Hawker centres in Penang
Penang’s love language is none other than its hawker culture – loud, diverse, delicious, and the best that there is in Malaysia. The island is where sizzling woks of char koay teow reign supreme, and where the words “just one bite” or “diet” do not exist. Food hopping across its hawker centres is pretty much a no-brainer when you’re in Penang.
That said, hitting the right places is as important.
The locals will debate, but here we have for you the 7 best hawker centres in Penang with stalls that churn out some of the most sought-after hawker food. Your heart and tummies will thank you, but your waistband…not so much.
Table of Contents
1. One Corner Cafe
Image credit: apiwatbob via Google Photos
In Penang, it’s always those unassuming kopitiam tucked into a random street corner that ambushes you with the finest flavours the Earth has to offer – and One Corner Cafe is exactly that.
You’ll find the hawker centre within a corner of Jalan Bawasah, always brimming with the bustle of the morning hikers, famished families, and the hawkers themselves cooking up a storm in their stalls.
Image adapted from: @pickyin via Instagram & @chloe_3617 via Instagram
Choices are plenty here, but our advice – arrive early and beeline straight for the Super Hokkien Mee stall first. Known for its robust broth studded with massive fresh prawns that is willingly slurped up by flocks of regulars and wide-eyed tourists daily, this stall sells out hokkien mee bowls (RM8/bowl) before 8am even comes around – it is that revered.
There’s plenty to feast on as you wait in the queue – the Wantan Mee (RM7/plate) is wonderfully cooked up by the nicest auntie vendor, the nyonya kuih stall has a divine selection of vibrant-coloured delicacies that taste as amazing as they look, and the richly-brewed kopi is one of the best in town.
Address: 12, Jalan Bawasah, 10050 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: Sun–Fri 7am-3pm (Closed on Saturdays)
Contact: 012-473 3727
2. Chulia Street Night Hawker
Ask any local for OG hawker food fare recommendations in Penang, and you’ll likely be directed to Chulia Street Night Hawker. The culinary magic at this hawker area comes alive at night when lights flood the hawker stalls that line the street and spotlight the activities of the vendors, greeting their patrons and clanking the woks.
Let’s talk headliners – the famous Mother & Son Wantan Mee serves one of the best wanton mee in Penang, a notion no one can really argue with, especially since the stall has been recognised by big names such as CNN. For RM6 per plate, you’ll get velvety noodles tossed in black soy sauce that packs a punch, well-stuffed handmade wantans, and a good spoonful of deep-fried pork lard that sits atop like a crown.
Image adapted from: @primeal via Instagram
Another dish here that locals won’t stop raving about is the Curry Mee (RM6/bowl). Its beating heart of a broth is creamy, rich, and gorgeously spicy that clings onto every vermicelli and yellow noodle you slurp up. Priced at RM8 per plate, the famed Char Koay Teow here is worth every bit the sore throat it might give you, especially when it is always wok hei-ed to perfection.
Address: Lebuh Carnarvon (off Lebuh Chulia), 10100 Georgetown, Penang
Opening hours: Tue – Sun 6pm-12am (Closed on Mondays)
3. Cecil Street Food Court
Image credit: @veronica9129 via Instagram
It may be mayhem at Cecil Street Food Court, but it’s heaven to those who know how to eat well. Located right next to the Cecil Market itself, the hawker centre roars at your senses with its options of food – locals are shoving their way through the crowds to get tables, wide-eyed tourists are ogling at the options, and vendors are shouting out orders in Hokkien as their spatulas scrape against the wok they’re working.
Image adapted from: @sugoidays via Instagram & @sgcafehopping via Instagram
And once you do get yourself a table, make sure it is filled with plates of food. It’s plenty easy to do that here with the abundance of hawker stalls and food options – from Michelin-acknowledged Lum Lai Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng (RM5/bowl) and the legendary Barefoot Char Koay Teow (RM5/plate), to the Pasembur Jelly Fish (RM5/plate) that’s like a firecracker on a plate.
Image credit: @calvinho66es via Instagram
It would be somewhat of a crime to skip the famous Chinese pastry and Nyonya kuih stall with a spread so divine, and more so when you have a taste of delicacies such as ham chim peng – think fried dough stuffed with red bean paste – fresh pulut tai tai, ang ku kuih, and sweet onde-onde.
Address: 24, Lebuh Cecil, 10300 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: 7.30am-6.30pm, Daily
4. Chee Meng Cafe
Image credit: Choon Lim via Google Photos
Chee Meng Cafe is a hawker centre that’s exactly the epitome of “tiny but mighty”. Located along the ever-buzzing streets of Jalan Argyll, this hawker centre is a single-stall hawker and modestly-sized, with most of its seating filled more often than not, but locals will wait because the food’s that good.
Image credit: @karlie_verkerk via Instagram
The star of the place is quite obviously the Wantan Mee stall, which always sees a snaking queue of customers that spills out to the sidewalks. Priced at RM6 for a small plate, the HK-style wanton mee noodles flaunts impossibly springy noodles that are slurpable to perfection, with additional options of HK-style char siew glistening with sweet glaze for RM4 a plate.
Finish your meal off the way Penang lang does – with a packet of nasi lemak and a steaming cup of freshly-brewed Hainan coffee. Simple, but utterly unforgettable.
While Chee Meng Cafe is usually open on Fridays and the weekends, it isn’t surprising to see the stall randomly closed on these days, though we’ll say, you know the food slaps when the tauke opens his stall on his own terms.
Address: 100, Jalan Argyll, 10050 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: Fri–Sun 7am-2pm (Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays)
Contact: 012-433 2345
5. Seow Fong Lye Coffee Shop
Image adapted from: @leoyap725 via Instagram
Seow Fong Lye Coffee Shop does not need to dazzle customers with its dizzying diversity of hawker food. All it needs is a handful of legendary hawker stalls manned by vendors who have been churning out these iconic dishes since before any of us could spell ‘char koay teow’.
No frills and fanfare, but bursting with soul, this kopitiam is one of the oldest on the island, and its old-school charm is unmistakable in the wooden shutters, faded signboard, and the way regulars trickle in and to their usual seats like a daily ritual.
Image adapted from: AJS via Google Photos & @raymond.yk_ via Instagram
This place features not just one, but two Michelin-listed hawker stalls, so you know you’re in for the real deal. Madam Lee Lai Fong’s Chee Cheong Fun (from RM3.20/plate) is one of the two, and a crowd-favourite breakfast order since 1955, offering a tangle of delicate rice rolls doused in thick sweet-salty prawn paste, a touch of sambal, and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Image credit: @tisbananas via Instagram
In Penang, breakfast is eaten sinfully, so you must get a plate of the Michelin-rated Sister Yao’s Char Koay Kak that has been around since 1963, originally manned by their father. For RM5 a plate, you’ll get a dish of cubed rice cakes all gloriously charred, speckled with pork lard, salted radish and bean sprouts, more indulgent yet with eggs added into the party.
Address: 94c, Lorong Macalister, 10450 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: 7.30am-3pm, Daily
Contact: 04-229 7390
6. Kheng Pin Cafe
Image credit: Khoo Yee Chem via Google Photos
Kheng Pin Cafe has all the characteristics of a very typical and a very quintessential Penang kopitiam – mismatched chairs and tables, creaky ceiling fans, the kopi uncles and aunties in full throttle by the drinks section, and of course, exceptional hawker fare.
Image credit: _s00__ via Instagram
If you’re in search of some of the best Loh Bak in town, this is the place to go to. These deep-fried parcels of marinated meat wrapped in beancurd skin and bursting with five-spice magic inside, best devoured when dipped in chilli sauce and sticky-sweet sauce, it is no wonder the stall has been many locals’ favourite go-to for a sinful snack.
Other dishes that’ll complete your feast here are the Hokkien Mee (RM6/bowl) with a rich prawn-laden broth that hugs your soul, the Char Koay Teow (RM8/plate) that’s all greasy and glorious, and the Wantan Mee (RM6/plate) which is a flavour-bomb of a dish that’ll leave you wanting more.
Address: 80, Jalan Penang, 10000 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 7am-1.30pm (Closed on Mondays)
7. Presgrave Street Hawker Centre
Image credit: @kevinkhaw1997 via Instagram
Locals love bringing their visiting friends to the Presgrave Street Hawker Centre for a dinner they’ll never forget. It’s chaotic in a very Penang way, the options here are endless, and the tantalizing scents that engulf you don’t just smell good, your taste buds will be pleased too.
Affectionately called “sar tiao lor” – which translates to third street in Hokkien -, this kopitiam is smack dab by the very busy corner of Presgrave Street, so you can imagine how frenzied it can get when the sounds of traffic are mixed with the cacophony of the hawker centre, but that’s really the charm of Presgrave Street Hawker Centre.
Image credit: @soullighteats via Instagram
There’s no way you’re stopping at just one dish here. Start with a fiery-red bowl of the famous 888 Hokkien Mee (RM7/bowl) and opt for a spoonful of thick, dark braised sauce swirled right in to amp up the flavours, or if you’re lucky, the legendary Presgrave Street Char Koay Teow (RM6/plate).
Then, proceed with orders of Orh Chien (RM11/plate) which is essentially an egg and oyster slurry, a hearty bowl of Curry Mee (RM6.50/bowl) and Jawa Mee (RM5/bowl) each, as well as sides of perfectly-charred satay (from RM1.30/skewer) and absurdly crisp loh bak.
Address: 67D, Lebuh Presgrave, 10300 George Town, Penang
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 4pm-10pm (Closed on Mondays)
The best hawker centres in Penang for street food
A word of warning: don’t head to any of these places expecting to have “just a bite”. The food at hawker centres in Penang is meant to be indulged properly and relished with gusto, because that is how we locals do it – Penang lang live to eat deliciously, and this list will show you how you do it right.
Read more here:
Cover image adapted from: @sugoidays via Instagram, @kevinkhaw1997 via Instagram, Jia-Ju & @chloe_3617 via Instagram