Eating out in Penang

There are plenty of great options for eating out in Penang ranging from street food to high end restaurants. We barely touched the surface in our three days! Here is my list of places for eating out in Penang.

Ferringhi Garden

Ferringhi Garden is a little haven of a restaurant in Batu Ferringhi, just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. As you walk in, you can’t help but be impressed with the beautiful garden with fairy lights, lanterns and waterfalls. It looks pretty magical. It stretches from the entrance down the stairs and further and can hold c.300 people.

This is a much higher end restaurant than its neighbours, both in terms of aesthetics and price. It caters well for business meetings, date nights to impress and celebrations and attracts all different nationalities, including locals.

The staff were friendly from the outset and didn’t in anyway push when we opted for the cheaper local food and declined dessert. Drinks wise, you can go all out and order champagne or the house red and wine are only £4 a glass / £15 a bottle. I obviously could not resist a cocktail (£5) and opted for a Mai Tai (although they have over 20 to choose from!).

The Food

The Garlic Sourdough Loaf served with garlic aioli and roasted tomato sauce was a delicious, hearty starter (£3). Main dishes range from wonders of the sea (seafood platter, tiger prawns, grilled salmon, red snapper and more), steak (wagyu, sirloin, t-bone and other cuts) and Chinese cuisine (the local food). The Black Pepper Beef: wok fried Australian beef with Sarawak black pepper (£11) was amazing as the meat was so tender. We were also fans of the Red Curry with red snapper (£7). Save Ferringhi Garden as a special treat for eating out in Penang!

Living Room Cafe

Less than a five minute walk from our hotel is the Living Room Café Bar serving reasonably priced local Northern Malaysian Nyonya (Chinese and Malay) cuisine and a little fusion style. The restaurant is decked in plants and local pictures / murals and felt rather homely. The two owners were very pleasant and happy to give menu recommendations.

We tucked into the Beef Rendang (£5) which was rich and delicious and the Vegetarian Laksa (£5) which was so filling. Chuck in side of mixed chicken satay (£2), we left full and happy. A great local restaurant in Batu Ferringhi.

Long Beach Night Market

Again, only a short walk from our hotel was Batu Ferringhi night market which contains Long Beach Food Court. Google isn’t great at pinning the location so here is a picture of the entrance below.

The food court has over 15 stalls to choose from ranging from local cuisine to middle eastern cuisine. Generally the cost of a dish is between £1-3 which is such good value. From the ‘Indian Foods’ section, we had a Dhal curry with 2 roti canai which was pretty tasty (would have preferred the roti flakier) and loved the Nasi Goreng from the ‘Malay Food Mee Udang’ stall.

Air Itam

Air Itam is a local food court / area in between Kek Lok Si and Penang Hill and definitely a place you should visit when visiting one / both of these areas. We left it a little late for lunch at 2pm and many of the stalls had closed.

However, we wandered around the immediate area and found a sign for ‘Char Kway Teow’, a local noodle dish with flat rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, bloody cockles, Chinese lap cheong (sausage), eggs, bean sprouts, and chives in a mix of soy sauce.

We sat with the locals having a late lunch and it was delicious. A local gentleman even told me I used noodles well but then said you could do even better if you lift your hands a little higher! So close…!

The Jetty Food Court / Chulia Night Market

The Jetty Food Court is situated by the clan jetties in Georgetown with a great choice of affordable local food. We had steamed pork dumplings from the ‘Dumpling / Pau’ stall and Hokkien Mee thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage (both £1).

There are lots of street food courts / hawker stalls in Georgetown to explore! Chulia Street Night Market has a few hawker stalls with plastic tables and chairs to enjoy delicious, cheap local food. We didn’t have time to visit but were also recommended Esplanade Park Food Court and CF Food Court.

Cheang Kee

Cheang Kee is situated near Love Lane in Georgetown and specialises in hot pot including grouper, white prawn, Australian beef and pork belly. We didn’t fancy hot pot so tucked into the slow braised pork belly rice (£2.50) , crispy mini crab (£2) and Penang Prawn Noodle (Dry) (£2.50). A good choice for eating out in Penang.