Lor Mee @ Perak Road

copy & paste from wikipedia

"Lor mee (Chinese: 卤面) is a Chinese-inspired noodle dish served in a thick starchy gravy and thick flat yellow noodles (also known as lor mee). The dish is eaten by Hokkiens (Min Nan speakers) in Singapore and Malaysia. The thick gravy is made of corn starch, spices and eggs. The ingredients added into the noodles are usually ngo hiang, fish cake, fish, round and flat meat dumplings (usually pork), half a boiled egg, and other items depending on the stall and the price paid. Vinegar and garlic can be added as an optional item. The dish is also eaten with red chilli. Traditional versions also include bits of fried fish as topping though few stalls serve this version anymore."

They used to be just a small stall @ a coffee shop. Today, they moved to a new coffeeshop and have about 6 people running the stall just to accommodate their customer's orders...

Some place's lor mee taste funny... or should i say their spices are too empowering it just turns you off before you even eat it or after just one taste. But this one.... this one is really nice. Well balanced. Cooked to perfection I'll say.

Location: Along Perak Road

Price: RM2.50 (normal)

Rating: 7.5/10

Assam Laksa @ Gurney Drive

copy & paste straight from wikipedia my fave source!

"Penang laksa (Malay: Laksa Pulau Pinang), also known as assam laksa from the Malay for tamarind, comes from the Malaysian island of Penang. It is made with mackerel (ikan kembung) soup and its main distinguishing feature is the assam or tamarind which gives the soup a sour taste. The fish is poached and then flaked. Other ingredients that give Penang laksa its distinctive flavour include lemongrass, galangal (lengkuas) and chilli. Typical garnishes include mint, pineapple slices, thinly sliced onion, hε-ko, a thick sweet prawn paste and use of torch ginger flower. This, and not 'curry mee' is the usual 'laksa' one gets in Penang. "

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Asam Laksa is another dish which is synonymous to Penang... There are really just so many types of laksa... for more, read it up here

This bowl is without vege. Only noodle, soup & lots of chilli!

This one is the normal one... with vege, fish ball and more vege!

Location: Gurney Drive Hawkers

Rating: 6/10 (so-so only)

Duck Koay Teow Th'ng @ Lebuh Cecil

Most of the koay teow th'ng in Penang is cooked with chicken/pork.. Not very often do you find duck meat koay teow th'ng. It is not easy to cook good duck meat koay teow th'ng too!

This one is delicious... The soup is just so tasty you cannot stop slurping. It is served with duck meat, duck skin, duck intestines, fish cake slices & fish ball.

For those who haven't tried this.... You really don't know what you're missing out on!

Location: Lebuh Cecil Hawker Stalls (opened 7.30am - 7.00pm)

Price: TBA

Rating: 8/10

Kedai Kopi Cathay - Hokkien Mee

This coffeeshop is located opposite of Union Primary School. It is just before Him Heang biscuit shop. A corner coffeeshop which is not to be missed!

The hokkien mee stall is on a cart of it's own. So, if u wanna check if it's open or not, just look out for the cart. It's the 2nd one from the main road!

A normal bowl of hokkien mee (aka prawn mee) consists of mee, bee hoon, beansprout, egg, kangkong, sliced pork, fried onions and prawns! The prawns here is actually bigger than most! The taste of this dish is so-so. Not tasty enough but still slightly above average. (5.5)

Location: Kedai Kopi Cathay, Burma Road

Price: RM2.50 (normal) RM3.00 (add bah kut)

Ratings: 5.5/10

Sin Hwa Pulau Tikus - Char Koay Teow

This is one of Penang's very popular Char Koay Teow located opposite of Pulau Tikus's police station. A little difficult to get parking but it is best to park @ Pulau Tikus market and walk over. It is worth the walk... :)

A friendly aunty awaits to cook for YOU!

It's so good that they've even appeared on Wall Street Journal Asia!

The char koay teow is nicest when there's not so many customer where it is cooked one by one. When it is cooked for several people, the taste slacks off a bit.

Nevertheless, it is still ok. Still very aromatic... & tasty!

Location: Sin Hwa Coffeeshop Pulau Tikus

Price: RM2.50 (without egg) RM3.00 (with egg) RM4.00 (with duck egg) RM5.00 (BIG)

Rating: 6/10

Pan Mee @ Yee Hong

Another place worth going...

Noodles are made upon order with the pasta maker...

The uncle is amazed @ our lack of knowledge about 'pan-mee' being a penangite but he was nice and kind enough to share his knowledge with us :)

Quite similar to the one in Bukit Jambul, the pan mee here is also served with:

a small bowl of vege soup with fish balls, which comes with dry noodles

the dry & fat noodle is served with anchovies, minced pork, black fungus & fried garlics

and oohh... the chilli is really G.o.O.d!

and the soupy ones are served with fish ball soup, anchovies, vege & black fungus.

We found the pan mee's serving here to be bigger and more filling... compared to the one in Bukit Jambul. oh... and the soup is definitely more tasty!

Location: Yee Hong Food Court, Lip Sin Garden

Price: RM2.80 (small) RM3.30 (big)

Rating: 7/10

Bangkok Lane - Mee Mamak

Mee mamak in Penang is almost synonymous with Bangkok Lane. That's how popular the mee mamak @ Bangkok Lane is.It is also know as Mee goreng or Mi goreng (English: Fried Noodles, Indian-style) which is a dish famous in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is made with thin yellow noodles. The dish is fried with onion, fried tofu, chili, vegetables, tomatoes and egg, and is available commonly at Mamak stalls in Malaysia.

The mee mamak here is cooked with sotong (squid) which adds to the nice aroma. Quality may be inconsistent when busy but on the whole, the taste is there. During rainy or hot & sunny days, just drive past, wind down your windows and shout your orders! They will then bring to your car for you. Easy & convenient.

Location: Bangkok Lane
Price: RM3.00 (with egg & sotong)
Ratings: 7/10

Sin Hup Aun - Koay Teow Th'ng

Koay teow th'ng aka flat rice noodle is a popular Penang dish. It is usually garnished with shredded chicken or sliced pork, fish balls, fish cake slices, mustard leaves and topped with garlic oil.

The minced pork is very thin and nice; the clear soup base is average; and on the whole, the dish is very normal. There are so many Koay Teow Th'ng in Penang...

Location: Pulau Tikus Market
Price: RM3.00
Rating: 5/10

Sin Hup Aun - Wan Ton Mee

Wonton noodle or wanton mee is a Cantonese noodle dish which is popular in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. The dish is usually served in hot soup, garnished with leafy vegetables, and wonton. The types of leafy vegetables used are usually kailan also known as Chinese kale. Another type of dumpling known as shui jiao is sometimes served in place of wonton. It contains prawns, pork, spring onions with some chefs adding mushroom and black fungus.

The wanton mee here is very tasty. It is served with chinese mushrooms, vege, barbeque pork (char siew), spring onions and wanton. It is best eaten with pickled green chillies in soy sauce. Overall, the taste of this wanton mee is just nice....

Location: Pulau Tikus Market
Price: RM2.50
Rating: 7/10

Macalister Lane - Char Koay Kak

Char Koay Kak is also known as "Fried Radish Cake". The Koay Kak is made by steaming rice flour batter which cools to form a firm pudding like cake. It is then cut up roughly using a pastry cutter or a metal wok turner and fried with garlic, preserved radish, beansprouts, chinese chives, dark soy sauce and some chilli paste if desired. Egg can also be added depending on one's preference....

The Koay Kak is quite well known and there is also quite a long queue but it was quite disappointing for us. It was quite burnt, too spicy & quite tasteless. Oh well... we'll have to continue hunting...

Location: Macalister Lane
Price: RM2.50
Rating: 3/10

Macalister Lane - Char Koay Teow

2nd stop for CKT! Penangites are usually very fussy when it comes to popular Penang dishes and Char Koay Teow is definitely one of them!

When this plate of CKT was served, it did not smell nor looked as good. But, once you eat it... the aroma just fills your mouth. The best part is... it is not very oily.... Yumm Yumm... not bad at all.....

Location: Macalister Lane
Price: RM2.50 (pretty reasonable)
Rating: 6/10