Seng Lee Cafe Bangkok Lane Hokkien Mee

Mr Cheong Hun Meng with his Hokkien Mee (3 August 2014)


Seng Lee Cafe Bangkok Lane Hokkien Mee (GPS: 5.43143, 100.31224) is a Hokkien Mee stall in Pulau Tikus, Penang. It operates from the namesake cafe at the junction of Bangkok Lane and Burmah Road. The stall is run by a smiley-faced elderly man named Mr Cheong Hun Meng 張漢明 who has been selling Hokkien Mee at Seng Lee Cafe for the past 15 years. That comes as a surprise to me, as I have never noticed the stall before. Then I learned the reason: Mr Cheong's Hokkien Mee stall operates in the morning only, from 7:00 am until 12:00 noon, so we have been arriving at the coffee shop after the Hokkien Mee stall has packed up.

Most of the time, I patronize Seng Lee Cafe for the very famous Bangkok Lane Mee Goreng, and have not expected to find any other stall here that is worth a second glace. However, lately the taste of my favorite mee goreng seems to have gone down.


Rating: A- (last update: 9 September 2014)
Category: Hokkien Mee

9 August, 2014
We were eager to try out Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien mee again. We were there just the week before, but as we were too late to enjoy the big bowl with hun cheong, we returned once again. This time, we ordered the RM7 bowl.

When we got there, the seller has already told me his son showed him my website write up, so there is no hiding what I was up to. Okay, the Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien Mee looked great, it smelled great, and it tasted great. However, on this visit we noticed that the meat on the spare rib does not separate that easily from the bones. For some, that might not be a big deal, but to bestow an A rating, everything has to be perfect without room for issues. For this reason, and for now, I will have to give this stall an A-.

I certainly look forward to returning to this stall in the future, and hope that I have a chance to upgrade its rating on a future visit. Before I left, I informed Mr Cheong about the meat issue. I thought he should know about it so that he could do somthing to close the gap on the matter.

Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien Mee, close-up (9 August 2014)


Tim enjoying the Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien Mee (9 August 2014)


3 August, 2014
Having learned on my Penang Hawker Food Facebook Group that Seng Lee Cafe also has good Hokkien Mee, my wife and I hurried over this Sunday, right after our church service. We arrived at the Hokkien Mee stall just as it was closing up. You will see in my photo that Mr Cheong has his big soup drum tilted for the last few scoops.



Seng Lee Cafe Bangkok Lane Hokkien Mee (3 August 2014)


We managed to get the two last bowls of Hokkien Mee before Mr Cheong called it a day. I noticed - and if I missed it, Mr Cheong himself pointed it out to me proudly - that he won the 2012 Penang Hawker Masters competition in the Hokkien Mee category. To tell you the truth, I don't care much for food awards; I felt they only make hawkers pompous.

Not Mr Cheong. I have to say he is the posterboy for hospitality. He was ever smiling and gracious and enthusiastic, especially when he saw me whipping out my camera to take some shots of him and his stall.

Fame has destroyed many Hokkien Mee stalls in Penang, so famous stalls make me more cautious, as their reputation tends to exceed my expectation. I have half expected that, that despite the raving recommendations, Mr Cheong's Hokkien Mee would not be something to shout about.

Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien Mee (3 August 2014)


Well I was wrong. As soon as I tasted the Seng Lee Cafe Hokkien Mee, I was in ecstasy. I like the richness of the soup and the noodles that were cooked just right. Mr Cheong proudly proclaimed to me that his Hokkien mee is of kor1ca1bi33 , meaning it is of the "old world taste" of how Hokkien mee should taste like. Not only that, he said he carefully measures and weighs the amount of every ingredient that went into his soup.

I learned that I arrived too late for the spareribs and pig intestines. A bowl with these cost RM7.00. That's the price I pay for the Ah Soon Kor Prawn Mee, which is presently at the top of my list. Mr Cheang's Hokkien Mee is now a strong contender to topple Ah Soon Kor's position as my favorite Hokkien Mee. I look forward to coming back to try that RM7.00 bowl, which of course I shall write about on another day.

Getting there

Follow the directions to Seng Lee Cafe.

The ever smiling Mr Cheong Hun Meng (3 August 2014)


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