Penang Food Stories (Chapter 2): Lam Ah Kopitiam – damn nice Beef Noodles & Oyster Omelette

“Gubak Kway Teow”, that’s what the Penangites call their Beef Kway Teow (flat Rice Noodles).  It seems that Penang had 2 famous Gubak Kway Teow outlets founded way back in the 1960s, one was at Victoria Street and the other’s at the junction of Beach Street (now Lebuh Pantai) and Acheen Street (now Lebuh Acheh).  The one formerly at Acheen Street has now moved to Lam Wah Kopitiam, at the junction of Lebuh Pantai and Lebuh Chulia (opposite the Lebuh Pantai fire station) where it has been operating since 1996.

That was precisely where I had a taste of the Gubak Kway Teow and absolutely loved it!  The stall is manned by a pretty young lass who donned white plastic gloves as she prepared the noodles.  She’s very meticulous, taking great care with each order.  She would blanch the thin slices of beef carefully, ensuring they are not overcooked – every slice of meat on my bowl of gubak kway teow was in the same shade of pink, tender and delicious.

The tendons, tripe and other innards were executed perfectly with just the right level of succulence left in them.  The beef balls were bouncy and well flavoured.  The soup, oh my goodness, has been boiled for hours, lusciously beefy and bursting with the sweet bovine flavours, enhanced by chunks of white radish.

The beef and tripe were so good I couldn’t resist ordering another bowl of just those!

In the same kopitiam is a Orh Chien (oyster omelette) stall which has now become my personal favourite in Penang.  I much prefer this to the famous “Seng Thor” stall.  The guy manning this stall, Mr Gan, took his time, slowly frying the oyster omelette to just the right level of done-ness.  I was told this was from that famous out in New World Park coffee shop.

The orh chien here is crispy at the edges, yet maintains a slight gooey-ness in the centre – just perfect!  The oysters are small (but I like them small anyway) and are packed with sweet freshness and I believe the tastiness of this orh chien lies in the secret sauces concocted by Mr Gan.

 

Lam Ah Kopitiam
Junction of Lebuh Pantai
And Lebuh CHulia
Penang

Open 10.30am to 4.30pm
Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays