Sungai Pinang Food Court Revisited

I can't recall if there was any food court in Penang when I was a kid. Back then, the streets are the food court. Penang people really make full use of their street. Streets in Jelutong town centre are converted into market in the morning. They revert back into streets in the afternoon and transform into hawker centre in the evening. This was the norm everywhere around the island.

But now with rapid urbanization and heavy traffic, roadside trading is gradually becoming less practical and hence the beginning of the food court era in Penang. While the situation is definitely getting more organized, I find that the food is less appealing compare to those served by traditional roadside hawkers. The reason is simple, those roadside hawkers are both chef and proprietors of their own business. They are serious about what they do and will try very hard to earn a decent living. They labor hard everyday to make ends meet and as a result of their passion and seriousness, we as the customers got to enjoy delicious food.

Those stall owners in modern food court however employ people to operate the business for them. There are very few who would personally manage their stalls. Sometimes you would find Indonesian maids serving you Penang Hokkien Mee for example, it just doesn't feel right and you could easily taste it as they are not authentic.

As you would probably know by now that I'm not a big fan of food court but if there is any food court to recommend then I would suggest the one in Sungai Pinang for its many choices of food, comfort and some stalls do serve authentic Penang delicacy.

Ikan bakar or BBQ fish Malaysian style - Golden Pomfret.

Have you tried BBQ vegetable before? This one is a bit too salty for me.

East Coast BBQ is the first prominent stall that greets you at the entrance to the food court.

Variety of seafood to choose from. Sometimes you just can't decide.

Customers are spoilt for choice.

Squid, fish, prawn and so much more.

Deep fried chicken skin always appeal to the locals as we are not very health conscious people.

Black chicken herbal soup. Not really a common dish in Penang and that makes it unique.

Noodles that goes with the black chicken herbal soup - my personal favourite.

Now this is the stall that boasts authenticity where the man himself shows you how he makes his famous biscuits.

The boss, the chef and the marketer.

He hit hard with wooden mallet onto the ingredients that make his biscuits.

Some cute lanterns hanging above the Lok Lok stall.

Customer thinking of which skewer to choose from.

Variety of meat and seafood in skewers on display at the Lok Lok stall.

I always go for fruit juice whenever I was there. A way to balance out all the greasy food that I took in.

The spacious interior of Sungai Pinang Food Court.