Cendol at Penang Road

Penang has a very rich in-depth background, culture and history, and this has granted Penang or specifically the capital of Penang, Georgetown the accolade as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
One thing that makes Penang unique is that almost each and every local food in Penang has a strong connection to its historic culture.

It was around 32 celcius on a hot afternoon, and this time would be the best time to stay indoor. Unfortunately I wasn't because it was also the best time to hunt for one of Penang's most famous dessert, cendol.

Cendol, too has a historic background originating from South East Asia. Rumors had it that the word "cendol" is related to the Indonesian language, Javanese which means bulge or the bumpy sensation from the green worm-like while drinking or eating it.

Located on a small lane, hiding itself from the main road is the famous Penang Road Teochew Cendol. This very stall has a history of decades, dating back to the late 90's and with the influx of customers everyday, its business is good as ever.

There were tourists and locals lining up for the chilling dessert. The cendol was made in a very fast manner. First with the ice shaved into a bowl, then with different kind of syrups added into it with a little touch of coconut milk and lastly with cendol green jelly and red beans completing a signature dessert.

ladies at work

the actors of the comedy tv series, Phua Chu Kang .

We decided to grab a seat inside the kopitiam to relax ourselves with a nice bowl of cendol. The interior was nicely decorated with photos, certificates, newspaper cuttings and advertisements of Penang and this place.

 It was like we were in a museum of some sort, reinforcing the fact that we are in a place where famous celebrities had once been here too.

I especially like the photo on the top-left corner. our YB

The cendol was served within minutes and that being mentioned, it was also finished within minutes. What made this cendol tastes so good was its just-nice of perfect balanced of ingredients. Nothing more could be said more when this placed has already had a reputation the one could dream of, I could just say that everything was good right from the red beans which else where would taste like a rock bean to the smooth-textured fresh cendol which else where would taste like a rotten worm.   - 9.0

We also shared a bowl of Ais Kacang (ice with beans) which tasted just as good as the former. We were particular in the sweetness of desserts because sometimes, people tend to put too much sugar in them and this would ruin off the taste, but not in the case for this ais kacang.
It has a rich compilation of ingredients like sweet corn, leong fan (black jelly) red beans and water chestnuts. Really good was the closest word to perfect that I could think off to describe the ais kacang and cendol.   - 8.5


Prices .
Ais Kacang - RM 1.90
Cendol - RM 1.90

Bonus .
This stall is located at Lebuh Keng Kwee, on the left of Penang Road.
If you can't find it, ask any shopowners nearby, they might be able to help you.
It is open from noon to 7pm in the evening, and parking can be a problem. Advice would be to park on the Parking Lot on the left after the pedestrian bridge or Komtar since it's just walking distance.

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Laksa and Yam Rice at Seang Tek Road

People often think that in order to promote their food business well, one of the criteria is to have a good location, a hot spot, or a slot where all the commotion is in town. But in Penang, that's not always the case.
Good location does not make a food good, but it is good food that makes a location good.

So earlier today, I was invited for a food review at my friend's place. To be honest the kopitiam is rather small, but again the size of the location is never the deal to begin with.

big banners will do .

Since it was lunch time and our stomachs were supposed to fill in a few pounds of food, we decided to order everything (all the food in the pic above).
We were seated on the narrow pathway, while looking at the handful of customers (not in pic) who were waiting to ta pao (take away) the purportedly delicious Laksa.

lady in apron

The great thing about this place is that the food is always served within minutes, somehow that I supposed is an important criteria for food business. It was odd to order Laksa and Yam Rice together, which was my first time eating the combo.

I think the Laksa gave a promising first impression, with the colourful combination of onions, mint leaves, cucumber and red chillies which were sprinkled on top beautifully.

The different point to note for the Laksa was also its white noodles. The noodles were very soft and succulent. And for the soup, I thought it was a little not-so-spicy but tasted not too bad altogether.

yam rice

On a different course, the Yam Rice. It was served and to be eaten together with the Laksa. Although we usually eat Laksa with Popiah, I have to admit that the Yam Rice was terrific. I've always remembered how a perfect Yam Rice tasted, and frankly this one is close to it.
Remember we ordered all the food above, do you know what's missing ? Right, it's the Prawn Cracker or heh pia in plain Hokkien or keropok udang in Bahasa Melayu.




Altogether there were many different ways of eating this local snack food. You can dip it inside the Laksa soup, to add a spicy savoury flavour in it. You can also break it into small pieces and eat them as a dish with the Yam Rice. Or to make things simple, you can just eat it by itself which is already very satifsfying and good enough for me.



To finish things off with a sweet note, the Ai Yu Ping (Jelly Ice) did a really great job on cooling down our tastebuds. It tasted almost similiar to the famous Okio (which is located near the jetty) with a mixture of different jellies. So now you can always save a trip to that far if you're craving for some sweet and sour dessert right ?

Overall, it was definitely a sweet experience and something new if you have never tried eating Laksa with Yam Rice before, not to mention with the 100% homemade Prawn Cracker.


Prices .
Laksa with Yam Rice - RM4.00 a bowl
Ai Yu Ping (Jelly Ice) - RM 2.50 a bowl
Prawn Cracker - RM 0.50 a piece

Bonus .
This kopitiam is located down the street of Seang Tek Road, just the beside of Anson Market.
It is open from 11am to 5.30pm and only closes on Monday.

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Pisang Goreng at Air Itam

It was really tiring yet relaxing , because school had just dismissed. While I was on my way back home, my friend suggested me to stop by this stall, which sells one of the most common food found in Penang. Pisang Goreng (fried banana) originates from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore It is often considered a local common snack food.
But there was something uncommon about this particular Pisang Goreng after all.

stall by the road

There were many other customers waiting for their Pisang Goreng


banana . but no banana juice

Although there were many customers, it was only a short wait. Besides Pisang Goreng, they do sell other fried snacks such as Cempedak Goreng (fried cempedak) and Ubi Goreng (fried potato).

Fortunately, my friend was right about this place. The Pisang Goreng was very crunchy with hints of sweetness and still hot because it just came out from the pan seconds ago.

I got myself a big pack of Pisang Goreng with more than 20 pieces inside. What made these fried bananas interesting was probably the sesame seeds, which made them look more presentable.


Prices .
Pisang Goreng (fried banana) - RM 2.00 (you can get it for RM1.00 for a smaller pack)

Bonus .
This stall is located on Jalan Kampung Baru / Jalan Abdullah Ariff opposite of Chung Ling High School.
It is open from around 11am to 5pm.

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Roti Bom at Sri Ananda Bahwan

It's always hard to find time for each other especially our friends, because all of us have our own errants to do, be it school projects, college assignments or our precious time with our family. The time we could only spend together on weekdays is none other than supper time, where we hit out to places searching of great food to eat and enjoy ourselves..

So that night, we decided to eat something different, something we don't eat so often. While on the road, the traffic was bad and my friend playfully switched the radio channel and all of a sudden, we found ourselves dancing to the music, to the beat ... it was the indian channel ! We all had a good laugh and agreed when one of our friends suggested to hit Sri Ananda Bahwan for supper in Tanjong Bungah.

the backdoor

It wasn't our first time here, but the lightings somehow seemed so different and interesting.





I wanted to order Banana Leaf Rice where you are given free refills of 3 different vegetables and fragrant rice with a piece of chicken on a banana leaf. This indian dish represents the culture of the indians eating with their hands, which is a local indian delicacy where the papadam (indian biscuit) blends so well with the spices and the rice. But too bad it was almost 10pm and the banana leaves had finished.

the menu

As I was quite hungry at that time, I ordered Nasi Goreng Ayam (fried rice with chicken) and additionally we ordered one of our all time favourites - Roti Bom (explosion bread ?).

While waiting for our food to be serverd, I ordered Sirap Limau Ais (lime syrup with ice) while the others ordered Teh Tarik Panas (hot teh tarik).

murtabak (bread with chicken within)

roti bom

The Roti Bom tasted very good, filled with the sweetness of susu tepung (condensed milk) within.

fried rice with slices of chicken

The food was served in about 10 minutes and I must say the fried rice tasted really great and the portion is adequate to be your usual dinner meal. It was a wonderful experience where we experienced food of different cultures.

Prices .
Roti Bom - RM 2.50 a piece
Fried Rice with Chicken - RM 4.50 a bowl
Sirap Limau Ais - RM 1.40 a cup

Bonus .
The place is really cosy and ideal for a more relaxed kind of dining, although I do find it hard to understand the way some of the staffs speak.
This shop is located in Tanjong Bungah, nearly the opposite of the Paradise Hotel.
It is open until 12am at night, and you can find yourself an easy parking slot if you were to park behind, and enter from the backdoor.

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Genting Wan Tan Mee

It was early Friday morning and the night before, my aunt and I planned to have our breakfast at our usual place. We have been customers - regular customers for Genting Kopitiam for a long time, dating back to the time when I was still in primary school.



People used to say habits are always hard to change. Having breakfast here is a habit :)

The thing about this place is that it feels very comfy, probably because of the years that I've been here, or probably because of the people who comes here often. This kopitiam has only a few stalls, but it's business is good enough to cater a big crowd.



Most of the customers here are either young working people in their uniforms or old people with their gossip gang members. Although there is other food which is relatively good as well, but I always prefer to order the same-ol'-thing, Wan Tan Mee ta ta (dry Dumpling Noodles). While waiting, we usually order a set of Kaya Toast Bread which is really tasty as appetizer.

kaya toast bread

I was first introduced to this food by my aunt, who is also an expert in cooking and food tasting. And I remember she told me this, "I think in the world of Wan Tan Mee, the hardest challenge a hawker could get is when a customer orders dry Wan Tan Mee".
This is because it takes great skills to produce this kind of Wan Tan Mee, and most hawkers fail to perfectionate this Cantonese dish because a little too often, the noodels is too dry (without enough soy sauce) or too wet (which defeats the purpose of ordering a dry one).

husband and wife in action


dry wan tan mee

We usually order our dry Wan Tan Mee without sio bak (roasted meat) because .. err I think it's just a habit also. :)

dumpling soup

It was probably habit that always brings us back here, simply because the food is affordable (very affordable in fact) and taste is averagely-good .

Prices .
Toast Bread - RM 1.40 a set
Wan Tan Mee - RM 2.10 a plate (without roasted meat)

Bonus .
This shop is located at the end of the row of Bandar Baru Supermarket, Farlim.
It only closes on Sundays, opens from 7.30am to 11.00am for breakfast, and if you would like to join the crowd, please reach around 9.00am .

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Shell's Laksa

Recently, I talked to an Australian who came here for a summer vacation. We exchanged a few questions before I asked him, " what do you think of Penang's food ". His Australian accent sounded awkward when he replied, " wow the food here is just amazing, everything's nice, especially the Laksa".
As a Penangite, Im proud to hear compliments although they weren't for me, but it made it sound as though Im part of it, we're all part of it.

Since this is the very first post on food, I'll make an effort on giving a brief description on the food.
Laksa originates from the Peranakan (Chinese and Malay) culture and is also one of the most popular delicacy you can find in Penang. This bowl of spicy yet sour noodle soup is found almost anywhere, from the corners of the street to the fine-dining in the hotels. There are mainly two types of Laksa, Asam Laksa which is friendlier to all Penangites, and Curry Laksa which is more of a delicacy in places like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

asam laksa

curry laksa

sarawak laksa . ?

And so I think all of us have our own preference on the debatable and arguable question, whether which Laksa is actually the best in Penang. But to be honest, it is hard to judge which Laksa is the best as the taste is not measurable. You know, food can't be like, oh that Laksa scored 98 points on the Food-o-meter. So, I decided to share this place with you that I think is worth visiting, probably not the best, but again definitely worth a try :)

imagine eating laksa on a hot afternoon

If you were to wonder where did all the Indonesian maids or "kakaks" in your housing area go, you can happily find them all working here. =D

I remembered the Laksa I usually have in other places are always lack of something, the key ingredient, which is the fish (mackerel or ikan kembung). Sometimes, they tend to replace this key ingredient with fishballs which in my opinion is tak betul lah. But worry not, this stall has everything prepared for you to satisfy your tastebuds. There is fishball, mackerel, and smashed-fish inside the nutrious (fish got vitamins one mah) Laksa.




Review .
Aside from the balanced spices of onions, red chillies, slices of pineapple, the fragrant torch-ginger flower and hiao ko (asam), you notice that there is something more to the soup. Filled with sweetness from the spices and sourness from the asam, there is this smashed-fish in the soup (where when you drink the soup, you can actually taste tiny bits of fish inside melting in your mouth). Back to the main character, I think that the texture of the white noodles of the Laksa is just beautiful, and it blends in very well with the soup.

look at that fish

To relieve the burning sensation from the Laksa, you can always order a bowl of qing bu liang (leng chee kang) of which I think is far better than the ice kacang or cendol. If you happen to have the appetite to eat a horse, worry not as you can also try the Roti Bak Kua on the stall beside. p/s he's also the owner of the Laksa stall.

roti bak kua

One more thing, remember how popiah (springroll) tastes so good by itself, but what happens when popiah meets laksa ? right. you eat them both together, crunchy and juicy at the same time.

popiah

combo

At the end, I would always end up wet eating Laksa. No it's not because I'm clumsy and splash the soup with my poor chopsticks-skills nor because I eat like a horse, I'm wet because I sweat a lot when I eat something spicy.
And also I have to give a point to the exterior decoration for the toilet . lol




Prices .
Laksa : RM 3.50 a bowl
Popiah : RM 1.00 a pc
Roti Bak Kua : RM 1.40 a pc
Leng Chee Kang : RM 2.50 a bowl

Bonus .
Address: 1-G-01, Medan Angsana 4, Ayer Itam 11500 Penang.
This shop is located on the row behind KFC /Pizza Hut in Farlim and opens from 11am to 8pm .
The service is fast, and if you would like to avoid the crowd, it's better to pay a visit in the afternoon.

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