Eating Everything In Penang

Ask me what I miss most about my trip to Malaysia, and I'll tell you that it's the food from Penang. Prior to this trip, my friend Amy (same Amy who provided me the picture of her lovely matcha parfait) and I were researching places to go/things to do in Malaysia, when we came across quite a few articles pointing us to Penang.

"FOOD capital of Malaysia, you say? Okay, we're going."

We had 3 days to spend in the island of Penang gorging on all the deliciousness we could get our hands on. More specifically, we stayed in the capital city, Georgetown. Even though we didn't get a chance to venture outside of the city to explore nature or the beaches, but we had the best food experiences during our stay. Oh man, the food! I was not disappointed -- all the meals were on point. Our hostel had printed their own Food+Things to Do map for their guests, which we used to guide us around town.

Here is a list of some of the memorable food experiences I had:

CF Food Court Fried Rice w/ Chicken

This was my first meal in Penang, so it made quite an impression on me. Venturing out into the empty shady streets with shops that were closed down for the day, we walked for about 10 minutes before arriving. It was much like a food court with hawker stalls lined up around the edges and tables/seats in the middle. We did our rounds and then decided on fried chicken. It came with fried rice and a side of soup. Penang locals speak a mix of Hokkien and Mandarin (this is what my hostel host told me) as well as Malay, so when the stall owners tried to talk to me I couldn’t quite understand what they were asking. But they were friendly and laughed it off even though I made it seem like I didn’t speak mandarin.

Verdict: DELICIOUS. AS. HECK. Fried rice was great and full of flavor, the chicken was juicy and the skin was perfectly crispy. One problem. The food was the spiciest I’ve ever had. I had ordered the spicy version thinking,

"Oh, it can't be THAT spicy..."

I was wrong. Amy, on the other hand, was smart and ordered the non-spicy version . She laughed at me from across the table.

So spicy, but so good. I fought through the fire. Even the soup, which was reminiscent of tom yum, was setting my mouth on fire. With every gulp I could feel the liquid burn as it went down from my throat all the way to my stomach.

But, I finished it all, because that's how delightful it was.

And I don’t regret a thing, because this whole meal was under 3 US dollars.

We also decided to try out some drinks and got some 3 layered tea, which is comprised milk, syrup, and tea. It was heavenly after a long traveling day to get to our hostel in Penang.

And yes, that tea came in a plastic bag.

After our trip, Amy and I talk about this 3 layer tea occasionally because we crave it so much! We've been trying to look around for a restaurant that serves it, but no luck. We're planning on making our own some time before the year ends.

Eel Fish Balls

Upon arriving, we didn’t know whether or not we were to seat ourselves or wait for someone. We stood by the entrance for five minutes, and at some point we awkwardly sat down and looked around hoping someone would notice us.

There was no menu to look at, and nothing on the walls either.

The workers were nice enough though, and we managed to get two bowls of the eel fish balls – one in broth and one dry, both with noodles. Gotta try both, right? Both versions came with a bit of minced pork lettuce and fried onions. For drinks, I got honey lemon tea, and Amy got Teh. I really like ho fun noodles, so it gets a 10/10 in my book. Somehow, we ended up with an extra bowl. In total, it was 20RM, so about 6, 7 US dollars for everything.

Char Keow Teow

The stir-fried noodles that we had right after was also conveniently a couple doors down from the Eel Fish Balls. This one was much easier to order from because it was a stall that only had the words “With egg” and “Without egg” in Chinese. Sat ourselves down… a guy comes by and asks us to order drinks. He wasn’t with the noodle stall, but because we sat down in the area, we were told we had to buy at least one drink from him. This seemed to be the case with every food establishment we ate at. I got some herbal tea, which happened to be really good, and also only 1.50rm (50cents).

The noodles were made to order, and what Amy loved about it is that they make each serving individually so that the flavors really seep into the noodles. I agree wholeheartedly, because those noodles were amazing! No Char Keow Teow I've eaten anywhere else comes close to the one I had here in Penang. We even tried a place in Kuala Lumpur -- it just couldn't compare.

Teapoint Tapioca

We dropped by a cute tapioca shop called Teapoint that we saw on the way to dim sum. We (or at least I) was drawn to the design of the shop, with the wooden accents and simple logo design. Also, they had “potted milk tea”, something I’ve never seen before. The idea seemed very fresh and cute, but as soon as a couple walked by staring at our odd choice of beverages, the drink lost its appeal. It was a bit watered down, and I was not a fan of the oreo crumbles with tea combo, but at least now I can say I tried it!

Indian Food

There seemed to be a big Indian population in Georgetown, so I wanted to try out some Indian food (to compare with the ONLY 2 places I’ve ever had Indian food in the states). Took a while to order because service was lacking, to put it nicely. Two tourists at an adjacent table were also getting the cold shoulder. Eventually, they came by and took our order. Teh, mango lassi, butter chicken, plain naan, and garlic+cheese naan.

The drinks came fast enough, but I think they forgot about our food until almost half an hour later. No worries -- we enjoyed the change of pace to be able to just sit and talk.

The food was more on the warm side (it was sitting in the heated platter) but I didn’t mind as the weather was humid enough as it was. The butter chicken quite savory, and surprisingly not TOO spicy. It was flavorful without being too heavy.The garlic cheese naan came with lots and lots of fresh garlic on top, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I’m no food connoisseur, so this is as descriptive as it gets, haha. And oh, don't get me started on the drinks...

Pastries and Dessert Following the hostel map, we decided to hit up a Chinese bakery called Ming Xiang Tai. We mainly went for the soy pudding but couldn't resist getting egg tarts and BBQ buns as well.

As you can see, we were so excited we started eating before remembering to take a picture:

The interior was really cool -- it reminded me of historical Chinese dramas with arches inside the building adorn with cool wooden furniture. It was like stepping back in time.

Egg Tarts were good. That’s an understatement. They were really really good. Perfect flaky, slightly buttery crust. BBQ bun was quite delicious but the egg tart won out in the end. The pudding was a pleasant dessert to end our snacking sesh, and they even give you sugar/syrup to pour onto the pudding itself!

After eating, we stepped out... only to step back in 2 minutes later because we wanted to try out their soy milk.

“Weren’t you guys just in here?” the cashier asked.

“….Yeahhhhhhhh… haha.”

Duck Kway Chap

Our last dinner in Georgetown was at the nightmarket. It was a bit difficult trying to figure out which stall was the one they recommended on the hostel map. We talked a bit with Lucas and Joyce (our hostel hosts) before we left, and they recommended some dishes to try out. After wandering a bit and not knowing how to order (as usual), I randomly picked a stall.

So I was told this duck dish can be eaten in a broth, over rice, or over porridge. I asked what they recommended. They said broth, and so broth we chose.

Honestly... I'm not 100% sure what I ate that day. I recognized ho fun noodles, duck, pork blood (haven’t ate this in years) and intestines. There were other things, but the fear of the unknown didn't deter me from savoring this last meal. It was, like everything else in Penang -- delicious. And, of course, we had to get drinks. Grass jelly drink for me.

Phew.

This doesn't even scratch the surface of all the good food Penang has to offer. Reading other travel blogs and random BuzzFeed articles, I feel that even though I stuffed my face during the entire stay, I have much much more foods I still need to try.

Mmmm, I know where I'm going if I plan on visiting Malaysia again.

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Eating Everything In Penang