Hawker Food Heaven at Genting Food Court Penang

Sometimes, being a Penangite, I feel pointless going all the way to Georgetown for hawker fare at inflated prices, eg, Burmah Road Char Koay Teow costs RM 6.50-7 when it was not tasty at all.

So we prefer to eat at residential places like Bayan Lepas or Ayer Itam. It was raining cats and dogs on last Monday so we made a sudden decision to go to Genting Food Court, which I have never been all my life or at least, had faint memories of it, as my parents do not spend much time exploring food much and mostly eat at Super Tanker Food Court only whether for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Penang White Curry Mee 

The Curry Mee costs a whopping RM 4 for small portion, and if you want prawns, recommended to order the medium one at RM 4.80. The chilli is just incredible but it was not as oily as others. The best thing about Penang Curry Mee is we have a lot of ingredients like pig blood, cuttlefish, bean sprouts, cockles and beancurd. By 12.30 pm, they have finished 1 big tank of curry soup.

Char Koay Teow (RM 5) 

Since mum said the normal Char Koay Teow I used to eat when young at Pulau Tikus, taste quality has declined recently, we were searching for one place as substitute and found it here by accident. I even ordered Duck Egg Char Koay Teow for only RM 5! 

Loh Bak 

One of Penang's famous food is Loh Bak and they have tasty ones here. The most unique thing is selling giant octopus which is rare in most Loh Bak stalls. Due to the 2 octopus I ordered, the one below cost RM 12.90 

Braised Chicken Leg (RM 5) 

Mum and me are huge fans of braised chicken leg, so since she mentioned it, I told her to go ahead ordering this. The chicken legs are a bit lesser than the Medan Selera near Penang Free School, so not that worth the money paid at RM 5

Details: 

Lorong Delima 3, Taman Island Glades, 11700 Jelutong Penang 

Best Fried Oysters / O'Chien in Penang

Every pilgrimage trip I make to Penang, I must always have my Fried Oysters. Since young, I only ever eat Fried Oysters at Super Tanker food court which has a lot of big oysters and quite cheap at RM 10 for small portion. Even this time when we had lack of time, and we are going to Charity Dinner in the Lip Sin school, after dropping the elderly, we went for my oysters.

The fried oysters is simply heavenly, huge oysters to boot! It also doesn't have an overload of starch like the one in New Lane. So that's why when it comes to Fried Oysters, mum said it is better I go for my personal choice  rather than follow those in google, which is why I have made my mind to write as much as possible about Penang Hawker Food 

Gayo Coffee

I have always been browsing other blogs for Penang food. I also had been trying some of the recommendations from blog and also those in the Penang Food Guide brochure at the airport which was sometimes to my dismay when the food didn't turn out as written there, then I realized, I should start my own blog and really talk about my local perspective...

I am always on the lookout for instagrammable cafes...and was hunting for cafes in google for few days since I am suddenly returning to Penang after a year...after asking around local friends for recommendations, ... (drum rolls)...

BTW Gayo House is easy to find as it is just beside the popular amongst tourists' China House ... it is like getting the same ambience but add more to the list of instagram shots you can get here. OK, and the latte is RM 1 cheaper here...

The moment I entered the courtyard, it was so heavenly I felt grateful to step foot here and making the decision, as I didn't have much time in my busy food hunt itinerary. Gayo Coffee looks like any normal cafe from the facade, but never judge a book by its cover.

Compared to other cafes which normally go easy on decorations, it was like no wall is left undecorated...

Every door opens to another, like how doors are in cartoons? Go door after door of different layouts, it was like uncovering layer after layer of hideouts? But in cosier areas and place, oh and with service provided....kekeke

You feel like you are literally in Siam Reap with a majestic and gigantic tree, almost like a bodhi tree, greeting you in the courtyard. True to be, there is a photo of the Cambodian Wat, with image of Buddha and also a tiger on the wall.

 It was said that the tree was naturally growing in the house, and it seems that the act of leaving it untouched has given it an added advantage compared to other cafe. I mean how often you see a huge REAL tree inside a house and you are still able to see the REAL sky? Perhaps in the olden days but not in today's world! 

View from the top of the second floor: 

But then the best part, is that this is not any coffee place with beautiful setting without tasty food. Or just the normal cafe everywhere with coffee, tea, cakes and desserts! The best part is the extensive menu of Western Food that you can eat from breakfast to dinner! I guess the owner is definitely very entrepreneurial to add a variety of food inside otherwise a lot of people just come once to take photos and try coffee then skip it the next time since there are so many hipster cafes in town alone, I guess you would have lost count on the number of cafes in Penang, whereby every nook and corner is a kopitiam, hawker centre, food court, restaurant, cafe, bistro, which you can stop by anytime there is hunger pangs? 

Since we were still full from lunch at Genting Food Court, of Char Koay Teow, Curry Mee, Chicken Legs and Loh Bak, we just had coffee to soak in the heritage. 

Orchid Latte (RM 12) 

The coffee (in green cup, in this picture) is surprisingly quite reasonably priced compared to other hipster cafes. I am someone who doesn't support much franchises and go for more unique coffee cafes. It is much thicker and preferable for strong coffee lovers like me. The only disappointment is just that there wasn't any orchid petals? Well, not like we know how orchid taste like?

Rose Latte (RM 12) 

If you are imagining the conventional rose petals thrown on the surface, guess after you look at the photo below, not much difference between rose and orchid latte if you ask me, except that the rose version is more of normal latte and less coffee taste. Perhaps they are not well known for this coffee? Anyway, skip this if you really want rose latte and order others. 

Misissipi Mud Cake (RM 15) 

Cakes are basically this price in hipster cafes, guess it is cheaper to have a main course here. There are lunch sets as well at almost the same price.... probably on weekdays. The Mud Cake has sinfully rich ganache chocolate, that increases your calories within seconds, so only settle on this if you are trying to forget your diet momentarily, or as mum says, when you come to Penang, there is no point dieting otherwise why bother coming all the way to Food Paradise?

Guess that is enough excuses...let's dig into the mud cake, and float into blissful land!

Oh, and to convince yourself, what's coffee without cake?

Details:
Address: 161, Beach Street 10300 Georgetown, Penang
Tel: 04-2619891 

Penang Street Food

Now I know why New World Park Penang food court looks so empty and the food there wasn't tasty anymore. It was because one of the stalls have expanded to open a big cafe in Segambut recently.  I have not really visited the branch in Penang but I heard of many Penangites who frequent this place just for the food. I only found out about it from my classmate, Samantha's FB post. 

Finally I found time to visit the cafe today. It took 25 mins drive from my place almost like how far Uptown is for me. It is a no-frills shop below a flat. The street food available were so interesting that I was tempted to order everything. This place is suitable for breakfast or tea breaks as it is rare to find a place with so much snacks sold and not just limited to Pasembur or deep fried processed food like in the shopping mall. 

Pie Tee (RM 5.50) 

The pie tee crust is just so thin and crispy, instead of the normal thick oily ones that others use.

Chai Kuih (RM 3.50) 

The Chai Kuih is totally to die for, incredible for the thin transparent skin and it even has beautiful flowery design that even in Penang, you don't see hawkers doing that. They eve allowed me to mix the sengkuang and chives.

ABC (RM 5 for without ice-cream) 

The ABC really reminds me of New World Park! The portion is really big with a lot of ABC ingredients, like red beans, finely cut cincau grass jelly, sweet corn, atap seed. Even the ice-cream is chocolate which is my favourite. Well this place owner is never stingy with ingredients!

Braised Pork Hor Fun (RM 8) 

This is the most awesome chee cheong fan ever! And the braised pork reminds one of lu rou fan and even beats the lu rou fan I had in Taiwanese night market! It was very fragrant. Highly recommended if you are not the traditionalist when it comes to chee cheong fan. 

Otak-Otak 

I was getting greedy and could not resist not having the Otak-otak which came steaming hot. One can see 1 big piece of fish inside as well, so you know that the owner is not 'kiam siat' when it comes to ingredients.

Again my greediness and to make it worthwhile for driving all the way there, we bought 1 bachang back home.

Details: 

Address: 54, Jalan 8/38D, Plaza Sinar, Taman Sri Sinar Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 016-4529688