Poly Cafe, Pulau Tikus

Poly Cafe situated beside Burmah House opens from morning till around tea. They are closed on Wednesdays and are normally packed with people most of the time! The Hokkien mee is pretty delicious and you can taste that the soup is wholesome and not 'fake'. The soup is not as thick compared to Super Hokkien mee but you'll never have to wait that long! It has meat, prawns and vegetables and the egg used in this hokkien mee is absolutely delicious..unlike Super hokkien mee
There was a write up on the Roti Babi in The Star recently and I feel they are over rated. Since the write up was so good, we just had to give it a try and we were disappointed. The 'liao' aka fillings was not as much as written in the papers. No doubt it's fragrant and all but it's simply not spectacular! To make things worse, they serve the roti babi with chilli sauce instead of cut chili with Worcestershire sauce, and that is the correct way of eating Roti Babi. Anyway..I know of another place that serves good roti babi in town but I don't know if they still serve it coz I hear the preparer died - God bless his soul. I shall find out and blog about it next time.

Sar poh fan

Now.. looking for Claypot rice in Penang is easy but I feel the rice that is cooked together with the soya sauce is hard to come by. It's common to get rice that has been cooked and just before serving, they pour in the soya sauce etc in, making the rice not evenly covered in sauce!However, I know of this place near Jelutong market at Kim Hee Cafe, beside Mat Toh Yau Dessert.
Better go early if even though your not hungry coz I have waited for nearly 1 hour for it! However I recently went during the Chinese Vegetarian Festival period, food was served in less than 10 minutes! We were literally in shocked!
I tell you, this claypot rice has salted fish, chinese sausage and the chicken is so ever tender and best of all..it's breast meat with no skin...

Big claypot

Small claypot
Another thing, normally this stall closes very early coz they'll run out of claypot rice before 7.30pm and I think they are not open on Sundays.

Corner of Sri Bahari Road

I think the most famous Loh Bak in Penang got to be at the coffee shop at the corner of Sri Bahari Road. Recently we paid a visit to the coffeeshop which is always packed with people. We wanted to customised our Loh Bak but to our dismay, we weren't allowed to do so....it's coz they had too many orders at their hand and tempers were flying high! So without much choice, had to settle for a plate of 'cham'- mixed.

A plate of 'cham' consist of 2 loh bak, 1 squid, 1 popiah, 1 taukua and 1 prawn fritters. In my opinion, it's slightly cut throat to charge RM 7 per plate! I also feel that the quality has dropped coz the squid used to have eggs in them and now they are E-M-P-T-Y anyways, i give them props for the way things are deep fried..
Since Fly FM has been on the search for the best satay in Malaysia...it left us craving for them 'chicken kebabs'! so we decided to try the satay. It's 50 cents per stick and I must say...it's rather tasty.

The satay is not oily and the meat doesn't contain fat - a BIG plus....The negative would be the peanut sauce is slightly on the runny side. I'll definitely go back there for their satay.
Lastly we ordered the 'chok' - congee which is yummy. Unlike the 'cham' loh bak, the 'cham' congee contains several things and it's only RM 3.50! 'Cham' contains chicken, fish, century egg and 'yew char kueh'

Chulia Street - Curry mee

This curry mee aka laksa (mind you, not Penang's assam laksa)stall sold along Chulia Street, in front of Dunlopillo is always surrounded by people and we decided to give it a try. Now I know why so many people wait at the stall! One bowl is only RM 2.30 and the amount of cuttlefish, tau pok, cockles aka ham they put in is more than you bargain for. Although this stall doesn't have prawns but they do give a huge fishball (I'm a H-U-G-E fan of fishballs!). The soup is slightly on the oily side but once you scope it away, the soup is fine. The waiting period is quite long and the lady may forget your order - if you sit along the alley. No worries coz she will stroll down the alley if anybody did place an order and she'll efficiently get the task done!

While waiting for our curry mee, we decided to try the taukua goreng, fried spring rolls and teochew chai kuih which was a disappointment coz it's no where near the teowchew chai kuih sold in One Corner Cafe. Each chai kuih is only 60 cents. The taukua goreng is not bad and the plus side of this order is the chili sauce which i particularly like coz of the amount of lime they put in.

The curry mee stall opens after dark which probably around 8-ish but the other stalls open much earlier.
Other food available around this area is Char Kuey Teow - the uncle selling it just loves the sound of banging wok coz every time we walk past his stall, he just knocks his wok with his spatula but doesn't really touch the kuey teow! The char kuey teow is also not bad. We have also tried the Char Hor Fun and Ee Foo Mee and we feel it's slightly expensive and your stomach is not satisfied after one plate and you long for more food! So, I wouldn't recommend it unless you crave for it!

Super Hokkien Mee

You may think what so "super" about this Hokkien Mee aka Har -Mee! Actually this special stall got it's name from the location they used to operate! Which was behind Super Burmah along Penang Road..Anyways, they have relocated to One Corner Cafe. As the name suggest, it is at the corner, behind Penang Plaza. The building used to be a fish shop! The broth for Penang Hokkien Mee is made by boiling pork ribs and prawns.


If you decide to go there for breakfast, I suggest you go even though you are not hungry coz I've waited more than an hour for a bowl of noodles! Beware, the owner of the stall doesn't like their customer customizing the ingredients!If you are there and you are extremely hungry, try ordering the pinkish kuih that has either 'bangkuang', ku chai or yam. Each cost 80 cents and I assure you, they are extremely tasty! One bite of it, trust me, you would want more! They are either sold as it is or pan seared. My picture may not look appetising but don't judge a book by it's cover!
The Hokkien Mee soup is darn tasty with portion is big, unlike other places in Penang! A 'normal' bowl of noodles is RM 3.00 and the prices increase by a ringgit for the increase in size..if you know what I mean.

FYI the stall only operates in the morning and usually finishes very early! Early bird gets the worm.....

Cheap Nasi Melayu in Pulau Tikus

You can find this "pakcik" parked at the junction of Burma Road's inner road or in front of Burmah House. At approximately 12.30 pm on weekdays, his van will be surrounded with people of all races and age! I tell you the food is yummy and the price is reasonable - at times I wonder how he survives..the prices are real low!

Above, bendi, beef rendang, kerabu and rice - only RM 1.80...It's cheaper than a bowl of noodle and even has red meat!!
On Fridays, there usually he cooks Nasi Tomato but you gotta be early to be able to eat it! I shall miss "pakcik's" food..coz I no longer work in Pulau Tikus...If "pakcik" parks near the junction, beside him will a "ah pek" selling deep fried cempedak, sweet potato with "tnee hueh" and yam...at only RM 0.50 per piece. This "ah pek" is very funny and very "chin chai" aka generous and flexible.. His goods are crispy and irresistible!

Mee Sotong aka 'Indian Fried Mee"

The famous Mee Sotong or otherwise known as 'Kelenah Mee' (in hokkien) aka Indian Fried Mee in Old Esplanade is none other than Hameed Pat Mee Sotong! The price ranges from RM 3.50 to RM 5.00. Bear in mind that there is a long wait before your food is served.

I normally order the 'beehoon goreng' aka fried vermicelli. I love the spiciness and the generous amount of sotong' or squid they give!
To wash the food down, the refreshing COCONUT SHAKE at only RM 2.00 is recommended!

It's basically coconut juice with vanilla ice cream