itinerary Bukit Mertajam lunch crawl: 4 stops on foot
4 stops · 0.5km on foot
Bukit Mertajam's old centre around Jalan Pasar packs four stops into a short walk, from a mainland rojak stall to a Teochew chu char that dates back six decades. It's about 20 minutes by car from Georgetown, and everything here sits within a few streets.
- Photo: Lim Rauna via Google Maps
Rojak Orang Hitam Putih takes its name from the plate itself: thick dark har koh (black prawn paste) against the pale fruit, finished with a generous shower of peanut powder. Pineapple and fried you tiao are what most people pick. It's pork-free and comes in under RM 20 per person.
2 10:30 to 22:30 · 188m from the last stop · shut Tuesday
Photo: Huang Lizhen via Google Maps Ah Kong Dau Hua Pek Kong Cheng Soya Bean Delights started as a stall in 1955 and now runs out of a modern shop in the heritage quarter. Get a bowl with black sugar syrup. The curd comes silky and the syrup stays short of cloying, proof that good beancurd isn't only an island thing.
3 08:00 to 17:00 · 77m from the last stop · shut Sunday
Photo: chiefeater.com via Google Maps BM Karipap has hand-folded curry puffs beside the pasar since 1976, more than a thousand a day, each well under a ringgit. The filling is the old recipe of curried potato and sweet potato inside a crisp shell. Mornings move fastest, so treat this as a quick snack stop.
4 11:00 to 14:00 · 261m from the last stop
Photo: Google review via Google Maps Yoong Kee stops serving lunch at 14:00, so don't let the snacks drag on. This Teochew chu char has run for over sixty years, back to the days of three digit phone numbers. Order the Teochew style steamed fish; the rest of the menu is kept simple and restrained. Tables spill onto the sidewalk.