Street food$george-townEvenings from about 18:00, stalls run to 22:00 or later
Medan Renong lines the Esplanade seafront by Fort Cornwallis with evening hawker stalls, Penang's Malay-food court with a Michelin-listed tom yum.
Tip: Ghee Lian's green tom yum at Lot 39 is the star turn; take a sea-wall table and order pasembur alongside.
Street food$george-townDaily from about 06:30; produce floor winds down by mid-afternoon
Chowrasta Market has traded on Penang Road since the 1890s, Penang's oldest wet market, ringed by jeruk stalls selling pickled nutmeg and mango.
Tip: Come before 10:00 for the wet-market floor; the pickled-fruit shops along the Jalan Penang frontage stay open later.
Street food$pulau-tikusWet market daily 06:00-12:00; hawker centre daily 16:00-22:00
Pulau Tikus Market runs a dawn wet market that hands over to an evening hawker centre, the two-shift engine of Penang's most food-proud suburb.
Tip: Do the 07:00 shift: market hawkers sell out by mid-morning, then return at dusk for the second sitting.
Street food$george-townMornings daily; stalls line Carnarvon Street from Chulia Street southward
Campbell Street Market fills a Victorian hall from about 1900, likely George Town's oldest market building, with stalls spilling down Carnarvon Street.
Tip: The curry mee stall outside the hall is the local pick; pair the market with the Campbell Street shophouse walk.
Street food$air-itamDaily from early morning; laksa and duck-rice stalls run into the evening
Air Itam Market crowds the lanes under Kek Lok Si temple, the Penang wet market whose surrounding laksa and duck-rice stalls justify the trip.
Tip: Eat the famous laksa by the market steps, then queue for the duck rice from 15:30; both are Air Itam rituals.