FOOD PARADISE: HAWKERS AT GURNEY DRIVE

This isn’t our very first family-reunion meal in Penang. I’ve reserved that on my next post. I chose to showcase first what makes Penang so charming to tourists and first-time visitors like Tina and Gabby -the stalls of street foods called hawkers.

A visit to Gurney Drive particularly before dusk isn’t complete without sampling what hawkers before the bay have to offer. Food choices are as numerous and diverse as the volumes of cultures, religions and colors here in Penang.

Over those fancy and high-end restaurants and varied fast foods, I was glad that Tina took the initiative to ask me to bring them there last Sunday afternoon.

After her appointment at a nearby medical institution (that also deserves a separate entry), we strolled the streets going to Plaza Gurney mall; roamed for a while, and finally headed to the hawkers just beside it.

She tried her luck on finding tuknene and kwek-kwek here, but I guess it’s unique to the streets of Manila, or at least their names. We found skewered quail eggs actually but less the orange-tinged coating.

Sun sets in this side of Asia later than you think. Darkness falls around 8 in the evening. These photos were taken during our dinner-snack at half hour past six and it was still sunshiny.

Without biases to spicy and curried dishes (read : I had enough; believe me!) Tina, Gabby and I sampled and shared these few non-Halal yummies…

Fried Lok lok : deep-fried seafood balls, chicken pandan and few veggie+seafood goodies which are sold at RM 2/stick (PhP 28)…

Yong Tao Foo : A variety of food selection like fish balls, dimsums, crab sticks, meat balls, tofu, and many more in a mildly salted broth with your choice of noodles.

Freshly extracted sugarcane juice, anyone?

To wash everything down, I got freshly chilled coconut complete with its juice and pulp (RM4/PhP 56).

With a bottle of mineral water, we only spent RM 21 (PhP 294), not bad isn’t it?

Foods are so affordable here in Penang hawkers but my family’s smiles remain priceless… *namiss ko ito!*

Although we were not adventurous in tasting Malaysian and other Asian delicacies available there, we left hawkers at Gurney Drive satiated and happy.

More of our food trips and travels on succeeding posts…