Hameediyah Restaurant — Restaurant in George Town

IT SHOULD TASTE LIKE PENANG. NOT KL.

I came to Hameediyah with my friend and my mother, expecting the comfort of a good plate of nasi kandar. Instead, what I got was an experience that felt half-show, half-food — and only slightly satisfying.

The queue was long, as expected — but that’s not the problem. What really threw me off was the behaviour of certain people in the line. There were customers more focused on filming themselves than ordering their food. Loud TikTok narrations. Tripods set up in the middle of walkways. People posing with plates while others waited patiently behind them. It was disrespectful, disruptive, and honestly, exhausting. If you came here for makan, you had to push past a content-creator circus just to get to the counter.

When it was finally my turn, I stood in front of a wide range of lauk, trying to decide. Classic kuah campur for me — I like the chaos, the flavour, the mess. The prawns caught my eye — fat, glossy, drowning in orange curry — but I hesitated. Pricey, intimidating, and I didn’t want to be disappointed. So I passed.

Taste-wise, Hameediyah sits in a strange space — somewhere between KL’s polished, curated tourist scene and Penang’s unapologetic bare minimum. It tries to hold onto heritage, but feels semi-delivered. Safe. Predictable. Sanitised, even.

Then came my mother. No chaos, no confusion. She stood at the counter and said clearly: “Kari kambing. Sayur. Jangan campur.” No extra instructions. No need for the gravy drama. Even the abang hesitated — like her request went against some kind of nasi kandar rulebook. But she didn’t flinch. Her plate was focused, grounded, and quietly bold. It reminded me that sometimes, less truly is more.

We also shared a murtabak, which unfortunately, was the low point of the visit. Murtabak should be judged by how generous it is with filling, how thick it folds, how the meat spills at the edge. Hameediyah’s wasn’t a textbook — it was a primary school exercise book. Thin, underfilled, dry. Definitely not worth the price tag. I’ve had better from pasar Ramadan stalls under plastic tents, wrapped in oily brown paper.

To me, a good nasi kandar should haunt you after the meal. It should cling to your fingers with spice, leave your shirt faintly smelling of curry, and stay with you for hours — in all the best ways. But Hameediyah didn’t do that. It felt… semi-delivered. Like someone had wrapped up a memory and served it reheated.

Come here if you want to say you’ve been. Take your photos, maybe even enjoy a decent plate. But if you’re looking for that true, finger-staining, gravy-sticking-to-your-spoon experience — the one that tastes like a messy plate at 11am in Penang or Butterworth — you’ll need to...

One of the best nasi kandar in Penang! With its long heritage of over a hundred years, it certainly lives up to its reputation. We ordered takeaway and had it in our hotel as we are still full but we can’t resist the temptation when we walked past this restaurant. The aroma from the chef cooking the murtabak at the entrance of the restaurant is so rich and it makes passerby glance into the shop whenever they walk past. Inside is the main highlight which is the Nasi kandar. A wide variety display of dishes ranging from different types of chicken, seafood and vegetables are shown and you can pick whatever you like. The chef will drizzle different types of curries on the rice which enhances the taste of the rice perfectly. We ordered 2 types of chicken in curry and fried style, 2 forms of egg which is salted and another fried, one vegetable, half portion of a octopus and 1 tiger prawn. As you can see from the pictures, the tiger prawn is humongous and extremely fresh that I feel like I can taste the ocean. The octopus is fried in a unique style that consists of different spices. The taste of ginger, raisins, some nuts and many others in the spice is just perfect and complements the octopus really well. The whole mixture of different ingredients, curries and rice just hit all the right notes on my tastebud and tummy. It’s slightly pricey because of the seafood but definitely worth it! They do display their prices on a board on the wall inside the restaurant therefore please take a look at it. We will certainly return and have their Nasi kandar again! Please note that most of the time there’s a long queue for their Nasi kandar. The queue certainly can prove that the food is delicious. Therefore please be prepared to wait if you want to savour a taste of this delicious meal. Highly recommended...

Food is good just like several other nasi kandar that I have been too. Atmosphere is good. But the service at the cashier counter at around 2pm on 15/7/2025 is downright bad. After my dine in wt my husband and friend, I saw some 30 packets of hot readily packed murtabak opposite the cashier's counter. I thought customers are supposed to take what they want and pay at the counter. This makcik at the counter asked me very rudely, if I have placed my order ( I think that is what she said cos her voice is not that audible'). She told me to put back and order. As ii proceeded to our the packet back I heard her telling the next customer at the counter, a malay gentlemsn that 'dia pandai pandai ambil'. I was taken aback by her rudeness. So I turned back and told her I have never bought a take away murtabak from her restaurant so I thought I am supposed to just take one and pay. There is no one in sight at the place where the ready paced murtabak are . Then grumpily she asked me ' tak mau bawang Dan kuah? I told her I want. Then she shouted for someone to come over to serve, grumbling loudly at the same time about nobody helping outside'. I mean why is she venting her frustrations at me? Becos I am Chinese? Or does that lady whom I think may be related to the owner of the restaurants think I am taking the murtabak for free or are Chinese not welcome in that restaurant.! I normally take visitors to that restaurant but I think I will not do that anymore. I will hv to spread the fact of this horrible experience to all, phps I need to viral this in Sosmed. That lady may well be a disgrace to that...