Beef Noodle Soup & Hainanese Chicken Chop at Butterworth

Get to know this place from watching Axian's (阿賢) show on Astro AEC. There are basically 3 Kopi Tiam (coffee shops) along this row of shop houses and the one we went to was Luan Fong.

As we traveled from the Penang Island, we decided to take the ferry. Our journey was taken way back in January 2020. Sadly now this historic ferry which has been transporting people across the two lands for more than 100 years is no longer in service recently.

The unique characteristic of this ferry is you can drive right into it.

Stunning view from the ferry leaving Penang island.

The journey took about 15 to 20 minutes. It was a nice relaxing way of crossing onto the other side compared to the hectic driving on the Penang bridge.

The location of the shop is very close to the Butterworth jetty.

We purposely came for this uncle's Thai beef noodle soup, his name is Kang. During his interview on Axian's (阿賢) show, he told the story about how he learned to cook Thai style beef noodle soup. He used to eat a particular Thai beef noodle soup many years ago when he visited Thailand. It was so delicious that he asked the stall owner to teach him how to cook. The owner was initially reluctant as he scared he will give away his trade secret. However, uncle Kang told him that he only wanted to set up his business in Penang and assured him that he will not be his competitor. He succeeded in the end.

Delicious beef noodle soup.

Too bad we were too late when we got there as he had sold out his Thai soup, we only managed to order his normal beef noodle soup. It was still good anyway.

The trip to a Malaysian Kopi Tiam will not be complete without ordering the Kopi (local coffee).

Soft boiled egg on toast - a common sight of Malaysian breakfast.

You can also order this Hainanese Chicken Chop from the other shop and they can bring over.

有一次无意中在Astro AEC频道看到阿贤推荐这个地方。他介绍了这排商店中3家咖啡店。

我们决定从槟城乘渡轮越洋来到这里。这旅程是之前在2020年1月拍下的。可悲的是，这艘超过一百年历史悠久的渡轮，最近政府已决定不再使用了。从槟城到北海行程大约需要15到20分钟。乘坐渡轮远比驾车在槟威大桥来得舒服多了！

咖啡店的位置非常靠近北海码头。

我们特意要来吃这位大叔的泰国牛肉面，他叫阿江。在接受阿贤节目的采访时，他讲述了他如何学会煮泰式牛肉面的故事。许多年前，他去泰国时吃过他十分喜欢的泰国牛肉面。于是他就要求摊主教他如何做这道菜。摊主最初不愿意因为怕会泄露自己的商业秘密。但是，阿江叔告诉他，他只想在槟城开店，从没有打算在泰国和他竞争。最后摊主同意教阿江。

您也可以从其他商店叫此海南式鸡扒，他们可以端菜过来。

Sri Weld Nasi Lemak

Long queue at Sri Weld's Nasi Lemak stall even before lunch time!

Beautiful nasi lemak.

Two Malay ladies preparing and wrapping the nasi lemak for customers.

Inside Sri Weld Food Court.

 

These photos were taken during my holiday in Penang back in January 2020 (pre-Covid times). Not too sure whether it is still around. Anyone has further update on this premise are welcomed to leave comments here.

Seong Garden Cafe

Still on the town of Air Itam in Penang, Seong Garden Cafe at Jalan Air Itam comes to life at night with the street converted into a night market and open air food court!

The street in front of a row of shops is transformed into a night market in the evening.

Penang iconic dish - Char Koay Teow!

Penang Hokkien Mee - Prawn Noodle Soup

En En Coffee Shop

Further up along the same side of Air Itam Road is En En Coffee Shop. This time there is no private car park nor your personal valet service. We have no choice but parked across the road and have to risk my life crossing the four lanes busy traffic.

The busy Air Itam Road

Belacan Chicken

Hokkien Char

Sar Hor Fan

Spencer Village - Asian Food Court

I was particularly delighted to discover this place called Spencer Village in Thornlie, Perth a while back ago. That day we were driving around visiting display homes in Piara Waters. Thanks to my daughter who couldn’t stop playing in the neighbourhood playground, it was fast getting dark and my stomach has started protesting that it needed food pretty soon. So I dragged my reluctant daughter into our car and head off to Spencer Village which is the nearest we could find from that place. You see finding food after dark in Australian suburbs is a challenge, it is something that is very different from Asia.

I’ve heard of this place before and most people have positive comment about its food. So we decided to give it a try. Hawker stalls and little food courts are something that I have grown up with and it is quite unusual for me that there are so few of this type of places in Perth. So it is a big thing for us to be able to find this place.

The first impression was definitely a good one. We saw the car park in front of the place was almost fully occupied, that means good business and most importantly good food! I managed to find one parking spot at the back and we walked straight in to start our food hunt. Upon entering the building, it was as though we have been teleported back to Asia in one of those Star Trek high tech devices. Almost the entire space was filled with Asians, the ambience was noisy and chaotic, exactly what you would experience in any Asian cities. I saw familiar names like Laksa, Char Koay Teow and Roti Prata.

We ordered a Unagi Rice and Fried Hor Fun Cantonese style. As you can see in the photos below, both came in very big portions. If you get bored with Perth lifestyle at night and would like to go for supper just like you normally do in Asia, then Spencer Village is the place. And the food is really value for money. But if you have high expectation in terms of taste and quality of food, then this may not be a place for you. I’m more for taste and that’s why I’ve only visited the place once and have never gone back so far. I may go again in some nights when I miss experience the Asian ambience while in Australia!

Spencer Village Main Entrance

Malacca and KL Food Stalls

Spencer Village Interior

Stall selling Indonesian food

Hong Kong and Japanese food stalls

Roti Prata stall

Cantonese Fried Hor Fun

Unagi Rice