Penang has enough restaurants to satisfy your craving for more local food! Or let you refresh your palate with a different cuisine altogether!
You can find genuine Nyonya, American, Italian, Chinese and French food and even vegan food! Read what we recommend below!
1. Two Frenchies Cafe Bistro
This quaint eatery is worth finding parking for if you enjoy French cuisine and want authentically prepared French food (one of the owners of this establishment is French).
Light bites like Croque Madame and Quiche feature on the menu. As do salads, French mains, soup-of-the-day (the onion soup is amazing!), pasta and mouthwatering desserts!
We really enjoyed their duck confit!
The different-sized benches and tables along both walls of this narrow cafe and restaurant provide ample and intimate seating for groups too!
Pair their hearty platter for 2 with some wine!
Note: Reservations can be made on their website.
2. Hainantown @ Yeng Keng Nyonya Restaurant
Hainantown @ Yeng Keng Nyonya Restaurant offers both ala carte and dishes for sharing in a lovely dining environment.
Signature dishes of this pork-free restaurant include assam prawns, Hainanese chicken chop, spring rolls, and chicken pie.
See more on what it’s like to dine at Hainantown @ Yeng Keng Nyonya Restaurant.
3. Tek Sen Restaurant
Prepare to be early at this restaurant in a typical shophouse setting!
They used to have just a simple stall back in 1965 to serve Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew and Nyonya dishes.
Along with their extensive ala carte menu, is a pleasing selection of beverages like beer, coffee, local drinks (e.g. water chestnut, sugarcane juice, soya milk etc) and tea!
It’s best to bring a group with you to sample many dishes!
Note: Lunch time sees fewer crowds! Payment is only in cash!
Dishes to try:
- Double roasted pork (with or without chili padi)
- Fish curry (assam tumis)
- Claypot tofu
- Kangkung with sambal and prawns
4. Ka Bee Café
Open for both lunch and dinner, we really like the soup noodles here. And you can order a variety of sides as well.
The ambiance is not fancy but clean and comfortable with air-conditioning. Their tables are suitable for large groups to dine together too.
See what our dining experience was like at Ka Bee Café.
5. The Loft
If you want wood fired pizza, we recommend The Loft over at Love Lane. Service is quick at this elegant space, and they have many interesting pizza toppings including vegetarian options.
We got one pizza to share – it had chicken, tomatoes, basil, pesto sauce and burrata cheese if I’m not mistaken. The taste is balanced and true to the ingredients. In other words, neither ingredient overwhelms the other. The crust of their pizza is more like flatbread than pizza – not necessarily a bad thing.
There were also a lot of mains that we were considering besides their pizza too. They have types of pasta that you don’t usually see (in Ipoh anyways).
Their desserts looked yummy as well, but we had no more room to try their signature tiramisu.
Alcohol is available at this eatery, but we went for a blueberry and banana smoothie which was very nice!
6. Hameediyah Restaurant
This nasi kandar restaurant is one of the best we’ve ever tried! And as a bonus, they have an air-conditioned room for diners just next door!
Queues are inevitable during popular meal hours but it’s worth the wait!
See what we ordered at Hameediyah Restaurant.
Other Restaurants We Have Not Tried Yet:
- What The Duck Restaurant – This contemporary restaurant at Spice Canopy is not afraid to take creative liberties with their dishes. They have dishes like Smoked Duck Apple Walnut Salad or Balinese Crispy Duck (bek-bek)!
- Il Bacaro – For authentic Italian food right in George Town, this elegant Venice-inspired restaurant at the ground floor of Cambell House is great. Everything from the bread, pasta and sauces are made from scratch!
- The Book Sandwich Café – Yes, they specialize in sandwiches (like their lobster sandwich) but the menu doesn’t stop there! As for the ambiance, it’s very romantic with light music in the background and dim lighting!
- Restaurant Ferringhi Garden – this eatery in Batu Ferringhi has a stunning outdoor dining area which is just as nice in the morning as it is in the evening! It can get real fancy (and pricey) with excellent starters like crab cakes and freshly baked bread, wine and their opulent seafood platters and Wagyu steaks!
- Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery – The dining environment is comfortable with spacious seating to cater for families! They have very tasty Nyonya dishes here like Kapitan chicken, eggplant with sambal and Jiu hu char (Dish with shredded radish, carrot with strips of squid).
- Tofu Village –Tofu Village does Hakka cuisine in 2 styles – Hakka or Taiwanese! They have a trendy space with black and white fittings. Taiwanese shaved ice desserts are available too! They boil their own loh han guo drink which you should definitely take advantage of!
- Andrew’s Kampung -Tourists at Batu Ferringhi like to head to Andrew’s Kampung restaurant and for good reason! Besides being affordable, the food is divine as is the service! And you can sit a few stories above the street too! It’s so busy that you might have to make a booking first!
- Lagenda House & Café – This colorful halal restaurant serves delicious food in large portions! Food presentation is top notch as you will see if you order any of their large appetizer platters filled with Malay delicacies! Even if there is no alcohol, there’s still a wide range of beverages to order! Like nutmeg juice and pandan sarabat!
- Jawi House Cafe Gallery -Try authentic Jawi Peranakan food (some with just a hint of Western influence) when you’re busy hunting street art at Armenian Street! And if you’re not hungry, you can try one of their homemade ginger beer or nutmeg juice! Tiny but charming, this restaurant uses a lot of lovely wooden antique furniture!
Conclusion
It is not easy to pick one, let alone, the best restaurant in Penang! Especially when you tire of street food, take a detour to one these recommendations above!
Fine Dining In Penang
There are many fine dining restaurants in Penang if you’re in the mood for something fancier than the options listed above.
Cafes In Penang
Some cafes open in the evening and have mains in the menu too. Black Kettle opens for dinner. And China House alone has several eateries in the same building!
