Jul

Penang Hawker Food – Cintra Street

Posted by: CK Lam in Bak Chang, Chee Cheong Fun, Chicken Rice, Chinese, Dessert, Dim Sum, Georgetown, Hainanese Cuisine, Hawker, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Street Food, Tidbits and Snacks, Tong-sui

Add Comment

For some of the best of Penang’s hawker food and snacks, pay a visit to Cintra Street – a bustling street located in the heart of George Town, Penang. Entrance to this one way street is via Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong. Its located in the same vicinity as KOMTAR and Prangin Mall. You will be able to find many varieties of foods and snacks, from dawn to dusk.

As you stroll along this narrow street, you will find the famed Yau Char Kuai stall on your left. They used to run the stall on the ground floor of the People’s Park flats just behind this street. However, I reckon they moved out to the main road so that its more accessible to the public. Its available from late morning till night. They even supply it to other hawkers as well, especially to those selling porridge, bak kut teh and tong-sui.

Amazingly, the Yau Char Kuai (sometimes known as You Tiu) maintains its crisp nature even after a few hours. Definitely the makings of a good teatime, served with a cup of kopi-o kau.

The culinary journey continues! Wen Chang Hainan Chicken Rice shop; located just right opposite, sells traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice. Roast chicken, white chicken and loh bak are just part of its items. Other than chili sauce, they do have the grinded ginger which is a nice complement to go with white chicken.

This stall was previously located a stone’s throw away from the Dumpling shop (read below) and has since made it big; relocating to this shop of their own.

P1050520

P1050533

Right beside the chicken rice shop is Ng Kee Cake Shop. This bakery shop sells a wide selection of freshly baked Cantonese biscuits and snacks. They also accept orders of the biscuits for special occasion – birthdays and weddings. I do drop in once in a while to treat myself to a box of pepper biscuit. The biscuit is crunchy with nuts, sesame seed and pepper powder.

A few doors down the bakery shop, you will come across the all time favourite Dim Sum shop, De Tai Tong Cafe. Dim Sum is served during breakfast and dinner, while there is an ala-carte menu for lunch. For noodle lovers, do try out their noodle – Yee Foo Meen, Char Hor Fan and Hong Toh Meen.

Opposite the dim sum cafe is a small stall selling pancake and steam rice cake. It may look modest and simple, but I reckon this stall sells the best Ham Chim Pang & Pak Tong Goe in Penang. Among the few varieties of Ham Chim Pang ranging from sweet tau sar, with five spice powder and with glutinous rice.

Just look at the amount of five spice powder which gives it a slightly salty taste. Been having it for years now, and still enjoying it every time.

If you happen to be in town earlier in the evening, you can buy it directly from their shop which is just located behind De Tai Tong Dim Sum cafe. Of course its always fresher when its just out of the frying pan.

Across the junction of Cintra/Campbell, you will see the popular Dumpling shop – Cintra Food Corner on your left. This place is famous for its bak chang, tau chang, yam cakes and red bean tong-sui boiled with dried Mandarin peel. Environment is much better now since it has shifted into this shop as compared to its earlier trading days by the roadside.

Cintra Street Ba Chang 4

P1050169

Two doors away from the ‘chang’ shop is the Curry Chee Cheong Fun stall. You get to savour this curry version with tender pieces of chicken (only drumstick) and soft potato for RM3.50. The spicy flavors of the curry chicken makes this a delicious meal. You are allowed to bring the CCF and consume it in the ‘chang’ shop

Spoilt for choices? Me too! Which food are you going to have, the next time you visit Cintra Street? No matter which, Happy Eating!

Updated on 14/10/2010 : There are two more food outlets just opposite the CCF – the chu char at Sun Yoon Kee Restaurant and the neighbouring chicken and fish porridge.

Tags: Bak Chang, Bakery Shop, Cake Shop, Cantonese, Chili Sauce, Cintra Food Corner, Cintra Street, Cintra Street Hawker Food, Culinary Journey, Curry Chee Cheong Fun, Dawn To Dusk, De Tai Tong Cafe, Dim Sum, Dr Lim, Dumpling, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Hawkers, Komtar, Kopi, Loh, Ng Kee Cake Shop, Penang Hawker Food, Pepper Powder, Porridge, Roast Chicken, S Park, Sesame Seed, Sun Yoon Kee Restaurant, Teatime, Wen Chang Hainan Chicken Rice

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Bak Chang, Chee Cheong Fun, Chicken Rice, Chinese, Dessert, Dim Sum, Georgetown, Hainanese Cuisine, Hawker, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Street Food, Tidbits and Snacks, Tong-sui. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

43 comments so far

Allie

Haha. What a coincident. I was just about to blog about the chicken rice.
I like the rice and the chili. hehe

Due to I was stuck at Singapore last week, I didn’t hv chance to blog about it although I’ve eated it before I went to SG.

July 28th, 2008 at 10:45 pm

squall

i like to eat Ng Kee coconut tart…very nice…almost will buy evry time i visit penang~~

July 28th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

CK Lam

Allie – looking forward to see your post.

Squall – I haven’t eat the tarts before…thanks for recommending:)

July 28th, 2008 at 11:09 pm

JENCOOKS

First time heard of curry chee cheong fun. I love ccf, it’s looks so nice….

July 29th, 2008 at 12:04 am

Tau Sar Phneah

oh my lord!!!!! ck, you’ve just posted my fav eating street in penang as well (or shoud i said my family fav food street)…hehe..

from the chic rice, you char kuih, ng kee cake shop (famous for mooncake), tai tong – a must for dim sum, ham chim peng…the ones with kosong and the pulut ones are the best for me…

further down, the famous bak chang shop, yam kuih, then we have chee cheong fun…arghhhhhhhhhhhhh…i missssss all those…

by the way, opp the bak chang shop, there’s a stall selling ‘yee sang’ porridge..it’s a must try…they have the best porridge (have to wait at least 30mins on weekends) and there’s a ‘chu char’ opp the bak chang shop too…they served authentic cantonese dishes if you like them..im not a canto but cant resist the yummylicious food…haha..

and, there’s a char hor fun and fish head bee hoon next to bak chang shop which is quite good as well…

alrite..guessed im too excited to see all my fav food is posted..

no doubt cintra street has lots of authentic chinese food!!!

July 29th, 2008 at 2:36 am

Criz Lai

Haha.. nice one here with all the nice shops to eat. You should have started from Prangin Mall onwards where you have Yong Pin Dim Sum on the right.. then all the shops you have mentioned.. followed by the Fat Lady Yee Sang Kai Chook on the right again (towards the end of the road) and the famous Fish Meat Char Hor Fun on the left. They use Grouper Meat for only RM5 per plate. You should try that.

I have the review here which I have yet to post up as I was kind of feeling nausea for the past few days to blog about it. Will do so soon

http://crizfood.blogspot.com/

July 29th, 2008 at 2:45 am

550ml jar of faith

Awesome post! You’ve captured all my favourites plus more! That Curry CCF looks to die for, will have to wait for the next time I’m back on the island for it as I’m leaving today! Please keep blogging, it’s always so much fun to check in!

July 29th, 2008 at 8:47 am

CK Lam

Jencooks – In Penang, curry chee cheong fun is not as popular as the those serve with “har koe” (prawn paste). Luck to have found this stall that sells one real tasty CCF!

Tau Sar Phneah – I am sure you are drooling over the photos of the food…haha. I will visit the other two shops that you suggested

July 29th, 2008 at 9:42 am

CK Lam

Criz Lai – It would be nice to have your reviews on the rest of the shops. Readers will get to know all the nice food on Cintra Street from both our post…haha

550ml jar of faith – that tasty CCF is real hard to come by in Penang…must try it on your next trip back. Have a pleasant journey

July 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

Jane Lee

This blog of yours is simply too wonderful! All these wonderful Penang food brings back fond memories of my growing-up years in Butterworth and varsity days in USM. Do venture over to Butterworth/Bukit Mertajam for more great food over there. Looking forward to your entries.

July 29th, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Tau Sar Phneah

do try them out!!! most of the shops there have operated a certain period..so the taste of the food is simply irresistable…

btw, your new layout is FANTASTIC!!! match exactly the theme of your blog..like the colours of penang..

July 29th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

Little Inbox

Hey, you have a new template ya. Your blog looks more organised now.
Wow, that means can have a food marathon there, am I right? So many variety to choose.

July 29th, 2008 at 9:41 pm

Allie

Hey, a very nice new template!

July 29th, 2008 at 10:29 pm

CK Lam

Jane Lee – It is lovely of you to drop by my blog. I see that you like the or-chien from New World Park too. Do visit Penang more often.

Tau Sar Phneah – thanks for your comment.

Little Inbox – Still testing the new template…hopefully it will be ok. Take your time to try out each one of the food outlet.

Allie – just trying it out, previous one a bit too dull… btw please check your mailbox.

July 29th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

WEyL

Awww lovely post!!
The Ng Kee Cake Shop was my beloved grand-uncle’s favourite

And I loved eating curry chee cheong fun in KL. Never knew they have it in Pg!! hehe =)

July 29th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

gill gill

Wow, what a suprise for the new blog layout! you've manage to make the photo size bigger

That Curry CCF is yummylicious! i've posted this in my blog not long ago. you can view it from the below link.
http://gourmet-garden.blogspot.com/2008/04/chee-cheong-fun-dumpling-store-chulia.html

Meat Dumpling & Yam Cake
http://gourmet-garden.blogspot.com/2008/05/meat-dumpling-yam-cake-cintra-street.html

July 30th, 2008 at 1:28 am

Fortesfidelis

I like the new look on your blog. 1) Meanwhile can anyone tell me why the chicken rice at Wen Chang so popular?
2) I understand that there is a pastry shop that sells great egg tarts along cintra street. I went to Ng Kee and its definitely not them.

July 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am

CK Lam

Weyl – Have been looking high and low for the curry version in Penang, had came across a few but the taste is not what I want. Now finally found this stall with superb curry…you should try it

Gill Gill – The CCF stall is now push down on the roadside and not on the pavement…the lady owner told us that more people will notice it that way…hmm

You did a great post on the food too!

July 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am

Anonymous

The stall selling fish and chicken porridge opposite the Curry Chee Cheong Fun stall is nice as well. It only opens at nite and closed on Sunday.

July 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

Criz Lai

Wah… very nice layout here! Very Tourism Penang color

Errrr… maybe you can think or a way to get the photos right. They looked distorted. Email me if you need advice

Don’t forget to visit my blog… the food contest is on 31st July 2008 onwards.
http://crizfood.blogspot.com/

July 30th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

gill gill

Guys, i think all of you missed out one stall, is Chee Cheong Chok (Pork Intestine Porridge – direct translate from canto) selling in the afternoon just opposite the Bak Zhang Stall there. (same kopitiam as the Fish and Chicken Porridge at night). Highly recommended, taste better & cheaper then the Chee Cheong Chok at sunway.

July 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

CK Lam

Fortesfidelis – Different people have different taste…they have their own customers too. Have you tried it before?

I don’t have any idea of the egg tarts…perhaps other readers can give some info here?

Anonymous – thanks for the info.

Criz Lai – I have readjusted the photos painstakingly. Would appreciate if you could have a second look and give some suggestions and advice. Sure needs a lot of fine tuning with the new template.

Gill Gill – I have tasted those from Sunway and will have a bowl of your recommended porridge at this place soon…

July 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Joyce

wow, yummy yummy!!

July 30th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

CK Lam

Joyce – seeing is one thing, eating is another thing…you must come and try all these yummy food

July 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm

Criz Lai

Hmm… Everything looked fine to me now. Well done

July 31st, 2008 at 2:20 am

CK Lam

Criz – Thanks for pointing it out to me…you are the real ‘sifu’.

July 31st, 2008 at 9:29 am

J2Kfm

your new template looks very nice.
Tai Tong dimsum was one of my fav on the isle, back in my USM days.
reasonable, with ample seating. but their noodles are so-so only.

good post, will do a similar crawl if i’ve the chance

August 1st, 2008 at 9:09 am

CK Lam

J2kfm – I find this template more organise…glad you like it too.
Tai Tong dimsum still remains one of the favourite among Penangites and has since added many more items to their menu.
One such item that I like is the special big ‘lin yung pau’ with higher grade of lin yung

August 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am

Trailing Spouse

I love your new template cklam! Very professional and refreshing!!

I missed this food street when my parents were here last week. Will definitely bring them to these places the next time they come down!

BTW, is the cake shop the one with pink plastic bags?

August 5th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

CK Lam

Trailing Spouse – Nice to hear that your parents visited you and kept you company for that few days.

These street food are pretty good and has been around for quite a long number of years…therefore I think your parents will get to visit these places on their next trip.

The cake shop (with the pink plastic bags)is just beside the chicken rice shop. If you need any directions on other eating places, do give me an email, I be glad to reply

August 5th, 2008 at 4:56 pm

soo sean

Ng Kee Egg Tart is not bad.

August 7th, 2008 at 10:21 am

CK Lam

Soo Sean – I will check out the egg tarts from Ng Kee as one of my blogger friend did mentioned of not able to find it.

Thanks for the info.

August 7th, 2008 at 8:49 pm

boon

the yau char kuai is de best in penang~! plus, i find that their service is very good, the aunties there are very friendly~! eating it together with kopi-o or heng jun (almond soup dessert) is the best combination…

August 27th, 2008 at 12:00 am

CK Lam

boon – looks like you are also another faithful customer of this shop.

I too find that their Yau Char Kuai is one of the better ones around town.

August 27th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Red Burrito

Great Job in introducing cintra street food to the world. i grow up eating along this street, and i still eat there at least twice a month…even i don’t stay in Cintra Street. Wen Chang Chicken Rice ranks as my all time favourite and i don’t even bother to eat chicken rice at other shops. There’s one stall that you have missed out but worth mentioning – yee-sang-kai-chok (fish-chicken porridge) opposite Cintra Food Corner which only opens at night.

September 5th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

CK Lam

Red Burrito – There are so many yummy & delicious food/snack along Cintra Street and somehow I left out this porridge stall

I patronized Wen Chang chicken rice since they were in the old corner shop…business was good then and also just as good in this new place.

Nice of you to drop by my blog and happy eating

September 5th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

PenangBoy

Dear CK

Congrats on a very informative piece. We foodies trawling through the Net for pointers are thankful for your blog. The People’s Court Ground Floor still (since the 60s) dishes out good egg tarts and “keh nui ko” while a no-frills restaurant serves good Cantonese food. BTW, your first photo actually shows Jalan Sungai Ujong. Cintra Street is the continuation of the same beyond the junction down the road.

September 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm

CK Lam

PenangBoy – It’s really nice of you to drop by my blog and am happy that you like it Do drop by often to share your experience in other outlets with me.

Thank you for providing me with the information on the places around Cintra Street too.

September 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Ah Joo

I strongly recommend the “Ham Chim Pian”, it really taste special like Taiwanese say” ko cha Bi”. Because the business start from their grandfather until now over 50 years .Haha ….is that very old taste ?

April 19th, 2009 at 4:03 pm

CK Lam

Ah Joo – The ham chim pian is a favorite item in Cintra Street and the taste is still the same after all the years…good!

April 26th, 2009 at 9:41 am

kelvin

If you are looking for delicious “ham chi Pian”, you should come to Jalan Raja Uda and taste it once. I am sure you wont regret.

June 12th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

bak chang lover

wah, if u come to penang and didnt this bak chang that means u havent come to pg yet,

August 30th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

Jen Y

Hi CK Lam, this is an awesome page with great recommendations along Citra Street. My husband mentioned there’s a store serving hor-fan noodle for almost a few generations, but we r not sure if that is the De Tai Fung cafe?

April 12th, 2013 at 2:38 pm

6 Trackbacks/Pings

Penang Hawker Food - Nearby Traders Hotel, Penang | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Oct 17 2008 / 11pm:

[...] There was a Curry Mee stall and to my delight, I saw them selling Curry Chee Cheong Fun (CCF) as well! From the mint leaves to the cubes of pig blood, cuttlefish, taufoo bok and cockles, it was goodness CCF all the way. This version is totally different from the Chicken CCF in Cintra Street. [...]
Old Favorite Chinese Snacks @ Leong Chee Kee Biscuit off Cintra Street | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Jul 13 2009 / 1am:

[...] Chee Kee biscuits located on the ground floor corner of the People’s Court off Cintra street was known for its traditional Cantonese wedding biscuits. The business set up by Leong Chee Kee has [...]
Penang Chu Char at Cintra Street - Sun Yoon Kee Seafood Restaurant | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Jul 27 2009 / 4pm:

[...] in the bustling Cintra Street with many eateries, Sun Yoon Kee Seafood Restaurant is a nice restaurant to stop by for lunch and [...]
Penang Food - Kimberley Street Chicken & Fish Porridge | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Sep 17 2009 / 4pm:

[...] this street is simply irresistible as they have been operating for a long time. In fact I did a Cintra Street food crawl review one year ago covering most of the food stalls along this street except missing out on this Yee Sang [...]
Beoy Chong Kee Restaurant, off Cintra Street Penang | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Mar 03 2010 / 6pm:

[...] Chong Kee Restaurant is an old eatery tucked behind the bustling Cintra Street. This restaurant is a great place for a hearty home cooked meal! It has been occupying the ground [...]
Dim Sum at De Tai Tong on Cintra Street, Penang | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Oct 24 2011 / 11pm:

[...] De Tai Tong, one of the many food venues in Cintra Street [...]

Gartien

CK Lam’s Profile

Armed with a camera and a huge appetite, this food writer & her family travel around looking for the best food and events & happily sharing all the good eats with you in this Penang Food Blog