GEORGE TOWN, Dec 6 — There is no air conditioning, and sometimes not even a ceiling fan. The atmosphere is of a hurried bustling clamour as “waiters” shout out orders; there’s no polite scribbling on small discreet notepads nor even a please and thank you as the same “waiters” unceremoniously plonk plates of food and drinks on tables.
The tables and chairs often don’t match, some may even be rickety and sticky from months of collected grease and dirt, and you can forget about tablecloths and complimentary glasses of water with slices of lemon while you wait for your food.
In fact, asking for a glass of plain water may well cost you 60 sen and you will probably get a glass of unboiled, unfiltered tap water for that price.
Welcome to a typical kopitiam and the Malaysian style of no-frills dining that has been around for as long as anyone can remember.The kopitiam is where you can sample everything from noodle dishes to economy rice at any time of the day.
In a time of escalating costs, eating at fancy restaurants is reserved only for special occasions and this is where the humble Western food stalls at coffee shops come into the picture.
These Western food stalls located within kopitiams and food courts offer everything from simple fare like chicken chop and fish and chips to more “sophisticated” dishes like chicken Cordon Bleu and grilled lamb chops.
These Western food stalls in kopitiams have been a tradition in Penang for more than 30 years. They are thought of as the “fancy food” in food courts or kopitiams as a meal could cost between RM8 to RM15 per plate as compared to RM4 for a bowl of noodles.
Back in the late 1970s and 1980s, at a time when there were at least a few hundred Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) servicemen and their families living in Penang, local eateries started introducing Western dishes such as hot dogs, burgers, chicken chop and fish and chips to cater to them.
These Western-style fare were served in a limited number of upscale restaurants and hotels at that time. By the 1980s, some local cooks learned how to make these Western meals and ventured out to open Western food stalls in kopitiams, introducing it to those who could not afford eating in restaurants and hotels.
One of the pioneers of kopitiam Western food is Chef’s Delights by David Tan. He opened the stall at a kopitiam in Fettes Park back in 1983 before he moved to the Sin Hup Aun coffee shop in Pulau Tikus.Other than the usual chicken chop, Chef’s Delights has sirloin steaks, lamb chops, pork chops and even an East meets West style fried rice. The fried rice is made with a generous amount of butter and has sprinkles of crispy fried bacon for a taste of rich Western flavours in an otherwise normal plate of fried rice.
Their grilled lamb chop uses imported Dorper lamb so the dish is juicy and tender without the strong gamey flavour of most lamb dishes. The generous serving is served with a light special sauce to enhance its flavours.
Another must-try is the grilled chicken Cordon Bleu which is tender chicken thigh meat wrapped around ham and cheese. Instead of the usual breaded and fried chicken, the grilled chicken ensures a juicier bite which is surprisingly just as good with the cheese oozing out when you cut into it.
If meat is not your thing, they also offer the usual fish and chips and even this is different as they only use snapper fillets for the crispy breaded deep fried fish instead of the usual tasteless dory fillet.
Chef’s Delights has a varied menu of around 20 different items to choose from and they pride themselves on serving only homemade sauces and coleslaw with their food.
Chef’s Delights
Sin Hup Aun Coffee Shop
Jalan Pasar, Pulau Tikus
Time: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6pm-10pm
Tel: 016-4552286, 017-5522286
Next up is another Western food stall in Pulau Tikus, known as All Right! Western Food, and this stall has been around since 1988. Unlike Chef’s Delights, this stall is only open at night and though it is located inside a kopitiam, it is the only stall operating at night.
This stall is one of the few Western food stalls that also offers starters such as mixed salad and three different types of soups aside from their main dishes. They have fresh oxtail soup, spicy mutton soup and mushroom soup.Here, we see local influences especially in the spicy mutton soup which is actually our local Malaysian sup kambing, a warming mutton broth with carrots and potatoes. Their specialty is grilled lamb loin that is cooked to a nice perfect tenderness and for big eaters, their mixed grill of lamb, steak and chicken is also another crowd favourite.
Other than the red meat, they have different styles of chicken and fish such as their garlic chicken, grilled Bombay chicken and stuffed fish.
The garlic chicken is breaded deep fried chicken thigh meat in a thick brown fragrant garlic sauce. The grilled Bombay chicken is chicken thigh meat grilled to a crisp and then it is served with a “Bombay” sauce of caramelised onions.
The stuffed fish is fish fillet wrapped around a thick layer of ham and cheese so every mouthful is a rich burst of oozing cheese and the soft buttery fish that contrasts delightfully with the ham. This stall also offers around 20 different types of dishes including grilled minute steak, grilled ribeye steak, grilled salmon steak and turkey ham steak.
All Right! Western Food
Hai Being Coffee Shop
Junction of Burmah Road and Jones Road, Pulau Tikus
Time: 6pm-11pm
In George Town, within the Heritage Zone, at the newly-refurbished Esplanade Food Court (now known as Astaka Selera Kota), is a Western food stall that also offers Hainanese food. The stall may not have a proper name of its own but it is already well known for its Western fare and Hainanese food since it first opened back in 1989.
The menu may be limited but they are one of the few remaining stalls that offer Hainanese chicken chop, a recipe that was handed down from generation to generation by Hainanese cooks.
Consider the tomato-based sauce that is the signature of the Hainanese style chicken chop. Not many stalls offer shrimps on their menu so despite having a limited menu of only 11 items, two of their specialties are prawn cutlets and fish and prawns.
For their Hainanese fare, the Hainanese mixed rice is a unique all-in-one rice meal that is now a rarity in most food courts or kopitiams. The mixed rice is a bowl of fluffy white rice flooded with a thick, starchy gravy with chicken slices, vegetables and shrimps for a filling meal that’s tasty and also healthy.They also have another signature Hainanese dish, the Hainanese fried noodles which is a combination of yellow noodles and vermicelli cooked in a similarly thick flavourful gravy and served with chicken slices, shrimps and vegetables.
Western, Local & Hainan Food
Astaka Selera Kota, Esplanade
Time: 11.30am-4.30pm
Tel: 016-4759942 (Mr Lim)
Finally, over in the growing township of Farlim in Air Itam is another Western food stall that has been around since the 1980s. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a selection of chicken, fish, pork and lamb dishes.
Due to the location of their stall which is in a majority ethnic Chinese area where most Buddhists and Taoists do not eat beef, they do not offer beef dishes but have plenty of pork ones.
Their Three Fillet Nu Chef (sic) is worth trying out as it is grilled ham, bacon and pork chop in a dish that is generously smothered in a thick brown savoury sauce. The resulting flavours is one of the rich meaty flavours of the pork chop that contrast nicely with the saltiness of the ham and crispy bacon.
Instead of the regular grilled chicken, their grilled chicken is cheese coated. For cheese lovers, this is a must try. The stall has a range of lighter options such as omelette ham and omelette cheese sausages.
Western Food
Sheng Yuen Coffee Shop,
Jalan Angsana, Bandar Baru Air Itam
Time: 9am-7pm
