I only have precious little memory of my late maternal grand parents. I remember tagging along with my late grandma to the wet market on most mornings. and after shopping, she would tapao a packet of my grandfather’s favorite oh chien (fried oyster).
Together with the day’s newspaper and coffee, that would often be a meal for the old man. He would then read the paper and update grandma on news, as she was illiterate.
the most glorious fried oyster (oh chien)
While my grandparents have passed on some two decades ago, their favorite oh chien place at Kedai Kopi Seng Thor on Lebuh Carnarvon is still going strong.
It must be years since I last had the fried oyster here, so over the CNY break back in Penang, I took the opportunity to do just that.
Kedai Kopi Seng Thor at Lebuh Carnarvon
By my observation (and most likely flawed), the dish is prepared in three steps – first starch & whatever concoction is placed on the frying pants; then eggs are added; finally, enough oysters for one serving is added and fried separately before being mixed together with the eggs, some cooking wine and fancy wok fire is involved too.
This way, the hawker can prepare 4-5 portions with one egg preparation stage, and at the same time ensuring the consistency as well as the number of oysters for each portion.
Three rounds of this was done before my dish was served thanks to the holiday crowd, but it was worth it.
the chili sauce is mixed with a bit of garlic too
The fried oyster was undoubtedly the best I’ve had, the omelette itself was so good even the oysters kinda became a bit of a second thought. The texture had a nice blend of crispiness with the familiar consistency of egg, and none of those sticky gooey half cooked starch that you sometimes find in less superior oh chien.
The taste too was spot on, and if you like it with a bit of kick, the chili sauce that came with is pure heaven.
The portion I had was RM 10, and I should have ordered more.
Address:
Kedai Kopi Seng Thor
160, Lebuh Carnarvon,
10100 Georgetown, Penang
GPS: 5.415495, 100.33468
There are plenty of people who are from Penang that will tell you that Lorong Selamat char kuih teow is over hyped, over priced, overly crowded, and that there are many better alternatives.
Well, I am from Penang and to heck with all those comments, I still love my Lorong Selamat char kuih teow, and whenever I’m back on the island, it is always one of my must-eat hawker food. The massive prawns is something you almost never find at any other places outside of this famous lorong.
every bit just as good as the “original” lorong selamat ckt
There are two big CKT stalls at Lorong Selamat. The so called “original” one is operated by an aunty who wears a red cap at Heng Huat kopitiam.
Today, we’re gonna talk about the “alternative”, the KTG cafe’s char kuih teow, manned by a dude with massive sun glasses wearing orange polo.
I initially had a bit of a doubt on this stall, but after a few trials back and forth, I believe that they are basically on par with each other – both are excellent and just about as good as CKT can get.
char kuih teow at KTG cafe, Lorong Selamat
The CKT comes with three massive prawns, cockles, lapcheong (Chinese sausage), egg, bean sprouts, and of course, kuih teow. The secret ingredients would be the usage of pork lard instead of normal vegetable oil. A plate of CKT goes for RM 7.50. For those prawns, hell ya it’s well worth it for me.
Don’t bother tapao the kuih teow though, anything that is fried with pork lard is best consumed piping hot, and will get a bit too “jelak” when the temperature cools down.
On a busy day, the waiting time can get quite long. For this session, the dude told me (in honest and almost apologetic tone) that the waiting time would be an hour. So I actually went off and ran some errands before returning, and sure enough, our CKT was up next. 
Thumbs up for honest operator.
Address:
K.T.G. Cafe,
Lorong Selamat,
Penang
GPS: 5.417343, 100.324917
One of the definite Penang hawker dishes is Hokkien Char (福建炒), or Fried Hokkien Mee. However,this dish is quite different from what is served in Klang Valley even though they are identified as the same name.
I’ve been searching for this exact dish in KL/PJ area for a long time with no avail, so I just had to have it over this CNY season in Penang. This one is from Sin Yin Nam kopitiam at New Lane.
Penang Hokkien Char at New Lane
Hokkien Char usually consists of yellow noodle and mee hun in dark sauce, with slice pork, prawns, and vegetable, with sambal belacan on the side.
The main difference between this and the KL version is the lighter sauce base, the sambal belacan, and the usage of yellow noodle instead of those fat noodle in Hokkien Mee. As a consequence, the taste too is lighter and more subtle, but that being said, it is not at all a less superior version. In fact, I prefer this over the KL version anytime (most likely due to my upbringing laaa)
now where can I find something like this in KL?
I was utterly satisfied with this plate of Hokkien Char, one of the best RM 5 ever spent. The same place also offered one of the best pork intestine porridge (猪什粥), do not miss it if you are there. If I didn’t have the cravings for Hokkien Char, the pork intestine porridge would always be my favorite.
Penang style chee cheong fun: with three sauces
Of course, one does not simply only eat one dish in Penang for dinner. I had a plate of chee cheong fun (RM 2.40) to go with too. Two pieces, unopened, and with chili, just the way I like it.
Chee cheong fun Penang style is always bare, and served with shrimp paste, sweet sauce, chili paste, and sesame seeds, and sometimes with a bit of fried shallots. I like it quite a bit more than the HK version with prawns or char siu. If you need to find one of these in PJ, look no further than O&S in Paramount Garden.
Haze ordered the Asam Laksa at the corner of the road, it wasn’t any good and they over charged us to the tune of RM 4.50 (Chinese New Year price?). Never gonna buy from them ever.
Address:
Lorong Baru, Penang
GPS: 5.414726, 100.326312
One of the best things about sharing my food adventures on this site is that I do get a lot of good recommendations from readers. From the previous post on the char kuih teow at Mei Sin kopitiam, missyblurkit commented that I should try their nian gao (kuih bakul, 炸年糕, or fried gold cake), and another reader, May, mentioned that I should try the Ipoh kai si hor fun.
A couple weeks later, I did just that.
fried nian gao at Restaurant Mei Sin
For those who aren’t familiar with nian gao, also known as Chinese New Year cake, it is prepared from glutinous rice and very generous amount of sugar. It is sweet and sticky, and most consumed during Chinese New Year as the name nian gao 年糕 sounds like 年高, which symbolizes a higher (better) next year.
I love it smacked between layers of sweet potato and yam, and deep fried in batter.
nian gao in between yam and sweet potato, superb with coffee
The end result is a lethal dose of calorie that is crispy on the outside, firm in between, and soft in the middle. This delicacy is best consumed piping hot, it is mainly sweet, and I think goes best with coffee (even better with Vietnamese coffee).
The same stall also offers other deep fried goodness such as sesame seed ball and banana.
I remember having this first time when I was a small kid back in Penang, from the then famous (or perhaps still) stall located right in front of Island Plaza (of course back then there was no Island Plaza) in Tanjung Tokong. This is the first time I had a good one in KL, any other places offering the same thing?
kai si hor fun at Mei Sin kopitiam
The nian gao was of course, the dessert. My main meal for the day was the Ipoh kai si hor fun, and as suggested, I tried the dry version.
It was a pretty simple dish, with hor fun (or kuih teow, if you like) served in some combination of dark/light soya sauce with bean sprout, smooth steamed chicken and plenty of fried garlic on top. It actually tasted good, and I bet would be even better if I ask for thigh next time. (mine came with chicken breast, I don’t like chicken breast)
Address:
Restaurant Mei Sin
No. 16, Jalan Melati
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14396, 101.714768
One of my weekend activities is visiting the wet market at Taman Megah, and right after that, breakfast, and that was how I discovered Restaurant Gembira that’s situated right opposite Ming Tien food court.
It was a quite amazing that despite staying within walking distance to this place, it took me some 7 years before I pay the first visit to this unassuming kopitiam. I’m glad I finally did, and as a reward, I found my favorite Sarawak kam lau mee.
Sarawak mee, one of the bests I’ve tried so far
Now, I can’t claim to be any good at determining the quality of Sarawak mee, in fact, Kuching is one of the cities that I’ve never set foot on (other than the airport), but I do know a good plate of hawker food when I eat it.
minced pork, char siu, noodle – simple and delicious
The dish is fairly simple – home made noodle, minced meat, char siu (bbq pork), and a little bit of chopped spring onion in a slightly salted clear sauce (without the dark soya sauce that is typical of wantan mee). It goes for RM 4.50 (regular) and RM 5.30 (big)
The combination was as sublime as it was good, and I think the key in this lies in the home made noodle that has a very good texture. It reminds me of the Sarawak noodle Irene once tapau for us from Kuching. It was delicious.
laksa sarawak here was quite frankly… terrible
The same stall also offers Laksa Sarawak, I’ve tried it once, and it was.. surprisingly terrible. The egg is a bit too burnt for my liking, prawn a tad too small, and soup not quite up to par. Don’t waste your time on this, the Laksa Sarawak at Bangsar is heaps better.
Any Sarawakian who tried this place before? Tell me what you think, and if there’s another place with better kam lou mee/laksa Sarawak that you know of, do share.
Address:
Restaurant Gembira
Jalan SS+ 24/8
Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.113943, 101.612206
