A maternal aunt & 2 cousins were in town yesterday, on a short visit from San Francisco. It was a good opportunity for me to introduce them to one of my fave “kopitiams” in George Town: KTG Cafe (formerly known as Low Eng Hoo, until a change of ownership sometime last year) for its good selection of Penang hawker food.
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Lor bak
The version here is well-known for its prawn fritters rather than its 5-spice meat rolls. Very nice, but something not quite right with its “lor” dipping sauce today, which did not show the usual egg-white ribbons on the thick, gooey 5-spice dip. Chef’s off-day?
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Oh chien
Typical Hokkien (Fujianese) oyster omelette. The version here is tasty, but used large oysters instead of the tiny, sweet Penang oysters which I much prefer.
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Orh kueh
Steamed taro pudding topped with a mixture of crushed groundnuts, golden-fried shallots and dried shrimps, then served with hoi sin sauce and chili sauce. Pretty respectable version here.
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Jiu hu Eng Chye
Very tasty rendition here - a thick, unctuous and very aromatic beansauce-prawn paste slathered atop poached water spinach and cuttlefish, then covered with toasted, crushed groundnuts. The different textures and flavours combined beautifully.
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Ice kacang
The version here at KTG Cafe is probably the best in Penang, with its fragrant rose syrup dressing putting it a class above all its rivals.
The char koay teow here, courtesy of the Goggle Man is one of the best on the island. We did order it but I didn’t remember photograph it before my cousins cleaned everything up.
It was an amazing tea-time spread - something Penangites take for granted, but a revelation for my visitors from the SF Bay Area as you can’t really find hawker food of this standard and quality over there.
Address
KTG Cafe
82-84, Lorong Selamat
10400 George Town, Penang
Tel: +6016-499 4646
Opening hours: 11am-6pm, daily except Thursdays.
