[Penang] Dining Options at Pulau Tikus Night Hawker Stalls

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Pulau Tikus is a hive of activity in the morning when its wet market is open, and a plethora of Nyonya food is on sale. But in the evening, the area in front of the main market building transforms into a hawker paradise, with various good hawker food options.

  1. Sin Wah Char Koay Teow @ Pualu Tikus Market. Some folks endured up to a 2-hour wait for the fried koay teow here. The stall’s been around since post-WW II, and very popular among Singaporeans visiting Penang. Smaller prawns compared to Ah Leng, and even smaller cockles, but it produces a drier rendition with the all-important “wok hei” aroma.

  2. Koay teow th’ng @ Pulau Tikus has the duck soup rendition - standard rendition and, in keeping with its Teochew roots, provide the all-important fishballs and sliced fishcakes, besides duck-meat, topped with chopped scallions and the all-important golden-fried lard.

  3. Hainanese Satay @ Pulau Tikus. Run by a couple of middle-aged Hainanese siblings, their dipping sauce is also typical of Penang-Hainanese satay dip: sweet potato-based, similar to that for “cheh hu” (Chinese “pasembor”). Their version rivals the one by Tong Ah Aun @ Bangkok Lane - Penang’s oldest Hainanese pork satay vendor.

  4. “Yee Sang Kai Choke” - chicken rice congee with raw fish slices, chicken shreds, “yau char kwai” (Chinese crullers), ginger strips and chopped scallions. Very good with a dash of soysauce and white pepper.

  5. Penang-style “chee cheong fun” - the version here is also one of the best I’d tasted in Penang, surpassing even the famous version outside Siew Fong Lye coffeeshop, MacAlister Lane. Great sauces: hoisin-beanpaste, hae koh (fermented prawn paste) and chilli paste.

  6. “Jiu Hu Eng Chye” - processed cuttlefish (imported from Argentina), “kangkong” (water convolvulus) in a thick unctuous “hoi sin” sauce and a generous sprinkling of crushed peanuts on top.

  7. This popular “Putu Mayong” and “Putu Piring” stall, run by Ganesan Larupaya & his family, is not in the Pulau Tikus hawker stalls area itself, but a mere 1 minute’s walk away at Sin Hup Aun Café. Their “putu mayong” and “putu piring” are some of softest and moistest I’d ever tasted anywhere - don’t miss it!
    P.S. - This putu mayong outlet should not be confused with Joe’s Putu Mayong which operates at ulau Tikus’ morning market.

  8. Lok lok - the quintessential must-have if you’re visiting Pulau Tikus’ night food stalls.

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