Category: Food

Penang Road’s Teochew Chendul Stall

dav

People queuing up for a bowl of Teochew chendul (or cendol) at the famous stall at Penang Road, George Town.

The exact location of the stall is actually along Keng Kwee Street (Lebuh Keng Kwee) in George Town. Chendul is a traditional dessert popular in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is usually made up of coconut milk, jelly ‘green noodles’ and red beans served with shaved ice and palm sugar.

Penang Isle: The Sunrise McDonald’s Restaurant

Sunrise McDonald's Restaurant

This old but iconic McDonald’s Restaurant at the Sunrise building in Gurney Drive will be closed down soon after serving the local population for many years. It used to be a very popular McDonald’s outlet in Penang and almost every Penang born adult would have visited this outlet at some point in their lives here.

Penang Durian Festival

Held annually or sometimes twice a year during the Durian season at Anjung Indah, this festival showcases the various types of durians from fruit orchards around Penang, mostly from Balik Pulau area. The forested hills of Balik Pulau area are perfect locations for durian trees plantation.

Famously regarded by many as best in the region, Penang’s Balik Pulau durians attract people from as far as Hong Kong and Singapore to try out these local fruits. Some of the award-winning durian species in Balik Pulau are named Ang Hae, Ang Bak, D16, D700 and of training course the famous “Musang King”. One high graded durian can even fetch as high as MYR 100.

Durians season usually falls in the middle of the year (around the month of May to July).

George Town Street View: The Benggali Roti Seller

The Roti Seller

The traditional mobile bread (roti) seller on a trishaw in Penang.

Locally known as the Roti Benggali seller, Roti Bengali or the Benggali bread had its origin from Sheik Mohd Ismail, an Indian Muslim from Madras, who set up Roti Penggali (which meant bread shareholders in Tamil) with his friends back in 1920s. However, the word “penggali” was apparently mispronounced and later on, evolved into “benggali”. The name was stuck locally as such ever since. The loaf bread of white and soft crumb with thick crispy golden crust is a popular local choice here.