It never ceases to amaze me of how easily you can find food at any hour of the day here in Penang. Being crowned the “Food Capital of Malaysia” by word of mouth, Penang doesn’t disappoint. With just so much food everywhere, you as a first time tourist will definitely be mind boggled of which to try first. So here’s a summary of what are the “definite must try’s” while in Penang.

Char Koay Teow
Ok, so the doctor did tell you to watch your diet. But who can resist a plate of deliciously fried Char Koay Teow topped with fresh prawns, chinese sausage's, cockles and crunchy bean sprouts. The best Char Koay Teow are the one's patiently fried under a hot stove of charcoal. The heat from the charcoal is hotter and even, giving the noodles an aeromatic even fry. Dont be a hero, as these noodles can be really spicy. Tell them to adjust to your liking. And remember, the best noodle's shouldn't be too dry or wet!
One more thing is, most stalls nowadays just go ahead with giving you the biggest and most expensive plate they can offer. So do ask for the price first.
Noodle's with duck eggs (are richer in taste) and additional mantis prawns cost more.



Apong
Craving for something sweetish yet not wanting to ruin your next meal? Try Ah Guan’s famous bite sized banana Apong’s! These palm sized pancakes are filled with a few slices of banana and some sweet corn, which makes it a perfect light sweetish snack. This stall is famous throughout the island for selling thousands of pancakes in a day. Made fresh, you need to eat it fresh too! Be patient as there is usually a long queue for it. Usually people buy a packet and munch on the go.



Laksa
My friends have gone all the way to Orchard Road Singapore and even to Manchester UK only to find “Penang Assam Laksa” as one of the best selling asian dish there. So why settle for second best when you can enjoy the original? The “laksa” overseas may already be toned down, but the real deal is actually very rich, fragrant and can be exceptionally spicy. The soup is boiled overnight till the fish is half dissolved to bits making it very filling and tasty.  Only mackerel is used in this soup. The tasty soup is generously splashed on to round rice noodles, garnished with chopped up pineapple, cucumber, onions and must be eaten with prawn paste (hae kor). This paste must be mixed together with the entire dish, and if your dish isn’t fragrant enough, most likely you haven’t had enough of it in your soup.

Chendol
This sweet cold desert has been always our favorite stop over especially if you are walking along Penang road on a hot afternoon. Here's a better description of this dessert.
Chendul had always been penangites' choice dessert for a long time. It consist strips of smooth, firm green pandan noodles made from rice flour together with red beans, coconut milk and shaved ice, all topped with gula melaka (black sugar syrup).
The combination of the coconut milk and gula melaka makes it a very rich tasty treat. The secret is not only in soft fragrant pandan noodles, but also the finely shaved ice that simply melts on your tongue. There is only one stall that serves good chendol along Penang road.



Nyonya Kuih
30 cents, 40 cents, 50 cents for a piece of sweet colorful treat! How can you resist?
Kuih can be most similarly described as bite sized pastries from the Malay Archipelago. Kuih’s come in different shapes, colors, texture and designs. Some examples are filled, coated, wrapped, sliced and layered kuih’s.
In almost all kuih’s, the most common flavoring ingredients are grated coconut (plain or flavored), coconut cream (thick or thin), pandan (screwpine) leaves and gula melaka (palm sugar, fresh or aged). While those make the flavor of kuih’s, their base and texture are built on a group of starches – rice flour, glutinous rice flour, glutinous rice and tapioca. Two other common ingredients are tapioca flour and green bean (mung bean) flour (sometimes called "green pea flour" in certain recipes). They play a most important part in giving kuih’s their distinctive soft, almost pudding-like, yet firm texture. Wheat flour is rarely used in Southeast Asian cakes and pastries.

For most kuih’s there is no single "original" or "authentic" recipe. Traditionally, making kuih was the domain of elderly grandmothers, aunts and other women-folk, for whom the only (and best) method for cooking was by "agak agak" (approximation). They would instinctively take handfuls of ingredients and mix them without any measurements or any need of weighing scales. All is judged by its look and feel, the consistency of the batter and how it feels to the touch. Each family holds its own traditional recipe as well as each region and state.

This stall that we recommend is open during the mornings till about 12 in the afternoon. It is one of the so called "mini factories" that makes kuih's for the smaller vendors to sell in their stalls or push carts. As there is so many types of colorful kuih's available, do make the effort to try one of each. In most high class nyonya restaurants, nyonya kuih is usually served, as desert. Also here in this shop you can try all of different types of kuih at a fraction of the price, compared to the ones you see at food courts in Singapore.

Malay Rice
Malay styled dishes served with hot steamy rice! This never fails to stir up the tummy juices, especially with the thought of the spicy fish curry, fresh garden salad with pounded lime sambal, and fried chicken in black sweet sauce.
Dining here give you a whole new experience to authentic Malay cuisine. This shop that we are about to introduce to you, is situated on top of a hill, just opposite the famous floating mosque in Batu Feringghi. You can easily get here, by taking the Rapid Penang bus 101 that plys the Batu Feringghi Stretch very often. This shop is open in the mornings from about 9.30am and is usually sold out by about 2pm. Since this is a halal restaurant open by a muslim family, there is no pork served here.
Here you get a plate of rice and you get to choose and fill your plate up with whatever dishes you want. The seafood is usually fresh but can be expensive.



Samosa
The samosa is the Hindi pronunciation for these deep fried triangular or tetrahedron shaped curry puffs. Their pastry shells are filled with savory fillings like spiced potatoes, onions, peas, coriander, lentils. The non vegetarian ones come assorted with sardine, mutton, chicken fillings. Samosa's are a popular snack in South East Asia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Here in this road side stall in Little India, this vendor freshly makes these delicious samosa's for about 1 ringgit each. It’s a great snack to accompany either a hot glass of teh tarik or an iced fresh brew of local coffee. You have got to try this, when you are roaming around the streets of little India.



Satay " Everybody loves barbequed skewered meat"
A choice of chicken, beef,  mutton and even pork (in non halal stall's) are marinated in tumeric and skewered before BBQ’ed till golden. The satay is usually served with rice cakes (called ketupat,  cucumbers,  onion and a chunky peanut dip sauce.
If you do have the chance,  do try the Batu Maung satay. This satay is different as there is no dip necessary. The meat is already marinated heavily in sauce, and the meat is usually very tender.
This dish is great for starters and is usually shared with everyone in the table.



Lorbak
This Nyonya styled dish, is unique to Penang. Firstly you need to go over to the stall and order what you want. You have a selection of fried tofu, prawn fritters, lobak (meat wrapped in a thin like dough skin), squid, century eggs, and nowadays there are many more add ons like Chinese sausages and other fried stuff. The hawker will then deep fry what you have chosen and you then eat it with two types of dips. One is chili sauce and the other is thick sweet sauce. This dish is good as an appetizer. This dish is normally ordered to be shared among everyone at the table.