One of the best places to eat in Penang is at Gurney Drive, which features a fantastic hawker centre alongside the seafront promenade, and due to this close proximity to the coastline, you can be sure of some tantalisingly fresh seafood here!
The “New Gurney Drive Hawker Centre” is probably the best known hawker in Penang, and one of the most frequented by tourists in all of Malaysia. I didn’t spend too long in Penang on my travels in the country, although one thing I was curious to check out (aside from the beaches and the temples) was its local food scene. I love Malaysian food! It is one of my favourite cuisines from Asia, although I am by no means an expert on this cuisine, so I am always willing to look for new things to try!
As well as hawker fare, there are also some amazing restaurants around the Gurney Drive area. I didn’t eat in any of them myself, as I was more interested in the street food, but the whole vibe really reminded me of Clarke Quay – and perhaps more accurately Boat Quay – in Singapore. There were flashing neon lights outside these restaurants to catch your attention, such as at Bali Hai (“if it swims, we have it!”, they boast) and Coffee Island. Most of these restaurants stay open until 3am or later, and although I was never going to stay that late, I was still there late enough into the evening to enjoy the illuminated atmosphere as the skies got darker.
One of the best things about Gurney Drive is watching the street vendors at work, and people-watching. One such occasion came when I saw the Sugar Cane Man! My first experience of sugar cane juice actually came at Pub Street in Siem Reap, although I must say that even if the locals seem to love it, I haven’t actually ever enjoyed the taste too much myself. I would always prefer an ice-cold can of Coke! However, there is something enjoyable about watching the street vendors making this juice, as they feed the sugar canes through a shredder and wait for the juice to come out the other end, all ready to drink!
I actually had two separate meals while at Gurney Drive. I enjoyed some sticky rice in a makeshift version of Nasi Lemak, which is the national dish of Malaysia. Later on, close to the time I was leaving back for my hostel, I chose to get some freshly-grilled satay. Both of these meals were delicious, although eating the Nasi Lemak was a little annoying, as there was nowhere to sit down, so I kind of had to stand in the shadows and eat it by hand. Still nice, though. Health-wise, I don’t have the best of records with satay in Malaysia (I will let you use your imagination as to what that means), but this evening was not a problem, thankfully.