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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 amongst 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. 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. 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. |
 lark sarThis seems to be the second favourite with visitors from Singapore. A new stall has taken up the space left vacant by the former laksar stall next to the char kay tiau at Burmah Road near the police station. We found the mixed lark sar to be good with plenty of fish and vegetables. The woman who gave us good char koay tiau at the same coffee shop has also retired but the coffee shop’s grandson is now doing the frying, coached by his grandmother. He serves his dishes with pork crackling. There is a dish called laksa in Johore. Neither Thai nor Penang, it has its own distinctive character which is unforgettable. Singer Khadijah's newly opened restaurant offers this dish, so now lucky KL Johoreans don't have to go all the way to JB for their "national" dish. Hokkian mee "Hokkian mee" is a third favourite. When Penangites say Hokkian Mee they mean Hair Mee (prawn mee). Elsewhere the term identifies the fried variety, which is perversely called here, Hokkian Ch'ar. So, in Penang, Hokkian 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 Hokkian 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 Hokkian mee served is rather diluted and contains only a few miserable slices of shrimp. You will have to be satisfied with bar koot mee at Hong Kong Street. In the afternoon, he will be at Lorong Selamat helping at his son's stall. rojak Rojak is another hot favourite. Traditionally it was always a mixture of cucumber, mengkuang and pineapple, with generous slices of sornyarchoo (small type mangoes) thrown in. The post war hawkers added the tiny red jambu. Lately, Singapore tourists have persuaded them to add an atrocity to the mixture - eucharkoay! You can buy excellent liau (paste) made by the well known rojak man, Ah Chye, who sells in Pulau Tikus and evenings at Gurney Drive.
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| 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. At the Public, Coast Road, popular with Singaporeans there is good lor bar and rojak. 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 reasonably 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. The chn'air hoo at Mount Erskine is a worthy rival to the others. 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. Along Mt Erskine Road is one that sells in the afternoon at the hawkers place, just before the Fettes Road traffic lights, coming from town. Another one to recommend is the night stall 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. There is one more stall to notice at Jalan Sungei Klian, Tanjong Bungah, closed Tuesdays. ,All these stalls serve the required tau pok and blood cubes. 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. The CEO of Malaysia
Airlines Dato Sri Idris Jala also recommends his country's laksa
in the August issue of the airline's inflight magazine. And of course,
as he says, don't miss the kolok (pronounced 'kolo')
mee. 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. 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 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. But you will find it annoying that the shed is so designed that the smoke is trapped and becomes a nuisance at popular hours. 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.
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| Nyonya koay There are three stalls that attract: one is at Moulmein Road, one at the Bawasah Roadand the third is at the Batu Lanchang hawkers complex. Barn chian koay For enthusiasts this "koay fried 10,000 times" can be found at Pulau Tikus as well as at Lau Hio Hn'ui (Burma Cross). If someone recommends you "ban cheong koay" he probably mispronounced the chian but meant what is mentioned here. Restaurants and coffee shops Nyonya It is sad to report that Hitam Manis, that truly genuine Nyonya food has closed down. We are happy to report that Nyonya Breeze, now at Aboo Siti Lane, serves good Nyonya cooking. The cooking has clearly improved. Old timers will be delighted to find minchee, chincharloke pork and kiarm hoo belanda, the last being probably a Malacca variety as it is not as reddish in colour which marks the Penang variety. The dish is also called kiam hoo belanda.And if you are in Bayan Baru try the Red Chopstick. The chendol is served with genuine gula Malacca. 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. They are also not fussy if you do not order a meal but ask for "quick dishes" such as their laksa bor sitting in green curry. Chok Dee, which was in Island Glades and went to Juru 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 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. We also tried the Thai "laksa" which turned out to be excellent and their ch'ar koay tiau (phat) which though not as good as Sebai Sebai's version compared favourably, but I must say the tau knuar was a bit hard for my liking. At the foot of the Hill Railway, Lawrence Cardoza and his partner Tong offer Thai food at their modest and La Boheme Cafe Cantina. The flavour is not the same as those in town ; the white tomyan is good. |
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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 fried chicken is the best in town
and reminds me of the original pride of Mama cooking. The present owner
inherited the
business from his father and continues the tradition. 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. |
| 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 satay qua is traditional but kutupat is unavailable, because there is no demand for it, they tell us. 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 barngkoo (stools) standing on long benches and had excellent and cheap food like preserved crab, lopak-egg omelettes, groundnuts and salted eggs. The barngkoo style of eating has not quite disappeared and you can squat and eat to your hearts delight at Magazine Road. Tanjong Bungah 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. Coming to it causes a frisson of delight similar to the one that lifts the weary traveller reaching Taiping from sour puss Singapore. |
| 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 is not his char koay tiau. Just one phone call
and delivery is free of charge. 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
from house to house, when the government servants returned from
work. The char koay tiau wife does excellent koay tiau t'ng with fresh fish balls. 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. Among the attractions of this area are the excellent chicken rice along the Jalan Lembah Permai (Vale of Tempe) with first class roast pork. Down the road, a new eating place serves ecellent chee cheong farn and good roast pork. 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. Behind the market at Mount Erskine there also excellent cooks. The price will delight you. Hai Wei, located in an apartment block along Tanjong Bungah Road, 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 Hokkian fishermen. But bear in mind that their ch'oon pniar is pork free. Hillside is achieving an independent reputation boasting a typical German bar-cum-restaurant whose pigs' trotters are its main attraction; Summer Garden with a wide range of cooking and attractive cakes. My Canadian friends thought the rack of lamb superb; my Italian guests asked for beef quarter done and they were delighted to get what was ordered. If you are a bit late for lunch Summer Garden is open all afternoon and serves reasonably good laksa as well as Hainanese chicken curry served with nasi lemah. And you have a choice of rose tea or lavender tea to go with it. Sri Ananda, along the main road, offers an ambitious variety of foods - it's only here that you will find Bru, Madras's own coffee. 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) is at present under renovation, and in Tanjong Bungah, Summer Garden is enticingly relaxing. There is also the newly opened Bulgarian Restaurant, an attractively wood designed place. Sri Ananda, also at Tanjong Bungah is a pleasant place though not air conditioned. |
| Those who like to sit by the sea
should enjoy an evening out at Northam
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. 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 ceilings. There
is ample car parking space. Six jazz bands had a jam session
recently
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. |
| Medical - lay hoo moi (yee sarng 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 sarng chook is still in business. Those who live in KL are lucky - tilapia is available in some restaurants. I have to my delight discovered a stall which nostalgically calls it Wan T'an Mee, Tok Tok Mee, the mee I remember, as a kid buying from the hawker in the street below, lowering my basket to him when I heard his repeated tok tok tok sound. And there is a coffee shop which describes coconut water as coconut juice. I had the man translate the new term to me and he said it was what you got out of a coconut! Translation: "Nyonya Breezes" is the original English name. The Chinese translator, I see, prefers the nicer sounding Nyonya Flavours. "Red Chopstick" should be Red Chopsticks (the owner forgot that the Chinese love pairs) 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 Northam Beach - otherwise Coast Road, now called Gurney Drive |
| Photo: For pocket
money, nyonyas whose koay and larksa got
to be
known, sent
out hawkers to roam the streets with their favourites.
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A worthy
cause
Little Sisters of the Poor
at Batu
Lanchang, Penang
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| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Food guide In search of Gold (7) Ismail Hashim Letter from Pulau Tikus Ponggal Tan Kai Shouan Terrorist rap! - poem Visiting Tanjong |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 64 |