Penang

I have veered away from writing food blogs for I do not regard myself as a foodie.  But given that I recently enjoyed a smorgasbord of food during a weekend trip to Penang with six schoolmates, I feel the need to break my food blog virginity and record down the unique experience. What started out as a birthday celebration quickly descended into a frenzy of eating and drinking that bordered on gluttony.  

DAY 1

Most visits to Penang are not complete without a visit to Gurney Drive, Penang's most famous night hawker center. [Location : junction of Solok Gurney1/Persiaran Gurney]. This was the start point of our food adventure.  The food in Gurney is excellent. Independent and uncoordinated ordering of food by seven hungry people meant that we covered our table from end to end with food. sometimes with repeated orders.  This was fine as we devoured everything there was to offer.  A Malaysian friend told me that one of contributory reasons why Penang's hawker food is superior to any in the rest of Malaysia is that Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Minister passed legislation in 2014 banning foreigners from being the main cooks of all local hawker fare, astutely to "maintain the standard" of food. In contrast, most hawker stalls in KL are today manned by foreigners.   What stood out for me at Gurney was the pig intestine soup, and the "ju he eng chai".  We just about made it back to the hotel to start on bottles of Macallan and Hibiki until the wee hours of the morning. 

DAY 2

The chimes of breakfast brought us to Penang's most famous Lo Bak shop, found in Cafe Kheng Pin [Location: Corner of Jalan Penang and Jalan Sri Bahari] Lo Bak has been served in this coffee shop for over 50 years, and the art of getting the crispiness and texture of the fried pieces right was passed from father to son, who is now in his 60s.  

The same coffee shop served both Wanton Mee and Porridge, offerings which surprisingly complemented the Lo Bak very well.  The Wanton Mee boasts of shredded chicken in addition to wanton, vegetables and char siu. The porridge has a homey taste, with just the right degree of saltiness.  I believe each order was RM4.  The lack of knowledge of how to pace ourselves resulted in gross over consumption at the first hurdle.   As such, we deferred the next meal till 5pm after a longish break of firing paint balls at one another and relaxation at Thai Odyssey at Bukit Mertajam.

Shing Kheng Aun Restaurant was the location for our first dinner. [Location: Lorong Chulia, about 50 m from the junction of Lebuh Chulia.]  This is a 60 year old establishment, no frills eating place run by Mr Ong. It has no menu and receives only cash.  It serves Hainanese Nonya Food.  What it did taste like was a fusion of Chinese food with the spicier Nonya variety that the Straits Settlement has become known for. Mr Ong walks round and simply charms the order out of you.  This is a must visit restaurant for it serves the best Hainanese food I have ever eaten.  Every dish was unique, and there is clear benefit in having a large number of people join the meal for you can basically order everything there is on offer - and then taste each dish, and then order a second round of those that you like.

By this time, we had learnt the value of pacing and reducing the intake of rice.  [But it is hard to eat Assam Fish without rice!]. For me, the best dishes were this radish and egg dish pictured on the right. we retired to a Happy Hour in our hotel shortly after this meal where there was free flow of wine.    

Our last stop on Day 2 was Sunshine Bay Restaurant at Tanjung Bungah [Location; Jalan Tanjung Bungah, near Batu Ferringi], the location for Dinner number 2.  The target was the crab noodles.  Never had it before, but was tasty and unique.  Lots written about this place, but truth be told, its way out of Georgetown, and unless you are heading in this direction, it really is not necessary. There is so much to eat in Georgetown!

DAY 3

Breakfast on Sunday was a decentralised affair.  After Roti Canai and Hokkien Prawn Mee, we resumed combined arms operations at lunch. Mum's Kitchen or Mum's Nyona Cuisine [Location : Lorong Abu Siti, midway from Jalan Burma and Jalan Macalister]  is a house that is converted into a restaurant.  We ordered pretty much everything that was on the menu.  This is another hidden gem of a restaurant, serving first class Nonya food. This place is also very reasonable in price.  While we loved the food, what was truly outstanding was the desert.  The chin chow (grass jelly) with lemon and the pulut hitam stood out. I had two servings.

After some respite at Enso reflexology and drinks at E and O - we also shared a Fried Kway Teow there - we headed of to Line Clear [Location: Junction of Jalan Penang and Lebuh Chulia], Penang's most famous Nasi Kandar for Dinner Number 1. This alley restaurant with tables and chairs would not pass NEA health standards. And yet, the queue for its food was endless.  Queue and sit and eat.  The fish head curry and the sotong is a must.  But I must confess : I think I ate most of the fish roe that was on offer. Hard to find an equivalent in Singapore.  

We made space for Penang's most famous Teochew Chendol [Location : Junction of Jalan Penang amd Lorong Keng Kwee.].  There is a permanent queue at the roadside hawker stall, that is complemented by sitting in the next shophouse.  In our case, someone had to order Asam Laksa along with the eight bowls of Chendol.  My friend asked me to observe the stall owner making the Chendol as he has a certain rhythm in mixing the ingredients together.  Worth watching and gawking at the fact that the queue is endless.  People just keep coming.  

For some reason, just to complete the list, we had to go to the Open Air Foodstalls [Location : Junction of Jalan Macalister and Lorong Baru] to try the intestine porridge. I was definitely not hungry but was persuaded to make one last attempt to consume food.  The hawker was so confident that he said that if his porridge did not taste good, we did not have to pay. How can you turn such confidence down? This porridge is a unique mixture of boiled and friend intestines, the latter making the bits crunchy and adding texture to the porridge. Thumbs up.  

By the time we went to the airport, we were pretty subdued having eaten enough for a week.  When we weighed ourselves in Singapore, we had all gained between 1.5-3kg, which we all subsequently had to work off.  Was it worth it?  Hell yes.  Say what you want. To me, Penang as a food location is graded three Michelin stars.        

And by the way, Happy Birthday Sebastian!