Good food
Where to eat
Ah Boon Ko's Guide
|
Good food
Where to eat |
| Ch'ar kuay tiau
. THE FIRST THING outstation people think of when they come to Penang is ch'ar kuay tiau. The traditional i.e. genuine stuff is to be  found at Lau Hio Hnui
(Kampong Sireh, Lengkok Burma) where the stall is
located among others catering for office workers. The kuay
tiau is fried slowly over a charcoal fire fanned by the man's
wife. The pork oil used is home made and fresh and not too much diluted
by
vegetable oil. One thing that I did not like was the Cantonese
intrusion, little pieces of lap ch'eong. But the absence
of burnt specks of kuay tiau was a delight. Duck eggs, a
traditional must, are available, though supplies from Thailand are
uncertain owing to a suspicion of bird flu. Demerit points:
absence of pork crackling. In
some places if you ask for them, the hawkers are generous. There is another favourite stall of mine at Carnarvon Street: "Lau Hor Ch'ar Kuay Tiau." It was started by grandfather Lau Hor (Tiger) and is the best of the "blow torch" fire breed. The fierce flames are kept firmly under control and the cook (grandson or wife fries whenever the son is away) is not compelled to use frequent doses of water to prevent a disaster. Here the vegetable oil does not dominate and the taste is, therefore, not ruined. Duck eggs are available. Demerits: absence of koo ch'ai and pork crackling. "Lau Hor" is now also at Prima Tanjong, Fettes Road, which astonishingly, has a dance floor, well patronised Fridays to Sundays.. |
| Where Macalister
Road meets Perak Road in a small coffee
shop, once famous for its curry mee, is a man who not only
produces
decent ch'ar koay tiau but is also a skilled cook. If you are
lucky and prawns are available ask him for hair kian. It's
excellent though not of the class produced by the canteen at the
"Leisure Cove."
(It was sad to hear that the man suffered a heart attack recently and
has been forced to give up his popular business.) At Hillside, there is a stall along Jalan Sungei Kelian which fries very satisfying ch'ar koay tiau with generous helpings of iu p'o. The man is extraordinarily energetic, scouring the roads that cling to the hills, with his cry of "ch'ar koay tiaaaaauuuuuuuu", taking orders, frying, then back to deliver. Widows in the area think him an angel because he willingly brings them a parcel of their favourite hawker's food even if it not his char koay tiau. Just one phone call and free delivery. He reminds me of Ipoh's Spider, a Penang man, who was a legend in Green Town, Ipoh, where he would ride up on his tricycle after four, when the government servants returned from work. Ready cooked food is available at the coffee shop where his stall stands. Rare pair chn'ior (now an expensive fish), fried the old fashioned way, are available here.  lark sarAnd if you are crazy about lark sar (laksa) - second in popularity to ch'ar koay tiuau - you will find an excellent version next to a ch'ar koay tiau stall along Burmah Road, opposite Bangkok Lane. After your first bowl, try the lemak version and, for a third bowl, have the two versions mixed. You will love it. There is a dish called lark sar to be found in Johore. It is neither Penang nor Thai in taste but it is something superb and unforgettable. Recently I discovered excellent Johore laksa at Khadijah's newly-opened restaurant in PJ, KL. You don't have to go down all the way to JB after all. rojak Rojak is another hot favourite. Traditionally it was always a mixture of cucumber, pineapple with generous slices of soryairchoo (small type mangoes) thrown in . The post war hawkers added the tiny red jambu. Lately the Singapore tourists have persuaded them to add an atrocity to the mixture - eucharkoay! You can buy execellent liau (paste) made by the well known rojak man, Ah Chye, who sells in Pulau Tikus. lor bar ' Next to Lau Hor is a lor bar stall which is reasonably good. It is one of the rare ones to offer the traditional preserved ch'ai t'au (lopak). The traditional fish is sometimes available. The other one is at Bayan Baru operated by the former owner of this stall. |
| passambul / ch n'air hoo We are pleased to report that you can still get passambul with the original taste at Union Street. Wandering about in Pulau Tikus is a stall on wheels which serves passambul which is reaonably good but the man along Fettes Road is a notch better. His prawn crackers are really good to chew but he hasn't learnt to smile. This great Mama dish spawned the milder chn'air hoo where a better version is still to be found at the Dato Kramat football field. It was a joy just to watch the man at work. The speed of his cutting and chopping was breathtaking. He's not there any more but his successors have maintained quality. But notice the vegetable part is much reduced. This is probably because of the increase in the price of cucumbers and other veges that make up the dish. But that is no reason for the drastic reduction. The balance should be maintained and the overall size reduced. If you are in Beach Street try the chn'air hoo at Sri Weld Food Court. It is reasonably good if you don't mind sweating in the steamy furnace of the place. Another one to recommend sells nights at Bee Hooi coffee shop along Burmah Road. While still at Dato Kramat try the yong tau foo. It's still good. curry mee. I find the curry mee at Fettes Road very much to my taste, nearer to the curry type without the lemak added. Two night stalls at the Pulau Tikus market offer the lemak variety, but not too lemak for me to condemn them. I am not too fond of the lemak type which came into fashion after the 50's owing to the Thai influence and the demands of Singapore tourists. All these stalls serve the required tau pok and blood cubes. This dish is also to be found at the Public Cafe along North Beach, lunch time. The cook produces a mixture with an Ipoh flavour, which is very welcome to those who want a change. An added attraction here is lor bar and rojak, for those with larger appetites. There is a new stall on Hong Kong Street (now renamed Cheong Fatt Tse - because the old Cheong Fatt Tse road had been swallowed up by KOMTAR and the signboard moved to Hong Kong Street). If you try the dish elsewhere, make sure that it does not have a powdery taste, - the tell tale sign that curry powder is used. And make sure you get the right mee, the soft Hokkien mee and not the hard Cantonese variety. Those from KL, who are prone to distorting Penangese and call this dish curry larksar, please remember to ask for "curry mee" to save yourselves embarrassment. If you are in Kuching, Sarawak, you must not miss their curry mee which they call curry larksar. It has a character all its own and is superb. goo bar kuay tiau Those who love beef soup and despaired at the disappearance of favourites at the Victoria Street bus stop and at Acheen Street need worry no more. They will find that the stall opposite the Bomba at Beach Street provides excellent goo bar kuay tiau; in fact, the meat is better cooked. |
| The coffee shop
which houses this stall is
unique because those who run it are English educated, a very rare phenomenon.
You will be surprised that this coffee shop also offers an
English breakfast. There is a stall at Perak Road which also serves good goo bar koay tiau, near the Francis Light School Hokkien mee When Penangites say Hokkien Mee they mean Hair Mee (prawn mee). Elsewhere the term identifies the fried variety, which is perversely called here, Hokkien Ch'ar. So, in Penang, Hokkien Mee could either mean prawn mee or bar koot mee. We have never been good at hair mee since the late 70s. Ah Kow, at Coast Road where Song River Cafe now is, was a serious challenge to Singapore's Hokkien Street save that he did not serve the pig tail, which was a must. After Ah Kow ceased business there was a man at Rangoon Road offering very good Hokkien mee (tiger prawns only) from whom an Ipoh friend would buy some 16 packets for friends back home but he faded out after a few years. Now the so-called Hokkien mee served is rather diluted and contains only a few miserable slices of shrimps. . ou chian A friend of mine was an addict and made sure I brought a packet with me whenever I went down to KL. But he lost interest when they turned to vegetable oil (it's harder work when you have to cook and manufacture the pork oil yourself) and Sunday newspaper readers, scared of "cholesterol," compelled a dryer , less tasteful, plate of fried oysters. jiu hoo eng ch'ai The stall at Song RIver Cafe is improving and is about the best in town. They have a branch at the newly opened hawkers place at the Island Plaza traffic lights which is also very good. What is annoying is that the shed is so designed that the smoke is trapped and at popular hours this is a nuisance. Does anyone at the city council take notice? chicken wings Also at Song River Cafe is a first class chicken wing cook. He is about the best in Penang. For the more adventurous, he serves bishop's nose and chicken feet as well. kuay tiau t'ng It is very difficult nowadays to find a good kuay tiau t'ng hawker. The fish balls at most stalls are unreliable. One sighs for those great days at "Next to Queen's." But there is one at Armenian Street which offers first quality fish balls. The present generation are squeamish about eating blood and miss this essential ingredient of koay tiau t'ng . |
| larm
mee Since Ah Kee's excellent larm mee along Burmah Road stopped business we despaired of getting good larm mee. Someone introduced us to the stall at the Tanjung Bungah market which we found to be a satisfying compensation for the loss. chee cheong farn I have included this dish in my list because it is now recognised by the ministry of culture as a heritage item, presumably because it is indigenous but more, I suspect, because rival Singapore was first to exploit its tourist potential. The best are along Pulau Tikus (mornings), Song River Cafe (nights) and New Lane (nights). bair t'ay sor The Penang-made biscuits deserve their popularity because they are excellent but if you pass through Ipoh try the Gunong Rapat variety and tell me what you think. see kak pniar Those who are nostalgic about this type of biscuit should go to Simpang Ampat where they make very crunchy "simply melts in your mouth" biscuits ch'i k'au sor Ghee Hiang is to be congratulated for reviving this once popular almond biscuit which was in danger of being forgotten, like egg tarts in Hong Kong. The Cantonese call it harp t'oe so and have never stopped its production in Ipoh. tau foo far There are two stalls which use black sugar. One is along North Beach after 4 p.m. and the other is itinerant and to be found at odd hours along Pulau Tikus, near the Malayan Banking office. I see that the stall at the Pulau Tikus Market now offers black sugar too. iu char kuay Excellent iu char kuay will be found near the Pulau Tikus market Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Those who wake up late will get the same at most afternoons at the Batu Lanchang market, and at Leandros Lane. Best of all, try the Cecil Street Market. goreng pisang The stall along Tanjung Bungah Road is continuing to be popular but try the one at Fettes Road which serves a variety which includes koay kodo'. Nyonya koay There are three stalls that attract: one is at Moulmein Road, one at the back of Penang Plaza and the third at the Batu Lanchang hawkers complex. |
| Restaurants
and
coffee shops Nyonya It is sad to report that Hitam Manis has closed down. This truly genuine Nyonya food restaurant gave pleasure to thousands during its short existence; its gulai toomee and jiu hoo ch'ar and tau iu bar' especially pleased. We are happy to report that Nyonya Breeze, now at Aboo Siti Lane, serves good Nyonya cooking. Hakka In the New World -Bawasah Road area a newly opened Hakka restaurant offers excellent Hakka mee and too k'ar ch'or of superb quality. Thai "Prontip" along Peel Avenue is reasonably priced. Its kensom will blow your head off. Other Thai place worthy of patronage is "Sebai Sebai" along Lintang Batu, Green Lane. Good, genuine Thai, that's what they are. Chok Dee, which was in Island Glades and went to Butterworth for a while is back on the island, along Burmah Road. The cooking is more to the northern taste as the green curry tells us. Waiting for someone at Gurney Plaza we caught a sight of the "Siam Express" sign at the basement level. Skeptical, we asked the cheerful cashier if the cook was Thai. When she said "cook is from Chiang Mai" we decided to give it a try. To our delight, despite being one of a chain, the cafe served very good green curry and "white" tom yam. The Cantonese "money bags" fritters were excellent. Mama' rice Nowadays impertinently called by the KL imported name of nasi kandar. My view is that Mama' ("Uncle") is a respectful and historical form of address used by the Baba and should continue to be used. It is difficult to find the genuine stuff because of the Mama' habit of going back to India without teaching anybody their cooking secrets. But there is a place at Kong Bee Lee Coffee Shop opposite Bangkok Lane with flavours nearest to the original. The present owner inherited the business from his father and continues the tradition. A stall at Batu Lanchang market also serves food which has the flavour and taste of the original. It is no use looking for Mama ' fried mee or mee rebus. The secrets have not been passed on and visitors will be disappointed. The nearest to the original flavours is the stall at Armenian Street which has a hint of past glories but the high price of sotong restrains the essential flavours. But the man knows how to fry his mee, not too dry and burnt. A stall has recently opened along Vale of Tempe (Jalan Lembah Permai) which serves mama mee which is only satisfactory but pleases with helpings of traditional green chilly |
Afternoons The Batu Lanchang makan place, next to the market, a market that operates in the afternoons, is an excellent place to visit if you sleep late. The iu char kuay, ch'ar kuay tiau (RM2.20 plain, 2.70 with egg and 3.00 with duck egg - how prices have doubled the last ten years!). chn'air hoo (Chinese passambul) and po pnia should please you. But be warned. Typically, this place has only two latrines. If the queue is too long, you will have to go to the back of the market next door. You will find it awash with dirty and stinking water. You will also catch one or two sarong clad serfs of some money pinching stall holder washing his slaughtered chicken in the wash basin - the water is free, you see. Norman, which serves what they call Malay food but which is really Malay fusion food, serves excellent and unforgettable sambal. Their krabu taugair and kachang botol are excellent. So also is their fish, which is always fresh. The fried fish reminds me of what we used to have along Tg Tokong and Tg Bungah, just the right frying to enable one to chew up all the bonesl. The popular cooks along the road opposite the Mar Vista complex have been ousted by blocks of flats for tsunami victims but it's business as usual for them where they are now located, on the Mar Vista side of the road. They are excellent cooks. In Bandar Baru there is a coffee shop along Jalan Angsana which offers excellent Indian rice and curry (non-beef), excellent sio bar and good ch'ar kuay tiau. If you are in that area you will be very satisfied with your lunch. We also found a coffee shop along Fettes Road with ready cooked food which is cheap and good. And it was service with a smile. This road serves ready cooked food morning, noon and night, something to keep in mind. Night time New Lane is about the best place at night for hawkers' food. The variety is very wide. It is here that you will find heng jin tair done the Hokkien way without the flavour that the Cantonese like. If you are a vegetarian your needs will be met by 6 or even 8 different dishes. At North Beach the Song River Cafe has very good jiu hoo eng ch'ai and chicken wings. And if you can wait long enough the grilled prawns that come about 10 pm are a delight. The night stalls at the Pulau Tikus market are second to those at New Lane and also have a variety to offer. Their present site is a disgrace. And there is at Tanjong Tokong a newly opened hawkers complex, next to Island Plaza. Reasonably good food, if you are in that area. |
Seah Boay The historical and lively seah boay market was destroyed in the interests of the Manhattan Project - the dream of Penang's rulers to conjure George Town into a little New York. With it went the special rice and moi stalls where you perched high on bangku (stools) standing on long benches and had excellent and cheap food like preserved crab, lopak-egg omelettes, groundnuts and salted eggs. The bangku style of eating has not quite disappeared and you can squat and eat to your hearts delight at Magazine Road. Tanjong Bungah Tanjong Bungah market Tanjong Bungah deserves a special mention. This is because here you step into an older world of infinite courtesy, a thrilling experience which starkly contrasts with the nonchalant, sometimes even rude service that affronts one in George Town. It is close to the frisson of delight that lifts the weary traveller reaching Taiping from sour puss Singapore. Among the attractions of this area are the excellent chicken rice along the Vale of Tempe with first class crackling pork at request and a pet cockerel that crows unexpectedly, standing on a chair, while you are eating. The t'au kair so tells me that he has adopted her shop and comes in before closing time to spend his nights there. His hen, she says. was killed by a dog only recently. But those who missed the fun will find that it no longer performs. It has been given away to the farmer across the road. The stall along Jalan Sungai Kelian that offered very good wild boar meat curry, served with "bengali" roti when available, is no more. The gifted cook has gone for studies. Siang Pin at Tanjung Bungah serves excellent gulai toomee; the traditional pair chn'ior is always available. Next door, the coffee shop also serves cooked meals and serves pair chn'ior gulai toomee . It is the only one I have seen with a "Monday closed" sign instead of " XX close" and it boasts a few posters advertising Thai massage. Hai Wei, located in an apartment block, is worth visiting for its ch'oon pniar, and pair chn,ior gulai toomee. I dare say their pair chn'ior is always fresh because they are right next to a group of Hokkien fishermen.. But bear in mind that their ch'oon pniar is pork free. Ambience For those who would demand a better ambience, two restored buildings offer attractive restaurants in different parts of the town: Edelweiss, Spice & Rice (jazz, weekends) and in Tanjong Bungah, Summer Garden is enticingly relaxing. |
I am not attracted by places that offer an ambitious menu ranging from western breakfast foods to nasi lemak but a friend asked me to try Sri Ananda at Tanjong Bungah. I must confess that I was impressed by the rasam and the lassi and the mutton curry. The roti channai was reasonable. Sri Ananda also offers Madras' own Bru coffee served with fresh cow's milk. It's a pleasant place though not air conditioned. Those who like to sit by the sea should enjoy an evening out at North Beach Cafe (next to Kedah House) which offers a view of glittering North Beach on one side and the lonely, winking darkness of Province Wellesley on the other. The house by the way was the residence of Ng Swee Kam whose coconut oil mill gave Madras Lane its Chinese name of iu kar lor. Those who love pork ribs wll be very satisfied with what Ribs, along Burma Road, has to offer. Hutton Lane  The hawkers Centre at the former New World Park at Hutton lane is a welcome innovation,
with its well designed high roof which avoids the heat of low ceiliings. There is ample car parking space. Six jazz bands had a jam session recenlty in its excellent concert hall to reveal that there are jazz enthusiasts in Penang. Jeep's Latino Jazz Band and Wilson Quah's Areca Jazz Band needed no introduction but others like the De Leon Jazz Trio, Sunny Side Up, Q Jazz Collective and Northern Jazz Ensemble made themselves known. A cafe in the hall serves excellent nasi ulam. The stalls at Swatow Lane, including the excellent Mama hair chnee (cucur udang) with the right chilly sauce, have come into the Centre away from the heat but at a high rental. They pay some RM1,000 for well designed cubicles where cooking facilities are provided and there is central washing done. We liked the attractively designed stalls on wheels placed in the centre. It's nice to leave the old street where cars and motorcycles, shrieking horns, dust and the scorching sun were a torture. For travellers When in Ipoh don't forget the koay tiau t'ng along Leech Street. The stall is third generation old and still good. |
| At Jalan Bandar Timah is a famous park karfay shop where devoted fans queue patiently for coffee and roti kawin, their loyalty is rivalled only by the customers for curry mee at Hugh Low street. If you ever get to Kluang there is a unique coffee shop which calls itself the Cake and Coffee Shop otherwise Honeyland. It is in fact a house of confectioneries and provides a wide variety of cakes, buns, curry puffs, popnia chnee, ch'ai koay, cream puffs and many other delights. The confectionery hides the special role of the coffee house in providing a frivolous cover for serious contractual negotiations between hard headed businessmen. Someone has asked why we haven't mentioned murtabak. The reason simply is that its has disappeared. What passes for murtabak nowadays is something resembling an omelette. The heavy oil and the one inch thick of mutton are no more. Medical - lay hoo moi (yee chook) Someone afflicted with an arthritic knee was looking for fresh water fish food recommended by the American Arthritic Association. I recommended the stalls at the General Hospital and the Lam Wah Ee Hospital for it is believed that wounds heal faster after an operation with the help of ikan haruan broth. My friend made a fruitless search. It seems the scarcity of the fish has wiped out the business. Fortunately I was able to direct her to lau heo hnui where the famous Pulau Tikus yee chook is still in business. Those who live in KL are lucky - tilapia is available in some restaurants. # Chief cook Ah Boon Ko Go to the top (stalls are revisited and new ones explored by our guide and changes made from time to time). Note: chee cheong fun has been recognised as a national heritage thing. What about curry chee cheong fun, does it not qualify too? We are asked about kiam hoo koot gulai. This dish seems to have fallen out of favour. But I am sure that given enough notice a cooking place can produce it. Hong Kong Street - now Cheong Fatt Tse North Beach - otherwise Coast Road, now called Gurney Drive Photo: For pocket money nyonyas whose koay and laksa got to be known, sent out hawkers to roam the streets with their favourites. |
|
A worthy
cause
Little Sisters of the Poor
at Batu Lanchang, Penang
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| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 60 |