HAWKERS
Hawker Stalls are commonplace in Malaysia where food vendors literally ‘hawk’ on the streets. Most hawker stalls reside within a Coffee Shop (or Kopi Tiam) which usually has many complementing hawkers. Hawker food is cheap, good and where you’ll find the majority of locals eating.
Throughout PenangFood.org, the term hawker stalls is refered to for all types of food, although Malay Hawker Stalls are normally called Mamak stalls.
Hawker Stalls in Penang serve all types of food, from malay, chinese, indian, nonya and a range of western food.
There are a few coffee shops in Penang which house a large number of Hawker Stalls. These coffee shops are normally called Hawker Centres, where you’ll find almost all of Penang’s delicacies.
Hawker Centres are now also found in most of the big Shopping malls where they are called Food Courts- air-conditioned, more pricey but basically the same thing.
Note that different hawker stalls / centres are reputed for various dishes so do your research when trying to find the best place to eat. As always, it depends on what you want to eat.