Char Kuey Teow @ Tiger Char Kuey Teow, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town

 

Name as one of the must tries of the island, Tiger Char Kuey Teow has been serving plates of fried rice noodles for generations. Well, it goes without saying that if you have not eaten char kuey teow, you have not visited Penang. And Tiger is one of those important bastions that dish up this iconic fry up. 

Sound of silence

Located as a stall in Ping Hooi Cafe kopitiam, the hawker stall has eclipsed its landlord in terms of name power and reputation. And as I was in a hotel located at the same street, why not right? I had the duck eggs special with chilli, which is of course a Penang specialty. And after a few minutes, my toasty breakfast was ready. 

Perfection. Although I think the plate is false advertising. 

Glistening with red chilli oil and with the scent of roasted walnuts, the wok hei for this plate was astounding. It definitely looked the part. How was the taste though? Not surprisingly, spectacular. 

Juicy!

The rice noodles were toasty and charred but still had a good amount of moisture. The duck eggs add a deeper and more savoury flavour than your usual chicken egg. Seasoning for this plate was on point, and you can taste that barbecue-like wok hei aroma at the back of your throat. The prawns were fresh and juicy. The chives and bean sprouts gave it a fresh bite. Hot damn, this was good. 

Cleaned! All too easy

I also had a cup of coffee since it was breakfast after all. The uncle from the shop recommended white coffee. It was an instant one from the packet, but it did the job to kick start my day. My only complaint for my breakfast is that this is more expensive than the usual char kuey teow, standing at RM8 a plate. But other than that, this was great. 

Another peek inside, with the uncle behind the Tiger stall preparing a fresh batch of orders. 

I was there relatively early way before the crowds come in, and comfortably sat in and enjoyed my morning as its first customer. This was about 8 am on a weekday morning. If you would want to come here for some solitude in the weekends, then you have to be there even earlier. So if you would like to try a plate of glorious char kuey teow, then the address is as follows:

Ping Hooi Cafe (Tiger Char Kuey Teow) 179, Lebuh Carnarvon,  10450 George Town, Pulau Pinang

The front of the house. That drawing was supposed to be a tiger. Well, its up for you to judge.