BY CK LAM

Kimberley Street is a popular street where crowds of people go for hawker food. Located in inner George Town, the street is overwhelming with hawker delights. Most stalls and eateries begin operating at night. Enjoy fare as koay chiap, economy fried beehoon, char kway teow, sweet boiled Chinese desserts, lok-lok and kway teow th’ng.

For those craving for a light snack, head for Ah Seng Char Beehoon stall and enjoy an economical serving of fried noodles with bean sprout and fried with black soya sauce. Small batches are fried to maintain their freshness. The dish is very cheap at less than RM2 a packet. Options include fried yellow noodles, beehoon (rice vermicelli) and kway teow.

Wrapped in brown oil paper, the noodle dish comes with condiments of pickled green chillies and crispy deep-fried sweet bean curd strips (tim chuk).

If you are into deep-fried savoury items, do look out for the stall selling belacan fried chicken and salted fish tofu. It’s located just opposite the beehoon stall.

A dish of rice noodles served in flavourful dark coloured soup, koay chiap is synonymous with Kimberley Street. This dish is served with duck meat and braised egg. A basic bowl of Duck Koay Chiap is priced at RM6. Adds-on are charged separately. If rice noodle is not your fancy, do not worry. There are other choices, such as rice and porridge. The proprietor, Por, has been serving koay chiap for almost 30 years.

In operation for almost two decades, the dessert stall located directly opposite Por’s Koay Chiap has been a hit with locals and tourists alike. Aptly named the Traditional Home of Desserts, the stall serves Chinese desserts. Customers can choose to have red bean soup, almond milk and Leng Chee Kang. The latter with gingko nuts, lotus seeds and dried longan is a bit too sweet. Almond milk is an acquired taste but it goes well with deep-fried crullers (ew char koay).

Further on up the road, you will find Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Th’ng stall situated at the busy intersection of Cintra and Kimberley Street. Slightly different from the common fish ball kway teow th’ng found in Penang, Ah Hai’s koay teow is freshly cooked with fish cake, pork slices, liver, minced pork and fish balls.

Round off the piping hot dish with poached egg. Patrons can choose from yellow noodles, rice noodles, instant noodles and vermicelli. Prices range from RM2.80 to RM4.

Nearby is a van selling cincau, soya bean and bean curd which are perfect accompaniment to the noodles.

Written by CK Lam, food blogger and editor of http://www.what2seeonline.com ; featuring the Best of Penang Food. She constantly combs Penang for the best gastronomical delights and loves promoting Penang Cuisines, Culture and Heritage.