Walking and Eating George Town

For those not following EatingAsia on Twitter or Facebook, a link here to our walking tour of George Town published in yesterday's Wall Street Journal Asia. This isn't just any old walking tour, but a stroll that highlights delicious eats from shops and hawker stalls with a pedigree. We start early, at a decades-old lor mee stall, and end at 4pm next to Fort Cornwallis with the best mee goreng on Penang.

If I had to choose one don't-miss spot from this tour it would be Leong Chee Kee, a tiny bakery hidden in a parking lot where master baker Leong How Keng crafts what I'd wager are the most delicious coconut tarts in all of Asia. Just have a look at these babies (photo above): they're big, plump, and double-crusted, and their layered pastry wrappers, impossibly flaky, are filled with a generous amount amount of not-too-sweet coconut. Just fantastic -- which may be why they're often sold out by 11am.

Leong Chee Kee also does a wonderful hor chio pia, thin shortbread-like biscuits with a swirl of black pepper-heavy ground spices. Most tourists buy their hor pia at a nearby shop on Cintra Street, which in our opinion turns out an inferior version. Seek out Leong How Keng and his baked goods -- we promise it will be well worth the effort.

Comments

[Foodfreak]

I so need to get back to Penang... reading this even more... I am drooling and want to go back to MY right now! thanks for sharing

[the lacquer spoon]

Simple, but gorgeous look! Wish they're my breakfast of tomorrow...

[Mark @ Cafe Campana]

Oh I'm a little disappointed, I wish there was a recipe for these coconut tarts. They look great. Your city walk article was really interesting, I have a burning desire to eat my way around asia now.

[twitter.com/prime_sarmiento]

I miss Penang. the food there is really great esp the cendol and the laksa at ayer itam

[J2Kfm]

Robyn, I usually buy my coconut tarts, egg tarts and other pastries from Ng Kee Cake Shop, about a few doors away from Tai Tung Dim Sum which opens at night.

http://www.j2kfm.com/penang-street-food-lebuh-chulia-lebuh-kimberley-lebuh-cecil-market/

Is this the inferior version of the pepper biscuits you mentioned?

[Robyn]

Hi J2Kfm - Yep that's the one. No offence intended but I think the quality pales in comparison. It's a matter of taste though -- to each their own.

Mark -- there's a sort-of recipe in the brochure from the shop. Perhaps once we're back to Malaysia I'll post it. But I'm unlikely to try it myself. Baking is definately not my forte, esp any baking involving pastry or crusts.

[Pete]

Oh my, this coconut tart from his bakery - I've been having them since the early-70s. In those days, we can still get them in the late-afternoons.

[taufulou]

welcome to my hometown..glad you found all the good food~

[Sisi]

Hi Robyn,

Great piece! My favourite Mee Goreng is still the former Edgecumbe Road hawker who has since relocated to Gurney Drive Food Court near the the 7-11 store.

Also wanted to let you know that visitors to Penang can have an easier time locating the famous hawkers with a free Penang Street Food iPhone app which is available on the App Store.

Cheers!