Being in Kuala Lumpur for more than three years, I have visited Penang many times before but this time the visit was exclusively for the sole reason of its varied yummy street food for sure. I was all set to treat myself with those unlimited calories.
According to Forbes, Penang is one of the 10 best cities for street food and The Culture Trip also mentioned Penang as one among other finest cities for best street food. Sadly, I couldn’t eat all of those delicacies because the time was too short to try it all but I tried some of those mouthwatering delicious food which I am going to mention below.
CHAR KEOY TEOW | Siam road
One of the very famous street food which you can find nearly in every street in Penang is called char koay teow, which is made of flat rice noodles stir-fried with prawns, cockles, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, strips of fish cake, and chili paste. In some of the stalls, they have the options of duck egg as well which is so creamy and thick in taste. It is made on flaming hot wok adding authentic chili paste which adds a signature taste to it.
Mr.Tan Chooi Hong is the king of char keoy teow in Penang and very famous as Siam road char keoy teow. The taste of his char koay teow preparation can be distinguished because of its smokey hot taste as he prepares it with a charcoal stove to add more flavor to it.
Location: Shop no.82, Siam road George town.
Operating hrs: 12 pm to 7 pm. Sunday (closed)
CURRY MEE| Sister Curry Mee
Curry mee is Malaysians delight. No Malaysian can say no to a warm piquant bowl of curry mee. It is a noodle dish with spicy curry soup enriched with chili, coconut milk, sambal, fresh prawns, cuttlefish, bean sprouts, lemon, and dried tofu.
If you are in Penang you can’t miss this social media famous sister curry mee. I am not a big fan of curry Mee but after tasting sister curry mee, I can crave this bowl of yumminess anytime anywhere. The two Lim sisters who are in their 80’s now are peddling their signature style curry mee since 1946.
Location: Right after the Ayer Itam bridge
On the way to Chinese Methodist church.
Operating hours: 7.30 am to 1pm.
NASI KANDAR | Line clear
Nasi Kandar is a famous northern Malaysian dish which is originated from Penang itself. This is a meal of steamed rice called “Nasi” or spiced flavored rice called “Nasi biryani” with a variety of flavorful curries and side dishes including chicken, mutton or beef.
The 2017 World’s Best Street Food has awarded Line Clear Nasi Kandar Penang as the 9th Best Street Food in the world. Though it’s a 24/7 Nasi Kandar corner still you can see a long queue in front of it whenever you go. It is popular among the foodies for its spicy curries, fish head, chicken drumstick, and giant fried prawns.
Location: 177, Jalan Penang. Georgetown .
10000, Pulau pinang.
Operating hours: 24/7
NASI LEMAK| Spicy lemak
Nasi lemak is not only food but it’s an emotion for Malaysians which unites them despite their multilingual religion or race. It is considered the national dish of Malaysia. It is Malay fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves served with sweet and hot sauce called sambal, a hard-boiled egg, slices of cucumber, roasted peanut with small fried anchovies called Ikan bilis.
Spicy Lemak uses tri-color rice for its nasi lemak which makes it visually appealing. Rice is colored using natural and edible ingredients like pitaya for pinkish purple color, turmeric for yellow and butterfly pea flower for blue color rice. There are different options of nasi lemak like nasi lemak sambal fish,nasi lemak chicken, nasi lemak petai and fried nasi lemak. Trust me the quantity and taste were something to go for it again and again. I liked the spicy tangy taste of the sambal very much.
Name: Spicy Lemak (辣死你妈)
Location: 253G-1-4, Jalan Burma, 10350 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 016-476-6426
Operating hours: 11:30am-9:30pm
APAM BALIK |Apam balik station
Apam Balik is tempting pancake which is my best option of breakfast or a light snack. Its batter is made from the mixture of flour, eggs, coconut milk, baking soda, and oil or butter. This batter is cooked as a thick round pancake on a frying pan and then other ingredients are sprinkled on it.
Apam Balik station has a huge menu to offer you a variety of options to choose and make you confused. The apam were adequately crispy and the fillings were quite enough to enjoy each and every bite of it.
Location: 101 A, Jalan Batu Ferringi. Pulau Pinang.111000.
Business hours: 3 pm to 1.45 pm (Wednesday closed)
LOR BAK |chulia street
Lor bak needs no introduction in Malaysia as it’s a very common street food scene in Malaysia. It is a sausage roll of minced meat. It also includes prawn fritters, boiled herbal egg, century egg, octopus, bean curd or different green veggies dipped in different sauces. It’s mostly available in coffee shops or street stalls in Penang.
We tried lor bak in a push-cart stall in chulia street. I was very tempted seeing the colorful varied ingredients on the stall and wanted to try one and all. I like the century egg with thick spicy sauce. And the fried ingredients were nicely crispy from outside and juicy from inside. Each of the ingredients are priced 1Rm onwards.
Location: Chulia Street, George Town,10450. Pulau Penang.
Operating hours: daily 6 pm to 12 pm.
POPIAH |Chulia street
Popiah is a kind of spring roll. Its skin is thin like paper with some sweet sauce on it. The filling inside is finely grated which consists stir-fried turnip, grated peanut, lettuce leaves, carrot, and other optional ingredients. Then it is rolled and cut into pieces.
The lady at the stall at chulia street made fresh popiah rolls in front of me where I can see the process of making and the ingredients too. The popiah was a bit moist and hot too. I can taste little chili sauce in it, which was a plus for me. The small size of the popiah rolls cost 3 Rm.
Location : Chulia street, George town,10450. Pulau penang.
Operating hours: daily 6pm to 12pm.
Good job keep doing
thank u so much