Hameediyah's Murtabak To Go

Long queue outside Hameediyah Restaurant (9 October 2016)


Lately, my wife and I have developed a craving for Hameediyah's murtabak. This is a bit surprising for ourselves, as Hameediyah has been operating for as long as we were alive, and we have virtually ignored it until now. Once again, we were reminded that we often overlook something good that is right in front of our nose.

We happened to be in George Town today, so I suggested to my wife that we should buy home the murtabak from Hameediyah for our dinner. Sounded like a good idea, so we hightailed over to Campbell Street. As soon as we crossed Penang Road and entered Campbell Street, we were greeted by the congestion. From far, I would glimpse crowds outside Hameediyah. At first I thought something untoward was going on over there. Turned out they were just people queueing up to enter Hameediyah. And it is under the hot 3 o'clock afternoon sun!

For a moment I thought of putting away our plans to purchase the murtabak. But my quick-minded wife guessed that the people were actually queueing to eat the nasi kandar rather than murtabak. And to our luck, when our car got near to Hameediyah, the car parked in the lot right in front of it was exiting, enabling me to get a parking spot. So I parked my car while my wife rushed over to Hameediyah to buy our murtabak.

She was correct. All the people were waiting to enter the restaurant for the nasi kandar. She easily breezed past them and placed her order. Apparently the guy at the murtabak counter was also mersmerized by the long line of queue that he was doing nothing more than watching the queue. So she placed her order and got her murtabak immediately.

As soon as she entered the car, we can smell the wonderful aroma of the murtabak. Alas, when we got home, I discovered that she forgot to ask for the kuah. She did remember to ask for two packets of the pickled onion, but overlooked asking for gravy. In a busy restaurant like Hameediyah, if you don't ask for something, you don't get it.

As of now, we have not tried the nasi kandar at Hameediyah. Judging from the queue, it has got to be very good, but I will say so when I have had a chance to taste it ourselves. For now, we are hooked on the murtabak.

List of Nasi Kandar Restaurants in Penang