Penang Food – Traditional Penang Porridge

We came across this old eatery on Magazine Road, Penang which has been dishing up bowls of porridge for 60 over years. The eatery operated by the elderly Mr Tan with the help of his son has an amazing seating arrangement, with tiny wooden stools (bangku) balancing on a long bench.

Amazingly, this place is one of the handful of stalls that does not have a signboard!

 

The stools can be stacked upon another one to get the perfect height as the sitting position of each individual person is different…and here’s where the amazing art of balancing comes in…!

As lunch hour draws near, the eatery enjoys a stream of customers, filling up the seats quickly. They perched high on the tiny stools savoring their piping bowl of porridge.

 

The owner keep his regulars satisfied with porridge paired with home-cooked style dishes. The porridge is stored in earthen pots which helps to keep it warm. Very traditional and homely feeling, I would say.

Earthen jars to keep the porridge warm

 

The table is laden with plates of meat and vegetables dishes prepared at the rear of the eatery. The dishes are stacked up due to the limited space and customers just point their choices out to the owner.

Taukua with lots of leeks

Ham Choy with stingray – slightly salty yet appetizing

Deep-fried fish

Stingray in tau cheong (brown beans) sauce

Minced pork in appetizing sauce

Braised meat with hard-boiled egg in soy sauce

Stir-fried lala with garlic and chili sauce

Side dishes of fermented nam yue, foo yue & salted egg

 

This is the first time I experienced sitting on stools perched on the bench. It needs some courage and bit of balancing but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Be sure to drop by this eatery as this is the only one left in Penang island. It is located right beside Bank Rakyat.

Business Hour : 11.30am till 4pm

Closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

GPS Coordinates : N 5 24.817   E 100 19.794