24 Hour Eating in Penang - WSJ

Shie-Lynn Lim/Wall Street Journal

A photo grid of Penangs many varied street food options.

PENANG, Malaysia—During the days when the spice trade flourished, the island of Penang in northern Malaysia was the first port of call for traders and seafarers from around the globe.

As these migrants gradually made the outpost their home, they incorporated local spices, such as lemongrass and galangal, into their customary dishes, giving birth to a fusion cuisine totally unique to Penang.

The result is a city made for non-stop eating. The Wall Street Journal went on a recent 24-hour feeding frenzy and shares with you our findings. (A warning: This tour is not recommended for the calorie conscious).

FRIDAY 

8:00 p.m. – Start the evening with a stroll down Lorong Baru, a bustling food paradise where dozens of individual stalls hawk food to passersby. Notable must-tries include pork satay, grilled meat served on skewers; and char koay teow, flat rice noodles fried with delightfully succulent prawns, cockles, crab meat, soy sauce and pork lard.

If you’re sharing, pull up a stool at one of the metal tables on the narrow pedestrian lane and dive into loh bak, a dish of deep-fried, five-spiced pork wrapped in bean-curd skin and served with preserved egg, fried fish-balls and chili sauce. In the hands of a seasoned cook, loh bak is always moist and aromatic, but the make-or-break factor lies in the meat – spiced with star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds.

Address: Lorong Baru
Tab: Loh bak ($4.30), pork satay ($3.10), char koay teow, ($3). Total = $10.40

10 p.m. – If you need a little break after all that feasting, take a walk to That Little Wine Bar, a somewhat hidden gem with an extensive selection of imported wine. Try the Rose d’Anjou from the Loire Valley wine region in France, a crisp, light-bodied, easy-to-drink wine that is ideal after a hearty dinner. If you’re still feeling a bit peckish, order up a collection of tapas, starting with beef carpaccio drizzled with olive oil, seared foie gras served strawberry sauce and sherry and seared scallops on a bed of cauliflower mash.

Address: 54 Jalan Chow Thye
Tab: Tapas range from $5.60 to $18. Wine (by the bottle) runs between $27.50 and $339.

SATURDAY 

7 a.m. – Start off the morning right with some roti canai, flaky, pan-fried Indian pancakes dipped in your choice of lentil or chicken curry. Another morning favorite is nasi lemak, which literally means fatty rice. The fragrant grain is cooked with coconut milk and served with fried peanuts and anchovies, as well as sambal, a fiery sauce made from pounded chilies. Our preferred spot was Sri Ananda Bahwan, a South Indian restaurant located along Jalan Tanjung Bungah.

Address: 14 Jalan Tanjung Bungah
Tab: Roti canai ($0.60), nasi lemak ($1.50). Total = $2.10

10 a.m. – For the first mid-meal snack of the day head to the junction of Kimberley and Kuala Kangsar roads and look for a grey-hued push cart with a framed photo that reads, “Most Requested Ban Chang/Apam Balik.”

Apam balik is a crusty, thin crepe made in miniature woks using a batter of flour, sugar and eggs and filled with roasted peanuts and a pinch of brown sugar, giving it a sweet, nutty flavor.

Address: In front of Sin Guat Keong Coffee Shop, along Lebuh Kimberley
Tab: $1 for 10 pieces

12 p.m. – When lunch time calls devote your tastebuds to Penang’s renowned curry mee, a curried noodle dish whose recipe has been passed down through three generations. The best is served at Lorong Seratus Tahun Curry Mee, a street stall named after the quiet street it sits on – meaning 100-year-old lane. The curry meehere is a gloriously scrumptious mix of thin, yellow rice noodles topped with cubes of coagulated pig’s blood, a dollop of sambal and voluptuous cockles. When you slurp a spoonful of the flavorful prawn broth, you’re tasting a dish that reflects years of fine tuning.

Address: 50 Lorong Seratus Tahun
Tab: Curry mee = $1.25 per bowl

4 p.m. – Indulge in a cool tea-time dessert of iced green noodles at Penang road’s famous Teochew Chendol. A good bowl of the noodles, or cendol, made from pea flour and flavored with pandan leaves, will have just the right amount coconut milk and palm-sugar syrup, also known as gula Melaka. Poured over shaved ice, the cendol gives the treat a piney, citrusy freshness.

Address: 27/29, Lebuh Keng Kwee
Tab: Teochew cendol ($0.65)

7 p.m. – After a brief walk around the historic Georgetown area to soak up some of the street art and verdant colonial villa gardens, prepare your palate for a final feast by sampling some freshly made putu piring, or white plate, named for its saucer-like shape. Made by two sisters at Sin Hup Aun Café, a collection of street stalls, putu piring are white rice-flour cakes steamed in a flat mold filled and with palm sugar. They are served with more sugar and topped with freshly grated coconut. When eaten hot off the stove, the fine flour cakes melt in the mouth, blending with the light, caramel sweetness of the palm sugar. Be sure to arrive at the stall early, as these delicacies fly off the shelves by 9 p.m.

Address: 11-37, Jalan Pasar, Taman Pulau Pinang
Tab: Putu piring ($0.30 per packet of two pieces)

10 p.m. – It may be late, but there’s still time for one last meal before leaving Penang. To fulfill all your final cravings head over to Nasi Kandar Line Clear, a stall where there is always a long but orderly line mixed with locals and tourists. Don’t let its shabby exterior put you off, this stall serves up Penang’s best nasi kandar, a dish of steamed rice served with chicken, mutton or vegetables and flooded with a medley of curries. Pick from a boggling array that includes crab and squid to more mundane fish and chicken curries.

Address: 177 Jalan Penang
Tab: Plates start at $2.20 and go up to $12.50

Wall Street Journal