Mee Sotong Penang & Coconut Shake – (Halal) at Padang Kota Lama (Esplanade)

This is part of #RebeccaPenangHalalGuide. See full list here –> “List of Muslim friendly food outlets in Penang by Rebecca Saw”

Restaurant Name: Hameed ‘Pata’ Mee Sotong 
Address: 6, Kota Selera Padang Kota Lama (Fort Cornwallis Food Court), Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah,10200, Georgetown, Penang
Tel: + 6013 4319384
GPS:  N05° 20′ 14.6” E100° 18′ 37.6″

Opening Hours: 11:30am – 8:00pm (Monday – Saturday) Closed on Sunday
Website: NA
Halal Checklist:
Muslim Owned: Yes
Halal Certified: No
100% Halal Ingredients: Y
Cleanliness Grade – A
Serves Alcohol: N
Years of Operation: Not sure.
Extra Comments/Notes:
Prices are nett.

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The Padang Kota Lama aka Esplanade is next to the famous Fort Cornwallis in Penang. On one end is this foodcourt, aptly named Padang Kota Lama as well.
Just opposite is the sidewalk by the sea where you can enjoy both the refreshing breeze and view.

As with all food courts there are many stalls sharing the business and dining space. In the afternoons, Hameed ‘Pata’ Mee Sotong reign supreme as almost 90% of the people in the food court are his customers.
While the stall is acceptably clean the rest of the food court is a bit decrepit but that obviously doesn’t affect his business at all.

The cook doesn’t prepare each order individually but dishes out the noodles quicker by cooking in big batches.
Your option here is either the wet mee rebus that comes with gravy or the dry mee goreng.
Both would be heaped a generous helping of sambal sotong just prior to serving and you would need to mix it up as you eat. A small plate is RM4 while a bigger portion is RM6.

We sampled both the mee rebus and mee goreng and I personally preferred the mee rebus as I like the thick sweet gravy. The sambal sotong certainly deserved its accolades. The sotong strips were pleasantly chewy yet soft and the sauce delivers a complex sweet and spicy punch.

Mee Rebus. RM4.

Mee Goreng. RM4.

Just beside Hameed is the beverage stall where the staple order is either the Coconut Shake or chendol. We tried three; a chendol, an ais kacang and a coconut shake.

We didn’t have high expectations and were pleasantly surprised to find that all 3 were so well made.
Our chendol (RM3.00) and ais kacang (RM3) came with finely shaven ice and wasn’t overly sweet.
The chendol has fresh, firm and smooth green jellies and a nice balance of coconut milk to gula Melaka while the ais kacang was loaded generously with soft sweet red beans, corn, palm seeds (attap chee) and a scoop of ice cream.

The famous coconut shake is a refreshing concoction of coconut water, sweet coconut flesh with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top.

If you would like to sample other food there are other stalls here as well but we observed that the others were mostly swatting flies. Still, it’s good to know that there are options available right? 🙂

I was told a stall here selling Hainanese Western and their western fare is good localised old-school style. Apparently the Prawn Cutlet is a must try. I will try to visit that stall next time. 🙂

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