ANOTHER FOODIE HITS PENANG ...

IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I UPDATED THIS. Partly because of sloth although having said that I've actually been very busy, but partly because I've not been to many hawker centres recently. However, last night I finally managed to visit a place I've been meaning to for a while: the famous 888 Hokkien Mee Stall in Presgrave Street (Sar Tiao Lor).

I was taking another fellow foodie on a Penang Street Food Tour: this time Joaquin Persson, a Swede who writes for Travel & Lifestyle Magazine. Of course one had to introduce him to our favourites and seeing as he was staying at Traders in town, where better to start off than this place which was just a short walk away (although truth be told the traffic was a bit hair-raising, so close did it come to us sometimes!).

So we trotted off down Magazine Road and came across the place; as it was still fairly early (6ish) it wasn't that busy and we were able to get a table after ordering the HKM and a plate of Ong's konlow meen (wantan noodles) with a separate bowl of wantons in soup. I have to say the latter two were excellent; just like the old Tok Tok Mee I used to know, down to the pieces of yummy chee yao (pork crackling) in the minimal gravy that goes with it. And cheap too: the two cost just RM5.60.

HOWEVER the HKM left much to be desired: it was quite bland, and if it hadn't been for the chilli boh it would probably have been completely tasteless. Disappointing, considering they are supposed to be one of our better known ones - they were certainly busy, and not quite prepared to talk.

So on we went, this time to the famous hawker stalls at Macalister Road's New Lane, just outside the Sunway Hotel. It was packed as usual, the stalls lining both sides of the "lane". I took him for a quick tour up and down, introducing him to some of our more famous dishes, then we sat down and ordered a few for him to try: must haves like our inimitable Chee Cheong Fun, full of heyko like nowhere else in the world, let alone Penang; Char Kuey Teow but of course, our heritage item, and Laksa, which was again a bit of a let down.

England they have a saying, "You know you're getting old when all the constables look young" ... well here it must be, "You know you're getting old when all the hawker food doesn't taste like what it did"! Having said that the CCF was very good, the sauce dark, thick and gooey.

Even though Joaquin is currently based in Thailand, where this sort of street food is so prevalent, he found it fascinating enough to take lots of photos - to the extent of almost squatting on the road in the face of oncoming cars! However, I think (and hope) that he agrees that he got a fairly good grounding of many of our favourites, but like I said to him, this is just the tip of the iceberg! There are SO many more for him to sample! Welcome to Penang!