A look at Penang's Jalan Burma, from heritage hotel to Michelin-famous stalls

The 1926 Heritage Hotel, one of Penang's newest boutique hotels, is 100 years old this year. — Handout

For some tourists, navigating the historical city of George Town, Penang is easy if you break it down according to the main roads and zones.

There’s the heritage zone – known as the George Town Unesco Historic Site – that encompasses a handful of major roads like Beach Street (or Lebuh Pantai), Armenian Street (Lebuh Armenian), Lebuh Carnavon, Lebuh Chulia and Pengkalan Weld. Within this zone you can see many restored, repurposed or well-maintained historical buildings.

It is also where most tourists will go to on any given day.

According to the MyPenang website, there are more than 1,700 old pre-war buildings including shophouses, temples and offices found in this zone. You can comfortably explore the area on foot, but if the heat – or rain – gets to you, just hop into the many coffeeshops, cafes, or specialised eateries (pet cafes, plant cafes, ice-cream parlours, etc) for a cool down.

Plenty of shops selling souvenirs, art supplies, pre-loved and vintage items can be found in the area.

Guide yourself

It is hard to establish a single food zone in George Town, but you can do it according to simple categories relatable to you like “halal”, “pork-free”, “street food”, “cafes” and “nasi kandar”.

Of course, Penang is famous for nasi kandar and each well-known restaurant there has its own legion of loyal fans, as well as detractors. Funnily, this actually makes it easier for regular out-of-town visitors to chart their way through George Town. 

The stall selling duck blood curry mee (left) on Jalan Burma is on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list; Is the average-tasting char kuay teow in Penang usually better than the most popular char kuay teow in the Klang Valley?— Photos: MELODY L. GOH

Meanwhile, some tourists prefer to just either join the crowd, ask for recommendations from social media, or return to the same places they always go to whenever they visit.

Then there are those who specifically seek Michelin-recommended spots. While I won’t critique on the food, I will say that this is not a bad way to spend a few days in Penang, as there are 74 of these eateries, many of them in George Town itself.

Of that number, two carry one-star awards, 33 are under the Bib Gourmand list, and 39 are Michelin Selected venues.

I’m not one to patronise fine dining establishments while on holiday – especially in a food-famous destination like Penang – but I don’t mind checking out the Bib Gourmand stalls, particularly if they are located in food courts or coffeeshops.

There’s just something about these kinds of eateries that makes the food seem more appealing to me. Is it the heady mix of aromas from all the different stalls coming together in one big waft? Perhaps it’s more of a visual stimulation: The more I watch the cook either preparing or putting my meal together, the eager I am to eat it.

When I visited George Town in mid-May, my first meal of the day was a bowl of white curry noodles from Duck Blood Curry Mee on Jalan Burma. It was a few doors down from the new 1926 Heritage Hotel Penang, a beautifully restored boutique hotel under The Ascott Limited.

One of the rooms at 1926 Heritage Hotels. — Handout

Built in 1926 – yes, this is its 100th year – the building was once the living quarters of British and local government personnel. It is an architectural representation of Penang’s past, with the kind of Anglo-Malay features commonly seen in George Town back then.

Originally, there were 24 interconnected link houses, which were then converted into rooms and suites when the property was turned into a hotel by the Penang Development Corporation in 1999.

The first iteration of the 1926 Heritage Hotel was in business for two decades before shuttering in 2020. A refurbishment and restoration deal between new owner (Jetblue Sdn Bhd) and The Ascott Limited took place shortly after; today’s luxury accommodation is the result of that.

There are now 78 rooms and suites across the 24 link houses, with six room categories including the Heritage Room (best for solo travellers) and the Straits Suite, which is the biggest. 

Big appetite

I arrived way past lunchtime and contemplated ordering the said duck blood curry noodles for takeout, eating it in the comforts of my hotel patio, or maybe even poolside. What stopped me was the fact that next to the shop was Restoran Old Green House, the “original” home of the Bib Gourmand-listed stall, Green House Prawn Mee & Loh Mee. 

You can find many restored and repurposed heritage buildings in Penang, especially within the George Town Unesco Historic Site.

If you walk down Jalan Burma towards Jalan Penang – the best landmark for this, to those who don’t know the city well, would be Komtar – you will come across another shop called Green House Prawn Mee/Law (sic) Mee Corner. Locals say both places are the “same”, but most will still tell you to go to the original stall at Restoran Old Green House. 

A bowl each of curry noodles and prawn noodles later, I was stuffed to the brim. I didn’t think much of it because I had planned to walk to some stores located in the heritage zone, namely on Lebuh Campbell, Lebuh Kimberley and Beach Street.

I mapped the area earlier to find out how much I would have to walk in total (gotta get those steps in, after all) – at least 4km there and back. Great!

I was prepared to walk in the hot Penang heat: I had borrowed a big umbrella and a small towel from the hotel, and refilled my bottle using the high-tech water filter in my room (it has WiFi you can connect to!). Fancy and convenient.

At almost 5km, Jalan Burma is one of the longest arterial roads in the city, stretching from the border of the heritage zone, all the way to the more upscale neighbourhood of Pulau Tikus. It’s a nice and safe walk, with just one or two sections that do not have a proper pedestrian path.

Jalan Burma, originally “Burmah Road” as seen on old signboards and maps, definitely has an interesting history. You can read a simplified version of it on an old information board located just below the Komtar Octopus Pedestrian Bridge.

Root House by Gen is one of the hotel's two tenants, the other being Sensorium.

It was once known by several names: three in Malay, and two each in Hokkien and Cantonese. These are all translated in English. For example, Jalan Tarek Ayer or Water Cart Road, and Gui Chia Chui (Hokkien) or Water On Bullock Carts.

The road was originally named as such because it was used to transport water using bullock carts way back in the day.

A Burmese settlement was then formed in Pulau Tikus in the 19th century, which later resulted in the renaming of the main road.

Today you can visit the Dhammikarama Burmese Temple, established two centuries ago, on one of the lanes along Jalan Burma. Burmese-influenced road names like Rangoon Road, Mandalay Road and Moulmein Close are also found in the vicinity.

As the day progressed, my phone reminded me that I had dinner reservations at Root House by Gen, the modern Chinese restaurant located within the hotel. I power-walked back to the hotel in a desperate attempt to burn some calories before indulging again, this time with a friend.

Two hours of chatting and six lovely dishes later, I could barely move. Which was great because next on my itinerary was sleep and nothing else.

Lively weekend

One of my favourite spots in George Town is the Hin Bus Depot. The marketplace opens on weekends and this is where you’ll find mostly local vendors selling curios, artworks, homemade outfits, souvenirs and services like caricature drawing. 

The Kuan Im See Temple along Jalan Burma is more than a century old.

Homemade food and beverages are aplenty too, and you can eat your meals while watching a live music show.

Workshops like pottery-making and silver jewellery crafting are sometimes held within the space too – check out the Hin Bus Depot website (hinbusdepot.com) for details.

I stumbled upon an exhibition called Bu (mother), featuring a collection of sculptures of women with their offspring by renowned Malaysian artist Heng Eow Lin. The gallery was unfortunately not in the main section of the space so many may have missed the exhibition.

Lunch was a plate of char koay teow from a random stall at a random kopitiam. I was no longer interested in visiting any “starred” or recommended eateries.

After lunch the sky was dark grey so I quickly walked back to my accommodation to avoid the rain. I booked myself a 90-minute spa session at the hotel’s Sensorium Wellness, which included a head massage, a hot bath and a back rub of sorts.

After all that walking (and eating), I really needed that session.

The 1926 Heritage Hotel Penang was originally built to house government servants during colonial times. — Handout