Lunched today at the two-month-old, Bom Baa Kopitiam on Weld Quay, which offered the standard spread of Penang hawker fare:
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Char koay teow - Teochew-style fried rice noodles/hor fun with shrimps, Chinese sausages, eggs, beansprouts and chives. Stallholder/cook, Ah Yam, is still one of the best proponents around in producing a sizzling hot plate of char koay teow.
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Penang Hokkien mee - Penang-style Hokkien mee is akin to Signapore’s prawn mee, i.e. a mix of yellow Hokkien noodles and thin, white bee hoon rice noodles, in a flavoursome pork-prawn broth, with beansprouts, prawns, slivers of pork, hard-boiled egg, shallots and a dollop of spicy chili paste. The version here is pretty good.
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Lor mee - this is a Hokkien/Fujian dish which also involved a mix of Hokkien noodles and beehoon, covered with a brown, unctuous gravy streaked through with egg-white ribbons and scented with 5-spice and other condiments. Besides chili paste, a spoonful of minced raw garlic and vinegar are also added, to undercut the thick, heaviness of the gravy.
Garnishings included hard-boiled egg which had been braised in a soy-based stock, pig skin which was long-cooked till jelly-like, and slivers of pork. Unlike Singaporean lor mee, the Penang version don’t include fish-flakes/fish-meat or crunchy fried bits of batter.
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Wantan noodles - this Cantonese staple is served the typical “Malaysian” way, i.e. dressed in a blend of dark & light soysauces, lard, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sometimes “char siew” roast meat drippings. The noodles will be served with slices of “charsiew” (caramelised Chinese BBQ pork) and wantan dumplings in a little bowl of soup on the side.
Business seems pretty quiet here, as most visitors to Weld Quay have not yet “discovered” this new place. It’s worth a visit for the char koay teow and Hokkien mee.
Opening hours: 9am to 11pm daily, except Wed.