As a practical joke from this God person, people are made in such a way that food always tastes better when we have to travel long distance to obtain them. Something that you can get right next door is never as satisfying as the one you have to spend an hour’s journey getting there.

Hence, the place to go for seafood when you’re in Penang is not located on the island, it is this little fishing village called Tambun on peninsular side of the stat. The place is anything from 40 min to 1.5 hours away from the island, depending on the mercy of traffic.

Jon, Jun, and Wai Meng, check out the big fat mantis prawns swimming!

And since we were in Penang over the long weekends, it took us well over an hour to get from the little motel at Tanjung Tokong to Gee Seng Seafood Restaurant at Tambun. The road from Penang bridge onwards was alright, it was getting to the bridge that took the longest time ever.

Lesson Learned: never try to drive anywhere far within Penang over any long weekends.

fried squid, prawn with Nestum, fried noodle, crab with salted egg

This was actually my first time at Gee Seng seafood restaurant, and it was almost a couple years since I last went to Tambun. We somehow found a parking space deep inside the village and made our way to the restaurant.

For the five of us, we ordered deep fried squid, prawn with Nestum, crab with salted egg, giant mantis prawn, noodle, and a plate of vegetable for some sense of balance.

love the giant mantis prawns, says Elfie

Despite the crowd, our dishes didn’t take long start arriving at the table. They were fresh and really tasty, despite having scored almost negative when it comes to presentation. I particularly like the giant mantis prawns (RM 60 for the 3 we had), very succulent and sweet, did you know that these creatures have polarized vision?

Nestum prawns (RM 23) and deep fried squid (RM 18)  too were top notch, but I thought the crab with salted egg (RM 47) was kinda average, would have been better if they were bigger.

Together with the vegetable, noodle, and tea, the bill came to RM 155.50, which translate to only RM 31 per person for the 5 of us for some rather satisfying food. Everyone agreed that it was worth the drive, but perhaps next time we should try somewhere closer? emm

Address:
Restoran Makanan Laut Gee Seng
860, Bagan Bukit Tambun,
14100 Simpang Ampat, Penang
GPS: 5.271221, 100.443385
Tel: 04-588 7200

Tags:  crab,  elfie,  jon,  mantis prawn,  Penang,  prawn,  seafood,  tambun

Posted by KY | 28 Comments »

There’s always been one and only important mission whenever I am in Penang - to eat as much as possible. So in between late lunch and dinner, I slotted in another meal.

My initial plan was to find the famous mee sotong at Esplanade, but it was already closed by 5 p.m. Feeling a bit adventurous, I parked my car near Jalan Kapitan Keling in the older part of Penang town and got on my foot to search for something to eat.

kedai makanan Fok Kee, and old school kopitiam

Quite a few old school kopitiams are already closed by this time of the day since this area is not known to be famous for tourists when it comes to food, then I walked by Fok Kee kopitiam and saw that they have this interesting item by the name of Taiwan Fish Maw noodle, I just had to try it.

I had absolutely no clue how this was going to turn out.

pork skin, liver, tofu, and minced meat too

I sat down, order a bowl of fish maw noodle and a glass of nutmeg juice (I don’t know if you can find this outside penang, grated nutmeg and sour plum, I love it!).

The chef went to work, and a few minutes later I was presented by this big bowl of “noodle” that, frankly, looked a bit weird. But thank goodness the taste was actually quite delicious, if not just a bit different from your usual hawker food.

fish maw noodle and nutmeg juice, yums!

The “noodle” is actually made from fish paste (like those you get at steamboats) shaped into long strands then deep fried. Soup is half way between loh mee and clear soup in terms of consistency, and the served with vegetable, tofu, minced pork, liver, and pork skin.

The combination was actually quite good, and goes especially well with pickled chili padi. I wouldn’t say this is a must-have if you’re heading to Penang for vacation, but it  was definitely worth the RM 3 or RM 3.50 that I had to pay, have your char kueh teow, laksa, and other must-haves first, and if you want to try something different, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Address:
Kedai Makan Fok Kee
Jalan Kaptian Keling,
10200 Penang
GPS: 5.417741, 100.338333

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Tags:  hawker,  kopitiam,  liver,  noodle,  Penang,  pork,  xpax

Posted by KY | 20 Comments »

Char Kueh Teow is often the first thing people think of when Penang hawker food is mentioned. So whenever I have a chance to play host back at my home town, I always make sure the guests get a chance to get a plate of good char kueh teow.

It’s kinda like you should have chicken rice balls in Melaka, tomyam in Bangkok, ramen at Akihabara, or KFC in the state of Kentucky (ok just kidding about the last one, it sucked, I had.)

check out the size of them prawns on the char kueh teow!

The most famous of all the Char Kueh Teow places in Penang has got to be at Lorong Selamat, operated by this lady who now also owns Kafe Heng Huat.

As some of you might remember, this stall was previously operating at another kopitiam just a stone’s throw down the road (that is famous for its ais kacang), that shop now has another CKT stall operated by a guy, and to be frank, I think both stalls serve up equally delicious CKT.

yes, Elfie uses fork & spoon for CKT

Since it was going to be Elfie’s first taste of Penang char kueh teow last weekend, I decided to bring her, Jon, Jun, and Wai Meng to the original version at Lorong Selamat even though I had once decided to not pay the old lady a visit anymore due to their extremely bad service while still operating at the other kopitiam.

However, I have heard that they have improved ever since operating the new kopitiam, and true enough she wasn’t at all the angry old lady anymore. I guess a little bit of competition from the other guy helped too.

KY, Elfie, Wai Meng, Jon (also known as Don Juan), Jun

A plate of CKT here goes for RM 6.50, or more if you asks for extras. The photos you see here were the Rm 6.50 plates, with three really huge prawns that is properly marinated with salt to give it that extra kick, there’s also egg, cockles, Chinese sausage (lap cheong), chives, bean sprouts, and of course, a handful of kueh teow.

They are the best char kueh teow there is, the only way to improve this would probably be swapping the chicken egg with duck egg, and perhaps add a bit of lard? I’m asking too much, it’s about lunch time now, and I am hungry! haih…

Address:
Kafe Heng Huat,
Lorong Selamat,
Penang
GPS: 5.417183, 100.324831

Tags:  char-kueh-teow,  ckt,  elfie,  hawker,  jon,  Penang

Posted by KY | 36 Comments »

I went back to Penang over the long weekends.

toll fees: RM 93
hours spent driving: 9 hours both ways
petrol:  RM 100
distance traveled: 780 km both ways
seafood noodle for two: RM32.50
having dinner with mom: priceless

Seafood noodle – pick your own ingredients

I suggested Japanese food at first, but it was mom’s idea that we go to this fish head / seafood noodle place at Weld Quay for something a bit more special.

Siong Ho fish head meehun is located within Village Coffee Shop at Weld Quay, just a couple hundred meters from the jetty, and actually quite near to where my late grandma’s place where I spent a big chunk of my childhood. It was a bit nostalgic.

Calling Siong Ho a fish head meehun place is a bit of an understatement, the choice of ingredients offered at this place is quite astounding. There’s fish ball, meat ball, fish fillet, fish head, fried fish, kidney, prawn, cuttle fish, squid, minced meat, and even crab.

fish head/seafood mee hun with all the extra ingredients, nutmeg juice

For my bowl of personalized meehun, I chose a couple pieces of kidney (they are very tasty!), fish ball, fish  meat, a piece of fish head, prawn, and cuttle fish to go with mee hun and clear soup. You can also choose to have noodle, kueh teow, or thick mee hun, tomyam soup is available too. (but no version with evaporated milk, like in KL)

Mom ordered pretty much the same thing except without cuttle fish, and deep fried fish instead of the fillet.

The seafood’s fresh, the soup is sweet, and I particularly like the fact that they have this whole container full of deep fried garlic on every table. I like my seafood noodle with plenty of those, and I think I refilled probably 3-4 times, it was an awesome idea, why wouldn’t other shops do the same thing?

mom & I having a simple dinner

One other thing that’s available here (and most kopitiam in Penang) is nutmeg drinks. Blended nutmeg with a dried sour plum, prepared in a way that is similar to kedondong (umbra with sour plum) but without the bitter after taste, and more refreshing.

Dinner cost RM 32.50 in total, and for the amount and quality of ingredients we got, not to mention the good taste, I thought it was well worth it.

Address:
Village Coffee Shop
107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay),
10300 Penang, Malaysia
GPS: 5.411949,100.338049
Tel: 019-458 8693

Tags:  cuttle fish,  fish-head,  kopitiam,  mom,  Penang,  prawn

Posted by KY | 34 Comments »

One of my favorite hawker foods from Penang not called char kueh teow would be prawn mee and loh mee. While the those two dishes are related (as served by places such as Mee Yoke), classic Penang loh mee actually do differs from prawn mee in several ways.

a bowl of classic loh mee in an old school kopitiam

The most obvious distinction between loh mee and prawn mee would be the soup. Instead of prawn shell and pork based soup, the soup for loh mee is a gooey broth made from starch and beaten eggs. The chili paste/sauce used for loh mee too is often more fluid, and vinegared garlic is often available as another condiment to add to the taste. Hard boiled egg and pork too are standard with loh mee.

One of my favorite loh mee stalls in Penang would be at Hai Beng kopitiam located just right next to the Goddess of Mercy Temple (Kuan Yin Teng) in Penang.

pork skin, intestine, hard boiled egg, fried shallots, prawns. yums!

The loh mee here is a s classic as you can get. I love mine with pork skin, meat, and intestine to go with the standard ingredients of hard boiled egg, boiled prawns (prawn mee style), fried shallots, bean sprouts, noodle and mee hun. A good dosage of vinegared garlic and chili paste is essential too.

The smooth texture of the soup combined with the taste of pork and complexity added from the condiments makes it a very satisfying breakfast or late afternoon dish especially if you pair it with a good old fashion Penang black iced coffee.

Hai Beng Kopitiam is located next to Kuan Ying Ting (Goddess of Mercy Temple)

The loh mee goes for RM 3.50 (small), and RM 5.00 (big). Of course, extra charges for extra ingredients. If I remember correctly, the bowl I had was something like RM 4.50?

Now I’m really hungry.

Address:
Hai Beng Kopitiam
Lorong Stewart,
10200 Penang
GPS: 5.418358,100.338548

Tags:  hawker,  loh-mee,  Penang,  pork

Posted by KY | 28 Comments »