Kimberley Street Night Market in Penang

This little street is considered one of the best places to find some amazing local Malaysian eats in George Town, Penang.

Lebuh Kimberley (or just Kimberley Street 汕头街) is home to some of Penang’s best culinary treasures. Kimberley Street was named after John Wodehouse, the Earl of Kimberley, who was the British colonial secretary in the 1870s. The road was created in the late 19th century and was populated by Teochews from Swatow (hence the Chinese name), who made rice vermicelli (bee hoon) and rice noodles (mee suah), drying them in the open.

The unofficial Kimberley Street Food Night Market is a stretch of road where both sides are lined with established indoor restaurants as well as the titular mobile hawker stalls that Southeast Asian street food is known for. From the intense wokhei of the Penang Char Kway Teow to the succulent juiciness of the Michelin-honoured Kimberley Street Duck Kway Chap, there’s always something to satisfy the most discerning of foodies.

Some say this is the best place to get Penang Char Kway Teow (CKT), from this humble little street food stall in front of the Sin Guat Keong Coffee Shop. This street is also a great place to try some local Penang desserts with two excellent dessert shops behind this CKT store. You can order food or pack from any store along the street and eat in the dessert shops as long as you order one dessert per person sitting at the table. What an excellent symbiotic relationship between the shop owners and the hawkers!

As for me, I was staying nearby and packed everything back to the comfort of my hotel room.

The Penang CKT packed an amazing punch of wokhei, except for the upgrade to duck egg, it was a rather sad CKT with almost no ingredients. Luckily I had other things packed for dinner.

I had packed some Penang style rojak together with my CKT. Unlike the Singapore version, which the prawn paste was mixed into the chopped cucumber, turnips and other raw vegetables like a Western salad, the Penang style had the sauce packed separately and dipped as needed. I poured everything on the salad.

The BBQ chicken wings were a surprising find, as the famous fried chicken store was already sold out (at 8pm). It came with some ass-kicking chilli sauce which was perfect with the charcoal-grilled Chinese-style BBQ wings.

Another evening I went for the Hainanese chicken rice store right behind the famous koay chiap store. I packed quarter chicken (下莊 thigh and drumstick), some chicken offals and a poached choysum with oyster sauce. They were quite good and reasonably priced.

I personally really love the experience of eating street food at night markets. Granted, it’s not the healthiest food nor the most hygienic (sometimes). The queues for the popular stalls are also quite a turn-off, especially if you’re very hungry. However, the atmosphere is just so good! It’s crackling and bustling with hungry visitors and the smells and sights of so much delicious food.

Kimberley Street Food Night Market
1, Jalan Sungai Ujong, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Visited Jul 2025