Breakfast @ Air Itam Market

"Let's go breakfast in Air Itam Market!!!"

There are many hidden treasure in Air Itam market only known to the locals. And nope! not the famous-asam-laksa. (My mum can make better laksa than that)

The one stall that make me going back to air itam again and again and again... is the curry mee near the bridge. It has no proper name or address or contact number. It is being recognised with several names : "near-the-bridge curry mee", "sister curry mee", or what my mum always refer it to as the "squatting curry mee".  

Years and years and years ago, when the 3 sisters from Thailand came to Penang to settle down and started a small business selling curry noodle. There was no proper table or chair but just stools arranged around their humble little made-shift stall in one of the alley near Air Itam market. Customers was spotted squatting around the stall, enjoying their hearty bowl of curry noodle before the start of their day. Hence the name. Now, there are dining tables and chairs for customers but there are still some who prefer to have their bowl of curry noodle the old way.

Self-service is encouraged if you want your bowl of curry mee fast.

Charcoal is used to prepare the soup to bring out the flavour of spices and coconut milk. Soup is not as thick and "lemak-y" as curry mee you get in KL, but the fragrance of coconut milk and spices dance in your mouth with every sip you take. Oh, and the sambal. Heavenly, spicily, tongue burning-ly good..................................................

One thing i am very, very particular with a bowl of authentic penang curry mee is the cuttlefish. It MUST be sambal sotong (chilli cuttlefish) !! Cuttlefish must be marinated and stir fried with pounded chilli paste before serve to give your bowl of curry mee an extra body. Trust me. There is definitely a different between a bowl of curry mee with sambal sotong, and a bowl of curry mee with boiled sotong (which a lot of stall is serving now, and is so sad because the original recipe is SAMBAL sotong!!).

Rating :

Ambience : 2/5

Limited seating, limited parking lot.

Service : 3/5

Self-service is definitely faster than waiting for your noodle to be delivered. However, the 3 aunties are friendly.

Price : 4.5/5

RM2.50 for a normal bowl of curry mee. As for myself, I definitely ask for more cuttlefish, which i only need to pay RM0.50 extra!!

Taste : 5/5

Recommendation : 

Add more cuttlefish if you like. One of the ingredient missing in the photos above is pork blood jelly which i dont know how to appreciate, but is a must in penang curry mee. If you cant stand spiciness, go slow on the sambal. Or you can opt for the stall next to this, which is some-what-equally good, but not as spicy as this stall. Also recommend that you start looking for parking space once you turn in to Jalan Paya Terubong. A bit of walking after a hearty breakfast is good for digestion. (but you know that is not the main reason)

Opens early morning till around noon.

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No... this post is not over yet. :D

Ok. this is what i do, or rather, what my mum will do for us when we go for our curry mee breakfast:

As soon as we get a seat and placed our order for curry mee at the sisters', mum go to the little cart right opposite the junction (refer map) and queue up for char kuey kak/fried carrot cake.

We will normally have a pack or two to take away, and share it together with our curry mee.

Carrot cake is fresh and firm. And with enough of wok hei - strong flame to lock in all the flavour in your carrot cake, but not overburnt. The best fried carrot cake i ever had in penang, kl and most likely the whole of malaysia!! probably in singapore too..

Rating :

Ambience :

Service : 3/5

Price : 4.5/5
RM2.00 for a normal plate of fried carrot cake, with egg. WIthout egg, RM1.50

Taste : 5/5

Recommendation :
Be early. It sell out fast. and i mean real fast.... The last time i went, their last order was around 10.00am.

Opens early morning until it sold out.

Map (for both curry mee and fried carrot cake) :

 

Char Kuey Teow @ 7th Street Market, Penang Island

Many friends who is planning a trip to Penang Island will seek Lady Kathy's advice for authentic Penang char kuey teow (yes, she does have fans). Dont expect me to answer "Lorong Selamat". 

I wouldnt bother for the Sisters: bad service, skyhigh price, stuck-up owner *eye roll*.... nevermind the big prawn and crab meat. I've tasted better char kuey teow in SS2.

The best char kuey teow i've ever tasted, and will always in my high list is hidden in "Jit Tiaw Lor" Market - 7th Street Market. Or rather, the food court next to the market in Lebuh McNair - a place frequent by the locals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It is an old little stall situated at the back of the food court. An uncle is busy fanning the charcoal while working with the wok, and his wife takes order from their long queue of customers. 

First, we talk about the the kuey teow :

Charcoal is used instead of gas, which gives the extra umph of "wok hei" to the kuey teow. Kuey teow is smooth. And the texture is not too dry, not too wet - just the way i like it.

Now, the ingredients :

Taugeh (beansprout) - A lot of stall nowadays gives more taugeh than kuey teow ( to save cost?). So much so that you taste more "taugeh-ish" than the keuy teow itself. But not this stall. Taugeh is fat and juicy, but not too much until it overwhelm the taste of kuey teow.

Prawn - Big, fat and fresh

Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage ) - Lap cheong is being sliced into paper-thin, and with moderate amount. It is being fried together with the kuey teow so that the juices from the fried lap cheong is being absorded into the kuey teow.

Duck egg - Yes. Duck egg. When you place your order, remember to request for duck egg. Or else, normal chicken eggs will be used. The secret recipe of a good plate of char kuey teow is duck egg. It gives the extinguish fragrance which linger in your mouth long after your last bite.

No crab meat. No fancy-unnecessary-expensive ingredient. Just a simple, satisfying plate of char kuey teow to save me from dying of kuey-teow-crave...

And the price of a plate of duck egg char kuey teow? MYR 3.00. where to find??? Not in kl, defintiely.

Rating

Ambience : 3.5/5
Even though food court is right beside the market, there is no "market stink" at all. Just the aroma mouth-watering food

Service : 4/5

Price : 4/5

Taste : 5/5

Recommendation : Duck egg char kuey teow. Try also Lor Han Kor tong sui at the front of the market. 

Opens around 1pm

Map :

Apong Guan @ Burma Rd, Penang

I was born in petaling jaya. My parents are from penang. Penang Island. We dont "visit" penang. We "go back" to penang. Just like my friends who "go back" to ipoh, or johor or melacca or wherever their parents are from. Eventhough, just like me, we are born in klang valley or kl. But to my penang friends, they do not and will not accept me as one penangite. Just becoz i am born and bred in pj. so to them, i am a "kl-girl". Confused already??

Anyway, whenever i am "back" to penang, this is a stop i will definitely and absolutely go to:

Apong Guan, or rather i like to call him Uncle Apong has been selling apong balik (malaysian style pancake) in a cart along Burma Rd for more than 30 years. On a good day, you might just need to wait for 15-20 minutes; and on busy days, you will have to wait for 45 minutes or more!!

Every so often you will see cars stopping by the roadside and call out to order, then stop at the side and wait. Or for batch order (yes, receiving orders of 100+, 400+ of apong is a norm here), customers just call in and collect their yummy snack on the agreed time.

Though his hands is busy chopping bananas and pouring batter, the friendly uncle apong still find time to chat and joke with his customers. And he is just too happy to share his favourite food if you ask.

We were lucky on our last visit and were only made to wait for 15 minutes. The smell of corn batter with shredded coconut, and banana and sweet corn is so heavenly. Not the crispy type of apong you normally get. This one, slightly burnt skin but still puffy inside; with crunchy shredded coconut and sweet corn; and melt-in-your-mouth banana is such a perfect match. Serve it piping hot and it will make you come back for more... yum.... i love penang...!!

Rating :

Ambience : 3/5 
no proper parking lot. but the aromatic smell of apong kind of made up for it.

Service: 4/5

Price: 5/5
(hey, it is only 30cent per piece !!)

Taste :4.5/5

 Recommendation :

Apong Balik of course! Heard the wan tan mee cart right behind uncle apong is good too. Will try on my next trip back. :D

Business start around 9.30am - 9.30pm.

Close every Sunday

Contact : Mr Guan 6016-409 3701

Map :