Eating rice noodle duck soup in Kimberly Street

A quiet street located 2 minutes away from one of the busiest food street in Georgetown, Penang. Photo taken by me.

I am born and raised in Penang. Yet, when my friend who’s not from Penang and my classmates abroad ask me any food recommendation. I could only answer: “ just eat what the internet people recommends.”

I’ve spent almost all my life living at the southern part of the island. I don’t always travel to Georgetown because it is far. A 12km distance is considered far for me, a Penangite, where every facility and good food are accessible within 3km. Unless I have important matters to attend and catch up with my friends, I don’t see why I have to be there.

Tourists come to Penang because they want to experience the diverse culture through heritage walking and food hunting. Georgetown is the ideal place where one can complete all of that in such short distances.

Today, I craved something different, something I’ve saved in my Google Maps’ list for a long time because I’ve not tried yet. I drove to Kimberly Street to eat its signature dish — Kimberly Street Koay Chiap.

Photo taken by 128lhrh on TripAdvisor

Koay Chiap or Kway Chap (粿汁) refers to Teochew noodle soup. The noodle is made of flat and broad rice sheets made from glutinous rice flour. It is served with the soy-based soup, with toppings such as duck meat, braised egg, stewed pork belly and tofu. The stall I went to offers duck organ and intestines too. Besides noodles, I could switch the base with either porridge or rice.

Photo by YY Tan from Pexels

The stall I visited located in front of the Restoran Kimberly Kuan Kee, where it situated at the first middle of the street. Kimberly Street Food Night Market is the keyword to search on Google Maps.

Tables and chairs and stalls were placed quite orderly, visitors were ordering and waiting for the food along two sides of the road, whereas the cars were moving slowly.

The cashier said I could sit anywhere, literally anywhere. Still, I took the nearest seat. In less than 5 minutes, my meal was served. I opted for the noodle based. It was not piping hot so I just swallow the soup without hesitation.

It was 7pm. The sun is setting and the sky is still bright. It was not crowded yet. The food night market are housed by the kopitiams side by side and occupies the cross junction of Kimberly Street. The workers walked across the street, serving food to customers sitting by the road side. The dishes sold are majority local Chinese cuisine, except one stall sells Indian cuisine.

The cross junction occupied by stalls and food hunters. Photo taken by me.

The soup was good, not too salty. It is a bit pricey for a local. But still, it is a tourist area. It will be more expensive than the local-occupied areas. Another pro? you can try as many kind of authentic local Chinese dishes you want, as long as you don’t get bloated or heaty.

If you want to experience authentic local Chinese food, Kimberly Street is one gateway.