Famous Penang Seafood Porridge At Sungai Tiram

Joo Leong Cafe at Sungai Tiram Penang
Joo Leong Cafe, Sungai Tiram, Penang.
GPS: N5 18.160 E100 16.552
Photo by Wuan.

My trips to Penang can never be complete without a visit or two to Joo Leong Cafe at Sungai Tiram for a bowl of seafood porridge in the evenings or buttered toasts for breakfasts. The shop is located just beside the busy Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah on the way to the Penang International Airport. The airport runway is a short distance away behind the shop from which the sounds of jet engines can be distinctly heard.

Joo Leong Cafe seafood noodles
Joo Leong Cafe seafood noodles.

Wuan and I had seafood porridge at the shop two Sundays ago when we were in Penang. I ordered fish maw and fish slices to go with my porridge while Wuan had the same for her instant noodles. While waiting for our orders to be served, we had buttered toasts for starters. The porridge and noodles came garnished with chopped Chinese parsley and tang chai (preserved vegetables) to make the soup even more appetizing.

Joo Leong Cafe seafood porridge
Joo Leong Cafe seafood porridge.

Apart from fish maw and fish slices, diners can also select crabs, deep fried fish slices, frogs and prawns to go with porridge, instant noodles, mee suah (flour vermicelli) or bee hoon (rice vermicelli). The bill for the seafood porridge, seafood noodles, three glasses of leong fun (RM3.60) and two slices of buttered toasts (RM1.60) came to RM23.20. At RM9 per bowl for fish maw and fish slices, it was not exactly cheap but the ingredients were assuredly fresh. The only grouse we have is the lack of parking spaces and the sometimes long wait for a table. Otherwise, our trips to Joo Leong Cafe had always been pleasant experiences.

Joo Leong Cafe – Best Breakfast In Penang

Best breakfast in Penang - Joo Leong Cafe
Joo Leong Cafe butter toasts and half boiled eggs breakfast set.

I am not a breakfast person. I know, I know. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Once upon a time, it was the first meal until I began to get stomach discomfort right after having it. This went one for several weeks. I have skipped breakfast since. I never found out the cause of the problem though.

My cousin Peter introduced me to this quaint little kopitiam called Joo Leong Cafe at Sungai Tiram on the way to the Penang International Airport. It serves seafood porridge and noodle in the evening. They had fish maw which is one of my favourite. I usually had it with sliced fish in piping hot porridge. There were also several stalls selling jiu hu eng chai (cuttle fish and kangkung in thick sauce), yim kuk kai (salt-baked chicken) and satay.

Other than porridge and noodles, they also serve toasts. I prefer thick toasts over regular sliced ones. Joo Leong uses Hailam bread which is bread with its crust removed. The bread is toasted and generously slathered with butter and sprinkled with granulated sugar. Toasts and porridge is an odd combination especially for dinner. I was soon initiated into it and could not stop eating the first time I had it.

For breakfast, the toasts are served with half-boiled eggs. The taste of buttered toasts dipped in the eggs is simply heavenly. This is one breakfast that is worth having a stomach upset over. Wuan likes the packed nasi lemak and fried noodles too. Each time we are in Penang, we would try to make time to drop in either for breakfast or dinner. I am already salivating at the thought of sinking my teeth into the toasts when we get to Penang next week.