Trip to KL, Penang, Singapore, and BKK

Hi all, we’ve got a trip from Los Angeles to SE Asia this September in which we’re spending:
1 day in Kuala Lumpur
3 days in George Town
4 days in Singapore (one of which will be taken up by a wedding)
1 day in Bangkok

I’ve read through a ton of the topics on the site and I must say my head is spinning a bit (in a good way, I guess :slight_smile: ) Are there any places we absolutely must visit that I should build our itineraries around in those cities? My wife doesn’t eat pork though I do (I just mayyyy be able to convince her to try Char Koay Teow but we’ll see); both are fine with spice and have done well in previous trips to SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia). Extra points for stuff that doesn’t exist in LA.

Thanks!

2 Likes

Try the quintessential Malaysian nasi lemak. For one of the most popular renditions in KL, and 100% authentic, make a beeline for Nasi Lemak Tanglin.
Address: Stall No. 6
Kompleks Makan Tanglin
Jalan Cendrasari
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 7am-12noon daily.

But if you find the KL heat/humidity too enervating and would like to stay in the cool confines of a mall, you can find respectable renditions of the nasi lemak at:

  1. Madam Kwan
    Level 4, Unit 420-421Suria KLCC
    50088 Kuala Lumpur
    Opening hours: 11am-10.30pm daily.

  2. Little Penang Cafe
    Level 4, Units 409-411, Suria KLCC
    50088 Kuala Lumpur
    Opening hours: 11.30am-10pm daily
    Little Penang Cafe also does a good porkless version of the char koay teow.

3 Likes

Lots of eating places to explore in George Town:

  1. For a start, explore Pulau Tikus Market in the morning, where you can get a feel of Penang hawker fare for breakfast. Two traditional coffeeshops, 77 Food Yard and Seng Kong flank Solok Moulmein, a narrow street off Burmah Road.
    77 Food Yard is known for its Penang curry mee, ark tui mee sua (duck-leg soup with rice noodles) and char koay kak (fried rice cakes).
    Seng Kong across the street is famous for its Penang-style Hokkien mee (noodles in pork-prawn broth), mee goreng (Indian-style spicy fried noodles) and Indian sweet apom (eggy little sweet crepes).

  2. For lunch, you may wish to try Tek Sen, a local family-owned Chinese eatery that offers local Penang dishes like fish asam pedas (sour-spicy fish soup), caramelised pork floss, etc.
    [Penang, Malaysia] Local Penang-Chinese favourites at Tek Sen, Carnarvon Lane

  3. In the evening, pop by Lebuh Kimberley (Kimberley Street) or Lebuh Chulia (Chulia Street) where night hawker stalls offers a plethora of Penang hawker eats. The good stalls are the ones with the longest queues.

Penang has too many eateries for me to mention in a page - do let me know what kind of food you’re looking for so I can narrow down any good eats to recommend.

2 Likes

This is great, thanks!

Just reading through your posts and doing other research I’ve been intrigued by:
-Char koay kak
-asam laksa
-Char koay teow
-Hokkien Mee
-Koay Teo Thng
-Nasi Kandar
-Mee goreng
-Nasi Padang
-Apong
-mamak laksa
-oh chien
-Any desserts (wife is a fan of super sweet though I don’t necessarily agree)

I fear I haven’t really narrowed down anything at all–guess I’m just getting too excited!

Originally suggested you read through Peter’s post history, as it’s a goldmine of Georgetown recommendations. I didn’t read your post enough!

Be warned if going after some of the more popular eats though. Penang can be quite an Instagram/foodie hot spot, so if you want the best you sometimes have to plan around when they open unless you want a long wait.

I’m out of date but Siam road ranks up there as one of the better char kway teow. I really liked the asam laksa at air itam, only convenient if you’ve headed up that way.

I’ve posted my recommendations in parentheses next to your list of hawker items above.

Thanks! We are staying at Campbell House on the corner of Lebuh Campbell and Lebuh Cintra.

Campbell House is quite conveniently located in the old Chinatown area. You can get good char koay teow at breakfast or lunch from Kheng Pin coffeeshop, corner of Penang Road and Sri Bahari Road. At dinner-time, the char koay teow stall in front of Sin Guat Keong coffeeshop on Kimberley Street is pretty well-known.

For mamak laksa, there is a popular stall at One Corner Cafe, Jalan Bawasah. Opens for breakfast & lunch. Loads of other Penang hawker food choices there, too.

For koay teow thng, try the one at Malay Street, near corner with Carnarvon Street. It’s open for breakfast and lunch, and is about 10-15 minutes’ walk from your hotel:

I liked the eel koay teow thng basically next door to that place, at Kafe Pitt Street, there are so many options for eating in Georgetown!

Online reviews suggests it splits opinion. The flavours were quite clean and light, it was refreshingly different to everything else we’d been eating.

1 Like

Oh yes, the famous Pitt Street koay teow thng which uses eel-meat fishballs. Before its current location on 183 Carnarvon Street (two doors away from Ping Hooi coffeeshop at 179 Carnarvon St), it was formerly located at Heng Seng kopitiam on 149 Pitt Street (now called Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling).

The Lim family has been running it since the 1950s, and current owner is Lim Teh Lye. They used wild eels from the sea-waters around Penang to make their fishballs.

1 Like