Everyone has their special spot for a must-have meal while visiting Penang, from Lebuh Carnarvon for char kuey teow to Padang Kota Lama for pasembur and Ayer Itam for assam laksa.
For us, the dish that reminds us the most of George Town is Nasi Kandar - throughout our three years of studying in Universiti Sains Malaysia in the 1990s, our favourite haunts for hearty sustenance at 2 a.m. in the morning were the 24-hour Nasi Kandar shops that spanned Bayan Lepas to Penang Road.
Nobody does Nasi Kandar better than Penang. The comprehensive variety of ayam goreng, telur ikan and telur sotong with flavour-packed veggies and sultry curries has always been worth travelling half an hour for on a motorbike after midnight.
These days, Penangites can savour the best Nasi Kandar in the world without having to leave their homes, thanks to foodpanda's deliveries. If you live on the island, you can open up foodpanda to a remarkable number of Penang's top places for Nasi Kandar, helping to preserve the popularity of our favourite Penang speciality.
Among the dozens of Nasi Kandar destinations on foodpanda, one name stands out for its longevity - Restoran Raffe Nasi Kandar Pulau Tikus is only available on foodpanda, but it has been around longer than many of us have been alive.
Raffe started as a Nasi Kandar stall in 1959, so long ago that the earliest images of that stall are only in black and white. In the late 1990s, it moved to its current full-fledged restaurant location on Burma Road in Pulau Tikus. True to old-school contradictions, its signboards spell its name as Raffee, but its social media accounts officially call it Raffe Nasi Kandar.
With more than 2,300 foodpanda customer ratings, Restoran Raffe Nasi Kandar Pulau Tikus retains a highly respectable 4.6-star rating, a testament to its crowd-pleasing consistency. People rave over its fresh-tasting fried chicken and thick curries.
Customisation is key to delicious Nasi Kandar - foodpanda users will be happy to know they have seven different Nasi Kandar sets to choose from here: Set Ayam Goreng, Set Ikan Kari, Set Ikan Goreng, Set Sotong, Set Daging, Set Kambing, and our personal pick, Set Ayam Goreng & Telur Sotong.
Add-ons are also possible - we'd definitely order an extra side of Telur Ikan, while some patrons will be tempted by giant Udang for which Penang's Nasi Kandar eateries are known.
The final crucial point: Raffe also allows you to decide how you want the accompanying curries be served, even for deliveries. On foodpanda, you can choose from Kari Campur (perfect for those of us who crave that glorious, inimitable mix of kuah-banjir flavours), Kari Asing (recommended if you're not eating the Nasi Kandar immediately) and No Kari Daging (for vegetarians).
Writing this makes us wish foodpanda could magically deliver from Penang to KL - our first order would be Restoran Raffe Nasi Kandar Pulau Tikus, and we might even try ordering from a different Penang Nasi Kandar shop every day for a month!
Order from Restoran Raffe on foodpanda: foodpanda.my/ms/restaurant/t7oy/restoran-raffe-nasi-kandar-pulau-tikus
Some images in this post are courtesy of Restoran Raffe Nasi Kandar Pulau Tikus.
This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com
