BY CK Lam

Penang is bursting with restaurants and hawker food stalls but some of the most outstanding are those in inner George Town, particularly along Kimberley Street. It is where the crowds go for a variety of flavours and indulgences.

The area is overwhelming with hawker delights. With most stalls and eateries beginning operation at night, just a walk up and down this historical street will bring you face to face with some of the best hawker food! Enjoy such fare as koay chiap, economy fried beehoon, char kway teow, sweet boiled Chinese desserts, lok-lok and kway teow th’ng.

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Tags: Ah Seng, Almond Milk, Bean Curd, Best Hawker Food, Chinese Dessert, Chinese Desserts, Ck Lam, Dried Longan, Duck Meat, Economy Char Beehoon, Fried Crullers, Fried Noodles, Gingko Nuts, Kimberley Street Duck Koay Chiap, Kway Teow Th'ng, Leng Chee Kang, Light Snack, Lok Lok, Lotus Seeds, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Noodle Dish, Oil Paper, Penang Street Food, Red Bean Soup, Rice Noodle, Rice Noodles, Rice Vermicelli, Salted Fish, Soya Sauce, Street Food, Sungai Ujong, Sweet Bean, Sweet Dessert, Traditional Home of Desserts

By CK Lam

We were up early the next morning and hit the road to Semenggoh Wildlife Center, situated within the boundaries of the Semenggoh Nature Reserve. The caring center set up, in hope of caring for the wild animals is especially famous for its orang utan rehabilitation programme.

The visit to this center is indeed an experience. We get to see the orang utan, also known as the ‘Man of the Forest’ in the feeding platform. The feeding time is between 9am and 10am & between 3pm and 3.30pm daily.

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Tags: Airasia, Annah Rais Cafe, Annah Rais Longhouse, Bidayuh Longhouse, Borneo Highlands Resort, Cafe Menu, Caring Center, Dayang Salhah, Delicious Dishes, Delightful Lunch, Feeding Time, Highlands Resort, Hornbill Golf, Hornbill Golf Course, Human Skulls, Ingred, Jungle Trekking, Kalimantan View Point, Kek Lapis, Layer Cake, Longhouses, Lunch Hour, Magnificent View, Media FAM Trip, Midin Leaves, Orang Utan, Organic Farming, Organic Produce, Point Bird, Sarawak Tourism Board, Semenggoh Nature Reserve, Semenggoh Wildlife Center, Spa Treatment, Street Food, Wild Animals, Wildlife Center

BY CK Lam

Premiering on May 7, 2012, 10.30pm every Monday on TLC (Astro Channel 707), The Food Surprise sees food guru KF Seetoh armed with a camera crew goes into an eatery without permission, chows down and pays for the food.

His journey in this 13-part series with Makansutra, takes him to hawker stalls, restaurants and street food carts in several locations in Malaysia – from Penang, through Ipoh, her capital Kuala Lumpur, a tiny seaside town Sekinchan, Johor Baru and Singapore.

The Food Surprise shows the moments when he gets thrown out, wakes up a restaurant manager from her late noon siesta, and gets in line, like everyone else, for a 20 minute wait for his food.

I had the opportunity to be his dining guide during the filming in Penang. It was a great time, seeing the happenings behind-the-scene.

The Food Surprise will also makes its debut on TLC (Starhub Channel 427) every Monday in Singapore at 10.30pm.

* Many thanks to Makansutra for laying on this invitation.

Tags: Astro, Astro Channel 707, Camera Crew, Capital Kuala Lumpur, Chows, Ck Lam, Debut, Dining Guide, Food Carts, Food Guru, Great Time, Hawker Stalls, Invitation, Johor Baru, Journey, KF Seetoh, Lam, Makansutra, Many Thanks, Nbsp, Opportunity, Penang, Penang Food, Penang Hawker Food Stalls, Penang Restaurant, Penang Street Food Carts, Restaurants, Seaside Town, Siesta, Singapore, Singapore Food, Starhub, Starhub Channel 427, States Of Malaysia, Street Food, Surprise, The Food Surprise, Tlc, Tlc Channel

* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life & Times) on 24th May 2011.

If you’re at Chowrasta Market in George Town, Penang, stop by Tamil Street, located on one side of the market building. This street is worth exploring for its variety of street food. Look out for a stall selling Ais Tingkap (translated as window sherbet). This classic chilled drink is named such because it used to be sold through an open window.

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Tags: Ais Tingkap, Anggur, Bakso, Bakso Nasi, Basil Seed, Charcoal Fire, Chopped Peanuts, Chowrasta Market, Coconut Flesh, Cucur Udang, Curry Itik, Fragrant Herbs, Fried Tofu, Ground Peanut, Gum Resin, Hand Held Fan, Hawker Food, Itik, Lime Juice, Lontong, Mutton Satay, Nasi Pandang, New Straits Times (Life & Times), New Straits Times (Life & Times), Olibanum Gum Resin, Palm Sugar, Pecel, Penang Hawker Food, Pesto Bandeng, Rawon, Samosa, Satay, Selasih, Spicy Sauce, Street Food, Tamil Street, Tingkap, Tiny Shrimp, Vadai, Window Sherbet, Wooden Mortar

Celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, entrepreneur, and television personality, Todd English was in Penang recently for the filming of his TV show. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Todd English is best known for his restaurant, Olives, located in both Boston, Massachusetts, and Las Vegas, Nevada and his TV cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, on PBS.

When Nadge contacted me about meeting up with Chef Todd, I quickly took up the invitation and tagged alongside the acclaimed chef and the crew during the recording of the show. The outing was truly inspiring, and has opened up a world of ideas for me, seeing the chef ‘in action’.

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Tags: Boston Massachusetts, Celebrity Chef, Chef Todd English, Cooking Show, Curious Onlookers, Drive Food, Egg Omelette, English Celebrity, Food Trail, Food Trip with Todd English, Fried Egg, Gurney Drive Penang, Gurney Drive Rojak, Leow, Memorable Night, Outdoor Food, Oyster Omelette, Peanut Flavor, Penang Hawker Food, Penang Street Food, Rsquo, Show Food, Stall Owner, Street Food, Television Personality

New Lane is truly a street food center in Penang and the place is jam packed with many hawker food stalls and food hunters. Tables are set up in the open, even occupying part of a parking lot of an office complex. The lane is accessible from Macalister Road and Dato Kramat Road. You have to bring a big appetite as there are many delicious goodies at this place.

There are a few stalls that I usually patronized. I love the Grill Chicken located in the Sin Yin Nam coffee shop. The chicken wings and drumsticks are simply delicious. The aroma is so seductive that could drive you insane.

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Tags: Apom, Apom Manis, Array, Char Siew, Chee Cheong Fun, Chicken Wings, Chili Paste, Chilli Sauce, Chu Chap Cheok, Coffee Shop, Curry Chee Cheong Fun, Dato Kramat Road, Delicious Goodies, Duck Porridge, Duck Sauce, Food Center, Food Stall, Green Chili Sauce, Grill Chicken, Hawker Center, Hawker Food, Local Delight, Long Strings, Macalister Road, Meat Chicken, New Lane, New Lane Penang, Peanut Sauce, Penang Food, Penang Hawker Food, Pig Blood, Porridge, Roast Duck Meat, Roast Meat, Satay, Shrimp Paste, Sin Yin Nam, Smoky Aroma, Street Food, Sunway Hotel, Sweet Corns, Sweet Sauce, Tasty Dessert, Thick Broth

Cintra Street which starts after the junction of Kimberley Street leading all the way towards Chulia Street has numerous hawker food stalls and old sytle Chinese restaurants. Most of the food along 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 Kai Chok (fish/chicken porridge).

Steaming hot thick porridge

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Tags: Array, Bowl Of Porridge, Business Hour, Chicken Porridge, Chili Sauce, Chinese Restaurants, Chok, Chook, Cintra Street, Cintra Street Porridge, Coffee Shop, Crullers, Delicious Bowl, Fish, Fish Porridge, Food Corner, Food Outlets, Food Stalls, Fried Crullers, Fried Oil, Ginger, Hawker Food, Jiam, Kai, Kimberley, Kopitiam, Kwai, Lady Owner, Lettuce, Locals, Oyster Porridge, Penang Food, Penang Porridge, Rm4, Roadside Stall, Spring Onions, Steam, Street Food, Tasty Chicken, Tasty Dish, Thick Porridge, White Pepper, Yau Char Kwai

New World Park located in the heart of Georgetown has been billed as a everything-under-one-roof project. It currently houses a number of restaurants, a couple of franchise eateries, a performance pavilion, boutiques and last but not least, the Hawker Center! Food crawling is a good idea as there are plenty of dining options and you can move from one outlet to the other sampling the food Penang has to offer. With the Chinese New Year around the corner, this entertainment outlet, decorated in red has a number of exciting events all lined-up.

The events to usher in the Year of the Ox :

1) Lion Dance – 17th, 31st January & 3rd February (2pm, 8.30pm & 2pm)
2) China Acrobatic Troupe Show – 23rd, 24th, 29th January & 6th February (9pm)
3) Traditional Chinese Orchestra Performances – 21st & 23rd January (8.30pm)

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Tags: Acrobatic Troupe, Arcades, Array, Buffet Style, Burma Road, Burmah Road, Chinese Dishes, Chinese New Year, Chinese Orchestra, Claypot, Cup Of Coffee, Cusine, Cyber Cafe, Cyber Shopping, Dim Sum, Diners, Dry Meat, Entertainment Outlet, Favourite Place, First Food, Food Court, Food Drop, Food Outlet, Franchise Eateries, Free Flow, Fried Pork, Good Cup Of Coffee, Gordon Bleu, Hangout Place, Hawker Center, Hawker Food, Hawkers, Hygenic, Ice Cream, Ice Kacang, Kueh, Kut, Lion Dance, Memory Lane, Nasi Lemak, Nasi Ulam, New World Park, Nwp, Oomph, Orchestra Performances, Oriental Cuisines, Outing Place, Pearl Of The Orient, Penang, Penang Food, Performance Pavilion, Pork Liver, Restaurants, Reunion Dinner, Road Houses, Rou Gu Cha, Sandwiches, Set Lunch, Shopping, Snacks, Spacious Area, Spices And Herbs, Street Food, Swatow, Teriyaki Chicken, Tokong, Tourist Attraction, Wembley Park, White Coffee, Year Of The Ox, Yyy

There are numerous restaurants and pubs in Gurney Drive, Penang and recently a new cafe has opened its door. The Coffee Island cafe which is lighted up with colourful bulbs does bring colours to the popular seaside promenade in Penang. It has a large open air sitting area and also an air condition room.

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Tags: Air Condition, Ambience, Array, Beverages, Bulbs, Coffee, Coffee Island, Comers, Discover, Food Menu, Grill Fish, Gurney Drive, Gurney Drive Penang, Hazelnut, Honey Mustard, Hubby, Ice Blended, Kopitiam, Mocha, Parking Attendant, Parking Space, Piece Of Paper, Potato Chips, Rm5, Rm6, Seaside Drive, Seaside Promenade, Spring Roll, Street Food, Teatime, Variety, Vietnam Coffee, Western Dishes, Wi Fi