Transfer Road in Penang is named to commemorate the transfer of administration of the Straits Settlement from the East India Company office in Calcutta to the British Empire Colonial office in London in 1867.
Today, Transfer Road is best-known for the famous Roti Canai Jalan Transfer - where AK Hamid’s mamak (Indian-Muslim) road-side eatery has long metal tables lined up parallel to the wall of a long-disused warehouse, with chairs all facing the road. Customers sit with their backs to the wall, eating their roti canai (which is Malaysian-speak for paratha bread - the Malaysian version is lighter and crispier than Indian ones) whilst watching Transfer Road’s constant traffic passing by in front of them.
Transfer Road’s roti canai is shredded into bite-sized pieces and drenched in a mix of beef curry (“kuah daging”) containing melting-soft beef chunks and yellow dhal curry - the stuff of dreams.
The roti bakar (charcoal-grilled toasts) here, like those in many other mamak places in Penang, are charcoal-grilled and topped with perfectly-timed soft-boiled eggs.
