The top 3 Chinese restaurants for Penang people like me to entertain our guests for a special occasion would be:-
A) Maple Gold, Jln Sultan Ahmad Shah
B) Evergarden Restaurant, Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Gurney Drive
C) CRC Chinese Restaurant, Victoria Green.

That's very interesting, klyeoh, the Syrian outlet. I always felt that Northam Beach Cafe's collection of stalls is more "international" than other food courts in that area, especially the ones lining Gurney Drive.

I like Mediterranean and Middle-eastern food, which is harder to find on Penang island where Chinese food dominates. I'll be checking this one out this weekend.

This stall is famous for their 'bak moi' or pork congee. Personally, I have to stay away from all this high cholesterol pig offal. At night, the kopitiam also has a good 'sar hor fun' stall which has very good business. But I find the kopitiam to be very warm, maybe because the way it is designed, the ventilation is not very good despite all the ceiling fans.

Ping Hooi kopitiam is also famous for their duck drumstick mee suah soup. Next time you're here, try that.

The Hokkien mee is also good there, but NOT the lor mee!

Mr Yeow is the grandson of the original cook and founder of the fried koay teow stall, and they have been there for over 50 years now.

I'm guessing he's NOT. Nor was he a George Clooney lookalike - otherwise, we wouldn't be having this thread :D

I never liked Singapore hawker these days and I never will again.
In the 1970s, the hawker food there was still good. Then, the government ban all street hawkers and you have all this central factories mass producing food.

The photos looked like an Andy Warhol collage, but with HK-style wonton noodles instead of Campbell soup cans :D

From the amount you consume, Charles, you are either a 6 feet 5 inch testosterone-driven football player, or a 300 lb eating machine :D

I'm more into Malaysian-style wonton noodles, the dry or "kon low" variety where the noodles are dressed in dark soya sauce, sesame oil, pork lard, onion oil and topped with char-siew and spring onions. Malaysian wontons are mainly minced pork and prawns. The soup version of Malaysian wonton noodles is also available,but not as popular.

Aaron, where are you staying along Hutton Lane? It's a fairly long street but if you are staying quite near the Larut Road end, then New World Park can be your happy hunting ground for breakfast, lunch and early dinner. All kinds of Penang hawker food is there. Besides hawker stalls and cafes, you can also find Indian, Nyonya, and Chinese restaurants.

There's also a supermarket at Penang Plaza nearby.

If you are staying towards Transfer Road and Penang Road end (Penaga Hotel), then klyeoh's suggestions will be useful.

Nice to hear about people who enjoyed the food in my hometown. One thing about Sri Ananda Bahwan, it is essentially a South Indian restaurant, so they basically 'suck' (pardon my expression) at North Indian dishes like tandoori chicken. I think they do a decent chicken curry, but I'll stick to their breakfast items like tosai, idli, upuma, roti canai, and others.

You need to try more places in Georgetown like Kek Seng, New Lane, Lorong Selamat, etc, etc.

Whoopsy-daisy. You're right, it is Sia Boey.

You are right, I went there for lunch and I like the lamb very much.
I wonder when the Hainanese restaurant upstairs will open. That is the one all Penangites are waiting for:- a return of the old Loke Thye Kee Restaurant!

Yep, one of the more popular dim sum places in town, But parking here is a nightmare on Friday and also in the morning because of the market on the street outside.

I know this place, near Prangin Canal. There used to be a market nearby called "Lam Chan Na" by Penangites. Now, the old building is going to be re-developed into an arts and craft centre.

I love fish head curries in Singapore, like the ones on Race Course Road. I don't think we get very good ones here in Malaysia. But I particularly like the fish head curry at Sanur Indonesian restaurant (Centrepoint shopping centre) many years ago. Is it still there?

So you finally got to try this place that I have always been telling you about, hehe.

Another good duck koay teow tng place and maybe the oldest one in Penang is along MacAlister Lane off Burmah Road. I'm not sure if it is still there. In the old days I use to buy jam rolls from Kwan Loke bakery near that area. There was also an old Teochew man who sells very good char koay teow with duck egg there. He seems to be the first man to sell char koay teow in Penang during that time after the Japanese occupation.

Sounds very nice. It's been impossible to get good Mexican food in Penang, or even Malaysia for that matter.

I need to check out this cafe as I usually pass it on the way to Aik Hoe for dim sum breakfast. Aik Hoe has the best 'nam yue pao'. They are small but very tasty. They usually serve the 'nam yue pao' around 9am or later. You should go and try it one day.

Actually, many hawker stalls in Penang started right after World War II when jobs were scarce and people looked for cheap meal alternatives. Before the war, there are not as many street stalls. Most of today's famous hawker stalls on Kimberley Street, Carnarvon Street, Penang Road, MacAlister Road, Burmah Road etc are started almost immediately after the war and are now run by the 3rd generation offspring of the original founders.

We don't have much American influence even at the height of the Vietnam War and the R&R places are in Thailand and the Philippines. But you are right that American products are seen as expensive and calling the breakfast noodle as American bee hoon is a tongue in cheek nod to American consumerism.

Red Garden's prices are too high, as they cater to tourists. Lots of beer consumed there.

klyeoh: you didn't ask for the congee with pig's blood inside? It's tastier and more robust than the bloodless congee.

"look out for a Malay man/lady"
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You mean that effeminate chap called Albert? He's Chinese. He's been selling watches and clocks there for a long time. The chee cheong chok seller calls him "leng chai" all the time.

Very interesting. But the Chinese are only a very small percentage of the population in Kelantan, right? I think 95% of the people there are Malay/Muslims.

For some reason, I cannot find real or genuine-tasting Penang food anywhere elsewhere in Malaysia outside Penang, even if the hawkers are from Penang. I wonder why but I guess sometimes, it's the ingredients used, or that many hawkers who moved to KL and elsewhere to cook are not really successful back in Penang.

Kelantan has better chicken rice than Penang???

Very interesting. I eat out a lot in Japan and also like the Japanese interpretation of French cooking. I think the Japanese have higher reverence for French cooking traditions than modern-day French chefs themselves.
I like uni a lot and that dish you had looks to have very generous serving of it!

Bad, bad time to visit Penang, PhilD. But you're lucky because, compared to 10 years ago, quite a few Penang hawkers are now willing to forgo their Chinese New Year holidays to do business from Day 1 of Chinese New Year onwards. I think New World Park will be open although prices will be higher than normal.

My personal pick for top 8 places to eat will be:-
1) Lorong Selamat char koay teow
2) Koay chiap at Kimberley St, but very likely they may be closed for the CNY period
3) Lorong Seratus Tahun curry mee
4) Padang Brown popiah
5) Edgecumbe pasembor or Indian rojak at Gurney Drive
6) Lor bak at Kek Seng, Penang Road
7) Lam Ah beef noodles and oyster omelette
8) Indian mee goreng at Bangkok Lane

Teluk Kumbar's mee udang stalls are always competing. The 2 oldest ones I know of are Ad Mee Udang and Zalina Mee Udang at Jalan Sungei Batu.

Mee Salwa that you mentioned is also very popular because their famous customer is Malaysian film director Jins Shamsuddin who gave the previously nameless stall their name. But I think Salwa's setting is pretty rundown and dusty. Ilyana next door is more comfortable.

Aiyah, these 2 sisters' curry mee is too bland for me. They always say that theirs have the "old taste" but I think I prefer the "new taste" which Penang curry mee typically taste like. The sisters don't use enough lemongrass in their gravy, they also don't use much coconut santan so their soup is watery. I prefer my curry mee to be lemak, even the Lorong Seratus Tahun one is no good as they also don't use coconut santan.

I've always wanted to try this place and also Khun Thai next door to it, but the drive to Teluk Kumbar is too long for me. Maybe one day when someone else is driving.

Fantastic char koay teow. I'm going there tomorrow!

My favourite place for kopi also. Did you buy coffee powder to bring back to Singapore? Guaranteed to perfume your whole luggage. Haha!