Cheap Eats in Penang

Siam Road Char Koay Teow

• ★ 4.8
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Charcoal char koay teow

Siam Road Char Koay Teow fries one dish over charcoal to a Bib Gourmand standard, the pushcart plate Penang queues an hour for without complaint.

Deens Maju Nasi Kandar

• ★ 4.5
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Deens Maju is the nasi kandar Penang locals queue for, a midday-opening Jalan Gurdwara canteen where the ayam goreng line often wraps the block.

Ghee Hiang

• ★ 4.5
• Bakery
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Order Tau sar pneah mung-bean biscuits

Ghee Hiang has baked tau sar pneah since 1856 and presses sesame oil to match, the Beach Street institution every Penang visitor carries home.

Penang Road Famous Jin Kor Char Kuey Teow

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Char koay teow with duck egg

Jin Kor has fried char kuey teow inside Joo Hooi Cafe for over 40 years, the Bib Gourmand Penang Road stall celebrities queue beside tourists for.

Wan Dao Tou Assam Laksa

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• Pulau Tikus

Try Assam laksa

Wan Dao Tou simmers its Bib Gourmand assam laksa from a 50-year-old family recipe on Jalan Gottlieb, Penang's benchmark bowl outside Air Itam.

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Cendol

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul has shaved ice over pandan noodles since 1936, the Keng Kwee Street stall that defines cendol for all of Penang.

Ravi's Famous Apom Manis

• ★ 4.5
• Street food
• $
• Pulau Tikus

Try Apom manis claypot pancakes

Ravi's has griddled apom manis in claypots over charcoal on Burma Road since 1920, crisp-edged coconut pancakes now carrying a Penang Bib Gourmand.

Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay

• ★ 4.5
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Moh Teng Pheow has steamed Nyonya kueh since 1933 behind Lebuh Chulia, the Bib Gourmand workshop where Penang buys its angku and rempah udang.

Hameediyah

• ★ 4.4
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Hameediyah has served nasi kandar on Campbell Street since 1907 and holds the Malaysia Book of Records listing as the country's oldest, a Penang icon.

Toh Soon Cafe

• ★ 4.4
• Café
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Drink Hainanese white coffee with charcoal toast

Toh Soon Cafe grills kaya toast over charcoal in a Campbell Street alley, the Penang kopitiam breakfast locals have queued for since the 1950s.

Penang Road Famous Laksa

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Assam laksa

Penang Road Famous Laksa ladles a sardine broth of unusual depth on Keng Kwee Street, the Bib Gourmand partner to the cendol queue next door.

Ali Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Nasi lemak bungkus

Ali Nasi Lemak wraps banana-leaf parcels of coconut rice and sambal at Sri Weld Food Court, the halal Penang breakfast the Michelin guide flags.

Sister Yao's Char Koay Kak

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Char koay kak fried rice cakes

Sister Yao's fries Teochew rice cakes with egg and preserved radish on Macalister Lane, a morning-only Bib Gourmand stall begun by their father in 1963.

888 Hokkien Mee

• ★ 4.4
• Hokkien
• $
• Jelutong and the South

Try Hokkien mee prawn noodle soup

888 Hokkien Mee has stirred its deep-red prawn broth on Lebuh Presgrave for 30 years, the evening bowl that anchors Penang's Hokkien mee argument.

Jit Seng Hong Kong Roasted Duck Rice

• ★ 4.4
• Cantonese
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Jit Seng roasts Hong Kong style duck inside a Lebuh Carnarvon coffeeshop, the Penang stall the Michelin guide caught locals queueing for at lunch.

Roti Canai Transfer Road

• ★ 4.4
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Roti canai banjir

Roti Canai Transfer Road has flipped flaky flatbread at its roadside stall for around half a century, Penang's definitive curry-flooded breakfast.

Line Clear Nasi Kandar

• ★ 4.3
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Line Clear Nasi Kandar has ladled curry down its famous alley off Jalan Penang since the 1940s, Penang's round-the-clock nasi kandar rite of passage.

Hot Bowl White Curry Mee

• ★ 4.3
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Hot Bowl has served Penang white curry mee since 1992, the coconut broth arriving mild with a side bowl of chilli paste you stir in yourself.

Bee Hwa Cafe

• ★ 4.3
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Bee Hwa Cafe cooks halal versions of Penang's Chinese hawker canon on Lebuh Dickens, a Bib Gourmand family shop begun as a 1992 street stall.

Air Itam Duck Rice

• ★ 4.3
• Street food
• $
• Air Itam

Try Braised duck rice

Air Itam Duck Rice braises duck with soy, anise and cinnamon beside the wet market under Kek Lok Si, Penang's Michelin-listed reward after the temple climb.

Bridge Street Prawn Noodle

• ★ 4.3
• Hokkien
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Hokkien mee and loh mee combo

Bridge Street Prawn Noodle serves its Bib Gourmand Hokkien mee mornings only at the far end of Beach Street, Penang's old-time daybreak bowl.

Super Star Koay Teow Soup

• ★ 4.3
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Koay teow soup with braised chicken feet

Super Star Koay Teow Soup works Kimberley Street's night shift until 23:00, the Bib Gourmand cart lighting Penang's classic supper lane since 1960.

My Own Cafe

• ★ 4.3
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

My Own Cafe simmers a Bib Gourmand assam laksa steps from Khoo Kongsi on Cannon Street, the family-run counter Penang quietly keeps to itself.

Pitt Street Koay Teow Soup

• ★ 4.3
• Chinese
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Pitt Street Koay Teow Soup has made eel fish balls daily for over 60 years, the morning Penang bowl the Michelin guide tracked to Carnarvon Street.

New Lane Hawker Centre

• ★ 4.3
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Char koay teow, chee cheong fun, sar hor fun

New Lane Hawker Centre lines Lorong Baru with twenty-odd evening stalls, the after-dark hawker parade Penang locals rate above the seafront rows.

Rasa Rasa

• ★ 4.2
• Peranakan
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Rasa Rasa keeps daytime hours on Chulia Street Ghaut, pairing pandan nasi lemak sets with Bib Gourmand prices rare even by Penang standards.

Tho Yuen

• ★ 4.2
• Cantonese
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Tho Yuen steams old-school dim sum on Campbell Street, the veteran Penang teahouse where the first baskets land not long after six in the morning.

Fatty Loh Chicken Rice

• ★ 4.2
• Chinese
• $
• Tanjung Bungah

Fatty Loh Chicken Rice is a third-generation Fettes Park shop whose poached birds and chilli sauce set the chicken-rice standard for north Penang.

Goh Thew Chik Hainan Chicken Rice

• ★ 4.2
• Chinese
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Goh Thew Chik has carved Hainanese chicken on Chulia Street for over 70 years, Penang's old-guard benchmark for every newer chicken-rice shop.

Duck Blood Curry Mee

• ★ 4.2
• Malaysian
• $
• Pulau Tikus

Duck Blood Curry Mee simmers its coconut white curry fresh daily inside a Burma Road cafe, the Bib Gourmand bowl Penang regulars top with cubes of duck blood.

Kheng Pin Cafe

• ★ 4.2
• Malaysian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Kheng Pin Cafe is the morning kopitiam on Jalan Penang whose loh bak stall, five-spice pork rolls fried in beancurd skin, draws half of George Town.

Penang Famous Samosa

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• Little India

Try Samosas

Penang Famous Samosa fries mutton, chicken, sardine and vegetable parcels at pocket-money prices on Queen Street, Little India's Michelin-listed snack stop.

Fook Cheow Cafe

• ★ 4.2
• Chinese
• $
• Pulau Tikus

Fook Cheow Cafe ladles morning-only koay teow th'ng with mackerel fish balls on Hutton Lane, a Penang local secret listed in the Michelin guide.

Ghee Lian

• ★ 4.2
• Thai
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Ghee Lian ladles a green tom yum found almost nowhere else at the Esplanade food court, Penang's Bib Gourmand hiding in plain sight by the sea.

Padang Brown Food Court

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Padang Brown Food Court gathers Penang's locals-first hawkers by the Dato Keramat padang, led by a seafood popiah stall over sixty years old.

Ah Boy Koay Teow Th'ng

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Koay teow th'ng

Ah Boy Koay Teow Th'ng simmers chicken and pork-bone broth on Lebuh Clarke, a second-generation Bib Gourmand breakfast from RM5.50 in Penang.

Joo Hooi Cafe

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Try Char koay teow, laksa and lor bak under one roof

Joo Hooi Cafe packs char koay teow, assam laksa, lor bak and duck bee hoon into one corner kopitiam on Penang Road, a full hawker crawl per table.

Restoran Kapitan

• ★ 4.1
• Indian
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Restoran Kapitan keeps its tandoors lit around the clock at the Chulia Street corner, four decades into serving Penang's benchmark claypot briyani.

WhatSaeb Boat Noodles

• ★ 4.1
• Thai
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

WhatSaeb Boat Noodles imports its kitchen team from Thailand and was Penang's first Thai SELECT awardee, ladling proper Bangkok-style bowls.

Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle

• ★ 4.1
• Cantonese
• $
• George Town Heritage Core

Tok Tok Mee still kneads noodle dough with a bamboo pole at its Campbell Street doorway, serving Penang's bounciest old-school wonton mee daily.