Gurney Drive & New Lane Route

The island's signatures, gathered at night

Gurney Drive is a sea-facing promenade where stalls and eateries light up from evening. Slightly inland, New Lane (Lorong Baru) too fills a whole street with stalls once dark. This is less a single plate than a place where Penang's signatures line up at once. Hokkien prawn mee is a red broth from prawn shells, assam laksa the sour soup of mackerel and tamarind, rojak a tropical salad of fruit in prawn-paste dressing. Oyster omelette is a griddled batter with oysters, satay a charcoal skewer. Where the Chinese hawkers of the heritage zone center on daytime, here the bustle of night itself takes the lead. In the sea breeze, the pleasure is to touch many plates a little at a time.

A cycle of heat, sourness and sweetness

Night-market plates are small and strong, so rather than filling up at one shop, walk and change the taste. Take salt and savor from prawn mee or satay, reset the mouth with the sour of assam laksa, add toastiness with oyster omelette. Rojak's prawn-paste dressing brings sweet, sour, hot and salty at once, savory as a main though it is fruit. When spicy plates run on, cool the body with iced sweets like ais kacang or cendol. Penang nights are muggy, and a cold bowl in between lets you turn again to the next hot plate. The prawn paste is pungent but round on the finish, and once used to it you find it the core of the island's taste. Keep a drink at hand, move between heat, sourness and sweetness, and build up a little at a time — that is how this quarter is eaten.

How to walk this route

Take a bus from Komtar toward Gurney and arrive at the seafront before dusk to catch the stalls rising from the moment the lights come on. Take salt first with Hokkien prawn mee, then a plate of rojak with its prawn-paste dressing as you walk the row. Sit for a fresh oyster omelette, and order a few sticks at the charcoal line of satay. When the heat piles up, cool the body once with ais kacang. Having taken the sea breeze at Gurney, move slightly inland to New Lane and close with the sour of assam laksa. About two hours in all. Many stalls take only cash, so keep some small cash on hand. Choose shops that make to order for grilled and soup dishes and you eat them hot. Some nights sell out or the soup ends early, so secure the plate you most want in advance.