Best Food at Cecil Street Market (七条路巴刹)
George town | Penang
Travel Malaysia
Penang's Hawker Food Heaven at the 7th Street.
About Cecil Street Market
Cecil Street market would’ve been mistaken as just another local market. We were definitely wrong!
It took us some research before finding out that this place has quite a variety of AMAZING Penang food all under one roof and we’re going to check out some of the best things to eat here.
Apparently, Cecil Street market is known to be one of the biggest food courts in George Town, Penang.
The official name of this market is called Cecil Street Market, but the locals here know it better as the 7th Street Market (which translates to 七条路巴刹 in Chinese or Pasar Jalan Tujuh in Malay). Probably it has something to do with the fact that it’s exactly seven streets away from the Komtar Tower.
Navigating around Cecil Street Market
The market itself is split into 2 parts: On one side is where you can find everyday goods like fresh food, clothing, and household items; and on the other side, it’s entirely a food court, which is the main reason why we’re here.
Inside the food court, you’ll see row after row of food stalls selling a variety of Penang street food and the best part is you can rarely find stalls that sell the same food.
Though looking for a specific stall here is quite an adventure on its own, however, navigating through this maze-like layout is like diving through the local culture.
Here is our list of best food in Cecil Street Market:
1. Duck Meat Koay Teow Th'ng
- Stall Name: Lum Lai Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng
- Dish: Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng – RM 5.00 (USD 1.24)
First off, we had one of Puri’s favorite Penang food, the Koay Teow Th’ng. This stall is called the Lum Lai Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng. Lum Lai has been serving up delicious bowls of Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng for over 30 years.
Koay Teow Th’ng literal translation means flat rice noodles soup. It does resemble the Vietnamese Pho, but despite the similarities, Penang’s Koay Teow Th’ng has its own unique character and flavor.
In Lum Lai, the Koay Teow Th’ng is served with shredded duck and chicken meat, fish ball, and fish cakes. It is topped with crispy pork lard, spring onions, and some deep-fried garlic.
The broth may look like a very light soup but it has a lot of rich flavors, which is clearly the result of boiling both the chicken and duck meats for many hours. Adding on some of the chilli padi adds a kick of spice to the dish.
Highly recommend you guys to try it out!
2. Yau Char Kwai & Ham Chim Peng
- Dish 1: Yau Char Kwai / You Tiao – RM 1.00 (USD 0.25)
- Dish 2: Kap Chung- RM 1.00 (USD 0.25)
- Dish 3: Ham Chim Peng – RM 1.00 (USD 0.25)
Another food we had here in Cecil Street Market is a type of Chinese pastries, it is called Yao Char Kwai (or You Tiao in Chinese).
One popular way of eating the Yao Char Kwai here in Malaysia is dipping into the coffee, or the more unconventional way which Sue loves is to dip it in half-boiled eggs. The creaminess from the egg goodness and crunchiness from the fried dough is Sue’s all-time favorite combo.
The Yao Char Kwai is very crispy and nicely salted though it is rather oily, but delicious nevertheless!
The next Chinese pastry that we’ve got is the Ham Chim Peng. Ham Chim Peng comes with a red bean filling instead, which makes it looks like the Japanese dorayaki.
Overall, the dough is nice and bready and has a nice salty flavour. They were very generous with the filling as well. It’s a perfect breakfast snack!
3. Kap Chung
- Dish: Kap Chung- RM 1.00 (USD 0.25)
Another recommended Chinese pastry to have is Kap Chung. Almost similar to Ham Chim Peng, Kap Chung is filled with glutinous rice. The dough outside is a little bit crispy and salty, while the glutinouse rice inside is more towards the sweet side.
4. Coffee
- Drinks: Coffee – RM 1.60 (USD 0.40)
Of course, our breakfast isn’t complete with a nice cup of classic Kopitiam coffee.
5. Half Boiled Eggs and Toast with Kaya
- Dish: Half Boiled Eggs and Toast with Kaya – RM 4.00 (USD 1.00)
Together with the coffee, we’ve also ordered a set of half-boiled eggs along with some Kaya and butter toast.
In Penang, half-boiled eggs are usually served in cups instead of a bowl. Add a dash of soya sauce and sprinkle on some pepper onto the half boiled eggs, is the most delicious and Malaysian way of enjoying our half-boiled eggs.
6. Charcoal Fire Char Koay Teow
- Stall Name: Barefoot Char Koay Teow
- Dish: Charcoal Fire Char Koay Teow – RM 5.00 (USD 1.24)
One of the highlight in Cecil Street Market is the famous Barefoot Char Koay Teow. The uncle uses the traditional method of frying with charcoal fire.
The Char Koay Teow has an amazing punch of wok hei. It is topped with few pieces of chunky prawns, which was really fresh and springy. It has some cockles, and as well as Lap Cheong, which is the Chinese sausage. You could also opt for Duck Egg, but we’ve went ahead with the basic chicken egg to try its original flavour. We’ve also asked for spicy, which was perfect for us. It really hit the spot for us. Highly Recommended!
7. Pasembur with Jelly Fish
- Dish: Pasembur with Jelly Fish – RM 5.00 (USD 1.24)
This popular Pasembur in Cecil Street Market has a little Chinese twist to the dish. Pasembur is basically rojak but in a very different style. Back in Kuala Lumpur, we would call this dish rojak but in Penang this known as Pasembur. (Because Penang’s rojak would be the one with fruits and shrimp paste).
The Pasembur was coated with a lot of the sauce. Underneath the sauces, there some shredded mangkwang (yam bean), deep-fried fritters and tofu. It also comes with jellyfish, which is a very interesting twist to Pasembur.
In terms of taste, the sauce is potato-ey, very creamy and thick with a hint of spice and it is more towards the sweet side. It definitely goes well with all the crunchy bits and vegetables.
8. Nyonya Kueh
- Dish: Nyonya Kueh – 6 pieces (Assorted) – RM 6.00 (USD 1.48)
We’ve finished off our feast in Cecil Street Market with some desserts, which we’ve got ourselves a bunch of Kuih (six assorted kuih to be exact). We’ve got the kuih lapis (layer Kuih), the tapioca kuih, the anku kuih, also known as the red turtle kuih that looks like a turtle shell filled with mung bean paste, and Pulut Tai Tai which comes ready with some Kaya on top.
CECIL STREET MARKET (PASAR LEBUH CECIL) 七条路巴刹
Address: 40-48, Lebuh Cecil, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Opening hours: Opens daily from 7:30am to 7:00pm
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