Gurney Drive is the "food mecca" of Penang. Well-known to locals and tourists for inexpensive and delicious food, it comes alive after sundown every day, without fail, and stays open till the wee hours of the morning. Here, you can try every imaginable delight that Penang has to offer, from assam laksa (sour and spicy rice noodles with a hint of tamarind juice) to rojak (fruit salad with prawn paste dressing), from lok lok (all manner of seafood, meat, and vegetables strung together like kebabs and dipped into assorted sauces) to silken-smooth beancurd with brown-sugar syrup. Food is sold from makeshift stalls and converted vans, so leave if you are a stickler for hygeine. Otherwise, visitors are spoilt for choice and limited only to the capacity of their stomachs. This is the place to commit one of the deadliest sin of all: gluttony.
We arrived a little after dinner hours and were lucky to find a parking spot and a table almost immediately. With such a variety of food to select from, choose a table near the stall that you intend to purchase food from as seats are premium and stall holders are territorial.
We hit the nearby vicinity upon landing in Penang for a late dinner (or supper) and were introduced to lok-lok, a hybrid between kebabs and steamboat. This is a great way to socialize and get to know the locals, as everyone gathers around a table laden with all manner of kebabs circling a small pot of bubbling clear soup in the center of the table.
To eat: diners select the partially cooked kebabs and place them into the bubbling soup till cooked, dip them into their preferred sauces like satay or chilli sauces and enjoy! At the end of the meal, the number of sticks is counted, and diners are charged accordingly.
Must-Tries:
Penang Rojak: The difference is in the sauce and the ingredients. Penang rojak uses more fruits than vegetables. Common ingredients found in Penang rojak include pineapple, green mango, jumbu air, guava, cucumber, turnip, and fried crispy fritters tossed in fragrant dark prawn sauce.
Assam Laksa: This is almost their national/signature dish. It consists of slippery rice noodles soaked in spicy-sour soup topped with sardine flakes, strips of cucumber, and beansprouts. The Penang version has no coconut milk; rather, tamarind juice is added for that added sourish kick. Though I am no fan of laksa, I deemed it my duty as a visitor to try it at least once and lived to tell the tale.
Char Koey Teow: This is my favorite dish--the one dish I crave for whenever I travel. It is essentially stir-fried yellow egg noodles with white rice noodles in sweet black sauce, prawns, egg, and (yes!) beansprouts. The Penang version is lighter compared to Singapore’s version but still sinfully delicious and fattening.
Other dishes we tried were fried tung hoon (fried vermicilla noodles), BBQ stingray in fiery sambal sauce, and assorted desserts like beancurd in brown sugar syrup; needless to say, we stuffed ourselves till our stomachs felt like overstretched balloons that would burst any moment. I think this was where we gained 1kg instantly.
To aid in digestion, we headed across Gurney drive to the paved walkway along the beach. Here, couples and families jostled along to enjoy the sea breeze and night views. Children were kept entertained with balloons and bubbles while their parents took a breather, couples engrossed with themselves, or friends simply hanging out together. If the sea air is not to your liking, head down to the Gurney Plaza next to the food stalls. A relatively new mall, the 1st floor boasts a café strip with cafes like Starbucks, Secret Recipes, Segrefredo sited next to each other and all vying for the young and trendy crowd. A perfect way to end the night no?
How to get there:
Just hop onto a taxi or trishaw and say "Gurney Drive."
Operating hours: 6pm to 12am
Budget:
Dishes range from RM$2 (US$0.50) onwards.
Non alcoholic drinks from RM$1.