Overview
⭐ Name: Siam Road Charcoal Char Kuey Teow
📍 Location: 82, Jalan Siam, George Town, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia (Gmaps link)
🗓️ Date of visit: 25 May 2023 (Thursday)
💰 Cost: RM 9 per plate of Char Kuey Teow, RM 7 for set of two chicken wings
Food Review
Note: This post is part of a food hunting compilation of all the places we visited in Penang in May 2023. Check out the rest of the series HERE.
After we came down from Penang Hill, it was time for lunch. We decided to look for this famous Char Kuey Teow that was recommended to us by a local who’s a friend of a friend. On the Grab ride there, it started pouring! ☔ We had to get out our umbrellas just to exit the car and run across the road to the stall. People were huddled under the shelter outside the shophouse. Even in the rain, the queue extended from the front of the shophouse all the way inside.
As we stood at the back of the queue, one of the ladies who either owned the drinks stall in the shophouse or was another worker for the Char Kuey Teow stall directed us to an empty table. I sat down at the seats she indicated and ordered us a drink while Mr Bao stood in queue (Thanks Mr Bao 😘). It looked like it was going to take a while as every plate is made to order. After staring longingly at the picture of the chicken wing set on the wall, I ordered a plate for us too. 😋
After over an hour of waiting, where I finished reading the only manga I had downloaded on my phone, our food was finally here! I even captured a video of the stallowners handing Mr Bao our two plates and his triumphant walk back to the table. 🤪
Char Kuey Teow: 1 spicy and 1 non-spicy (RM 9)
Mr Bao’s trick for eating something new is to copy the order of the person in front of him. This time, he noticed that someone had ordered two plates just for themselves: 1 spicy and 1 non-spicy. Since there were two of us, it felt only logical to also order 1 spicy and 1 non-spicy plate. And his gamble paid off again!
We had the non-spicy one first, nice and warm after coming straight out of the wok. I wouldn’t say that the wok hei was super pronounced in this version but it was still all sorts of good. The spicy one had a different flavour from the non-spicy one! It’s not just an added heat but there was a fragrance in the chilli that altered the taste of the dish itself. I liked both, but honestly I think the non-spicy one surprised me. I usually think spicy versions of things are better, but in this case, the non-spicy version could hold its own just as well.
Chicken wing set (RM 7)
This was good but also normal. I just think it was interesting how the stall owners had found an opportunity to earn some extra money from hungry customers who were waiting for the main attraction. 😂
Overall verdict
The CKT was really quite addictive. I think the location was not too bad either as it’s in the general Georgetown area. Worth a visit, but be prepared to wait! I think 1 hour was already considered a short wait, though we might have come at the tail end of the lunch service. Maybe it was the rain, but the crowd had thinned out by around 2pm. All the best food hunters!
💜 jy
About Food Reviews
My reviews will be based on the date and outlet of the visit, the dishes I tried, and the overall dining experience. Ratings are just for fun and may not be an accurate reflection of a food establishment’s entire repertoire. I just hope to share some food memories with you!