Hawker Food at New Lane, Penang

Besides Gurney Hawker, New Lane is probably one of the most popular hawker street in Penang. This hawker street is less touristy, and the food stalls operate along the two sides of the street. Apart from the coffeeshop, tables are set up along the walkway and part of the the open space carpark

It's not too difficult to find New Lane (Lorong Baru). It's just next to Sunway Hotel, off two popular streets - Macalister Road and Dato Kramat Road. 

Over here, it's food lovers galore. There are so many different types of food to choose from.

Poh Peah - spelled as Popiah in Singapore, selling at RM2.60 for 2 pieces is really a steal, if you compared to Singapore pricing. 

The Penang style Chee Cheong Fun is slightly different from the Singapore style. The difference lies in the sauce. The Penang style has a thick taste of Hae Go - Shrimp Paste Sauce. To me, this has an acquired taste, but there again, I'm not a fan of Chee Cheong Fun with any type of sweet sauce. I prefer those serve in dim sum, wrapped with prawns or cha siew. 

 The good thing about having Chee Cheong Fun in Penang is that you can ask them to open up the Chee Cheong Fun layers for you, easier for you to dip it with the sauce. 

Koay Teow Soup, probably the most overlooked dish in Singapore, takes a different standing in Penang. You can either choose it with Yong Tau Foo ingredients, or just eaten as standalone. 

Unlike Singapore style which only has fishballs, beansprouts, probably few slices of fishcake, the Koay Teow soup here has pork slices, and pig's blood - something that is ban in Singapore. The soup base is heavy with pork lard. I love pig's blood! Ok, I know you find me a weirdo, who doesn't like cuttlefish and hae go (shrimp paste), but like pig's blood.  This is the standard Kuay Teow Teng. If you want it to be the Yong Tau Foo type, you just pick and choose your ingredients. 

Here's another dish, with pig's blood. It's Penang Curry Mee, something similar to the Penang Hokkien Mee. 

Char Koay Kak - a dish you probably only find it in Malaysia. It's similar to fried carrot cake, but the ingredients and method is slightly different.
First, the "Koay" - carrot cake are cut in mid-sized cubes. Black sauce is heavily used. Bean sprouts and prawns are added. Look at the prawns, it's so fresh and good size.

I don't particularly like the Char Koay Kak from this stall, I have tasted better ones. But, if you are in Penang, do give this dish a try. It's definitely something different from the Carrot Cake in Singapore.

Loh Bak - similar to the Ngon Hiang in Singapore. One of my favourites.

Chicken Wings - one of the popular stall here. It's a bit too sweet for me. I still prefer the Chicken Wings at Wong Ah Wah, Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur. Even after all these years, Wong Ah Wah chicken wings are "never-to-be-miss" for me if I am at KL.

In Singapore, Blk 85 Bedok, Fengshan Food centre chicken wings satisfies my crave. All my pals knows I LOOOOVE Chicken Wings!

My last stop is my favourite Apom. As with my previous post, I love Apom (spelled as Apong in this stall) and will never miss to try it at any stall that I come across. Yes, it's the thin pancake originating from the Indian community. Except for the fact that this is sold by Chinese (instead of Indian), the Apom sold here is similar to the original Indian pancake. The original Apom does not have any filling, but just a thin slice of crispy crepe-like pancake. 

Snew's Rating: 4 / 5

New Lane is definitely a good place to sample different local Penang hawker food. Although my aunt, being a local in Penang has commented that the food quality has slided, but, me, as a tourist, I still feel it's worth a try. The food here is definitely better than the touristy Gurney Drive hawker.


New Lane Hawker Street

Lorong Baru (New Lane),
Off Macalister Road, Georgetown
10040 Penang

Besides Sunway Hotel, Penang
Click here for Map Location

Opens: 5pm - 11pm


Related Posts:

Gurney Drive Hawker

G Hotel, Penang

Gurney Drive Hawker

Gurney Drive hawker is probably the most famous hawker in Penang. But it's also the most touristy place for hawker food in Penang.

I remember vaguely that during my younger days, the entire stretch of Gurney Drive was filled with push-cart stalls. Hawkers selling food, souvenirs and so on operates. Street hawkers filled the entire area, making it a well-known "Pasar Malam" or night market at that time. It is a gathering place for all - couples, families and tourists. For more than a decade, the government has cleaned up the place, and now congregated the hawkers to one area, towards the end of Persiaran Gurney. Honestly, I miss the old Gurney Drive which was much more vibrant.

The Gurney Drive Hawker - is also known as "the new esplanade" to the locals.

This is probably one of the most popular stall here. The way the cuttlefish is being displayed really makes the stall outstanding.

This is probably more well-known in Singapore as Cuttlefish Kang Kong (or "Ju Hu Eng Chai"). It's simply blanched Kang Kong with criss-cross cut Cuttlefish, served with sweet sauce. I'm really no fan of this dish, as it has an acquired taste. But Papa Snew loves it.

Some of the other food or stalls that are pretty different from the other Penang Hawker food:

Papa Snew was really interested in this stall as there was a constant queue of customers at this stall. The stall sells fried stuff, including the sinful but yet popular, fried chicken skin.

Fried chicken skin is sold at RM3 per cup.  This is probably the most popular item. Talk about sinfulness.

The stall owner will prepare all the food you have chosen and re-fry it before serving. So you can ensure it's crispy when served.

There are a number of Penang Rojak stalls. We saw some locals buying bottles of the rojak sauce from this stall and guess it should be one of the better stalls. 

  
We were pretty convinced that the rojak is not bad, that we bought two bottles of rojak sauce home. Papa Snew and Ms Kuddle loves it. 

Apom - One of the food that I love best in Penang. If I am not wrong, Apom started as an Indian Pancake - thinly sliced without any filling. The Chinese improvised the recipe to include slices of banana added.  I love both versions. I found this in Gurney drive hawker and decide to try it, although it's not the popular one that I will blog about in my later posts.

Another hawker food famous in Malaysia, originated from Melaka is Satay Celuk. It's a modified version of steamboat.

First, choose from the selection of stalks of semi-cooked food - hotdogs, fishballs, vegetables, wanton and so on.

Secondly, put it into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes.

Finally, dip on some satay sauce using the spoon.

This is the first time I'm trying on Satay Celuk, although it may not be the authentic style from Melaka. This is probably more hygienic then the authentic ones whereby the pot of satay steamboat is recycled and not changed from previous customers on the same table.

Snew's Rating: 2.8 / 5
This is the most popular Penang hawker food and serves many tourists in search of local Penang food, similar to Newton hawker in Singapore. However, the food quality pales in comparison to many good food in other coffeeshops.


Gurney Drive Hawker Center
Persiaran Gurney
10250 Penang
Business Hour: 6pm – 12am



Related Posts:
G Hotel, Penang

G Hotel, Penang

Penang, Gurney Drive is no alien place to me, but I only got to know G Hotel a few months ago.

As I made a check on the internet, there were so many controversies reviews on G Hotel, Penang. Nevertheless, I introduce this hotel to Ms Kuddle (Papa Snew's sister) and she is all thumbs-up for the hotel. With its good location, we decided to stay there when we confirmed our Penang Trip with our folks.


G Hotel has one of the best location in Penang. Located at the famous boulevard in Penang - Gurney Drive, the hotel is just a few steps away from the renowned Gurney Drive Hawker food, and just next door to one of the most happening - Gurney Plaza, a 7th-storey shopping mall. Not too far from the main city center, but yet have the views of the sea. 

G Hotel Penang - Malaysia's Most Stylish Address


We were greeted with Raspberry Ice-cream while settling the paper work at the Check-In counter. A nice touch, and different from the usual Welcome Drink. 




The lobby is modern and stylist. No surprise on its claim to be Malaysia's most stylish address. The lobby alone is enough to impress. Tall Ceiling, modernly styled. 

The G Lounge, or lobby lounge is just adjacent to the reception area. The G Cafe is just next to the G lounge, making the entire area spaciously longest. 

We did not try the G Cafe, but the alfresco dining area is a place that I would like to be chilling out.

We were upgraded to a Deluxe Seaview room. What a good deal! I managed to squeeze out a promotion rate from Agoda, paying a good deal of $177 per room night, including taxes, and now, we are upgraded to a seaview room! Could it be due to the fact that the hotel is running full occupancy, so they need to upgrade some of the guests? Well, whatever it is, we got a nice room.

I really love the bay window and sofa. Can really sit there and just admire the esplanade and bay view. Nothing too impressive about the sea though, as part of it has dried up with lots of debris.

This is the view from the window. You can actually see Straits Quay from here.

Room Amenities

One of the nice value-adds in G Hotel rooms are the drinks in the mini-bar is free. Caters more to the Asian market, it is stocked up with more Soya Bean and Lychee canned drinks, rather than soft drinks.

Pool

Located at Level 3 but looks like the roof top pool, it has a big lap pool.

Infinity Pool as well?

Gym

G Cycle
We didn't spot this till our last day. We should have rented these bicycles to cycle on the esplanade to explore the shoreline. Complimentary of the hotel for its guests on a first come first serve basis.

G Cart
Is this a baby pram or a shopping cart? Whatever it is, it's another nice touch for the hotel guests. 

Snew's Rating: 4.3 / 5

Stay Period: 16-18 June 2012

I've stayed at a number of hotels in Penang. By far, this is one of the best, and I would strongly recommend to any guests going to Penang. Location is good, not too far from the city centre, and yet, have a good sea facing. I would definitely return to stay at this hotel. And not to mention, all the nice touches that differentiate it from other run of the mill 5-star hotel.