Song River Cafe @ Gurney Drive, Penang

Song River Cafe is a popular hawker center along Gurney Drive which is reportedly to have good hawker food especially for their Bak Kut Teh, Hokkien Mee, BBQ Chicken and Roti Babi.
I read many good reviews about Song River in a Penang Food Guide so I just had to check it out myself. Besides, prior to the visit I have never heard of Roti Babi before – it sure has a funny name lol.

And yeah, the very first food we ordered was Roti Babi. This classical Nyonya dish is basically French toast with minced pork as the filling.
The preparation involves sandwiching minced pork between two slices of bread, dipping them into beaten egg mixture and then deep fried.
It looks yummy but we were not impressed by the taste at all. It was bland with a weird flavor and even the sauce provided didn’t go well with it.
I am actually surprised to find many good reviews about it. Well, maybe it doesn’t suit our taste buds, to each his own.

Next up was Hokkien Mee as recommended by the food guide (I am not revealing the book’s name and author) It was normal tasting only just like the rest, nothing to write home about.

Although fried oysters were not mentioned at all in the food guide, I decided to give it a try. Luckily it was not disappointing and we enjoyed it.

I liked the otak otak because it was spicy enough and the blended fish was fresh. After starting with two disappointing dishes, things were finally starting to get better!

The last food to arrive was the one we enjoyed the most – BBQ Chicken. Sweet and crispy on the outside while soft and juicy inside, the taste was superb. Besides chicken thigh and wings, it seems like the stall also sells BBQ spring chicken?

Here, take a look. They are spring chickens, aren’t they? I wanted to try it but we were just too stuffed to continue eating. By the way, the boss actually thanked me for taking his stall’s photo, lol. I think it’s not the first time he has been photographed.

Next time I will try the Dai Chow or Bak Kut Teh and give the other foods a miss. From what I observed, most people were there for these two stalls anyway. So, did any of you actually eaten in Song River before and enjoyed the Roti Babi?
I might give it another try in KL at Yut Kee kopitiam, I heard the coffee shop serves good Roti Babi too.