Penang Food Trail 5: Penang Vs Singapore Part 2
OK, the current score is Singapore 2, Penang 1. We are going to compare three more dishes in this post. The first one is the Char Siew and Sio Bak. When it comes to Char Siew, there is one undisputed champion of Char Siew and Sio Bak in Penang and that is the one at Sky restaurant. I was told by our resident food blogger, CK Lam that they start selling their Char Siew at around 11.30am and it gets sold out by around 2pm.
The thing about Malaysia is that the people aren't as health conscious as Singaporeans, so they don't bat an eye about eating strips of belly pork that has been BBQed to a crisp with lots of charred bits. If you are expecting juicy Char Siew then you will be dissappointed because eating the Char Siew here is like eating Bak Kwa. It's really very tasty but I think I still prefer a Char Siew which is juicy and tender on the inside. But if you are in Penang, this is definitely one of the stalls to visit. 4.25/5
The Sio Bak on the other hand is very similar to Singapore and is very good. As good as my current favourite which is Fatty Cheong's at ABC brickworks. 4.5/5
Sky Restaurant along Chulia Street
Ok, I think this one has got to be a draw, so it's Penang 2, Singapore 3.
You know how they always have the Penang Hawkers fair at York Hotel every year where Hawkers from Penang and flown to Singapore to demonstrate their skills? Well, this particular hawker that operates this Lor Bak stall is one of those who make the pilgrimage every year. In case you don't know, Lor Bak is what the Penangites call our Ngoh Hiang and refers to a variety of deep fried items which are eaten with a chilli and sweet sauce dip.
I don't think that the Penangites have commercialized their Lor Bak manufacturing just yet, so many of the the hawkers here still make their own items. I might be wrong since we only went to eat at the most famous stalls. Once again, all their items which feature their prawns are really good. Their prawns are really tasty and when fried together in a fritter, it just tastes like Keropok! 4.5/5
I think their Lor Bak wins our Ngor Hiang so its Penang 3, Singapore 3.
The last item on our list is the Chicken Rice. This Chicken Rice Stall just happens to be in the same coffeeshop as the Loh Bak stall, so it is one coffeeshop that you might like to visit in Penang. The Chicken Rice here is very well known around Penang.
The Chicken here definitely beats the ones we have in Singapore. I think somehow they have better supply of free range chicken, so the chicken really has that extra chickeny flavour. However the rice here was rather dissappointing. I think Singaporeans are spoilt by having quality Jasmine Rice in most of our dishes. Over in Penang, they still use rice which is very light and lacks a good gummy bite. So overall, their Chicken is better than ours, but our rice is better than theirs. 4.25/5
Penang Lorbak & Hainan Chicken Rice at Kheng Pin Coffee Shop along
Penang /Sri Bahari Road - near to Cititel Hotel
Conclusion
OK, so the final score is Penang 4, Singapore 4.
You might have guess that I purposely chose these stalls so that I can make it a draw between Penang and Singapore and you are absolutely right. I could have easily "Kelonged" it so that one side wins.
But the point I am making is this. Many people might say that Penang food beats Singapore's hands down, others might say that Penang food is overrated. Both are correct depending on what they managed to try. So the conclusion is this: Penang is a food paradize and so is Singapore. Isn't it wonderful that there is so much great stuff just waiting for you to try?
32 comments:
er...to me....for the list of 3 types of food you mentioned, its Singapore 2 Penang 1.
The Lor Bak or ngoh hiang was sinfully good in penang....it could be that they do make it themselves.
I dun remember...but have you featured the kway chup stall ?
I decided not to feature the Kway Chap stall. Do you think it is worth recommending? If so then I will add it to my last post. The last post will be featuring the coconut jelly and the unagi fishballs.
Looking at the quality of the Char Siew, I highly doubt that its the undisputed champion. JIT SENG HONG KONG ROASTED DUCK RICE should beat it hands down with their Char Siew and duck
Do you have the address of Jit Seng for the benefit of our readers?
the char siew looks a bit too "chau tar" and dry... i think they were really going for the bak kwa feel. no no. char siew should be juicy and chau tar because of the caramelizing of the fats and seasoning.
Sure I can do better than that
Address: 246, Lebuh Carnarvon, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-262 2172 (Mr. Lam)
Opening Hours: 12.00pm – 3.00pm (Closed Public Holidays)
Google map link available on request :p
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/fass74/Food/P1000717.jpg
Early early never say! Looks like I have to make another trip to Penang. I heard there are some new budget carrier which will start making flights there soon.
You go Penang first wor, I just got back on Monday. You were lucky you got eat at Kheng Pin.
It was closed when we went past there on 3 consecutive days.
The char siew looks really dry. Chao Tar too. Don't think I will like it. WIll try what SumoXL recommended instead. I always think that hawkers with very short selling hours must be doing something exceptional.
But the Lor Bak looks good definitely. Looking forward to try it next week.
When will be your next trip to Penang? Do let me know and I will arrange for you to meet with some of the Penang Food Bloggers and go for a big makan outing...maybe covering the island and mainland too.
See Taukwa, I told you CK Lam would love to meet with you. CK, you have to look after our Taukwa hor, but he not like Wahcow and myself, he wants to eat, but still has to maintain his figure.
ieat, CK is asking you lah, not me. You mentioned earlier "Looks like I have to make another trip to Penang".
But no worries, I have copied and mapped out almost all the recommended makan liao. Will chiong ah when in Penang!
"Will chiong ah when in Penang!"..that one no need to say! :)
mmoohahaha...taukwa...take more pics....and let us know about more foodie locations...
one more thing....can tabao the rojak sauce ?
Ahem. Your comparison methodology is not scientific. You are restricting the comparison to foods available in both Penang and Singapore, so Penang will lose out because of they have many unique dishes Singapore do not have.
For example, you may as well do a comparison between Tokyo and Singapore then your result will be:
Chicken Rice: Singapore win
Nasi Lemak: SIngapore wins hands down
Result: Singapore 2 Tokyo 0
sorry moo moo, after penang, I will be in KL for another 3 or 4 days. If I tabao the sauce, it will be chao sng when I return to Singapore. Unless you like the sauce much much more 'fermented'?
But no worries, the plan for another Penang trip is on the board. Liverpool is waiting too.
Anonymous, since when was food reviews ever scientific. If you have read all my previous posts on Penang, you will understand this last post better.
Hi ieat, I just came back from Penang and having gone through your posts on Singapore vs Penang, I think you have not tried this Hae Mee. The name of the stall is Penang Toptaste Prawn Mee located at a coffee shop at the junction of Rangoon and Macalister Road. They used mantis prawns and baby sotong instead of prawns to make this Hae Mee. Thought that you may be interested to give it a try the next time you go. Kat
hey anon, what's the main difference between mantis prawns and normal prawns? like in taste or texture?
Didn't know Fatty Cheong's Sio bak was your favourite.Thought the rating was for the char siew only.
If talking about char siew, KL fare much better! hehe.. :P
Tiger 3 times daily to Penang. JetStar also jumping on the bandwagon.
We're in luck =)
Definitely going there before going 'in'.
So when, kakis?
Nowadays, I only eat hawker food when I'm in Penang. Most of our hawkers here in Singapore used so much pre-processed, mass-produced ingredients, I've pretty much decided to stick to restaurants. Singapore is a food paradise, but no longer a hawker food paradise.
Dear ieat, you have a wonderfully delicious blog that has somewhat restored my faith in singapore hawker food and I have been religiously sampling your recommendations.
Just to clarify, the Lor Bak hawker at Kafe Kheng Pin does not go to the Penang Hawker fare at the York no more (very sad indeed). He used to though ...
I absolutely adore the Sky Hotel Char Siew. Next time you go Penang, you should gorge yourself silly at both Sky Hotel and Jit Seng HK Roast Duck ... the walking distance is only 10 minutes apart. Then you can compare them both!! The Jit Seng Roast duck ... man ... I'm salivating right now ... *drool*
Thanks for the recommendation! I heard flights to Penang from Singapore are going to be cheaper soon so more people can go there to eat!
Just came back. I tried Jit Seng and another Prawn Mee (Toptaste) that Anon recommended.
Jit Seng's Char Siew is very good but it comes with fats. Doesn't at all look like the Sky Hotel pix above. Duck is good too. Have this 'ducky' taste that I don't find here nowadays.
The Prawn Noodles stall is called Penang Seang Lim Toptaste. Of the 3 stalls of prawn noodles I tried (Presgrave, Old Greenhouse and this), I find this the best. The soup is very tasty and there are several 'kay liao' items like pig intestines, small squids and mantis prawns.
And thanks to SumoXL for recommending Jit Seng.
hows jit seng char siew compared with Meng KEe in KL ??.....curious....
you got the addresses of the hae mee and jit seng or not ??
jetstar has flights to Penang starting from july.....yay !!!
moo moo, you want to go Penang again meh? Thought you in love only with Rojak?
Meng Kee is still the one to beat (I have not tried Overseas though). I visited another one in PJ which was good too.
You never pay attention. SumoXL was the one who recommended Jit Seng and he kindly posted the address above liao. The Hae Mee is at 168 Macalister Road. Xin Jin Shan Kopi Tiam.
you should try nasi kandar in penang. it is very popular in penang. it would be a very interesting comparison, imho.
Meng Kee Char Siew is the best. Fyi, the HK tourist loves it so much!
If compare Penang with Klang, Selangor, Msia, i think penang cant score as high as this.
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