Culinary food perspective........

 

Being in Penang for holidays had always been a source of happiness for me during the holidays season. That’s before the implementation of the 3^rd MCO, okay?  My family and I would gladly get ourselves to Penang whenever we could. Penang is special indeed. A very special place in our hearts and our yearly calender too. Though I really do have very serious reservations about the mentality of the Penang people plus their horrendous driving manners and skills, I can’t help myself going back to Penang time after time. So, what makes Penang damn bloody special? Well, it’s the food !!!! The ever-consistent way of making simple food very pleasurable and their ingenious way of coming up with new things to eat are truly fabulous indeed!.

 The char kueh teow, for one, is truly uniquely Penang ( no other place in Malaysia does it quite like the Penangite CKT. Hands down, Penang CKT wins uncontested la! Give credit where it is due ,ok? ) while new cafés seemed to crop up (closed up faster too!) with new translation of concept ideas and food. I’ve always enjoyed the grand mixture of new and old concept of things in Penang ( be it in food, architecture or even the cultural aspects of things ) but somehow, my hometown Malacca seemed to be lacking behind in certain aspects of the amalgamation of new and old feel to a city these days.  No discredit to Malacca as the Malaccans are rather sane and courteous when it comes to mannerism and driving ethics while the Penangites are like mobster on adrenaline rush when on the road! I could have sworn that had I not been “educated” well in mannerism by my parents and make my parents proud ( ahem! ahem! ) , I would have given some extraordinary flowery language to these “hell bound “ drivers/motorists.  I do not mince my words for this one and I meant it! It drives me crazy how reckless Penang drivers are ; both car drivers and motorcyclists!

For the past weeks while in Penang, I have come to grasp with the idea of moving about in some streets in Penang and they can be a parking hell but the culinary rewards at the end of that street can be quite exquisite and rewarding. I have come to recognize some streets and how to get there like Gat Lebuh Melayu, Carnavon Street, Church Street, Lebuh Cecil, Beach Street, Chulia Street, Armenian Street, McAllister Street, Anson Road, Pulau Tikus, Siam Road, Nagore Street, Sg Ara, Lipsin, Batu Lancang, Weld Quay, Air Itam etc etc  to get to the food goodies. Like I said to one of my friends recently in regards to food in Penang, don’t ask a Penangite where to go for food. Every one of them has their own favourite place to go for their food fix and so, you have to like what you want and just go for it. In Penang, seven major food fare which will oil your gastronomical veins and stomachs nicely are namely char kuey teow (CKT) , nasi kandar, kuey teow theng ( KT soup), hokkien mee ( prawn mee ), Penang Laksa, Char kueh kak ( fried turnip cake/ char tau kueh ( Southern hokkien slang )  and Penang White Curry mee. These foods are synonymous with Penang and vice versa. It’s like if you need a gastronomical passport to Penang, you need to get all these seven food endorsed in your travel vein and stomach passport, man! Or in my own medical terms, you need to get your food drug fix on these food or else you’ll have to check into the nearest hospital for a cardiac arrest for not tasting them or you will have a confirmed cardiac arrest for having all seven ! Either way, it’s the right ticket to heaven! Die with a full stomach and oil running wildly and nicely in your veins la! Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…………….

BTW, I really love food in Penang and food as a whole. So, testing out new food at new places are a treat for me. On this part, I love the part of going to new places for new food. The only problem is that every time someone posts the new food and the popularity soared, the prices goes through the roof. For example, Ong Cheng Huat Seafood restaurant in Butterworth which serves kay kiah or small fried chicken and other seafood fare. It has been extremely pricey but the crowd still flocked the restaurant doors for their kay kiah and sea food fare. In one of our recent trip there, sure, the food was simple ( fried beehoon, fried mee, half a grouper fish, prawn crackers, sweet potato vegetables plus the kay kiah ) and good but the price wasn’t friendly at all. It’s the same for Khuntai Restaurant, Hai Boey Seafood, Pulau Betung Seafood and Pantai Bersih Seafood restaurant in Penang island have become very expensive for the wallet over the years. 

That’s the part these restaurants tend to lost their customers and soon, they too will fold up in times to come. I believe, I am seeing a trend whereby Penangites themselves are supporting smaller & lesser known restaurants which could provide good food at affordable prices. I am not saying these restaurant can’t earn their keeps based on their expertise but it has to be reasonable, sustainable and affordable. What’s the use being so exclusive while there will always be another better restaurant soon in coming and in greater competition? Just take a look at the restaurants in Gurney Drive. They are only earning tourist dollars but when the tourist dried up, only one table or sometimes, no table is served. It is the same anywhere in Penang whereby this generally happened as the country embraced the hit of COVID-19 pandemic.

Of late, there has been some rather interesting foodie places in Balik Pulau which had caught my attention and mushroomed. One of them is Ah Huat Pek which serves fried hor fun and other noodle fares. Their fried rice is also very good in a way. The fried hor fun is something special and I must say that I loved it! Introduced to my family by Lay Hwa, our family friend, this was a refreshing culinary fare in Balik Pulau. Not only that, the drink Ho Kar Sai, a special mix of coffee, Milo and cocoa, is truly an amazing tasting drink. On top of that, special stalls selling prawn crackers, fried oyster ( this one is good and crispy ) and Thai tang hoon salad were also quite good. Hopefully, they stay affordable in time to come.

Being in Penang, I have no qualms helping out the local food businesses but I find it ridiculous when café charges RM 13 for a cup of Americano. ( RM 7.00 – RM 10.00 is the norm . Even Starbucks charges about RM 10.20 and RM 1.00 off when using their apps! Sure, you can argue about inferior coffee beans, over roasted or whatever but bottom line, it is still coffee, people! ) That’s why these so-called artistic café or instangramable café  ought to have a good look at themselves to stay relevant. Their customers had always been the Westerners and some curious local tourist like me. I was a fool once (many years ago ) for paying  RM 35 for a slice of cempedak cake but I won’t ever do it again nor ever walk into that particular café ever again! Heck, nowadays, I can get a RM 16 cempedak  10”roll from an Ipoh bakery to satisfy that craving. So, you earn my money ONCE and that’s it. How about trying to sustain your cafe business for years to come? That’s why I am particularly irked by cafes ( well-known ones! ) whose proprietors tries to “scam” their customers by making their café “ looked rustic/ old feel/cosy ” but charges their patrons for the “artistic value” of the café through their drinks and food. To me, that’s a moral and integrity scam. It is fair that you want to make money with your café concept but don’t overcharge your patrons and robbed their hard-earned money. Maybe, the money is not so much of a question for the Westerners but at the end of the day, supporting you are still the locals ; one day when the Westerners are not around. I do find some rather good cafes around in the Penang that still maintains the good pricing range and good quality food. Hopefully, people will continue to patron these café and help out their businesses rather than supporting these so -called “ theme based / ambience/rustic/ old feel “ café. My advice: Don’t charge people for the physical or old/antique things you put into your café; charge them rightly for the quality of food and drinks you serve. Believe me, people knows when you serve them inferior coffee and exhorbitant prices for your food stuff especially cakes, breads and pastries. BTW, to be fair , there are still some very good and affordable cafes in Penang that still serves good coffee and great food fare.

Talking about breads & pastries, I do find Continental Bakery at Nagore Street to be one of the best bakeries I was ever been introduced to. The breads sold there are solid, good weight and tasted so good.  I don’t remember ever being disappointed with the breads I bought from this bakery thus far. The chicken pie is an absolute delight while the other sweet pies and puffs are equally good. I could remember that their mushroom soup was a real delight to me some time ago but it has since been taken off, I believe. Yes, I especially liked the red beans loaf, raisins loaf, coffee loaf and even the chocolate loaf. The peach loaf together with multi grain breads can be quite a fare too. The breads have a good crust and soft inside. Maybe I am biased based on the fact that I particularly like this bakery while I have not tried any other bakery since I was introduced to it. So, do pardon my enthusiasm for this bakery for its breads and pastries. To me, give credit where it is due and this is what this bakery truly deserves, actually. Like I said, this is solely my opinion.   

I am eternally grateful to people like Lay Hwa, Felicia and my sister, Lee Lee for constantly introducing good food to feed my inexhaustive palate. Like I said, simple food meant a lot to me rather than some fancy stuff elsewhere. Sometimes, it is food like simple fried chicken or ayam penyet like the one produced by Kak Eli, near the bridge, seemed to be the best food in the world because of its simplicity and taste. That’s what makes food sensible and relevant in Penang.

Hopefully, I won’t get some ax or machette flying towards me as I write this. I am just being practical and truthful as it is. I do find that paying RM 9.00 or RM 12.00 for a plate of CKT is as ridiculous as paying RM 13 for an Americano coffee or RM 6.50 for a fried kay kiah. I might as well eat the RM 4.50 or RM 5.00 CKT for all I care. Still kueh teow, eggs , bean sprouts and two prawns! Cheers!  

So, the next time you are in Penang, open your eyes and ears widely, there would be winds of whispers for great places to eat and fellowship in Penang. Just stay away from crowded places, use a good amount of sanitizer and wear a mask as Covid 19 is part of the winds and whisker away if we are not careful.

I am sure we’ll survive the pandemic and lined our stomach with great food of Penang! BTW, Lay Hwa’s concoction of energy boosting herbal drinks and heat repelling herbal drinks are a real delight and an essential accompanying healthy drinks for any trip! That’s the benefit of having great family friends in Penang! Yesssssssiiiiirrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……