Penang Food – Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Chendol & Joo Hooi Cafe

It has been quite some time since I last took my family out to Penang for some nice hawker food. I went over to the island recently and checked out some of the old and famous coffee shop that serve some of the famous Penang Lobak, laksa (sweet, spicy and sour noodle dish), char kueh teow (fried flat noodles), chendul (local dessert) and tuapan (wat tan hor). I parked my car at an open air parking lot opposite Ho Ping Restaurant, Penang Road. Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Our first stop, Ho Ping Coffee shop which has been around for ages. Ho Ping is located at the junction of Lorong Kampung Malabar and Penang Road. I ordered two plates of Char Kueh Teow, one Tuapan (wat tan hor, braised fried wide flat noodles) and lobak. As usual for most of Penang food, the lobak tasted great! I also ordered prawns fritters and tofu as side orders. I must say that the chili that comes with the lobak was really nice. The price of 2xlobak, 2xchicken fritters and 1xtofu cost RM4.80. The Char Kueh Teow man was busy frying away kueh teow in his hot wok. There was a good early morning crowd in this restaurant. The CKT cost RM2.70 per plate. I love every Penang style Char Kueh Teow! Yummy! The Tuapan is good, have nice aroma and the gravy is thick. This nice Penang Tuapan, served with liver, prawns and meat, cost RM4 per plate. The wide flat noodles was fried to perfection and have really nice ‘wok hei’ smell, which is typical of Penang Tuapan. I really miss Penang Tuapan whenever I am back to KL. However I have found a place to get Penang Style Tuapan in KL, which I was supposed to post in my blog quite some time ago. A plate of tasty Char Keow Tiaw. The stall owner busy 'wokking' away! The lobak dish..............................................................Tuapan with starchy gravy! The morning crowd a Ho Ping Penang Road Teowchew Chendul (Chendol) After filling our stomach with all the nice food at Ho Ping, we hopped over to Lebuh Keng Kwee (off Penang Road) to eat the famous dessert, Penang Teowchew Chendul. As you can see from the picture, there was a good crowd surrounding this stall. One bowl of this sweet dessert cost RM1.70. The afternoon sun was already getting really hot and we quickly finish the chendol. Somehow, I still wonder how come the chendul from this stall is so famous because, to me the taste was not really that impressive. I guess people like to buy from stalls that are crowded. There is another stall directly opposite it which was virtually almost without customer. Chendul....................................................................The crowd around the stall Joo Hooi Laksa, Penang Road After finishing my chendol, I smell the aromatic laksa gravy. I looked for the source and found this laksa stall in the Joo Hooi Cafe next to the Chendol Stall. There was a long queue of customer waiting to buy the laksa. I found myself standing in the queue and order a takeaway for tea time. Ha ha, you cannot stop eating when you are in Penang. The laksa tasted good with a good balance of sourness, sweetness and spiciness. A packet cost RM3.50, quite pricy! Joo Hooi Laksa........................................................Scene outside Joo Hooi Cafe Then, took my children for a Ferry ride back to mainland. These pigeons are clever enough to hitch a ride on the ferry. I quess it must be too windy for them to fly to mainland that day! LOL. Map to Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Chendol & Joo Hooi Cafe, Penang Road