I wasn’t planning on going to Kafe Ping Hooi, but the restaurant I wanted to go to turned out to be closed (thanks again, Chinese New Year!), and it was right there. I figured I’d give it a shot.
There are “cafes” all over the city in George Town that are essentially like little food courts. Each one has three or four vendors, usually specializing in one thing. And like a food court, you order, then walk your food over to one of the nearby tables.
Being in Penang during Chinese New Year’s is a bit of a bummer, because basically everything is closed. There is, however, a pretty huge Indian population here; if you want to eat out, your two choices are Indian or a chain restaurant.
I had the misfortune of coming to Penang right during Chinese New Year. It’s a pretty big deal here, apparently, because once it starts, the city basically shuts down for a couple of days.
It’s tough to find anywhere to eat during this time, because if there’s a restaurant you want to check out, odds are that it’s closed. It’s way, way too hot to walk around until you find one that’s open.
Though lor mee is also served in Singapore and Indonesia, it’s a Malaysian dish, and a really tasty one at that.
I Love Yoo is a Malaysian breakfast chain that specializes in youtiao (fried dough sticks) and rice porridge. I’m really not sure why it’s not called “I Love You,” since youtiao is almost always spelled starting with y-o-u and not y-o-o, but that’s neither here nor there.
Lot 10 Hutong is a rare thing — a food court in a mall that everyone says you need to check out.
I know what you’re thinking: a food court? Really? But you won’t find any fast food joints here. Lot 10’s food court features a bunch of well-regarded local restaurants all crammed into one place.
I stumbled onto Koon Kee Wan Tan Mee completely at random while wandering around Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. I was basically just looking for a place that was busy; if you don’t have anywhere specific in mind, following the crowd is generally a good idea.
Every now and then I eat something that really rocks my world. The nasi lemak with ayam goreng at Village Park Restaurant was one of those things. Holy moly, it was so good.
I’m not gonna lie, I had very low expectations for Ah Cheng Laksa.
I had just arrived at Kuala Lumpur’s Sentral Station, which is attached to a fairly large mall. I was about to head to my hotel; it was late, and I wanted to get a quick bite to eat before I checked in.