"The Secret is out: The Best Cendol in Penang is no longer found in Penang Road, but in .....

….. Balik Pulau!!!

About 30 years ago, when I first came to Penang from Seremban, my wife and I would visit the famous Penang Road cendol stalls whenever we went to Georgetown for shopping. For those aged 30 years and younger, believe me when I say that there were no Sunshine Square or Tesco or iphone at that time.

When my wife took the cendol, I resisted for the first 3 years. "How unclean, how barbaric, eating by the roadside!!!" However, by the fourth year, I could no longer hold back, seeing my wife’s great enjoyment at every spoonful. I threw caution to the wind, had my first bowl and was entrapped by those 2 cendol stalls. Both are equally good, no argument here.

However, over the last 15 years, we have hardly gone there, what with the lack of parking and also the blazing hot sun in the middle of the city. Moreover, we never had to go to Georgetown to shop any longer, having great supermarkets right at our doorsteps near Sungai Nibong. There was also no longer any craving for those 2 cendol stalls either. Out of sight, out of mind.

Nevertheless, God knows the desires of our heart, even in small things. Over the last 5 years, when we moved to Balik Pualu to live near the church outreach, we discovered a secret that few Penangnites know. The best cendol stall in Penang today is found in Balik Pulau!!!

Aromatic coconut sugar 
with large red beans
and smooth cendol
soaked in thick "suntan"

This stall’s cendol is unique and exquisite, with a fragrant and strongly aromatic “gula Melaka” (black sugar), topped with thick “suntan” (coconut milk), served with generous portions of well-cooked big red beans. The cendol itself is fresh, smooth and soft, flavoured and coloured by real “pandan” leaves, unlike the frozen, hard and brittle cendol served by many low-grade cendol stores in Penang today, which use green dye to colour their cendol (Green dye is toxic to your health! Avoid such cendol!).

This stall was formerly hidden away in the old market, but for the last 3-4 years, it is now one of the most popular eateries in the new market. The ambience is good, with the stall facing the hill at the side of the new market, the hill itself being covered with green trees and bushes. Parking is ample, and there is never a lack of space. What great surroundings for a great bowl of the best cendol in Penang! (See photo below).

The greenery---trees and bushes---
facing the cendol stall
across the car park

The stall is run by a lovely couple, Mr. Khor Keat Soon and his wife Lim Geak Chu, with great service from their two sweet daughters.

If you ever do come to this stall, come no later than 3PM (by when it is all finished), and never on a Monday or Wednesday (these are their off days, unless it is a public holiday). If you register a “LIKE” on my Facebook link to this Blog-post, I promise to give you a free treat at this stall. Let me know through Facebook when you are coming (please come on a public holiday), and we shall meet up for this special treat.

Imagine this---the best cendol in Penang on a hot February afternoon---facing a hill with green trees and bushes, and then calculate what you have missed all these years, living on the wrong side of the island.

That’s a miracle in Penang!

Best cendol stall in Penang, in new market, Balik Pulau

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