Ask anyone about prawn mee in Penang and chances are the name Old Green House kopitiam will be in among the top 10 lists, doubly so if the list is created by youngsters who does not like to go to bed at reasonable hours.
Green House prawn mee stall, with extras to choose
Well, if you’re one of those who likes to have your prawn mee in for dinner or in the wee hours (operating from 6pm to around 3am), the stall at Old Green House kopitiam is the perfect choice.
In addition to the usual ingredients of prawns, egg, your choice of mee/meehun, and pork slices, there’s a host of different additional “extras” you can choose from depending on availability – from pork intestine, ribs, meatball, pork skin, roast pork, and even sausages. Additionally, you can have it with classic prawn mee soup, loh mee, or a mix between the two (often my choice!)
A standard small portion goes for RM 6.00, and additional ingredients run from RM 1.20 to RM 3.00.
pork intestine, and roast pork, two additions to the standard bowl
The soup is flavorful enough, and ingredients given are plentiful (see video), I was hoping they do also provide the classic kangkung but unfortunately it was missing on my visit. Both intestine and roast pork did give it that extra edge for me, and I’d be returning for those pork skin next time!
Last week I went back up to Penang for a bit and managed to meet up with Evon for a late afternoon “tea time” noms. The lady suggested prawn mee at Lebuh Presgrave, I am always happy to get some prawn mee in the system, so why not?
888 Hokkien Mee at Lebuh Presgrave (or 3rd road)
Lebuh Presgrave is also known as “3rd road” in Hokkien or Mandarin, as it is the 3rd road from Jalan Magazine, which was considered as the “first road”. This in fact goes down all the way to 7th road, but that sort of details aren’t exactly important.
The Prawn Mee (known as Hokkien mee in Penang), is locally referred to as the 888 Hokkien Mee. Essentially a house converted coffee shop with the anchor tenant being this big hokkien mee & loh mee stall.
Operation starts at 4:30 pm, and there’s usually quite a healthy line in front of the stall. It goes like this – line up, order, get your food, pay, eat.
prawn mee, loh mee, or mixed loh + prawn soup?
Like many food stalls in Penang, in addition to standard bowl of prawn mee or loh mee, there’s also a list of different optional ingredients you can add. We had ours with intestine and roast pork, in addition to the usual sliced pork, prawns, noodle, egg, bean sprout, fried shallots, and even lard.
I was going to have pork ribs as well, but at that time it wasn’t ready yet (see video), bummer. There’s also apparently pork skin from time to time.
hello Evon, and hello lard!
The verdict? Well, it isn’t famous and popular for nothing. The soup was on point (I had mixed broth), and everything was “just right”. Those bits of lard certainly also contribute to the overall taste. It was that wholesome feeling that I remember from childhood, would definitely go back again.
Address: 888 Hokkien Mee 67-A, Lebuh Presgrave 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang GPS: 5.411107, 100.330574
Yam Rice is something of a specialty that’s often forgotten when it comes to Penang food, for one, it is not exactly a famous dish from the island, but rather on the mainland. Additionally, it is also a little bit difficult to call it a “hawker food” as this is more of a full blown meal best had for lunch or even dinner.
But alas, for those who loves pork, yam, or both, this is definitely a must-try if you find yourself by the lesser known half sister of Penang island – mainland Penang.
Chai Leng Park yam rice at Chip Heng kopitiam
When it comes to yam rice, the go to place is Chai Leng Park at Seberang Jaya, a stone’s throw away from the infamous Penang Megamall, once the biggest shopping complex in Penang, and I believe the first to have had an ice skating rink in Northern area.
In fact, there is more than one shop offering yam rice in Chai Leng Park, each serving its own customer base. My mom’s favorite is the one at Chip Heng kopitiam, so that’s where we went.
My last visit here was over 20 years ago with my late dad, a quick lunch detoured from buying tractor parts at a shop around the area. There’s definitely a sense of nostalgia for me. Things at Sebarang Jaya does seem to change little after all these years.
For mom and I (later joined by an uncle), we ordered a big bowl of mixed pork soup, a side of braised tofu and egg, and a tiny bowl of braised trotter for lunch. These were of course, accompanied by their famous yam rice.
The soup has a sourish undertone brought on by those salted vegetable, with generous amount of perfectly cooked pork parts – including kidney, pork slices, pork ball, liver, and even coagulated blood. A dash of chopped cilantro completes the dish, and it’s as wholesome and would only be made better with a rainy, cold weather.
price list above
Those braised dishes did not disappoint either, I thought the trotter could be just a tad more tender but perhaps I was too used to the ways Klang bak kut teh is prepared.
Over all it was definitely a lovely lunch, 3 pax, and just a tad under RM 30.00.
On one of the earlier visits back to my beloved hometown, Penang, we chanced upon Ping Hooi kopitiam while in search for a meal between lunch and dinner, this was actually due to the fact that both the Pitt Street kuih teow soup I was trying to have and my favorite oyster omelet were not available.
Tiger Char Kuih Teow at Ping Hooi Kopitiam
Since the busiest corner at the kopitiam seems to be this char kuih teow stall by the name of Tiger CKT, I ordered myself a plate of this favorite Penang hawker dish of mine.
There’s three versions to choose from – without egg (RM 6), with chicken egg (RM 6.50), and with duck egg (RM 7).
Tiger Char Kuih Teow with duck egg
Whenever there’s duck egg available for char kuih teow, I never fail choose it. Duck egg always offer that extra richness & creaminess that chicken egg simply won’t match, and the version at Tiger char kuih teow did not disappoint, it was rich, creamy, spicy, and with cockles that were done just so, and prawns that were fresh. This is one of the best CKT you can get below RM 10.
operator even has a company t-shirt
Next time when you head to Penang, remember that awesome char kuih teow aren’t confined to only Lorong Selamat or Siam Road where you have to wait for over half an hour to get a plate of Penang’s best. I for sure won’t mind heading back to this one again.
Koay Chap is one of the lesser known Penang hakwer food, and I would guess that the reason is probably due to the amount of work needed in preparing the dish. The ingredient of koay chap includes duck meat, duck innards, duck egg, coagulated blood, some of which aren’t as easily available as others.
There are only a handful of koay chap stalls in Penang, and perhaps the most popular among them is the one by Kimberly Street in Georgetown that operates in the evenings till late (just by the chicken feet stall). You can’t miss this place, it is almost always packed with tourists and locals alike, with huge amount of ingredients proudly displayed out in the open. Makes one think how many bowls are moved each night.
wholesome koay chap, if you love duck meat you’d love this
While back for Horng & Yuki’s wedding, David and I took a short walk from Komtar to this stall just as the sun was starting to set and got us each a bowl of this good stuff as a pre-dinner tummy liner, and it was absolutely satisfying.
David approved this meal
You can have the koay chap with traditional thick flat noodle (quite close to mee hun kuih), or with rice. Can’t go wrong either way.
Address: Koay Chap Stall Lebuh Kimberley 10100, Penang GPS: 5.416537, 100.332473 Hours: 5:30 pm till late
