Aug

Bak Kut Teh @ Song River, Gurney Drive

Posted by: CK Lam in Bah Kut Teh, Gurney Drive, Noodles, Penang, Seafood

Gurney Drive is the food heaven for food lovers. It houses many seafood restaurants, cafes, fine dining restaurants and hawker stalls with some opening for business in the day and also in the night. One of the famous shops along the strip which was established decades ago is Song River Cafe, home to some of the tasty cuisines Penang has to offer!

With a group of visiting friends from Singapore, we dropped in Song River for the famous and unique Bah Kut Teh. Regular customers will know that this restaurant is managed by the same owner of Home Style Restaurant in Tanjung Bungah.

Chinese Tea for starters, anybody?

What is so special about the Bak Kut Teh? The specialty is the “white” Bak Kuk Teh – due to the color of the soup. Most of the Bah Kut Teh sold in Penang has the dark color soup but this restaurant serves the clear soup that has a lighter herbal flavor. Besides this unique and delicious white Bah Kut Teh, there are also many other dishes and noodles.

The “WHITE” Bah Kut Teh in its entire splendor served in a claypot

Fried prawn noodles are among its signature dishes as well!

We also indulged in the Steamed Fish topped with Hor Fun (Ang Sai), and it was just simply delicious! The superior soy sauce used in the dish was very fragrant, and the smoothness of the hor fun was just a joy for the mouth.

Topped with spring onions and fried garlic, Awesome!

One of us going for the beautifully steamed fish!

One more dish that we enjoyed together was the oyster mee also known as ‘oh mee’ to the locals. To those who aren’t familiar with it, this dish is simply fried yellow noodles similar to Hokkien Char, but the main ingredient, is… you guessed it! Oysters! Adding the oysters to the noodles gives it another boost of flavor. Every spoon of the noodle that has absorbed the gravy taste even better! Everyone of us enjoyed the meal which cost around RM160.

Many people flock to this restaurant which is usually open from early morning till lunch hour. From the evening onwards, the shop is turn into a hawker center with many stalls offering Penang hawker food. You will find goodies of tasty BBQ chicken wings, grill fish and Otak-otak. Click here for the Map Location.

P.S. Do take note that there is also equally excellent *seafood porridge and noodle* available at Public Cafe which is right beside Song River.

Song River Cafe
65 Persiaran Gurney
Penang

Business Hour : Breakfast till Lunch

Tags: Array, Bah Kut Teh, Bak Kut Teh, Bbq Chicken Wings, Bkt, Botanical Garden, Breakfast, Chicken Wings, Chinese Tea, Chives, Claypot, Coffee Shop, Dim Sum, Dishes, Fine Dining Restaurants, Fish One, Food Heaven, Food Lover, Food Lovers, Fried Prawn Noodles, Fried Seafood, Grill Chicken, Grill Fish, Gurney Drive, Hawker Center, Hawker Stalls, Home Style, Houses, Kuk, Kut, Lunch, Lunch Hour, Main Ingredient, Morning Exercise, Nice Restaurants, Noodles, Noon Song, Otak Otak, Oyster, Oysters, Penang, Penang Hawker Food, Pubic Cafe, Restaurants Cafes, Roasted Chicken, Seafood Restaurants, Side Dishes, Signature Dishes, Smoothness, Song River, Spring Onions, Style Restaurant, Wings Grill

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Bah Kut Teh, Gurney Drive, Noodles, Penang, Seafood. 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.

31 comments so far

Big Boys Oven

OMG! those dishes look so unique, special i would say! Oyster noodle yum yum!, steam fish with fresh rice noodle, incredible!

August 18th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

SimpleGirl

is this the one Choi Lan came for the BKT as well?

August 18th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Sweet Jasmine

My sis told me so much about this humble looking restaurant and its famous Bak Kut teh. Would go for breakfast there one day.

August 18th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

allie

I’ve tried their oyster noodle, pretty good. The steamed fish with hor fun looks so good leh! Must go try d!

August 18th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

Life for Beginners

Yay! Something to look out for the next time I’m in Penang!

August 18th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

New Kid On The Blog

is it the cheapest BKT in town??

August 18th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

cariso

This is the only place I go for my white bak kut teh.

August 18th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

CK Lam

Big Boys Oven – Don’t forget about the white BKT too…just as yummy.

SimpleGirl- Not too sure about that.

Sweet Jasmine – Good idea… very convenient after your morning walk

allie – You can choose the type of fish that you like to go with the hor fun.

Life for Beginners – Good place for some simple and tasty food…you must try the white BKT.

New Kid On The Blog – No, in terms of price it is slightly higher.

cariso – Me too!

August 19th, 2009 at 12:07 am

thamchiak

I feel that the BKT in Northam Beach food court is more nice, and not so expensive at least.

August 19th, 2009 at 8:40 am

saw this shop before and read about the steam fish with noodles, but i failed to convince my friends to try it when i was in PG last year. hmmm, must must try it on my next trip!

August 19th, 2009 at 8:50 am

Nic (KHKL)

very interesting dishes! i’m intrigued by the fish+hor fun combo. a fantastic idea, actually. and a good alternative to the usual white rice. i like! haha.

August 19th, 2009 at 9:00 am

iamthewitch

Oh I know this place! I used to go to Song River during dinner for the ‘chu char’. It’s not bad too, and cheap! Never tried the BKT though.

August 19th, 2009 at 9:26 am

Pureglutton

Very unique dishes – horfun on steamed fish & the oyster noodles! Hope to try this when I’m in Pg this weekend

August 19th, 2009 at 9:54 am

CK Lam

thamchiak – Thanks for recommending the BKT in Northam Beach food court…another new place for me to visit

sc – This is a good place for a meal besides eating all the yummy hawker food around town.

Nic (KHKL) – The hor fun is indeed a good change and is very smooth.

iamthewitch – I will try out the chu char the next round.

Pureglutton – Great to hear about your visit…looking forward to the plenty of makan-makan together

August 19th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Nate

Oh mee, oh my!

August 19th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

buzzingbee

white BKT? is the taste the same or different from other BKT?
the steam fish with hor fun is something unique!

August 19th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Elin

‘Oh Mee ‘…this is the first time I heard of it. You make me wanna come to Penang..haha I am now harassing the other half to take me there! Didn’t know they have this Oh Mee served. Haha thanks for sharing, now I know where to get good food in Gurney Drive!

August 19th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

J2Kfm

yeah, still rmbr it was somewhat a culture shock for us, staring in disbelief at that diluted claypot of transluscent BKT.

miss the chicken wings and roti babi more than anything else, really.

August 19th, 2009 at 10:53 pm

wmchg

Yup, tried before. Taste nice.
There is a Bak Kut Teh located at the corner of a row of terrace house just opposite Tesco Extra. The Bak Kut Teh noodle taste quite good. Should have a try there.

August 20th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

foodbin

why do they layered the fish with hor fun?
the BBQ chicken wing’s stall also have BBQ chicken bishop nose isn’i it?

August 20th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

StevenGoh.com

I used to try out the white BKT there every sunday morning, not until recently I found that my cholesterol is high a bit reluctant to eat there already.

August 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Life for Beginners

Oh yes, the white BKT is now on top of my list! And I really like how your readers are now inspired to come forth with their own recommendations. Food places don’t ever seem to run out in Penang!

August 20th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

Adelyn

I prefer the BKT opposite Padang…..nice!

August 20th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Rasa Malaysia

Hey CK, I love BKT but I think Penang is seriously lacking in good BKT. I tried this BKT before but it’s really not that great compared to the ones served in KL/Klang. I mean, for Penang standard it’s OK, know what I mean. Anyway, I think their oysters noodles are kind of nice.

August 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am

CK Lam

Nate – A good way in describing the mee…haha

buzzingbee – The white BKT is slightly lighter in taste, with less herbal flavor.

Elin – Glad you found another makan place in Penang.

J2Kfm – It is not everyday that you get to see a pot of white BKT.

wmchg – Thanks for recommending.

August 24th, 2009 at 11:39 pm

CK Lam

foodbin – Not very sure about the layering of hor fun, but it was served that way. I have yet to know about the bishop nose from this stall.

StevenGoh.com – Haha…must control the intake lor. Makan sikit-sikit.

Life for Beginners – It is indeed very nice of the readers to share their favorite places.

Adelyn – Will check out that place…thanks!

Rasa Malaysia – Yup, totally agree with you. The BKT in Penang and Klang is different from each other. Do try out the steam fish with hor fun on your next trip home.

August 24th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

Thanks….it help me a lot to find taste food in Penang

September 29th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

Nicole

The shop open from what time to what time?

CK Lam Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

The above food is available for breakfast and lunch. At night, other hawker food stalls will be operating instead.

October 5th, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Angie

CAREFUL!! The food is very very dirty. Maybe because the business is too good. We went there few months ago to have our breakfast. My brother discovered the plate was dirty with “cleaning gel” (unbelievable), and requested to change a new one. All the staff ignored him. He was very disappionted. Finally, some one showed up and my brother questioned him why it is so dirty. The staff walked away rudely. Few seconds later, a man with long hair & tattoo on his arms spoke loudly and rudely to my brother. He said, “Dirty, so what? so what?”. My brother said: “You should clean up properly” That man said: “Dirty so what? Dirty so what?” He kept saying: “Dirty, so what?”.. Finally, we left the place. We were happily going there in order to enjoy our breakfast but ends up with this kind of treat. I didn’t know, as a customer, I didn’t have the RIGHT to question?!?! So pathetic.

November 19th, 2009 at 10:01 am

raymond

this coming 6 of sept Song River Bah Ku Teh hv Organize “Charity” for “Old Folk House” pls come n support. ty..i hope u all will go to support..

August 26th, 2010 at 5:28 pm

OJF

I mean the zhu char taste good, but the bak kuk teh….is the worst! I recomend bukit mertajam bak kuk teh at 134, JALAN TEMBIKAI
TAMAN MUTIARA. dont miss the dry one too.

December 27th, 2011 at 12:05 am

2 Trackbacks/Pings

Penang Local Food List Penang Deli Jan 08 2010 / 6pm:

[...] http://reginatravel-foodparadise.blogspot.com/2009/03/song-river-bah-kut-teh-gurney-drive.html http://www.what2seeonline.com/2009/08/bak-kut-teh-song-river-gurney-drive/ [...]
Seafood Noodle & Porridge at Public Cafe, Gurney Drive Penang | What2See : Best of Penang Food! Dec 15 2010 / 12pm:

[...] neighborhood coffee shop in the pleasant surroundings of Gurney Drive. Located next to the famed Song River Cafe, this coffee shop is a favorite spot for me as it has a stall that serves up both delicious yet [...]

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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