Weekend Trip: 5 things worth eating in Penang
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Check out the five food recommendations in Penang by the writer.
ST PHOTOS: VENESSA LEE
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- JJ Garden Food Court offers satay with tender chicken and peanut sauce slathered on top. It tastes savoury and more poached than grilled.
- Gurney Drive Hawker Centre's 81 Lok Lok stall offers a hotpot-style buffet of skewers, including meats, vegetables and seafood.
- Drunken Gelato serves alcoholic desserts and cocktails, like the Milo Guinness Bomb and Coffee and Croissant Cocktail.
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PENANG – Researching what exactly to eat in Penang, I am soon snowed under by food recommendations online and off.
One suggestion even includes timings to fit in six meals a day. Alas, I lack the requisite steel stomach. But here are five things to eat in this foodie heaven.
1. Lok lok, hotpot of the streets
The dizzying array of lok lok at Gurney Drive Hawker Centre in Pulau Tikus in Penang.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
Gurney Drive Hawker Centre in Pulau Tikus is so famous, it is a cliche. But it lives up to its reputation with heaps of good eats, especially the lok lok from the 81 Lok Lok stall.
I do not know why this street food did not take off in Singapore like the great mala takeover of the 2010s. After all, it is the love child of two Singaporean obsessions: the hotpot and the buffet.
There are stacks of skewers with various meats, vegetables, fish balls, sotong balls, chicken innards, pig’s ears, quail eggs, cheese tofu, Taiwanese sausages and cockles. Choose your sticks, priced at RM1.50 (46 Singapore cents) each.
Cook them to your ideal doneness in pots of water that churn like turbo-charged hot springs, then dunk them in a variety of sweet and spiced sauces.
Where: Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, 172, Solok Gurney 1, Pulau Tikus, 10250
2. Superior satay
Peanut sauce is slathered over the satay at JJ Garden Food Court, rather than served in a bowl on the side.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
At JJ Garden Food Court, the satay looks paler and chunkier than the norm. Peanut sauce is slathered on top, rather than served in the usual dipping bowl. Tasting more poached than grilled, the chicken meat is tender and savoury, without the sweetish monotone of generic satay.
Where: JJ Garden Food Court, Jalan Sungai Kelian, 11200, Tanjung Bungah
3. Penang char kway teow worth the wait
Nearly every ingredient in the Penang char kway teow at No. 5 Char Koay Teow eatery is perfectly cooked.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
“At least one hour”, I am told.
Many customers at No. 5 Char Koay Teow in Macalister Road settle in for the wait by ordering appetisers. They break open a durian, munch on octopus with crispy garlic bits or sip fruit juice.
Most of the char kway teow I eat in Penang – lighter than its Singaporean cousin dressed in dark soya sauce – hits the spot. But when this rendition (RM16) arrives at my table 1½ hours later, it is a revelation.
It is not merely scrumptious. Nearly every element is distinct and perfect. The cockles are fresh and firm, with a clear hint of the sea. Chunks of lard are crunchy, rather than slippery with fat.
The Chung Ling scrambled eggs at No. 5 Char Koay Teow eatery are named after the dish sold at the eponymous local high school.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
Order a side of Chung Ling scrambled eggs (RM4) from the same stall. Named after the original sold in the canteen of the eponymous storied local high school, the egg dish inhabits an ambrosial space between scrambled and fried. Beguilingly soft, it is not at all cloying. I inhale it in minutes.
Where: No. 5 Char Koay Teow, 94 Jalan Macalister, Sunshine City, 10450 George Town
4. Michelin-approved samosa
The Michelin-approved mutton samosa from Penang Famous Samosa costs just RM2.50.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
Penang Famous Samosa, a roadside stall in the island’s Little India district, was recommended in the 2024 Michelin guide. Its chicken samosa costs RM1.50, while other snacks such as vadai are priced at RM1.
Roadside stall Penang Famous Samosa is a recommendation in the 2024 Michelin guide.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
The mutton samosa (RM2.50) is aromatic, stuffed with onion and herbs. The dough shell is crispy and not at all greasy, even though it is deep-fried. But skip the banana ball, which is overly doughy.
Where: 45 Queen Street, 10200 George Town
5. Boozy gelato
At the Drunken Gelato bar, desserts are dressed up as cocktails and vice versa. Pictured are the Milo Guinness Bomb ice cream (background) and Coffee and Croissant Cocktail (foreground), which comes with a mini croissant.
ST PHOTO: VENESSA LEE
At Drunken Gelato, cocktails are made into desserts and vice versa. Popular options include the Matcha Tiramisu and Drunken Rum and Raisin.
The Milo Guinness Bomb (RM20) includes whisky and cacao gelato. A parmesan biscuit adds a cheesy hit that goes well with the properly alcoholic ice cream. The taste of chocolate is rich and deep, with no trace of bitterness from the stout.
I am day-drinking, with breakfast thrown in.
Next up is the Coffee and Croissant Cocktail (RM45) with campari and sweet vermouth. The drink even comes with a mini croissant. It is hilariously, deliciously, on the nose.
Where: Drunken Gelato, 166 Lebuh Presgrave, 10300 George Town
