Lengendary Penang Char Kway Teow @ Lorong Selamat Penang

When talking about Penang Char Kway Teow (CKT), there are 2 very legendary stalls in Penang serving this. Well, maybe there are many but only these 2 so far make known to me. One is the Sisters Char Kway Teow at Jalan Macalister which I revealed in one of my previous post. Another one is a very controversial "Redhat auntie sometimes with goggle" CKT stall near Lorong Selamat which I'll elaborate in this post.

You can easily Google about the latter on the web. Then you will know why I said she is controversial. This auntie had make a big headline on the web as well as newspaper not only for her food, but also the "boycott campaign" launched on her on cyberspace for some reason!

[Picture taken from As Suanie Sees It]

I won't go deep into the boycotting issue, after all I am just a tourist and I got no reason to boycott a stall at a place of my visit who served one of the most authentic local delicacy, do I? Furthermore at the time of my visit, I don't even aware of this, so basically this is not an issue for me!

Despite facing some time constraint, my friends and I had tried our best to try out the CKT at this stall because we found it so legendary. This CKT stall had existed around half a century ago although it was not at the current location, but just few steps away. At those time there was no seating, no shelter, but Penangites as well as the tourists just didn't mind to queue under the hot sun for her CKT.

Now the stall is still at the roadside of Lorong Selamat, but in front of Kafe Heng Huat. So patrons can order their foods and enjoy slowly inside the coffee shop. However, there is a "symbiosis rule" that the visitors need to obey. You can't just order the CKT only without any beverage from the shop. Otherwise you will be imposed a penalty of RM0.50 per table! It is written big and clear on the wall! You like it or not, you have to follow if you want to try the famous CKT, unless you don't mind to "tapao" or take away or you may feel that is reasonable.

With a big red chef/artist beret on her head while frying kway teow, it creates such an impressive and eye-catching identity to the auntie and yes sometimes she even wear a huge goggle but not at the time of our visit! That's the reason why I called her "Redhat auntie sometimes with goggle" earlier in this post.

I believe that there are always 2 extreme ways to shape an iconic and outstanding personality, either you are damn pretty or choose to be clownish. Obviously this auntie choose the latter and it was not a bad decision after all!

However, you can be plain pretty but not plain clownish to be a center of attention! You have to be skillful in your area of interest then clownish may become the complimentary to boost the reputation. In this Lorong Selamat CKT case, the redhat auntie won't get such a big name in the business if she didn't cook a good food. She won't earn so much of controversial if not because many people are craving for her CKT!

We ordered 3 plates of CKT from the stall and waited for quite some time before the CKT arrived. After tasted, it didn't disappoint me! *Ummmph!!!* If compare to the Sisters CKT at Jalan Macalister, no doubt this one pleased my taste buds more although both were equally oily. It has the smoky wok fragrance that a plate of quality CKT should have. It was tasty! Oh ya, I noticed that these CKT was fried using traditional charcoal stove which may explain why the CKT here has extra kick!

The 3 prawns topping the CKT were really fat, bouncy and juicy! If compare with Sisters' CKT, this was certainly a knockout winner! There was no shredded crab meat topping the dish, but Chinese sausage became the added ingredient which I found tastier. Despite too oily, I really enjoyed eating this plate of CKT! If not because my stomach was too full after eating for whole morning, I think I would go for 2nd plate.

The price is also an absolute WOW!! Each plate of the CKT we ordered cost RM7.00 (default order)! You can also go for RM6.50 or RM9.00 version, but I guess they are just differ in term of ingredient's quantity. Although it was a little expensive, but I think it worth as the food is delicious, the prawns are big and I won't have them frequently anyway. No doubt this is a must try hawker stall when you visit to Penang!

To avoid any penalty for not ordering drink, we ordered Ais Kacang and there is nothing fancy to shout about. Nothing special about it, just a normal Ais Kacang with a scoop of ice-cream on top of it.

For those who wish to try, here are some of the info:

Address: 108, Lorong Selamat, 10400 Pulau Pinang.
Business Hours: 11am - 6pm daily closed on Tuesday