CF Food Court

Entrance to CF Food Court at Weld Quay (3 August 2014)


CF Food Court, or Kedai Makanan dan Minuman CF, is a major food court in George Town, Penang. It occupies part of a city block between Weld Quay and Victoria Street, with one side bordered by Armenian Street Ghaut.

CF Food Court has numerous hawker stalls offering a wide range of hawker fare including char koay teow, wantan mee and more.

Interior of CF Food Court (3 August 2014)


Rear entrance to CF Food Court facing Victoria Street (30 June 2013)




3 August, 2014
My wife and I went down to the Weld Quay area to look for a bite. We saw numerous coffee shops lining the street but most of them are tiny and don't offer a wide selection of food. In the end, we settled upon going to CF Food Court.

CF Food Court is huge, and seems to have pulled in most of the hawkers of Weld Quay. I do like it that I can find a wide selection of hawker food here, but I do not appreciate the loud music being blasted on us from their speakers. I couldn't hear myself over the din. The was the same when we visited Northam Beach Cafe a week before. It was also equally loud over there.

Fish meat bihun, CF Food Court (3 August 2014)


Tomyam maggi mee, CF Food Court (3 August 2014)


As we seldom come to this part of George Town, we were not familiar with what is good here. We ended up ordering the fish meat bihun and tomyam maggi mee from a stall which we saw was doing quite a good business. I also saw a satay stall and asked my wife to do the ordering. When she came back, she told me that the satay stall was manned by a foreigner who did not speak our local languages, but somehow she managed to make him understand that she wanted 10 sticks of satay. I wonder whether the satay stall was run by the foreigner - which seemed unlikely - or was he working for another absent stall owner.

The fish meat bihun and tomyam maggi mee turned out to be "not too bad". They taste according to how fish meat bihun and tomyam maggi mee should taste. That's about all I can say about these two dishes.

Satay at CF Food Court (3 August 2014)


The foreign satay seller came with his satay. It cost RM8.00 for 10 sticks, which makes 80 sen per stick. Judging from the size of the satay, I would stay that's a bit on the high side for Penang for August 2014 prices. Having said that, the satay turned out to be surprisingly tasty. As good or even better than satay fired by locals. So this is turning out to be a classic example that foreigners can cook our dishes as well as locals (so complacent locals should watch out).

I have perviously mentioned my support for the move by our local authorities to forbid foreign workers from cooking local hawker food. However, I am happy to let them do it if they run their own stalls. What I do not want is for poor foreigners to be exploited by local stall owners who are forever absent, and their workers have to do everything for them while earning pittance. That, to me, is exploitation. I fully appreciate the state government's intention to preserve our local culinary heritage. However, local hawkers cannot afford to be lazy or complacent.

There are many poor foreigners who need to earn a living, and they will willingly take pains to learn how to prepare our local food. If local hawkers do not buck up, if they prefer to relegate their stalls to the hard work and sweat of foreigners, then I have no issue if foreigners cook better than them, and one day took over their stalls. That would be sad, but how else to maintain top quality of our local food - if the local hawkers forfeit their inheritance (fyi, heritage is inheritance), someone else who is willing will have to take over.

Char koay teow, CF Food Court (3 August 2014)


As we rarely come to CF Food Court, I looked around for other things to try, and settled upon the char koay teow. Again, it was "not too bad", though it didn't dent the position on my list of favorite char koay teow stalls. Of the food we tried that night, I do not have any major grouses.

If there's something to complain about, it would be the drinks. My wife ordered the keat poh while I ordered the pah poh. The keat poh was very watery. Seems like they were rather stingy on the syrup. Yet the drinks at CF Food Court was a bit pricey. I don't mind if they do away with the loud music and use the savings to lower the price of beverages.

We are unlikely to make CF Food Court a regular dinner haunt, as it is a bit out of the way for us, but we will report on our meals should we revisit it from time to time.

Food Rating at CF Food Court (3 August 2014)
Satay: A-
Char Koay Teow: B+
Fish Meat Bihun: B+
Tomyam Maggi Mee: B+

Timothy Tye at CF Food Court (3 August 2014)

Getting there

From the Weld Quay Ferry & Bus Terminal, turn left and walk along Weld Quay until you see CF Food Court across the road on your right.

View CF Food Court in a larger map

List of Hawker Centres in Penang