1. Lorong Selamat Char Kueh Tiaw
I had wanted my better half to try this, since she’s never had it before. It’s legendary for its 1 hour wait and when we were there the crowds were out in force!
There were no empty spots on tables and people had to stand in clumps beside diners to wait their turn.
I was told that it’ll take longer than 1 hour based on the plates and there’s a rule about having to sit down before you can order. The price now has sky-rocketed to RM 10 per plate too! My dear didn’t want to wait and we went opposite the road to eat…
2. Curry Mee
It’s RM 7 per plate and the guy told us he has run out of prawns so I think we paid RM 5. It’s still not too bad, loaded with pig’s coagulated blood and the broth is delicious! I wanted to go to the Lorong Seratus Tahun one but I couldn’t find it.
However, we did manage to find…
3. Sin Kim San banana pancake
I thought this was char kueh kak at first and ordered a plate (RM 6). It turned out that the stall sells banana pancakes.
This was nothing special – just a Chinese interpretation of a pancake with lots of eggs and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. My dear makes *better* banana pancakes.
We did manage to eat CKT at the same place though.
4. Duck Egg Char Kueh Tiaw
I like the one near Pulau Tikus police station but since we’re here, we might as well satisfy the craving for Penang CKT. The duck egg version costs RM 4.50 – half the price of the overrated Lorong Selamat stalls.
It was good, but slightly greasy. The prawns were fresh and succulent and there’s a huge helping of lap cheong (Chinese sausage) with it.
We were pretty much full at this point but managed to share a bowl of…
5. Ah Soon Kor Cham Lor
This is a distinctively Penang dish where you mix Lor Mee with Har Mee. The combination gravy is awesome! Ah Soon Kor is famous for their Har Mee (Prawn Mee) but my dear doesn’t really like it so we ordered the mixture instead.
You can see the two different and distinct bases mixing together in the color of the gravy which makes it look like the yin yang symbol (if you squint hard enough ;)). It has lots of interesting goodies like deep fried shrimp and roasted pork belly and I thought it was good. We couldn’t finish it though coz we had so much food.
However, since we didn’t manage to eat the Lorong Selamat CKT I put as #1, here’s a bonus to fulfil the 5 dishes we ate in Penang.
Bonus: New World Ice Kacang Special
I’ve eaten this a lot of times before. I like the tropical fruit mixture compared to the Penang Road cendol. It’s a very popular stall that serves drinks for the New World food court and their flagship costs RM 5.
There’s atap chee, kidney beans, corn, papaya, bananas and lots of other fruits inside this shaved ice dessert, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It was a good weekend escape to Penang to relax and eat some food. We stayed at Traders Hotel, which cost us RM 800+ (more about that soon – there’s an interesting story behind it) and came back on Sunday rejuvenated.
Scratch that, we actually both caught the flu and fell sick but it’s a good vacation nonetheless! 🙂
i’ve always heard that the best char kuey teow is on Macallister Road by “Sisters” but actually, i think all char kuey teow in penang is exceptionally yummy!! i should make a note to properly try (and compare) lorong selamat to macallister’s lol! you didn’t go for oh chien??? i love oh chien! difficult to find really good ones here ):
r.c. i spent all day working on my site in work(!!) so it’s pretty much done. lol. i know it isn’t much of a change but because i code everything myself it takes me a while. surprisingly, i’ve found that it’s much more work (and trickier!) to strip a site down than to add-on stuff (like widgets etc) to it. lol, irony.
Yeah, I like that one too! 🙂
There’s two good places in Lorong Selamat, one that uses eggs for queue and one that uses plates. The first is known as the “sunglasses uncle” (that’s what I call him anyway).
I love oh chien and I wanted to order but we couldn’t finish the food already and my dear said better not since we can’t even finish what’s on the table. Haha!
P/S – There’s good oh chien in Kuching too! Ah, nice work, now it’s my turn!
scrumptious stuff! though i can’t help speculating, maybe you became vulnerable to the flu cos your meals here were sinfully greasy and lacking in veggies and vitamins. but oh wait, you had bananas and papayas in here. hmmm. but hope you both recovered quickly! =) p.s. i like everything you ate here, and i’d add one more for personal preference: nasi kandar! it’s my favorite among everything penang offers! 😀
I love Line Clear nasi kandar! 🙂
I first went a couple of years ago and have never looked back. I find it better than Kayu Nasi Kandar.
Unfortunately, we had limited time and not so much stomach space. We shared everything so we could eat more by having 1/2 bowl or plate eat.
Haha! I think it’s just the flu bug going around, at least it’s not H10N8.
Anything for which I would have to stand and wait, forget it! Nothing can be THAT good! Not so bad if they are considerate enough to provide enough seats for everyone, shade…and fans. They should treat their customers with some respect – after all, they are the ones who put them where they are today and they are running all the way to the bank! Tsk! Tsk!
Haha! Yeah, surprisingly, there’s a lot of people willing to wait though! 🙂
I wouldn’t wait for this Lorong Selamat CKT now, unless I have a lot of time. The Ipoh chicken rice ball isn’t worth the wait too, after I’ve eaten it so many times.
However, there’s a dim sum place in Hong Kong (chef came from a Michelin starred restaurant) that has a 1-3 hour wait (3 hour is supposed to be common according to our hotel concierge) that’s really worth the wait. Best BBQ buns I ever had!
Never a fan of that Lrg Selamat CKT, locals rarely visit that place, more like a tourist-kinda place right now, Siam Road/ Ah Leng or even Tiger CKT are better, both in terms of price and consistency i guess. Luckily you did not go all the way to the PG road cendol right now…. quality has deteriorated and there are some better ones :P, let me know if you are coming next time, i’ll bring you guys to some locals’ fav 😀
Yeah, it’s all tourists who wait! 🙂
I can tell just from how they’re taking photos and all that. I guess it’s mostly tourists who have the time to wait while locals like you know better places to go.
Will do! I’ll buzz you next time we’re in Penang!
you didn’t go for lok-lok? my fav place is Pulau Tikus Market!
hmmm i still think Lorong Selamat is one of the best CKT i had in Penang, but seeing the price has gone up, no point going there.. Tiger CKT comes close at second imho, not that pricey if you’re ordering a normal CKT..
another food that i likey in Penang is chee cheong fun with really creamy sauce! at Genting Cafe! quite near to Ken! 😉
paiseh i’m already back to Malacca.. if not can bring you all around makan 😀
I don’t really like lok lok! 🙂
Seriously, I’m like very cham one, I don’t like lala and I don’t like lok lok. I don’t know why KL people like lala so much. Haha!
To each his/her own I guess. I wish I had known about Tiger char kueh tiaw, I would have gone there.
No worries! We’ll catch up next time, will buzz you when we’re there!
haha, i like char kuay tiao so much!
Yeah, me too! 🙂
No one makes it like Penang does!
Oh man, what I wouldn’t give for a plate of char koay teow now.
Yeah, I guess it’s pretty scarce in Japan! 🙂
There’s some in Melbourne (by Malaysians too) but I never found it to be as good, so mostly I don’t bother. I can count the times I ate Malaysian food in Melbourne during my 4+ years there on one hand!
There’s better food (Italian, Greece, Vietnamese) available there.
i think Siam Road CKT is the best.. but then that one also need to wait super long.. papa and i waited 90 minutes for it.. but it was all worth it.. just that .. if you eat there, and you see how they actually clean the plates and chopsticks.. HAHAHAHA.. okay. you better not see.. 😀 😀
Whoa! 1 1/2 hours is really a long time to be waiting! 🙂
I don’t care about how they clean it, most hawker stalls are unhygienic anyway. As long as it tastes good! Haha!
I’ve waited 1 hour at Lorong Selamat, I think it’s good but we didn’t want to wait that day coz of there were no seats!
Wow…CKT, Curry Mee, Ice Kacang!! Delicious!!
Hope you both are recovering now. Take good care. The weather is very bad.
Thanks Mel! 🙂
It’s not H10N8 but the flu took my by surprise! I just fully recovered!
My dear was less affected though, and we’re both good now. You take care too!
Merry Christmas!
I think Lorong Selamat CKT is overrated. There are other good stalls in Penang. I always go to Bukit Gedung CKT stall if I craved for CKT. But the price is up compare with several months ago. If you come to Penang, go taste Pak Raja Nasi Lemak at Bukit Gedung (close on Monday). Sharif Nasi Kandar at Gelugor (go earlier around 6). Nasi Kandar Beratur also good.
Yeah, it is overrated! 🙂
I reckon it’s still good though. I’ve never been to the nasi kandar places you mentioned, I usually go to Line Clear.
Thanks for the awesome recommendations though, we’ll check them out when we’re in Penang next!
P/S – Yeah, there’s lot of other good CKT in Penang, the duck egg one opposite the police station is good too, I totally forgot about that!
I enjoy all the local foods we had dear. Even though the curry mee was lacked of some ingredients but I love the simpleness and what matter most is the curry! <3
Yup, it was good to eat everything together dear! <3
We can try so much more stuff when we share the small bowls and plates that Penang stalls have, much smaller portions than KL!
I agree dear, the curry mee flavor is good but I think the cham lor one is better. *hugs*