Sri Sentosa is a coffee shop full with hawkers selling different type of foods in the morning, and it’s always crowded with people especially on Sunday mornings that finding a place to seat do require some luck.

A bowl of Dry Hokkien Mee came with many ingredients if you asked for extra, such as pork ribs and chicken feet. Oh, this Dry Hokkien Mee is also different from the usual Hokkien Char you will find in Penang, where the sauce is black in color since dark soya sauce was not used. It also makes it taste much like a bowl of normal soup based Hokkien Mee.

The mee is really delicious very tasty. Besides, the pork ribs are very very tender and soft, tasty. I wonder why they only give me 1 piece when I asked for extra extra. 8.1/10

1 shall also take note that there are 2 Sri Sentosa Coffee Shop in Bukit Mertajam, and both stall are located very close to each other, and both also sell Dry Hokkien Mee. However, I was told that this is the famous and real one. So don’t go to the wrong one. The one I went to is quite hidden inside many new shop lots, while the other is facing the main road of Jalan Kulim. Refer the maps below for more idea.

Operating Hours: 7 AM to 12 PM

Location: Jalan Maju, Bukit Mertajam, Penang

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But…..what are we waiting? It’s 12PM, the whole restaurant is full of people, but there ain’t no duck??!! Everyone is waiting….wait what?

Finally……the long waited delivery boy is here!

What delivery boy? It’s superbly roasted duck, perfectly roasted under the hot sun!

After the duck arrived, we still have to wait for sometime since there are many orders ahead of us. The perfectly roasted duck is just awesome! It does look messy, but the skin is very crispy and fragrant, and the duck meat is tender and taste great! Besides, the duck taste even better when ate it with the dark black sauce. Awesome!! 8.5/10

The chili is a let down though, maybe the taste of the black sauce is too strong.

The rice goes well with the sweet sauce too.

Star Hotel, the hotel where the great roasted duck located at, just at Carnarvon street. This is one of the few eatery place in Penang that you don’t have to worry about parking space as there’s a huge parking area just opposite to it. How I wish it’s the same thing all over Penang.

Total Damage: RM16 for 2 person

Operating Hours: 12 AM to 3.00 PM

Location: Carnarvon Street, Penang

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The restaurant name is Tan Kee, and it’s roasted duck had been permanently glue to the town Lunas. When mentioned Lunas to any Chinese, surely they will say, oh the roasted duck there is very very good!

The roasted duck here is really good. The skin is really crispy and the meat is tender and taste great! Although there’s only 2 of us, but I also order for half bird. Their duck sold off very fast as most table will order either 1/2 bird or 1 whole bird. It’s amazing to see how fast the duck was being chop chop off and served. 8.7/10

To make the duck taste even better, you definitely need the chilies! Oh yummmy…..

“Chai Boi” was served here to add some greens on all those meatttts! 6.5/10

Total Damage: RM20 for 2 person

Operating Hours: 11 AM to 2.30 PM

Location: Lunas, Kedah

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It’s Sin Hwa Char Koay Teow, 1 of the top 3 in Char Koay Teow Penang according to some folks. This small old shop is located directly opposite of the Pulau Tikus Police Station.

Unlike the other 2 famous one – Ah Leng and the one in Lorong Selamat, it’s considerably cheap at only RM3.50 per plate. Besides, when I reach there at around 10 AM, the waiting time is zero as I am the only customer there.

The koay teow here is good and with enough wok hei, and very fragrant. Although the amount (and also size) and cockles is quite minimal since we order the normal version, but we still enjoy it. The prawns however taste like normal prawns, unlike the 2 premium one which is super big and sweet. 8.0/10

All in all, the Char Koay Teow here is really good stuff, and come with a cheaper price. You can also opt for the duck egg version by paying an extra of RM0.50 only.

Total Damage: RM3.50 per plate (Normal Version)

Operating Hours: 10 AM to 4 PM

Location: Jalan Burma, Penang

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As the name says so, it’s an cafe with a theme of traditional design, antique style table and chair, with air conditioner on the ceiling, resembles the feeling of modern vs traditional.

All these with the quiet environment certainly makes this place a good cafe to hang around, chit chatting with friends and such, but how will the food fares?

Chrysanthemum tea and Dragon fruit juice.

Since it’s a cafe, choices of food is very limited. First dish, Fried Sugar Pea (tou miao) @ RM10. It does taste not bad, nothing special, but OK. 6.5/10

Braised Black Vinegar Pork Knuckles (Too Kar Chor) @ RM10. Again, another average dish with limited meat, as most of them are actually ginger rather than meat. The soup itself is not sour enough though, as well as the meat is not tender enough. 6.0/10

Braised meat rice @ RM7.50. Personally I hate this dish, it’s not interesting at all. The chicken itself is sorta tasteless…..grrr. Besides, the rice is also too sticky to my liking.  5.5/10

Curry chicken @ RM12. So little portion at such price? If it taste good it’s still ok, too bad it’s not. It seems that they cook the chicken and curry separately as the chicken itself doesn’t have any curry taste inside, and actually taste more like steamed chicken. Sigh. 4.0/10

I think you guys will also notice, the price here is quite steep for the serving. Well, it’s a cafe ma, what can you expect? Cafe food is usually priced higher, but taste average.

However, due to it’s environment, it’s still a good place to hang around, just that I won’t come here for my main meal and that’s all.

Total Damage: RM45 for 2 person

Operating Hours: 11 AM to 10 PM

Contact: 04 – 2622 113

Location: Kimberly Street, Penang

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Since it’s Taiwan cuisine, here are the pearl milk tea. From left to right it’s yam, original and champagne, costing RM4.90 each.

Taiwanese style clam @ RM12.90. Not bad la….. 6.7/10

Oyster and pork intestine mee shua @ RM9.90. I personally much much prefer the one from Shilin snacks, which has a stronger vinegar taste, with bigger and fresher oyster compare to the one here. This one is just very average, and definitely not worth the price you paid for it. 5.2/10

3 cup chicken set @ RM18.90. The 3 cups are rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil that were used to cook it. Although the portion is quite small for me, but the gravy is very thick and taste very nice. 7.5/10

Salted pork and fish with white cabbage @ RM18.90. Another average dish. 5.5/10

Braised beef and duck platter @ RM13.90. It may look nice, but actually quite tasteless, utterly disappointed. 4.5/10

Yam cake @ RM7.90, which is quite good, how I wish the yam proportion is a bit more than flour, but nevertheless it still taste great. 7.8/10

Overall, like most franchise Chinese restaurant in shopping mall, Xian Ding Wei do have some signature dish taste good, while others taste either below par or average. So you just have to choose wisely.

Total Damage: RM118.45 for 4 person

Location: 2nd Floor, Queensbay Mall, Penang.

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Being said so, Air Itam wet market is also 1 of the most famous market in Penang, and also 1 of the most crowded one. The crowd here every morning is incredible, and with it located nearby to the entrance of Kek Lok Si temple doesn’t help too.

Many times I had heard about the Koay Chap at Air Itam market, and some had said the Koay Chap here are consider 1 of the best in Penang. Like most other , the ingredients include duck meat, coagulated pork blood, egg and innards. Although the ingredients are good, but I am not a huge fan of dark black soup Koay Chap, as I prefer this and this more. 7.0/10

The Char Kuih Kah stall here is my mum’s childhood favorite food, and till now it maintain it’s standard, spicy, fragrant, nice! 7.5/10

The roti planta here is very very good too, in fact, it had became one of my favorite roti canai stall already! It’s cooked to perfection, taste sweet and very crispy! 8.5/10

The char kuih kah stall is located outside of Wah Meng Coffee shop, but you can eat it inside the coffee shop.

And the reason I will never drive my car to Air Itam in the morning…….

Total Damage: Koay Chap @ RM3, Char Koay Kah @ RM4, Roti Planta @ RM1.50

Operating Hours: Morning

Location: Air Itam Wet Market, Penang

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Although the restaurant was just newly repainted, but it still gives me an old old feeling when I am here.

Since we are in a chicken rice restaurant, ordering chicken is a must right? So here are the chickens, both the roasted and the steamed one.

However, the chicken is sorta disappointment. When you dine in a restaurant named as XXX chicken rice restaurant, you will definitely expect the chicken will be good, as it is definitely their signature dish. However, this does not apply to Tho Yuen here. No, I am not complaining that their chicken is bad, just that it’s too normal and average, nothing special to shout about. Maybe the chicken RICE is good, but we didn’t try it though. 7.0/10

Forget the chicken, this is what I came here for.

Yes, steam fish head with hor fun. This is extremely good, with the wonderful soy sauce used, and the natural sweetness that came from the fresh fish, oh god, this is good. No, this is AWESOME! I absolutely love it! However, this dish must be eaten when it’s just being served and still hot, or else the hor fun will become too sticky and won’t taste nice anymore. 9.0/10

Next up – braised duck and ginger with sang mee. This one was good too as the gravy is very flavorful and tasty. The duck meat itself is very tender too. 7.5/10

The signboard clearly stated “Tho Yuen Chicken Rice”.

Anyway, the food here is good, which explain the crowd too. I will most probably be back soon for their Dim Sum.

Total Damage: RM40 for 2 person

Operating Hours: 6 AM to 3 PM

Location: Campbell Street, Penang

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Penang’s version of Chee Cheong Fun uses shrimp paste ( or known as hae koh ) which is black, but taste sweet. Mix it with some chili sauce and you to enjoy. The Chee Cheong Fun here at Seow Fong Lye coffee shop is especially good. The noodle roll itself is very very smooth and soft, and taste quite different (but good) from what you get to eat at other stall. 8.5/10

Although the Chee Cheong Fun is the most famous food of this coffee shop, but the smell of the Char Kuih Kah being fried made me wanted to order a plate and try, which taste quite good too! 7.4/10

I also order the otak-otak, which turn out to be average, worse till, it was served cold, UGH! 4.0/10

Total Damage: Chee Cheong Fun @ RM1.70, Otak-Otak and Char Kuih Kah @ RM4

Operating Hours: 7.30 AM to 12 PM

Location: Lorong Macalister, Penang

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The design of the shop is very simple, and just few tables available. The same goes to find a parking space here, damned hard to find!

Honey Longan Wintermelon @ RM3.20.

The main thing to order here is their wine meehoon, and you can choose your serving with different type of ingredients.

Wine MeeHoon with fried fish and prawns @ RM10.80.

The Wine MeeHoon here is surprisingly good, it’s very fragrant and taste very nice. The slight taste of wine, the milky taste made this bowl of mee hoon rather delicious! As I am not a fan of having fried fish in my noodle, I opt of the normal version.

Wine MeeHoon with Garoupa @ RM8.50.

Since a bowl of noodle will never satisfy me, I also order their rendang chicken @ RM3.50. I find that it’s quite expansive considering it just taste very very normal.

Total Damage: RM34.75 for 2 person

Operating Hours: 10 AM to 10 PM

Contact: 04 – 228 6146

Location: 221-E Burma Road, Penang

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