GEORGE TOWN, Sept 27 — A true-blue authentic Hokkien dish, the Penang oyster noodles is one must-try dish when in Penang.

The dish of braised yellow noodles served with a medley of oysters, meat or fish slices, shrimps and vegetables in thick, savoury gravy is something to be enjoyed especially if you love oysters.

Though the origins of this dish are undetermined, it is very much a Hokkien dish that can only be found in Hokkien restaurants or stalls in coffee shops specialising in this particular dish alongside other Hokkien dishes.

The preparation of this dish is simple enough as it involves fresh yellow noodles stir-fried with ingredients like pork, chicken or fish slices, shrimps, vegetables and oysters along with a generous thick gravy.

The resulting flavour is a unique one where the alkaline taste of the noodles is masked by the rich, briny flavours of the generous servings of plump fresh oysters.

The dish is then topped with crunchy fried shallots and parsley for a fresh green bite, balancing out the overall flavours perfectly.

Despite it being an authentic Hokkien dish and Penang’s ethnic Chinese population being predominantly Hokkien, the oyster noodles, which is also known as or mee in Hokkien is not as commonly found as other popular Penang hawker fare.

The or mee is only served at specialty Hokkien shops and restaurants and not as easily found at hawker centres or coffee shops.

We went on a search for stalls and restaurants offering this Hokkien dish and these are our top five picks:

Mutiara Selera Restaurant, Lorong Delima 5
GPS: 5.382153, 100.304588
Time: 6pm-10pm
This is a coffee shop with a variety of hawker stalls inside and one of them offers oyster noodles and mee sua soup but their specialty has to be the oyster noodles. Their version is a light concoction of braised yellow noodles with juicy oysters, slices of fish and chicken, shrimps and vegetables.

Koh Low Oyster Noodle, Dua Dua Satu Lapan Cafe, Lorong Kampung Malabar
GPS: 5.419233, 100.332383
Time: 5pm-10pm
This is also a coffee shop with a variety of hawker stalls and the Koh Low Oyster Noodle stall used to be at a coffee shop along Macalister Road for many years before they shifted to this coffee shop recently. Their version has a slightly thicker gravy as they have more oysters in the dish.

Ang Hoay Lor, Gurdwara Road (Brick Kiln Road) and Perak Road
GPS: 5.406877, 100.327650 (Brick Kiln Road)
GPS: 5.423476, 100.317062 (Perak Road)
Time: 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10pm
This is an old traditional Hokkien restaurant well known for their Hokkien dishes from bak kee soup to oyster noodles. The main restaurant is located along Brick Kiln Road while the one in Perak Road is a branch.

Hock Chuan Heong, Gat Lebuh Cecil
GPS: 5.405581, 100.331447
Time: 12pm-7pm
Even before Ang Hoay Lor opened more than 50 years ago, this stall located in a simple old-style coffee shop was already serving up authentic Hokkien fare and they are naturally well-known for their oyster noodles. Due to the popularity of this coffee shop, be prepared for crowds during lunch time and a long wait.

Song River Cafe, Gurney Drive
GPS: 5.432691, 100.316913
Time: 10am- 4pm
The whole stretch of Gurney Drive is a well-known tourist spot due to its seafront promenade and the open-air hawker centre at the end of the stretch but Song River used to be one of the coffee shops frequented by locals for breakfast and lunch. Though the coffee shop now caters to tourists more than locals, it still offers oyster noodles on top of other noodle dishes. Their oyster noodles is slightly different than those served by the above-mentioned places as it is darker in colour due to the addition of more oyster sauce and dark soy sauce.