Great Hawker Centre In Penang
Best Hawker Food Court On the Island
Our list of the 5 Great Hawker Centres in Penang comprises food courts that have concentrations of the best street side food vendors on the island. They are sometimes connected to casual Chinese coffee shops, but most times these open air centres are roadside affairs hosting a varied collection of hawker sellers and plenty of open air seating. Serving up inexpensively priced cuisine that is richly flavoured, they operate at all hours of the day and the reason the food is so good is because these hawkers use age-old family recipes and old fashioned cooking methods. The lifeline to locals and even travellers by helping to keep food budgets low, food presentation is not a priority but quality and freshness is always top notch.
New Lane Hawker Centre
Come 16:00 every day, Georgetown’s Lorong Baru closes down to vehicular traffic, with cars required to find alternate routes to their destination because the street turns into a thriving outdoor hawker food centre. Hawkers furiously fry up their specialties which include char kway teow (flat rice noodles with cockles, prawns, chilli and bean sprouts) and chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls).
Expect to sit on colourful plastic tables and chairs on the roadside. Our favourite dish here is congee, a Chinese porridge made with rice instead of oats, which makes for a filling, hearty meal. Flavoured with a variety of side dishes, anything from fresh crab and eggs to pork and ginger chicken, this is basically Chinese comfort food.
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Opening Hours: 16:00 – 02:00
Location: Lorong Baru Georgetown
Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
Home to the biggest variety of street food in Penang, Persiaran Gurney’s busy and iconic Gurney Drive Hawker Centre (right beside Gurney Plaza Mall) is a great place to sample some of the best local cuisine on the island. We recommend the char koay kak (RM7), soft white radish stir fried with crunchy bean sprouts, chilli, egg and pork lard, which is simply delicious, but also recommended is the barbecue roasting station (particularly the beef meatballs) which will please even the pickiest eater.
Cafeteria style seating is a little cramped, so the first thing to do is to find seats before ordering your food – in fact, copy the locals by standing behind diners who seem to be near finishing, then be ready to grab their soon-to-be vacant seat.
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Opening Hours: 18:00 – 24:00
Address: Persiaran Gurney, George Town
Location: Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
Just Food
It is quite rare for a shopping mall food centre to be considered the place for great cuisine; however Gurney Paragon Mall’s food court, Just Food, certainly makes the cut easily. We say this because its concentration of hawker sellers are definitely serious about putting out dishes that are authentic and loaded in taste.
Its operating hours are from 10:00 to 22:00, plus it is air conditioned, making it a great place for tourists who want to escape the island’s warm weather. Specialties such as char kway teow (with lots of succulent prawns) from the Asian kitchen and richly flavoured pan mee, with lots of juicy mushrooms and chicken slivers from the PP Noodle Station, are standouts. However, our favourite dish is the Maggi tom yum (RM6.50), from the Thai Me Up stall, which has thick and creamy broth that is unique for an instant noodle dish.
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Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00
Address: Level 5, Gurney Paragon Mall, Persiaran Gurney
Location: Just Food, Gurney Paragon Mall's Food Court