By the sea…

My Penang friend, Eng, took my daughter and me together with two of his kids to this hawker food centre called Northam Court…

It’s a very nice place located by the sea, but unfortunately it was raining that night so we could not sit outside and enjoy the beautiful sea view. As a matter of fact, it rained quite a lot during those 8-9 days when I was on the island.

The kids went western; Eng’s had pork and lamb that looked kind of fusion to me…

…while my daughter stuck loyally to her chicken chop with garlic gravy…

According to her, this one was nicer than what she had at the New World Park.

I ordered the lam mee to see what it actually was…

…and personally, I feel that anybody on a brief visit to Penang should just give it a miss and opt for something else. Other than that, we had the or chian (oyster omelette) that I had featured in a previous post and also the lor bak which wasn’t too bad except that the photo came out blur so I’ve decided to leave it out.

The Penang char kway teow was good…

…though I prefer the one at Kafe Kheng Pin and the ikan bakar (grilled fish)…

…was nicer at Red Garden, especially the sambal dip that came with the fish.

All things considered, it was quite a nice place to drop by for a bite…and definitely anytime better than Gurney Drive.

Hey, good lookin’…

I’ve mentioned these two coffee shops already in an earlier post – Kafe Kheng Pin and Kafe 78 at the t-junction along Penang Road, just about 100 metres up the road from Cititel Penang where I was staying. Based on these two alone, I can vouch for the truth in what my Penang friends keep telling me – that the food is best in those coffee shops that do not look too good.

Take, for example, these wantan noodles that I had at the not-very-attractive Kafe Kheng Pin…

It was definitely a lot nicer that what I had at the other coffee shop the first day I arrived. The braised Shitake mushroom was really out of this world but unfortunately, they only gave that little slice of it. Incidentally, I find that Penang wantan noodles are different from KL’s. I’ve eaten the noodles in the federal capital a few times but I did not like them there. Can anybody confirm this? Is there a difference?

I also had the wantan soup…

…but I did not like it that much as there was a lot of sesame oil added and generally I don’t really fancy the smell of the oil, especially when added to clear soup. My daughter had the wantan noodles, the soup version at Kafe 78, and she could not finish it…

…and that, of course, spoke volumes about how “good” it was. I had the Hokkien prawn noodles at Kafe 78…

…and also at Kafe Kheng Pin…

I think you can tell the difference by just looking at the photos. I also tried the curry mee at Kafe 78…

…and this was what it looked like after adding in the chilli paste…

I was quite put off by this very strong smell of either torch ginger (bunga kantan) or serai (lemon grass) and was unable to finish it. During my stay in Penang, somehow I was not adventurous enough to try the Penang assam laksa. I think I will just stay in my comfort zone and stick loyally to our very own Sarawak laksa.

I did try the lor mee at Kafe Kheng Pin…

…but it was not as nice as the Hailam version that Eugene took me to try. These were something like what we have at many stalls here in Sibu which I do not fancy because they are kind of sweet and gooey.

But according to what I heard, there are two main attractions at Kafe Kheng Pin. One would be the chicken rice stall which opens only for lunch. I went and had one look and I walked away. The other one is beyond all doubt, the lor bak stall…

It is so popular that if you go there around lunchtime, you will have difficulty trying to get a place to sit. Besides, you may not be able to choose what you want as everything would have been sold out and the man would be frantically frying away…and you will just have to eat whatever he has fried. Beggars can’t be choosers. We went there for breakfast, so it was not so crowded and I ordered a plate for my daughter and me to try…

It was all right, I guess…and a bit nicer than what we had at the Red Garden hawker centre…

…where the things are a bit over-fried and hard. The best is still Peterson’s at Satok in Kuching though strictly speaking, it isn’t really lor bak – just fried hay pnia (prawn fritters), fried tau kua (tofu cakes), fried sweet potatoes and stuff. I love the chilli sauce with the generous sprinkling of ground peanuts.

Personally, I would say that the best things to eat at Kafe Kheng Pin would be the Penang char kway teow. As a matter of fact, I think this one was the best I had in Penang – also fried over a charcoal fire and using duck’s eggs – RM4.00 a plate.

The kway teow th’ng from another stall there is also worth having and they also have a porridge stall that isn’t too bad. The porridge stall also sells nasi lemak at RM1.20 a packet…

…which isn’t too bad and definitely cheaper than what we can get at the kampung stalls here in Sibu…

It certainly seems to be very popular and I saw a lot of people eating it.

All in all, anything in this murky-looking coffee shop is nicer than what they have at Kafe 78 across the road. However, do take note that there is a sign here that says…

“A 40 Cents Fees Will Be Levy On Any Patron Who Occupied The Table Without Ordering Any Drinks” [sic]. It seems that this rule applies regardless whether you are eating the things from the stalls in the coffee shop or not, and good grief! I would expect a much better command of English from folks in Penang…but it certainly looks like it’s more or less the same anywhere in the country. Sigh!