Penang restaurants
 

We are going to Penang in February. Can anyone recommend any " not to miss " restaurants in Georgetown or Penang ? Also, how good is the food at the E & O Hotel ?

Make sure you contact the E and O before travelling to the hotel. Their main restaurant is often closed for private functions.

I would not recommend Sarkies Corner at the E and O - it is a casual restaurant and nothing special.

We have reservations for 4 nights at the E & O. Need suggestions for good seafood restaurants or anywhere special to eat in Penang.

Eden Seafood at Batu Ferringhi Beach has good seafood a lively atmosphere, don't know if they still have the live entertainment but it was always enjoyable.

For a good "cheapy" I'd recommend the stalls along Gurney Drive on the outskirts of Georgetown.

We hear a lot about the food stalls. Are they generally safe to eat at ?

I've never had any problem on Gurney Drive.

if you are going to gurney drive, don't forget to try the famous penage hokkien mee, and laksa..yummy.

hokkien mee, and laksa ???

both of these are noodle in soup dishes, and famous to penang. if you go to gurney drive, you will see signs advertising these dishes at the various hawker stands.

ttt

Thanks for this post galiano. It is of interest to me also.
CM

Dear galiano
As you will be going to Penang before us and will probably be back before we go We would appreciate some feedback as to how you got on,places not to miss (and definately to miss!) and look forward to your trip report.And if you pass the Copthorne Orchid resort on your travels perhaps youd give it once over for us!
Hope you have a great time
Regards
CM

galiano,

In Malaysia, Penang is famous for its hawker food; this is the local street food which can be found in stalls in Gurney Drive or other coffee shops around the island. Dishes famous in Penang are:

1. Prawn mee (aka Hokkien mee)
2. Char Koay Teow
3. Assam laksa
4. Fried oyster omelette
5. Nasi kandar
6. Cendol (a sweet dessert)
7. Lobak

If you want to try the local flavours, the above are recommended. Ask around where the good stalls are. Regarding hygiene, I think many stalls are safe to eat at.

As for dining at proper restaurants, check these sites (most listings are for KL):

http://www.foodvenue.com/
http://www.friedchillies.com/reviews.php

I was in Penang less than a year ago. Went to Ocean-Green Restaurant & Seafood. Not far from E&O, just take a taxi (8-10MYR). It is the best! So fresh! I only like fresh seafood and I would highly recommend this restaurant. The oysters we ordered were fresh from that morning. They were so good I wanted more but they had no more left! I kept their business card. Opens from 9am till 11pm. Don't go too late though or the seafood will be sold out! I also had lunch at E&O. The food is not bad but pricy. Just go to any Kopitiam (outdoor food courts) and try dfferent things. Don't be afraid to try. They are very cheap so you can try till you find something you like! I had the best Seafood Kweitaw at one of the Kopitiams along Adams Road. Most stalls stay open past midnight. Penang Laksa (rice noodles in curry soup) is also good with a little minty flavor. Different from Singaporean Laksa. Try them near Chinatown.

Countrymouse : We are back by early March so I'll post an update. Penang sounds like a great spot. Where else in Malaysia are you visiting ?

Thanks to all of you for the restaurant tips so far - keep them coming :-)

Dear
jchong : read your message on the other posting first so I see youve given galiano the info I needed too. thanks
travelmug : I will certainly try your suggestions.
galiano : thanks again for starting this thread. I look forward to your trip report.
CM

We were in Penang 2 years ago and tried a lot of the restaurants in Batu Ferrenghi. If you happen to be down that way there is a little restaurant called The Happy Garden which is just awesome. Lovely sizzling seafood platters and in a beautiful setting with flowers hanging over you. One to miss that way is the Big wave which was pretty foul. Can't recommend the Happy Garden enough -outstanding.

Thanks Ceris. Thats just the sort of info we need.
You can waste a lot of time and money going to awful restaurants. Anything else you can recommend will be greatly appreciated.
CM

I'll be catching up with a friend from Penang later this week. Will ask him for more info. Give me a few days.

Eden Seafood (also in batu ferrenghi) is great if you like fish. There are large tanks as you walk in with all kinds of fish. You basically pick your own dinner! We tried a lot of the restaurants on the road (we used to walk the length of the night markets at night). Most of them were very nice but another one that comes to mind not to go to is called The Ship. It is basically a giant ship full of waiters and waitresses in sailor outfits. Its very strange and surreal - the food is not great and it seemed to be more expensive than a lot of the other ones we had tried -we came out feeling like we'd had a bad deal and a strange evening! That and the Big Wave were our only real disappointments though. Have heard that in Georgetown the Hot Wok Heritage Cafe is supposed to be very nice with lots of native dishes. We had a fantastic time in Penang -sure you will too. If I can help you with anything else just let me know and I will try!

We were in Penang from Dec 20-24 and stayed at the E&O. I thought the food there was quite awful, actually, and the service even worse.

Our best meals were at the hawker stands on Gurney Drive. Cheap, plentiful, flavorful and fresh! I had the best chili crab I've ever tasted!

We also had a very nice traditional lunch at Hitan Manis. And we enjoyed a good Steamboat dinner at Golden Gate.

The Eden is as I remember it. I have no idea of the name but almost directly opposite was a great Indian restaurant, you can't miss it as it is right on the other side of the road, very good if you like Indian food.

Gayle : I'm sorry to hear that you found the food at the E & O to be awful. That surprises me a little. We're booked there for 4 days next month. Were all meals bad ? Yikes! !

I seem to remember when I was at the E&O two years ago the breakfast grill was cooked to order - very tasty - and very rare these days.

Galiano, we only ate in Sarkie's Corner. The breakfast buffet is large and varied. I just found the food to be institutional and bland. They do have a short order cook who will make eggs any style or omelets for you. We had lunch there one day and it was cold and tasteless. The staff are nice but they forget things (like toast asked for three times, three days in a row), mix up orders and seemed rather abscent-minded.

The service in Farquhar's Bar was almost non-existent. We ususally had to go look for someone to serve us. Then inevitably by the time they took our order and got back to the bar they had forgotten what we ordered and returned to query. Empty glasses sat forever with no offer of additional drinks. Again, we had to gesticulate wildly to get anyone to come our way.

I think if you stick to breakfasts you'll be fine, but don't expect a whole lot.

dear jchong
thanks, I'll keep checking in.
Everyone else thanks for the restaurant tips, and most importantly what to avoid!
CM

Here are a few more places I got from my friend:

1. Eat laksa at Cafe88. It's near Sunshine Square in Bayan Baru.

2. Mee goreng at Mee Sultan, near Jalan Burma behind the Sheraton Hotel.

3. Char Koay Teow at a stall operated by 2 sisters on McAlister Road.

Anyway, I found a few more links for you:

http://www.penangresort.com/food/hawker.htm

http://pulaupinang.com/hawker/food.shtml (see the pull down menu for more details)

A few more links:

http://www.tourismpenang.gov.my/page.cfm?name=lc08

http://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/138ff4/2/

Hope these give you enough leads to chew on!

A review for this Swiss restaurant in Penang just appeared in a local paper today.

Online version:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/stor...p;sec=features

Dear jchong youre the best!
Lots of lovely info for me to 'digest'.Keep em comin!
will certainly give you my reviews when I get back.
counting the days now
Regards
CM