It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since the pandemic and hence a year since we’ve been able to travel internationally. Right before the travel shutdown, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a month in the foodie paradise of Penang, Malaysia after a month enjoying the wonderful beach of Koh Lanta (read: Koh Lanta destination report) and Koh Lipe in Thailand. We traded the ocean for the table and tasted some of the best food in Southeast Asia!
So without further ado, let’s go explore Penang and unveil in this two-part article what we did, ate, saw, and what we recommend people to avoid.
Overall, we gave Penang a 4 out of 5 stars rating (see our rating legend below). Our accommodation was convenient but simple. The location was great as we were within walkable distance of grocery stores, entertainment venues, and restaurants. Groceries were easy to find and the food was amazingly good and flavorful. Public transportation was good and affordable. The ex-pat community was also strong, even though most ex-pats are regular retirees that decided to come to Penang for cheap healthcare and comfortable living. The major drawback for us was the lack of hiking and outdoor activities that fit our needs.
Our five stars rating system:
- 1 star: We hated this place and definitely do not plan to come back.
- 2 stars: We did not like this place and do not plan to come back.
- 3 stars: We liked this place but do not plan to come back.
- 4 stars: We really liked this place & we might consider coming back.
- 5 stars: We loved this place and are actually considering coming back. This is a place we could call home someday.
With that being said, let’s look into what we liked the most and what we recommend doing in Penang!
| Where We Traveled Penang, Malaysia |
| Number of Days 29 days (from December 17, 2019, to January 14, 2020) |
| Type of Travel Married Couple, Slow Travel/Nomadic, Price Conscious |
Note: Unless specified otherwise, prices are in USD and were converted from the local currency (MYR or Malaysian Ringgit) to USD using a 1:4.1 ratio. (so 1 MYL = 0.244 USD).
Introduction
Penang is an island-state off the northwestern coast of Malaysia, where the capital city of George Town is located. When you think of Penang, the first thing that might come to mind is George Town and its heritage houses or maybe the fact that it is a UNESCO World Heritage. But did you know that Penang is also known for having some of the best food in all of Southeast Asia? Yum 🙂 Malaysia is generally more developed than Thailand so it was also a nice change to experience the convenience of things like pedestrian road crossings and sidewalks!
What did we do, see and eat?
Let’s dig into our favorite places to eat, shop, and get entertained. To help you, we’ve included all the places that we call out below in the following Google Map.
Our Favorite Sights/Activities
Although Penang is an island, we weren’t as excited by the beach in Penang as we were in Thailand. What drew our attention instead was the cuisine, culture, and the national park.
Here are the experiences we recommend to try out in Penang:
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cooking with Chef Samuel – As part of our monthly date night, I took Mrs. NN on this incredible half-day cooking journey where we got to cook four dishes with the talented and knowledgeable Chef Samuel. This experience was one of the highlights of our stay in Penang and was the perfect way to understand all the work that goes into the amazing Penang cuisine we’ve been enjoying during our stay.
Cost: 550 MYR (~135 USD) for a ½ day session starting from picking up the groceries, all the way to cooking and eating at Chef’s Samuel amazing apartment overseeing George Town.
Here are the sights we recommend to check out in Penang:
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Penang National Park – With a total area of about 25 square kilometers, the Penang National Park is the smallest national park in the world (source). It is a great place to hike, stumble upon monkeys, learn about 20+ varieties of ginger, check out a turtle sanctuary along the beach, and more. Unfortunately, due to jellyfish that can be quite dangerous, it is not recommended to swim in the ocean.
Our pro-tip: A free guided tour run during the last weekend of the month which was super informative.
Cost: Entrance to the park and the tour were both FREE!
- Penang Botanical Garden – This garden is full of interesting plants and trees and we highly recommend that you come here during the monthly Saturday free tour (usually at the end of the month) to help you understand much more about all the plants that are part of the garden.
Cost: FREE!
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ George Town Walking Tour – These walking tours are run by the tourist information center at 10.30 am on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. They are 90 minutes long and provide a great introduction to the capital and its dense history.
Our pro-tip: The tours leave at 10.30 am but make sure you arrive by 10 am to register, as they limit guests to 20 per group.
Cost: FREE! - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ George Town Street Art – After taking a tour, keep wandering in the street of George Town to enjoy the amazing and interactive street art which is world-renowned.
We had a ton of fun pausing with the interactive Street Art in George Town! Here are a few of the many pictures we took of ourselves…
Our Favorite Restaurants
Here are our top recommendations:
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant – Our favorite Indian restaurant in George Town and probably one of the best Indian restaurants we ever ate at! Amazing naan, idly, dosa, and lunch set.
Cost: 24 MYR (~ 5 USD) for a pretty big lunch for two people
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine – A very local place that offers a 7 dishes menu (along with a la carte options) that is a great way to get introduced to Nyonya cuisine.
Cost: 65 MYD (16 USD) for the 7 dishes menu for two people - Winn’s Cafe – A very modern place to sample Nyonya cuisine.
Cost: 55 MYD (~ 13 USD) for a lunch for two people with appetizers.
- Hameediyah Restaurant – Touted as the place having the best nasi kandar in Penang! The food was good, but the line was long.
Cost: 32 MYR (~7 USD) for two.
- Gurney Drive Hawker Centre – Lots of street food at this location.
Our Favorite Sweets Spots:
Here are our top recommendations:
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Teochew Chendul Cart – Cendol is an iced Malaysian dessert made of coconut milk, green jellies, and ice. This cart is the most popular place in George Town to enjoy this refreshment and we came back multiple times during our stay. And it is both gluten & dairy-free!
Cost: 3.20 MYR (~1 USD) for the drink.
- Sugar Cane juice – Sugar cane juice are easy to find in Penang and they are super refreshing. We use to get ours via a person that was selling it on the side of the road.
Cost: 2-3 MRY (0.50 to 0.75 USD) for the drink.
Our Favorite Grocery Stores/Markets
Here are our top recommendations:
- Pulau Tikus Wet Market – This was our go-to farmers market where we did most of our grocery shopping. Lots of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meats, and baked goods.
Our pro-tip: When going to the local market in Malaysia, it is good practice to wash the produce you bring back home before preparing them (you can wash them for a few minutes in a solution of water + baking soda).
- Jaya Grocer – A big supermarket at the basement of the Gurney Paragon mall for anything else you need and can’t find at the farmers market.
Our Favorite place to take care of ourselves
Here are our top recommendation:
- A Pouch Scissors Hair Salon – Mrs. NN came to this nice hair salon for her haircut and was pretty happy with the result.
Cost: 45 MYR (~11 USD) for a female cut with shampoo
What to avoid
While it’s great to call out what to check out, we think it is as important to also include what NOT to do. These are things/activities/places we stayed away from. Of course, the taste is personal and so your preference might vary.
- Avoid exploring between 12-2 pm. It gets really hot in Penang so better plan your day either in the early morning or late afternoon.
- Avoid the Tuk Tuks. When walking around the tourist center of George Town, you’ll likely be asked to get on a Tuk Tuk but it’s an overpriced kitschy option. We’d much rather walk, uber or taxi around and the walking tours are much more informative.
- Skip the beach. You might think Penang is a beach destination given that it’s an island but the beaches in Penang are really just to look at. Better to save your beach time for the island of Langkawi or for Thailand.
Our Slow Travelers Tips
Slow travel is part of our philosophy. It gives us the opportunity to really connect with a place by not having to experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and getting unnecessarily stressed for being on a schedule. With slow travel, we can see all the iconic sights and have time to spare to find the more offbeat spots that most tourists miss. Most of the time, those are the absolute gems. And as this blog post explains, we spend much less by leveraging “local” pricing and being able to get long stay discounts.
Here are some tips to maximize a nice and enjoyable stay in Penang:
- Enjoy a discounted weekday daytime movie. Need to escape the daytime heat? There are great discount movie tickets during the weekday daytime for new release blockbusters in a comfortable air-conditioned theater.
- Get tips from local ex-pats. We like to meet both locals and ex-pats living in a city we visit so that we can get their best tips and also learn about what it’s like to live there. There’s a group that meets every Monday at a coffee shop, check the Penang expat facebook group for the latest meeting information.
- Dig into the Nyonya cuisine. Also known as Peranakan cuisine, this is the cuisine from descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang and it is some of the best food you can get on this island.
- Don’t be afraid of food stalls. You might go to a market and think twice about eating some of the food you will see. It turns out that street food is totally fine in Penang from our experience. Use common sense (of course) by going to stalls that are busy and you will enjoy things you’ve probably never had before.
What about the cost?
Because our destination reports were getting so long, we decided to split them into two parts. Part one (this part) is about what to do/see/eat & avoid. Part two is all about the costs where we uncover all the juicy details about our budget and how much the two of us spent during our stay. If the post isn’t linked yet at the bottom of this post, make sure you sign-up for our newsletter so you will get our cost of living post (and any upcoming ones) as soon as they go live. In the meantime, if you really want some numbers, feel free to check out our past destination reports.
Would you be interested in going to Penang? Does this food & UNESCO destination appeal to you? Maybe you’ve already been? Feel free to share your experience and ask questions by leaving a comment below.
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