Malaysia

Food places in Butterworth Penang locals love

Take an easy ferry ride to Butterworth and discover local food gems you can’t find in Georgetown.

  • Cheong Kamei
  • November 2019

Georgetown has its fair share of famous food stalls but if you’re looking to avoid throngs of tourists and discover local dishes beyond the usual hokkien mee, assam laksa and white curry mee, Butterworth is the place to go. Penang-born food blogger Ng Sock Peng shares her favourite food stalls to make a beeline for.

1. Koay Teow Th’ng from 7 Village Noodle House

The koay teow th’ng at 7 Village House is topped with pork slices, minced pork and fishballs.

Penang is famous for its char koay teow but Ng says there’s another koay teow dish that locals love — koay teow th’ng (flat rice noodles in a pork broth).

Even though 7 Village Noodle House has expanded from a roadside stall into a chain of restaurants in Penang, Perak and Petaling Jaya, locals still like to head to the original location at Butterworth for a bowl of slippery noodles in a pork broth that takes hours to make.

Address: 6,8 and 10 Lorong Ceri 6, Taman Aman Jaya, 12300 Butterworth, Pulau Pinang

Open from 7am to 5pm

2. Chiam Chiam Rojak from Jalan Pantai

In Singapore, your plate of rojak is likely to come with jicama, you tiao (Chinese-style fritters), cucumber and pineapple in a dressing made of tamarind and shrimp paste.

You can find rojak in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia but like many other Southeast Asian dishes, it varies in each destination. For example, in Surabaya the local speciality is Rujak Cingur — cooked cow lips, green mango, pineapple, rice cakes and tofu are tossed in a dressing made of fermented shrimp paste and topped with fried shallots and shrimp crackers.

For hygiene purposes, don’t double-dip your skewers in the sauce.

In Penang, rojak is served in skewers. Take your pick from the selection of skewered fruits, vegetables and you tiao, then dip your skewer into the container of thick shrimp paste sauce with an almost toffee-like consistency. Ng says Jalan Pantai is the best place in Butterworth to try this popular afternoon snack.

Address: Jalan Pantaim 12000 Butterworth, Pulau Pinang

Open from 2pm to 11pm

3. Seafood with beehoon at Ong Cheng Huat Seafood Restaurant

This seafood restaurant does not serve white rice — only the delicious beehoon it’s famous for.

Cheng Huat Seafood Restaurant started as drink stall selling coconut toddy but due to customers’ requests to have some food to go with all that booze, the owner started whipping up food dishes like fried beehoon and stir-fried clams. Turns out, he’s a pretty good cook and people started heading to the stall for his simple, home-cooking style seafood dishes. Ng says the Teochew steamed fish is a must-order — the meat is firm and fresh, and the secret sour plum sauce is addictive. Just be warned: the stall doesn’t sell rice to go with the concise selection of seafood dishes — only the fried beehoon that started the restaurant in the first place.

Address: 6093 Kampung Pokok Keras, 13400 Butterworth, Pulau Pinang

Open from 11am to 5pm

4. Fishball Uncle

66-year-old Tan Chong Hau (affectionately called “Fishball Uncle” by locals) has been selling steamed fishballs for over 30 years. He makes about 3,000 springy fishballs daily at home and then keeps them warm with a charcoal steamer on the back of his motorcycle. He travels around Butterworth throughout the day but Ng says you’re likely to find him outside Raja Uda Apollo Wet Market between 2 to 5pm.

Address: 6587 Jalan Raja Uda, Taman Bunga Raya, 13000 Butterworth, Pulau Pinang

READ MORE: More top hawker stalls in Penang only locals know about opens in new window

  1. Penang
  2. Northern Malaysia
  3. Malaysia