During this time of the year Penang will be crowded with people craving for a fix of their favorite hawker food. And by ‘this time’ of course I mean Chinese New Year. Today is the fourth day of CNY and the majority of the hawkers are already back to business. Not only tourists from other states want to take this opportunity to visit Penang and eat all day, even a Penangite like me too ah! No choice lah, I work outstation so I am rarely in Penang nowadays.
Anyway, I went around George Town today to start my food hunt and found most of the famous places all crowded to the max. Some really famous ones like the Char Koay Teow at Lorong Selamat and Ah Leng had a minimum waiting time of 1 hour. Wahhhhhh.
For Ais Kacang I know most of the people will choose to eat at New World Park for convenience sake. But finding a seat would be almost impossible, even harder if you’re alone eg. ME! Even if I found a seat, it would be taken by someone else while I queue for my food lol.
I remembered I had a complain about the ABC at New World Park. Although it looked the same, the taste was just not the same anymore. This prompted me to eat at the coffee shop where this famous ABC was originally from – Sin Se Kai just opposite New World Park.
The normal ABC costs RM2.30 but you can opt for an extra scoop of ice cream at RM2.70, which was exactly what I did. The first thing I noticed was the ice cream balls’ portion that obviously shrunk in size and the lesser ‘liao‘ (ingredients) Cost cutting on ingredients is observed here.
That aside I felt the Ais Kacang was pretty OK, at least I could taste the flavor it once had when it was at its best. Or it could be because my taste buds deteriorated ever since going to Singapore so any Penang food tastes good to me. lol just kidding.
While you can choose to eat at a less crowded place.. that does not apply to car parks lol. Everyone parks at the same place regardless of where they eat. To save myself from this problem I chose to park at the private car park next to Sin Se Kai. It costs RM3 per entry! Wahhhhh.. parking in Penang also not cheap already.
Kafe Sin Se Kai (opposite New World Park)Swatow Lane, Penang
GPS Coordinates: N5 25.268 E100 19.59
I tio stomach ache after eating here 3 years back and ended up in hospital for the night… lol..missed my night bus as well.. really memorable place
Hey vKeong,
Same here. I went to New World Park yesterday and it was very crowded. Then I move to Sin Se Kai. I parked @ New World Park but that just cost me RM1 :P
Coincidentally I was also food hunting in Penang on the 4th day. Suprisingly the traffic was smooth.
1st stop. Lorong selamat CKT for the endurance test. I knew I would die in the shop within 90 minutes with the heat,oily smoke and humidity but luckily the CKT came in the 89th minute.By that time we had already gobbled up tons of food ordering from the street nearby. The CKT is over rated, for me.
2nd stop. the Teow chew chendol at dun-know-wat-street. 60 to 70 thirsty mouths surrounded the tiny stall under scotching heat ,those with longest hand got served first.
3rd stop. Kapitan tandori. If u feel that it is not hot enough outside,pls eat in this shop. Lot of kwai lo eat here sitting next to the hot stove. But the tandori chicken is excellent.
Last stop, Tokun mee goreng in Kulim. I guess they r related to the Celok Tok Kun (yr previous blog). This is the best mee goreng I ever had. This is the only food I cherish most during this trip.
I went to ah leng at 6th day of CNY, waiting time less than 15minutes :D
I will pick ah leng over lorong selamat anytime due to the way shorter waiting time :D
btw, the last time I had the ABC at new world park few weeks ago, i also dint find that its nice at all…..sigh…..
1 hr wait for CKT – that’s mad!
Next CNY we’re not going back to Penang until after 7th day, I think.
Yeah.. no choice loh. During the first 3 days of CNY most hawker stalls in Penang would still be closed. And the wait is made worse with the tourists from outstation too :P
Afaik, the ice kacang in New World Park is the original one that made Sin Se Kai famous. They were not allowed to operate their stall in or near the shop, at least had to be across the road.
Even before New World Park, as a child some 30 odd years ago, I’d go with friends or family, sit at the roadside seating outside Sin Se Kai just to have the now-known-as New World ice kacang.
So to hear you calling Sin Se Kai the original really crosses wires in my head… Their name was merely used for easy location reference afaik, lol.
Should you have the time to clear it up on your next Penang trip, it would be great! I’d like to also know if I’ve been mistaken all my life, ROFL.