As mentioned on the Malaysia introduction page, we flew into Penang (PEN) airport from Bangkok’s (old international airport) Don Mueang (DMK). The rate we booked for our room at the Mango Tree Hideaway, our guesthouse in Penang, included airport pickup and we were happy to be met upon our mid-afternoon arrival by a very professional driver who asked us to call him Rocky (mobile: +60124936845.) Rocky drove a comfortable late model sedan with plenty of trunk space for our luggage.

I don’t know about everyone but the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of “Penang” is food. The city has a well deserved worldwide reputation for great food in general and delectable, unique and safe-to-eat street food in particular so we didn’t want to waste any time in jumping in with both feet.

(In fact, as I reread what I have written below it appears that virtually all we did in Penang was go from restaurant to restaurant and anything else we did was done because it was conveniently located between restaurants.)

We used one of our tricks for maximizing our experience in a city by scheduling a “Food Walk” for that first evening in the city with Virginia, a guide we found on the WithLocals.com website. We had already arranged another half-day tour with Virginia for later in our stay and she was happy to add the extra evening food experience.

There are lots of hawker centres closer to our hotel’s central Georgetown location but Virginia drove us to the north shore of the island to the Long Beach Batu Ferringhi food court. On the drive she gave us a general Penang orientation plus the chance to see some of the island and get a little better feel for where we were.

Once we arrived she gave us the primer on some of the local specialties and how the hawker centre concept works (find a numbered table, walk from booth to booth around the perimeter of the food court ordering food to be delivered to the table) and we were off to the races.

We wanted to try everything and while we couldn’t do that we did manage to order way too much for three people but we were able to sample a wide variety of foods. This particular centre has a vendor that Virginia suggested served the best spring rolls in Penang so we ordered those and they were excellent. We got our first taste of real Malaysian chicken satay that night and it became a dish we would order almost every chance we got. We had a very good plate of grilled duck and an equally good Chinese steamed pork dumpling. We were a little disappointed in the chicken rice as we didn’t know enough about the dish at the time to specify it with white rice and it came with a rice that had a heavy dose of soy sauce that overpowered all other flavors.

The Mango Tree Hideaway does not serve breakfast but fortunately for us Bridge Street Prawn Noodle was no more than a 1-minute walk from the hotel. This place was recently made famous in a CNN report on Asian cuisines but it has long been regarded by many as the best Prawn Noodle in Penang. When dropping us off at the hotel we passed by it and our driver Rocky told us that he will drive out of his way to get his noodle prawn fix there. It drew equally high praises from the staff at the Mango Tree so our first morning, after coffee in our room, we took the short stroll down the street and placed our order at the front where the noodles and broth were being heated and served.

We had done a little research and knew to order a “large” with extras: extra pork ribs for me and extra egg for my partner and what we got was about as good a bowl of breakfast noodle soup as could be imagined…and with the extras at a price of about US $1.25 a bowl.

We don’t have a lot of experience with other versions of Prawn Noodle but we are told what is prepared here is lighter than what is sold in some other restaurants in Penang.

On that first visit we sat at one of the few inside tables next to the family’s Chinese shrine but on subsequent visits (we went there every morning) we sat at an outside table and saw the grandmother prepping vegetables and shrimp at another table in the garden.

After breakfast that first morning, Rocky picked us up for a half day Central Island tour that included Penang Hill and the Chinese style Kek Lok Si (Buddhist)Temple, two of the most iconic local landmarks on the island. As with the airport pickup, this tour was included with our hotel reservation.

Visitors que up at the base of Penang Hill to take the Funicular tram to the top station. Once there we joined a lot of other people on the viewing platform taking in the panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside from roughly ½ mile above the base. The cooler temperature at the higher altitude was one of the original draws that led the British to begin development of the hill top but it now includes a coffee shop (where they sell tepid coffee made from instant), gardens, a small hotel, a Hindu temple and a mosque. We joined in with another couple and shared the cost of hiring a golf cart for the ride from near the upper funicular station to the hill top.

From there it was a short drive to Kek Lok Si, which claims to be the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, but for sure the most famous in Penang. The complex also includes a 100 foot tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy and some extremely intricate granite carvings. This stop also included a ride in a golf cart to the top of the complex.

Assam Laksa, a spicy fish based (rice) noodle soup in a tamarind flavored broth is one of the iconic street foods in Penang. And like with every other dish, different people will tell you where to find the very best in the city. Rocky’s opinion was the best could be found at Pasar Air Itam Laksa so that’s where we ended up for lunch. We had a little trouble finding a table but eventually one of the members of the owner family directed us to a just opened spot and Rocky did the ordering. We were served a spicy soup with both mackerel and sardines, lots of veggies, chilies and topped with a dollop of shrimp paste. I liked it but my travel partner found it too “fishy” for her taste.

We had planned to venture out that evening to another closer by Hawker Centre for dinner that night but the skies opened up and we had a heavy downpour that lasted for hours. We had noticed that right next door to Mango Tree under the same colonial colonnade was Pho Viet so we opted to stay dry and give it a try.

We’ve been to Vietnam quite a few times so it would be hard for us to say it was the best Vietnamese food we’ve ever eaten but it was generally very good and reasonably supported the restaurant’s claim of “Good authentic Vietnamese food”. It was really kind of late when we arrived so we ordered very simply.  We liked the banh mi (sandwich) and Goi Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Salad) and we loved the crème caramel flan-like dessert that the restaurant comped to us. And we managed to stayed dry without having to open our umbrellas.  All-in-all it was a successful improvised evening.

Following (our prawn noodle) breakfast the next morning, Tour guide Virginia picked us up for a half day tour of Georgetown, Chinatown, little India and Armenian Street. I won’t go into all the detail of what we saw but you can see a description of the tour at the Withlocals web site.  Some highlights for us were:

• • A walk through a local market where many locals buy produce, used clothing, sporting goods, household items and electronics. We managed to find a mini Bluetooth speaker for a very affordable price as well as a few snacks
  • A walk through Penang Flea Market; both the wet and dry areas. The wet market is not for the faint of heart
  • A very a colorful Hindu temple
  • A visit to the remarkable China House complex. The place runs the length of entire city block with the front door on one street and the back door on another. It includes a variety of rooms each with different offerings. The entrance we came into was the Canteen, a smoky bar with live music and the smell of stale beer but as we walked further back into the place we then passed by a kitchen where cakes were being baked and another room where restaurant diners were seated then through an outdoor courtyard with tables and finally into a coffee shop/bakery with gigantic cases where guests could pick from any of the 50 or more cakes that are baked fresh daily

• • An Oh-my-God experience tasting little treats from the Ming Xiang Tai Pastry in Chinatown. They were so good we bought more to have the next day on our train ride to Ipoh.

• A walk among the residences and businesses built above water on Jetties on the Penang Strait. We saw a restaurant selling soup for family in a single bowl…one that held 10+ portions. That was a big bowl.

After the tour we returned to our hotel for a rest but that evening we walked back to the same area and had dinner at the Viva Hawker Centre. The food was pretty good but rather ordinary for our now Penang educated palate. The most memorable thing about the place was the number of and the size of the Carlsberg Beer signs.

Early the next morning Rocky picked us up and drove us via the Causeway to the mainland and the Butterworth train station to catch our 7:25 am train to Ipoh.