by Le Concierge Orient
penang malaysia
The Destination
Penang is an erstwhile colonial settlement and within its UNESCO listed Georgetown are rows of old shophouses and a splattering of historical buildings that now juxtapose starkly against the rising vistas of modernity like high-rise condominiums and shopping complexes.
georgetown penang best hotels restaurants markets travel guide. Despite this, Georgetown is still a gratifying repository of all things quaint and delicious, and a highly popular destination in Southeast Asia for heritage buffs and food lovers alike. Here are some of the best hotels, markets and restaurants to check in and check out over a week-long exploration of Georgetown in Penang.
Restaurants, Markets and Casual Eateries
Pulau Tikus
Pulau Tikus is one of Penang’s most popular morning markets that is jam-packed with coffee shops, casual eateries and food carts proffering a good selection of the island’s most famous street eats. The market is located 30 minutes away via car from Georgetown and until fairly recently was more patronised by locals than tourists. Some of the standout gastronomic highlights visitors can relish here are Ravi’s Famous Apom Manis (which routinely closes early before 10am), Bee Hooi Restaurant Loh Mee, Pulau Tikus Wet Market Razak Nasi Lemak and more. Our favourite recommendation here is the delicious wanton noodles at Wantan Mee House, a famous family establishment that has been around in Pulau Tikus for over 50 years. Unlike the other local versions of wanton noodles, your choice of egg noodle or hor fun will be doused in a proprietary blend of dark sauce and flavoured oil before being treated to a generous glossing of thick egg white gravy, accompanied by roast pork, braised mushrooms, shredded chicken as well as blanched and deep fried wantons.
Besides the savoury staples, the roadside ban chang kueh (peanut pancake) and assorted Nyonya kuehs in and around the wet market are also not to be missed.
Jalan Penang
Penang Road is an important traffic artery in Penang and lining this road are many side alleys harbouring famous eateries that food hunters converge upon. Hon Kei (located at Kampong Malabar off Jalan Penang) is a popular restaurant that specialises in pork broth and offal soups that are served with both rice and a variety of noodles. The wonderfully flavoured broth, which you can also enjoy with fish or seafood, has kept the restaurant going for many years at this location with daily packed houses. Speaking of old school eateries, Goh Swee Kee Restaurant (at 5 Jalan Sri Bahari) is a 50 year old Teochew restaurant that specialises in perennial regional favourites like stuffed sea cucumber, steamed pomfret, homemade fishballs and prawn rolls.
Lor Bak, a Penang variant of Singapore’s Ngor Hiang, is a highly popular hawker delight and the stall at Kafe Kheng Pin is widely regarded as one of the island’s best. No trip to Penang is complete without the velvety rush of ice cold chendol and the ever-popular Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol is still drawing long queues years after it began operations along the back alley of Lebuh Keng Kwee.
Campbell/ Carnarvon/ Kimberley Streets
Some of Penang’s most renowned old school restaurants are located around this heritage shophouse enclave tucked away from the busy traffic of the island. Toh Yuen is an old name when it comes to serving morning dim sum piping hot from old school dim sum carts. As the morning progresses towards lunch, the time-honoured restaurant (which opens from 6am) starts dishing out some of the island’s best steamed chicken, bee hoon, horfun and other assorted dishes. Teksen is another popular zi char style restaurant that serves popular Cantonese dishes like sambal kang kong, barbecue boneless pork ribs, claypot tofu and fiery curries. The queue for both lunch and dinner here are perpetually long but for those who persist, their patience will be well rewarded. Tok Tok Bamboo Noodles is a casual eatery that serves a delicious rendition of the Cantonese style wonton noodles with homemade noodles kneaded by thick bamboo poles. Besides wonton and roasted meat noodles, the eatery also serves traditional pastries and their lovely egg tarts are some of the island’s best.
Kimberley Street Food Night Market may seem a bit overrated these days but the food stalls and eateries there still curate a good selection of yummy street nosh unique to Penang. There is a mobile hawker stall that sells deep fried belacan chicken, which along with their salted fish tofu are not to be missed. Across from them is another simple looking hole in the wall eatery that sells fried vegetarian bee hoon and mee which simply taste fabulous.
If one wishes to take a break from traditional street eats, one can head to Munchkin and the Gang cat cafe (which opened in 2023) to indulge in a spot of cafe nosh and furry kitty love. The star there is not so much what’s on the menu but rather a blue white British shorthair christened Cupid who would melt your heart with his devil-may-care gait and smirk.
The Launchpads
