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My journey now takes me to Pulau Tikus, where the best Lok Lok in Penang, if not Malaysia, is located.

I was never a big fan of Lok Lok, in my mind it is notorious diarrhea causer. I have been visiting a Lok Lok place at the Uptown Area, at Kedai Kopi DU, where the stall is owned by a very gumpy uncle who will scold you if you eat very little and take up his table. He’ll ask you to move to another table and he’ll bring you the food. What the crap is the joy in that? Having Lok Lok without actually doing the Lok Lok yourself? I’ve since stop visiting uncle, I wish him the best of luck for his business.

So naturally, I was skeptical about visiting this place.

There are quite a few tables dedicated for Lok Lok, if you are new to the “sitting style” Lok Lok (as opposed to Fei Lou Lok Lok’s standing style), it is not uncommon for people to share tables here, as tables are limited during peak times. The owner will usually show you to your table.

There is a very good variety of food here. Cockles, fishballs, beefballs, crabstick, won ton, squid, quail’s egg, vegetables, prawns and my personal favourite, Taiwan Sausage.

I was told the key to a delicious Lok Lok is the freshness of the food, and also the sauces, in particular, the peanut sauce, similar to Satay Sauce. The boiling water here is also kept always boiling at a high temperature, so the food cooks quite swiftly.

The sauce is amazing, and it combines very well with the food. It is an instant thumbs up for me!

This place have since become a must visit whenever I’m in Penang, not only is the food good, the price is also very reasonable. I do not know exactly how much each stick costs, but I never pay more than RM12 for 2 persons. Very cheap compared to Fei Lou Lok Lok.

Special Mention:

While here, remember to check out this awesome drink called “Geng Geng”.

Aside from getting to say the catchy words “Geng Geng”, this is also a very good drink which is a combination of Loh Hon Kor and some jelly strip-like stuff in the drink, it is very satisfying.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):
Taste: Excellent
Ambience: Very Good (the open concept of the place makes it not warm even when facing a hot pot of boiling water)
Price: Cheap
Rating: 8.5/10

This place is a must try for fans of Lok Lok, remember to pay a visit the next time you’re in Penang.

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I found one that I thought had potential to beat Paramount. It is located along Jalan Pahang, directly opposite this big weird shopping complex that houses a weird cinema and a weird supermarket. It is on the side of the road that is heading towards Bulatan Pahang. There were quite a few prawn mee stalls there, so I had to choose carefully.

You will first have to order at the stall located outside the shop, and then go into the shop and take a seat. If I am not mistaken the shop is air-conditioned.

The food doesn’t take long to arrive. I ordered a large prawn mee with pork ribs, because I am greedy. The food actually looked quite presentable, and it even came on a porcelain bowl, so as to not cause me cancer. I thought that was very kind of them.

The food tasted reasonably good. It was slightly different from most other prawn mees that I have eaten. The soup had more of a seafood taste, and thus making it taste more authentic. The noodles tasted like any other noodles. But the soup was quite unique.

My lunch partner ordered a small bowl, and I was quite surprised by how small it was. I think I would need 3 of those to fill up.

All in all, it was a pretty decent bowl of prawn mee, and is quite nice especially if you feel like having something different. Please bear in mind that I am not a big seafood person, so maybe those who can’t live without seafood will like it more than I did. But I think a 7/10 will be fair. The whole meal came up to around RM12 for the 2 bowls above with 2 drinks.

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Even then, it was a surprise to my colleagues that I’d never heard of the famous Ong Kee Big Bun. “It’s THIS BIG!” he said, stretching his hands out to give me an idea of its size, which made me imagine it to be the size of a football.. “Inside you got chicken, pork, eggs, and some veggies.. come we go try it today”. So off we went.

Along the way he told me the story of how the pau maker came up with this oversized treat. Apparently some dude approached this simple pau maker and commended him on the quality of his paus, then asked him to create a big pau, as big as Amy Yip’s breasts! Amy Yip is some actress who was um… ‘blessed’ with a pair of enormous tits. Here’s a pic of her because I KNOW you all want it… courtesy of Wikipedia.

Ok back to the paus.

Above is the lineup of paus available at this stall, which sits just beside the main road. The prices are hard to read because Mr. Ong Kee has updated them with a pen over the years. I think it’s quite obvious that he’s very proud of his Big Bun creation.

These are the bamboo baskets where the big buns are made. I never knew paus were pink in colour before being cooked.

 Here is Ong Kee’s standard issue pau and loh mai kai display cabinet.

Back at the office, we unwrapped the big bun, to the wonderment and awe of bystanders in the pantry. The guy who held the pau in this picture was practically drooling all over it.

 The inside of the pau appeared to be exactly as my colleague described. Chicken, pork, eggs, and sengkuang (jicama).

 Personally, I didn’t think much of it, as it didn’t taste very good. The chicken was also still attached to the bones, which made it annoying to eat. Between 3 people, we couldn’t finish the bloody thing. I would therefore classify it as a novelty pau. It’s interesting to look at, and represents good value at RM4.50, but it tastewise it falters badly. But if you’re low on funds and really really hungry, go for it.

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This is M Tucky Fried Chicken, I think they blocked out the ‘c’ due to copyright reasons, but I’m not sure. I know its a cliche to have a name like Mc’something’ or ’something’tucky but I know this other place in Bali that serves the best burgers I’ve ever tasted, they are called McWilliams, with an upside down McDonalds sign, but don’t let the name fool you, the burgers are awesome!

Anyway, back to the review, M Tucky serves chicken, a whole lot of chicken: meat, sausage, nuggets, balls (not testicles),  skin and even bishop’s nose (for those of you who don’t know what a bishop’s nose is, it is actually a more polite way of saying chicken ass/bottom/butt/backside/rear/buns). 

The food is served in a somewhat Lok Lok-ish style, you choose what you want and the dude will re-fry the chicken for you so that it will be crunchy and warm when served. I decided to go for the chicken skin as I was already eating a crappy bowl of Prawn Noodles and a plate of Char Kuey Teow.

Now I know Chicken Skin is not actually Malaysian Food, but where else can you find a place that serves this? If anyone knows do drop us a note.

I paid 3 bucks for this interesting item, which I thought was quite pricey. The thing about chicken skin for me, once I start, I can’t stop, almost similar to the way I eat peanuts, kuaci, Miao Miao Cheese Rings and Loacker Wafers. The skin once crunchy and tasty and as I was biting away I can’t help but imagine how good this will go with a mug of beer (pub owners take note).

It is a simple dish but boy was it a satisfying one. I felt like having more after I’ve finished, but decided agaisnt it knowing how detrimental it could be for my health.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):
Taste: Excellent
Ambience: Very Good (Gurney drive is quite nice)
Price: Reasonable
Rating: 8/10

Ok, that’s all the time I have for now, till the next time, don’t burn those tongues with hot soup!

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All of us being non Penang natives, we spent quite a fair bit of our time searching and driving around for the famous food spots.  That was until we came upon a treasure map.  A good piece of map detailing famous and usually good food in and around Penang town.  Being great Malaysian citizens, we decided to share it with you so that you can cover more food than we did in our trip.  We do not know of it’s origins as the book was too worn and torn.  It is MFR’s first official Penang Food Guide Map for Dummies.

This Treasure Map was given to us by a proud Apam seller, shown to us because it featured his Apam.  I quote, “My Apam is eaten by royalty, but i cannot tell you which ones or i would have to kill you”.

Enjoy the map.

It is a traditional Hakka Dish.  Served normally in two seperate bowls, one with the rice + ingredients and the other with the sauce/soup.

The rice here comes with a whole lot of ingredients.  From what i could remember, it included, peanuts, onions, cabbage, four-angled beans, long beans, two other greens and fried dried prawns (the only non-vegeterian ingredient). The sauce/soup is more often the make or break part of the dish.  The soup is made of boiled tea, vegetables i don’t know their names and a bit of mint.   

You eat Lui Char by mixing the it all into something close to a mush.  It’s a dish you either like or hate and nothing in between.  This particular stall is managed by a guy with spiky hair and his father.  I haven’t found a place in around KL serving this dish that is quite as good as this one.

Other than Lui Char they also serve other Hakka delicacies like Yong Tau Foo and Cakes.  The Yong Tau Foo filling is slightly different from the norm.  It has pork mixed with the normal fish paste in its filling, which is claimed to be the most authentic way.  Of course when in Ipoh, you always have to try the white coffee too. 

How’s the Food?  Lui Char (8/10); Yong Tau Foo (6.5/10); White Coffee (6.5/10)

How much is it? Lui Char RM3.00; Yong Tau Foo RM 0.40 per piece; White Coffee RM 1.10

Will I return?  Definitely, well worth it.

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First thing I noticed about the stall… chinese people. Second thing I noticed… they spelt Cendol as Chendul, I’m pretty sure its the same thing though. And I never knew there is such a thing as Teo Chew Cendol; Does anyone out there know a place where I can find Hai-Nan? Hmm… yes… lame pun… move on…. You can either order direct from the stall outside or from the friendly waiters inside the kopitiam. I heard its more expensive to order from inside. Anyone who knows please let me know.

The Cendol came in a little plastic bowl with a metal spoon. At first glance it looked like any other cendol. However it turn out to be pretty good. The flavour was just nice, not too sweet which many Cendol stalls are guilty of. There is also a good amount of Santan which adds to the taste. My only complaint is that there weren’t enough shaved ice. I was tempted to get a 2nd bowl but decided agaisnt it for there were still a bowl of Asam Laksa and Char Kuey Teow waiting for me. That will of course be in my next review.

Give this Cendol a try when you’re at Penang, if you’re a Cendol fan, like Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow, this is not to be missed.

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As good as anything goes, people say imitation is the greatest compliment.  If you have something going great for you like Kin Kin’s Chilli Pan Mee, you know have made your mark when somebody imitates you to take in your spillover customers.  Sometime back, we decided to give the imitation, RESTORAN SUPER KITCHEN a go.  Smoking salmon, homer Bottomless Pit, and me made our way to the outlet.  It is a stark difference from Kin Kin, the interior is well litted, there is air-condition to make you forget about the Malaysian heat, and there are other food available if you are not a pan mee fan.

The pan mee here comes in 2 sizes, regular and big.  They did their very best in imitating Kin Kin, same noodles (but slightly thicker), the minced pork is there, the fried anchovies, the fried onions, even the ever important poached egg is there.  The only difference visually is in the soup, it comes with pork balls, vege and NO poached egg white bits. 

Try as they may, they seem to miss the one magical ingredient.  The noodles doesn’t taste as good.  The chilli is equally fiery but when all mixed up, the kick to burn your stomach is just not there.  It’s like copying your mother’s tried and tested recipe but somehow not producing the same taste.

How was it?                                                                                                               

I would give it a 6/10.  Only because it is brighter, the service is better and the food arrives faster.  Based purely on taste.  Kin Kin would win with two hands down.

How much was it?

A regular seving is only RM4.00, while the large is at RM4.50.  Both cheaper than Kin Kin.

Will you return?

I don’t think i will purposely brave the jam and hassle for this.  If i ever come to this area, i would sit my ass over in Kin Kin.  You should try a comparison, buy having a bowl in Super Kitchen then go over to Kin Kin and let us know your thoughts.

 Till then, may the burning stomach be with you.

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