I have a little history with this most awesome mee sotong stall.
Although born and bred on the beautiful island of Penang, I haven’t stayed there since after high school, so this particular mee sotong stall wasn’t in my vocabulary. I had originally heard about it from Horng instead.
The very first time I tried to have it, I went to the wrong food court at the other side of the ocean front and had myself a disappointing mee goreng. The stall was closed for during my second visit, and on the third try, which should be a charm, ended up with the whole place being cordoned off due to Cup Prix motor racing.
mee sotong at Padang Kota Lama, Penang
Two years later, this is the story of my fourth visit, and unfortunately, it doesn’t provide a further cases of schadenfreude, I simply had the best mee sotong (or if you prefer, mee goreng) ever!
The stall is located within the food court directly next to Fort Cornwallis, a stone’s throw away from Penang Jetty.
As you step into the food court, the mee sotong stall is hard to miss, it is the busiest stall.
glorious mee sotong, spicy and addictive
A plate of mee sotong costs between RM 4 to RM 6, and the photo above illustrate the RM 4 version. The dish is very wet, and comes with your usual mee goreng ingredients, but with plenty of squid in really spicy, sweet, and awesomely delicious sauce.
It was so good I wanted to have it again the very next day, the only thing stopping me is the long drive back to KL and the knowledge that my stomach will probably protest. The idea of stopping at every other rest area to visit the toilet wasn’t a very welcoming one.
mee sotong goes well with coconut shake with vanilla ice cream
By the way, the spicy mee sotong goes best with a glass of icy cold coconut shake with vanilla ice cream from the mamak stall right next to the one selling mee sotong. A combination perfect for each other, that milky vanilla ice cream really does control the spiciness a little bit.
So next time when you go to Penang, try this out!
Address:
Food Court at Padang Kota Lama
Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah
Penang
GPS: 5.42078, 100.34434
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I only managed to get to having brunch past 1pm in the afternoon. We decided to go to the nearby restaurant New Yew Sang at SS5 to satisfy our stomachs.
note: Not in business anymore, owner passed away from heart attack.
Since the steamed rice stall has pretty much sold off everything except a couple different choices, I decided to try something else and spotted this oddity in a Chinese kopitiam, a mee goreng stall. I figured if an Indian guy can stay in business in this environment, the food can’t be bad.
mee goreng, extra spicy and extra sotong
For the uninformed, mee goreng traditionally comes with yellow noodle, bean sprout, fried tofu, cucur udang, potato, vegetable, and of course, the all important marinated cuttle fish or squid.
I ordered a plate of mee goreng, extra hot, and with extra cuttle fish. When it arrived, the dish was smelling great and looking great. I snapped a couple pictures and squeezed the lime on the noodle before burying myself in right away. The taste was just great, all the ingredients provided their different texture and taste, contributing to the overall savory and spicy satisfaction. The extra cuttle fish was well worth the money too, it was firm and tasted just the way I like it.
I didn’t leave anything behind
The plate of mee goreng was RM 4.00 due to the extra sotong option, otherwise it goes for RM 3.00. The same stall also offers mee rebus, rojak, as well as maggie soup and maggie goreng.
New Yew Sang is on Jalan Bahagia, a stone’s throw away from KJ Giant
Address:
Jalan SS 6/8
Kelana Jaya
GPS: 3.106717, 101.598178
Continuing my eating spree back in Penang, I visited one of my favorite Mee Goreng stalls located at the small hawker center at Mount Eskin. This stall has been operating for well over twenty years, before there were any hawker centers at the same spot. Owned by one of my primary schoolmate’s mom, it used to be the Indian lady who does all the frying, but nowadays the son (my friend’s brother) has taken over the helm.
cozy little hawker center
The mee goreng in Penang is served slightly different from those you find in the Klang Valley, and argueably tastes alot better. Other than the usual ingredients such as shrimp cake, tofu, and egg, there is also bean sprouts and squid that you don’t find at mee goreng served up at, say, the SS2 mamak stalls. Some fresh vege and a slice of lime tops the dish. Apart from the ingredients, the dish is usually served wetter than their counterparts from KL.
squeeze the lime, and proceed to clean the plate
The mee goreng here costs RM 2.50 a plate without egg and RM 3.00 with, a little pricey for Penang standard but worth the gastronomical satisfaction in my book. Next time you head to Penang, don’t just glut yourself with the usual char kueh teow, curry mee, and laksa, there’re alot of other awesome hawker offerings too.
just a short distance from Island Plaza and Gurney Drive
The hawker center operates from around noon to about 4 something in the afternoon daily.
Address:
Jalan Mt. Erskine,
Tg. Tokong, Penang
GPS: 5.450560, 100.302064
