Tiger Char Koay Teow 老虎炒粿条

Tiger Char Koay Teow (18 August 2012)


Tiger Char Koay Teow (Traditional Chinese: 刣牛後老虎炒粿条, Pinyin: Zhōng Niú Hòu Lǎohǔ Chǎo Guǒ Tiáo, Penang Hokkien: Thai3 Gu3 Au33 Lau33 Hor1 Char1 Koay1 Teow2 ) is a char koay teow stall at Kafe Ping Hooi at the junction of Carnarvon Street with Malay Street, which gives it its Chinese name. I was first recommended to try here by an online friend Justin Choo, and since then, Tiger Char Koay Teow has consistently stood at my favourite char koay teow stall in Penang.

Although there are quite a number of char koay teow stalls in Penang that I would rate as very good, I find the taste of the char koay teow here very agreeable to me. I am picky with char koay teow, finding some too salty, too spicy, not oily enough, too oily, over-rated, etc.

So when Justin recommended that I try the one at Kafe Ping Hooi, I was sceptical at first, and it took me a good few weeks before I finally made the trip to the coffee shop.



The lady hawker at Tiger Char Koay Teow (18 August 2012)


Tiger Char Koay Teow (18 August 2012)


Tiger Char Koay Teow (18 August 2012)

My visits to Tiger Char Koay Teow

31 January, 2015
I returned with my wife to the Tiger Char Koay Teow stall at Kafe Ping Hooi. We ordered two plates, one spicy and one non spicy, with duck eggs. There is nothing wrong with the size of the prawns, which are still huge, but there's something the matter with the taste. My plate was not as spicy or tasty as it used to be. Maybe it was not fried long enough. Today's plate was RM6.00. Certainly it is not getting any cheaper, with those huge prawns, but business appeared slow. The hawker was sitting when I went to order.

Tiger Char Koay Teow, Carnarvon Street (31 January 2015)


I also had the lor bak with my char koay teow. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much either. It was only so so to me.

Kafe Ping Hooi lor bak, Carnarvon Street (31 January 2015)


Food Rating: 7 October, 2014
Char Koay Teow: B+
Lor Bak: B
6 October, 2014
It has been over two years since my first visit to the Tiger Char Koay Teow stall. My good buddy from school Albert was back from overseas and I wanted to give him a taste of home, so I took him here. I ordered two plates with extra spicy and duck eggs. This is how the plates look like:

Tiger Char Koay Teow 老虎炒粿条, Kafe Ping Hooi (7 October 2014)


Kafe Ping Hooi char koay teow (6 October 2014)


The char koay teow is as nice as I have remembered it. It is spicy, salty and juicy, just the way I like it. Delivery of order was also within a reasonable amount of time, of around 10 minutes after order placement.

In addition to char koay teow, I also ordered a plate of lor bak. It was also not too bad, though the pork fat was a bit on the fatty side.

Kafe Ping Hooi lor bak (6 October 2014)


As I have consumed the Tiger Char Koay Teow more than once, and it has remained my favourite on both counts, I am now ready to award it my highest mark.

Food Rating: 7 October, 2014
Char Koay Teow: A+
Lor Bak: B+
12 August, 2012 At time of writing (August 2012), the Char Koay Teow is priced at RM4.00 with chicken egg and RM4.50 with duck egg. I went for the one with duck egg. I wasn't disappointed when I saw it. The egg was done just right, neither too runny nor overfried, and it blends nicely to the flat noodles. Each plate comes with two juicy prawns which I saved till last.

Tiger Char Koay Teow, in my opinion the best Char Koay Teow in Penang (18 August 2012)


As far as size is concerned, it is the same as most Char Koay Teow I have eaten - not too big a serving. I am fine with that, as it is really ho1liau33 .

The stallkeepers of Tiger Char Koay Teow (18 August 2012)


Food Rating: 18 August, 2012
Char Koay Teow: A

Visiting Tiger Char Koay Teow

The stall opens daily from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. It closes irregularly, when the coffee shop or hawker decides not to operate for the day. So I can't well say which day it is not open - you just have to try your luck.

I would highly recommend the Tiger Char Koay Teow as the best Char Koay Teow in Penang, and hope you will enjoy it on your next visit.

List of Hawker Stalls in Penang