Exploring Nibong Tebal Food

Although Nibong Tebal, Penang was a stone throw away from Georgetown, we had never been there. So, this was our first trip there. There will be four write-ups on Nibong Tebal, namely:

1. Exploring Nibong Tebal Food
2. Pulau Burung Landfill and Byram Estate
3. Changkat Village and Firefly Jetty 
4. Bukit Panchor State Park

A glimpse of Nibong Tebal town

We heard that there was a special soy sauce chicken rice stall somewhere in town. So, we planned to eat our lunch there. After driving two rounds passed Jalan Atas, we finally found the coffee shop. The place was crowded as expected as it was a Sunday. 

The coffee shop that sells the chicken rice

This is the chicken rice stall

We managed to find a table and ordered our chicken rice with homemade sausages. We also needed to wait for a while as there were many customers eating in and waiting to take-away.The thick sauce was sweet and the chicken rice was different from the usual. I thought the chicken rice was just average and the chicken portion was little too but we loved the homemade sausages very much. They tasted authentic. A plate cost RM 3.70.

The popular chicken rice with dark sweet soy sauce, chicken and homemade sausages

Next, a few shops away, there was another eating place. There were two rows of roadside stalls selling hawker food and economy rice. There were two laksa and ice-kacang stalls. We just took our pick and chose Laksa V 2020.

Laksa V 2020 stall

Since we just ate the chicken rice, we could only manage to eat a bowl of laksa (noodle in sour and spicy fish soup with some ingredients) and ice-kacang (a dessert made of shaved ice with mostly sweet ingredients). 

The laksa topped with a big piece of cracker

Dunk the cracker in the laksa' s sour and spicy soup

The laksa here was a little different from other Penang laksa because it was topped with a piece of crunchy cracker. We liked the taste of the laksa as it was not too sour. Besides, the sour and spicy fish soup was quite thick. It was only RM 2.50.

The ice-kacang topped with two scoops of chocolate chip ice-cream

The same laksa stall also sold ice-kacang. Ice-kacang with two scoops of chocolate chip ice-cream was only RM 2.50. They did not emphasize on the presentation of the food but overall, the ice-kacang was a thumbs up.

Cheng Hwa crab porridge restaurant is only opened in the evenings

We also spotted this seafood porridge restaurant along the same road (Jalan Atas). We had not tried before the famous crab porridge in Nibong Tebal but it was only opened in the evenings until midnight.

The crowd at Cheng Hwa Restaurant

To satisfy our craving, we had to come back to Cheng Hwa Restaurant the next night. It was packed with customers. The shop was new and all the furniture and fittings looked new too.

The interior of the restaurant

Without any doubt, we ordered two bowls of crab porridge. Each bowl had a crab together with its shell. However, the shell had been cracked for our convenience. 

My crab porridge

The porridge tasted very smooth unlike some porridge which was actually made of rice with soup. I found that porridge was really sweet (but not artificial) and tasty compared with any porridge that I had ever eaten. The tricky part was eating the crab with a pair of chopsticks. In the end, I gave up eating the crab with chopsticks. I just used my fingers and the job was done. 

The green vegetable sprinkled with meat floss and Chinese wolfberries

Overall, the two bowls of crab porridge and a plate of green vegetable cost us roughly RM 40 plus (which was not too expensive for our crab indulgence). By the way, the crab was weighed first before cooked.

Direction to Nibong Tebal from Penang Bridge:

Use the North-South Highway and head towards Ipoh. Exit at Jawi interchange. Follow signboard to Nibong Tebal. You need to make a U turn when you go down the golden brown steel bridge.

The golden brown steel bridge

Coming up...post on Pulau Burung Landfill and Byram Estate.

Kek Seng Chicken Rice at Penang Road

Eating at the famous Kek Seng coffee shop, Penang Road was a trip down memory lane. This place used to be where my friends and I ate our lunch whenever we went shopping at KOMTAR many years ago. I guess with many new eating outlets mushrooming in Penang, I have almost forgotten about this old place.

The man is preparing drinks ordered

Last weekend, we had our lunch again at Kek Seng coffee shop. It still looked the same but the surprising news was it was rated in TripAdvisor. 

Lor Bak and Hainanese Chicken Rice stalls set up side by side at the entrance of the
coffee shop

I always remember its chicken rice. The Hainanese chicken rice is a must-try. Now, after trying so many chicken rice stalls, Kek Seng chicken rice was still the best. The rice was very fragrant with chicken oil and not too soft or sticky. The roasted chicken skin was very crispy and the chicken meat was tender. The chicken rice chilli was spicy and went very well with the chicken and rice. It also came with a bowl of chicken soup. It was a simple but memorable meal. A plate of chicken rice cost RM 4. It was a few cents pricier than other places but it was worth it. (I am mentioning this because I do not think it is expensive like what some say.) 

The Hainanese chicken rice

I would never miss its signature ice kacang with durian ice-cream (a dessert with shaved ice topped with ingredients). The durian ice-cream had a very strong aroma of the durian fruit and it tasted very smooth. Plus, it was homemade. It was unlike the commercial durian ice-cream whereby it tasted artificial and very sweet. The ice kacang had two scoops of durian ice-cream, a piece of jelly, kidney beans (also locally known as red beans) and sweetened sweet corns with milk and red syrup. A plate cost RM 4.

Ice kacang with durian ice-cream

After our lunch, we vowed that we would come back to this place more often. Some other food in the shop that we did eat that day were the Penang laksa (noodle in thick spicy and sour fish soup) and lor bak (a fried roll of stuff meat). We still remembered that we always ordered them whenever we were here in the past. Yes, then we would be very full.

Direction to this place:

It is just opposite KOMTAR and along Penang Road. It is just a few doors away from Fortuna Hotel. If you drive, you can park your vehicle at Fortuna Hotel's carpark. The carpark is behind the hotel.