and buttery. I’d swap any Starbucks for this awesome cuppa coffee any day.

Ubiquitous 
Any self-respecting Penang coffeeshop should have it.

Fried Carrot Cake, Dim Sum, Chee Cheong Fun

The dim sum’s forgettable. Fried Carrot Cake is extremely thirst-inducing. The Chee Cheong Fun was pretty good quality actually. Freshly made with a serving of shallots and chilli on the top.

Open Space at Chowrasta Market
Somewhere on Jalan Chowrasta

Dim Sum

One of the better dim sums that I’ve had in Malaysia. I’m rather disappointed that the food came in steel steamers instead of bamboo steamers. Somehow it detracts from the taste, and screws up the dim sum skin. Big draw – drinking pot after pot of Chinese tea for cheap.

Restoran Tho Yuen
92 Jalan Campbell

Curry Mee

Curry laden with Coconut milk and a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve not had in Singapore since forever – Pig’s Blood! Not too spicy, plenty lemak, and bloody greasy. A friggin small bowl but it filled me up for Breakfast.

A tip: Get some You Tiao to mop up the curry gravy.

Coffee shop at Chowrasta Market
Somewhere on Jalan Chowrasta

Breakfast Verdict

OK only, lah. But when hungry, eat lor.