City Guides
George Town, Penang: Asia's Most Delicious Small City
Street art, clan jetties and the hawker stalls that food writers cross oceans for — a long weekend guide.
By Sofia Rivera · 23 June 2026 · 7 min read
Ask food writers where they would eat if they could only choose one city in Asia, and George Town keeps coming up. This UNESCO-listed port on Penang island is where Malay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan kitchens have been trading secrets for two hundred years.
Eat in this order: char kway teow from a charcoal-fired wok on Kimberley Street, assam laksa at the Air Itam market, nasi kandar at Line Clear's 24-hour alley, and cendol from the stall on Penang Road with the perpetual queue. Then walk it off through the street-art lanes of Armenian Street and the stilted clan jetties reaching into the strait.
The heritage core rewards aimless wandering: shophouses in every shade of pastel, incense coiling from clan temples, and the grand Khoo Kongsi clan house at the centre of it. Escape the heat with the funicular up Penang Hill or an afternoon on the shaded trails of the botanic gardens.
Stay in a restored shophouse in the old town (from 30 euros a night), come hungry, and leave a day spare — you will want a second pass at the laksa.
