Penang Food | See Kong Ooi Restaurant
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Once in a while, people do get mistaken who PenangTuaPui really are as most people have not seen us in person except for those we met and bumped into once in a while or when we do food review. Well, for readers who have never seen us in persons, we actually have our photo in one of the posts… Which one is it? Happy surfing 
See Kong Ooi Restaurant is located towards the end of Transfer Road nearer to Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. If you are coming from Sultan Ahmad Shah turning into Transfer Road, this restaurant is just on your left before you reach Sri Bahari Road.
The Chinese name of See Kong Ooi, according to the owners, derived from a name of a lake on the Western part of China.
The business started with the original owner who used to sell porridge in the early days even before the Japanese occupation in Malaya then. This place was a favourite with the Japanese customers that you can see the faded Japanese wordings on the signboard.
Eventually the owner decided to quit the business and the grandfather of current owners who was working with the original owner at that time, decided to take up the business of selling porridge. It was until the 3rd and current generation where they have changed to chu char instead.
This restaurant serves home cooked dishes, something that you can have almost everyday. Unlike some places where you will go once in a while, the dishes served are quite normal, just like our own home cooked food.
Instead of menu and pictures on the booklet, you can refer to the walls for the menu instead.
The kangkung (RM7.00) was only cooked with belacan and does not have sambal heh bee (dried shrimps). This is very plain cooking that purely use belacan, Fei Fei commented it is just like his mom’s cooking.
The belacan fried chicken (RM9.00) tasted quite crispy and the good thing about it was, the fried chicken did not soak much oil. The belacan taste was slightly better than average but still did not meet Huat Koay’s expectation. This is a dish to try if you prefer mild belacan taste.
The assam prawns (RM15.00) were in all black as if the prawns had been overcooked but this is the actually dish itself. Tasted sour but delicious, a must try signature dish.
The Assam Fish (RM15.00) tasted like curry fish except this one is much sour in taste. This assam fish is quite appetizing with its tender fish meat as well as the lady’s fingers. The only thing that we dislike is the dish can be quite oily. So, better ask for less oil if you were like us.
The ginger chicken (RM9.00) contained rice wine which was more prevailing compared to the ginger taste. Also, the wine scent was quite strong too which Fei Fei happily sipping one spoon after another… The dish in overall was quite salty so it is good to have this dish with rice.
This dish, Pork in Red Vinegar is not for sale but is available upon request. According to the owner, this is traditional Hock Chiew dish that not everyone can take it. The smell and taste of this pork is quite chau sui (heavily fermented smell) that you may think the dish as already not edible.
The Red Vinegar used to make the dish earlier. If you dare, why not ask the owner for you to try? Hehehe
This prawn dish is not for sale as well but available upon request. The prawns used is called “ang kau heh” (literally: red dog prawns). This type of prawn is similar to tiger prawns but smaller in size and darker in colour. The nice thing about this dish is the strong prawn taste that blended well wit the gravy.
Minced meat with salted fish (RM8.00), is one of Fei Fei’s top pick among the dishes.
The fish head with tofu (RM24.00) dish used tau cheo (fermented soya beans) to cook which turned the dish very fragrant and nice to eat. The portion was big and worth the money but the we felt the fish head was not fully fried long enough. This is another must try signature dish.
Some of the dishes we had, clockwise from lower left; minced meat with salted fish, belacan fried chicken, ginger chicken, assam prawns, kangkung and prawns. We liked the dishes here as they are much like home cooked dishes that we do not mind to go everyday…
The current owners, Teddy (left) and Peter.
The name, the phone, the address… the business card.
The GPS coordinate as shown (N 05° 2.337′ E100° 19.875′) or map at below
See Kong Ooi Restaurant
9, Transfer Road, Penang
Tel: 04-262 7845
Business Hours:
11.00am till 11.00pm
View Penang Food by PenangTuaPui.com in a larger map
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More stunning photos on next page
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all the dishes got home cooked feel and looks so yummy… make me miss home nia.. so bad of you guys ;(
allie,
sooo sorry we made you feel like missing home… but this place do serve home cooked food which reminds us of that feeling tooo
like all the dishes esp the minced pork with salted fish-another bowl of rice please!
foodbin,
one bowl of rice, on the way!!
eh, isn’t this where I had my lunch with Lingzie, CK Lam, Ken & BBO?? good food
New Kid On The Blog,
You guys got your photos on Tune Hotel post. Am I correct?
Pete Tan,
Bingo, we posted our photos there….. hehehehe
I took my parents there the other day and they complained the food is different now. The curry has too much assam thus is black in color. SImilar to Huat Koay, didnt enjoy the belachan chicken too
I took my parents to this place but didnt really like it. The balachan chicken (similar with Huat Koay) not fragrant enough and the Assam Fish has too much assam in it making it black instead of the light curry color. Prefer Teik Seng for Hainanese food, off Chulia Lane. You guys should try that one instead.
rebeccalee,
thanks for the recommendation of Teik Seng… we shall try that one…
we’ll take note of your comment and feedback to the owners.. hope they’ll be aware of this too
Cool. Very detailed review over there. One out of topic question, the why it called See Kong Ooi where it doesn’t match with the Chinese name? :p
Kit Kat,
That we’ll get the owner to reply instead.. They should be able to tell more
This is one of the ‘lao jee hoe’ restaurants in Penang which I like! 紅糟 dishes are not that common in Penang, I shall try it out one day!
cariso,
yea, it’s not ez to find that dish and the smell is not for the faint hearted too …. but if can take it.. give it a try
ooo… this one interesting… hmm…. in order to retain the taste, the food quality it is kind of difficult, but the passion is something we need to respect. not many of us willing to spend time to take over the career from our parent. Even the initial eh chef also take years to master the skill, give them sometime and give them more input may help to improve more.
aiks…. longest comment i had ever put….. but i will go and try it out. Thanks for the sharing….
Carlos,
True, it’s never easy to attain the skills from the parents and sometimes there are variations too even though the sons have completely learnt the skills from the parents… The best yardsticks still the gauge from customers response… we believe, if customers find it good… the business will flourish then
read this from some other blog. homecooked to the max!
wouldnt mind giving this place a try in the future.
my photos of this place from a previous trip with NKOTB still in my draft folder! you guys so fast!
J2Kfm,
a lot to try out when you’re here next round
lingzie,
hehehe a bit faster just this round…
wa.. ur photo is nice la….. hmm.. able to make me drool even by looking at them.. u guy are sooo bad… no more lunch browsing….
btw.. nice blog u had…
Ya lo those photos very nice ler… make those food looks tasty. :p Too bad I’m in KL can’t taste it.
Went there a few times with family and recently with some food bloggers but each time did not have the chance to try the Pork in Red Vinegar…looks interesting. It does have a similar colour to the ang chiew mee suah.
That is not Red Vinegar lah. It is call额定 AngChao (红糟). It is the remainder (渣) of HockChew red-rice-wine brewery.
ck lam, this ang chao pork is not in the menu, & is non-selling item… but you can request it from the owner, may be the can cook 1 bowl for you to try…
ck Lam, you are correct on the fact that the red wine pork looks
similar ang chiew mee suah. We actually use the same ingredient (红
糟)to cook the dish.
My granpa was one of the migrants from Hock Chew during 1940s. The
red wine was used by the Hock Chiew people to preserve food long
before the invention of fridge. The red wine can be used not only in
Pork and Chicken dishes, but also beef, mutton and seafood like fish
and prawn. The method to cook those food is rather straightforward,
but then the fire strength (火候) is another factor that will affect
the result of the taste. I am still learning hard on this.
ektohek,
I guess you were right that Angchao = remainder of Hock Chew red
rice wine brewery. In Malaysia, we Hock Chew Lang also preserve our
own AngChao at home from own consumption.
黑人蓝保,
With the popular recommendation on PenangTuapui.com, our Angchao in
stock had been sold out. It will take 1-2 months to preserve another
batch….haha!
wat a nice place… hmm thinking to go to get my dinner there with my parent. I think they will love it.
wa…. nice place la… got home feel. Will drop by one day and try it out. Thanks for recommending.
hoonseng,
yea… quite a nice place with home feel dining and meals…
my dad’s favourite also, he is very happy to see you all… young man who help to promote this Penang Heritage type of cuisine, local penang cuisine.
HI Mandy,
Thanks for your comment. I am happy your dad love it. We just try our best. Appreciate your support. Thanks.