Anyone who’s ever been to Padang Brown for a quick, greasy dinner probably wouldn’t be surprised to know the Pearl of the Orient is arguably the best place in Malaysia to get face-stuffed, but Lonely Planet has raised Penang’s stature up a notch by naming it 2014’s top culinary spot for 2014.
According to The Independent, Lonely Planet’s commissioning editor Robin Barton says that despite Malaysian hawker food has spread far and wide through “food trucks and pop-ups” across the globe, nothing beats the experience of eating it in Penang.
“Its food reflects the intermingling of the many cultures that arrived after it was set up as a trading port in 1786, from Malays to Indians, Acehnese to Chinese, Burmese to Thais. State capital George Town is its culinary epicentre,” he said.
Barton named char koay teow (flat rice noodles with shrimp, bean sprouts, egg and sweet Chinese sausage), Hokkien mee (egg noodles in a pork broth with prawns, egg, bean sprouts and water spinach) and asam laksa (thick noodles in a spicy fish broth with tangy asam, a sour tamarind paste) as the three must-eat foods in Penang.
He also recommended the Esplanade Food Centre – that’s Gurney Drive if you’re old school – as the best one-stop location on the island to try Penang’s myriad food selections.
Barton also urged visitors to Penang to try out the food offered in pasar malam, or night markets, where one may find ” peppery pork-rib soups, skewered fish balls and sweets such as chendol.”
Penang beat out other global food hot spots such as Victoria in Australia, Lake District in the UK, the US’s Deep South, Puglia in Italy and Oxaca in Mexico.
Last November, CNN Travel afforded Penang similar acclaim, naming it as having one of the best street foods in Asia.
Photo: Carina Ong / Flickr
Source: The Malaysian Insider
