Medan Selera Padang Brown — Restaurant in George Town

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I went over to a "famous" spot for soup, and left underwhelmed (see previous review). A sleepless night ensued. I knew there had to be a decent sup kambing spot in town. Decent (not looking for great) because that's how low the bar is measured now. A few google clicks away and I was reading about this spot in Padang Brown Food Court. Al-Bismi Soup; the holy grail. They open from 4pm onwards till late (as I was told).

Boy was I in for a treat! Not only was this sup kambing cheaper than Sup Hameed, it was HEAVENLY! This was exactly how I remembered Sup Hameed, except this wasn't Sup Hameed. Thick flavourful broth with just the right spices, piping hot! There were chunks of meat in the soup, and barely any bones. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. If I had my own Bib Gourmand, this would be on the list.

Al-Bismi is currently probably my top pick for sup kambing anywhere. If mutton isn't your fancy, they also have sup ayam and sup lembu. Did I mention that the stall looked clean? Hygiene was good. I'm in love with this spot. I will definitely be back again for seconds.

P.S. This would've made 5 stars, but I'm dropping 1 star because of the face masks SOP for the staff. Refer to picture below. We are still in a midst of a pandemic. The least we could do is wear a face mask properly. I...

This review is for the Malay food section, which opens from evening onwards. A popular haunt for people who are into Malay dishes. However, the variety of food is limited as many stalls are selling the same type of food.

For me, there are two stalls which keeps me going back to the place when I have a craving for the food. First, is the Soup stall which sells different types of soup, chicken, mutton or beef soup for you to choose from. For me, I think that the Beef soup is the best in Penang, if not in the whole country. The soup is cooked using a lot of spices which gives it the fragrance. It is a fusion of Indian cooking. with Malay influence to come out with a most delicious soup with chunks of beef and golden fried onions to complement the taste. You can add innards if you are a fan. Even ox tail soup is available. The way to eat it is to order some Bengali bread to dip into your soup for a most satisfying meal.

For those not into soup, I can recommend an Indian Mee stall, Malaysia Indian Mee stall which serves very good Indian Mee Goreng or Indian Mee Rebus which is one of the best in Penang. Yes, Penang abounds with many good places for this delicacy but believe me, if you are in Penang, and you need to eat this very good delicacy, look no more. Feedback is...

Have been coming this place since I was a kid. Some of the stalls are still there since then, some are new. In my opinion all of them are a pretty good option for lunch or brunch.

Do come at 11 am or 12 pm though, as they are only opened at that time. Another note is that some of the stalls might be closed on certain days or even time if they are sold out early. I was looking forward to the roti babi but they were closed on this day.

Had the pancake, char kway teow，crab spring roll and yong Tau foo. Pancake with corn is always my go to snack in Penang. Light, fluffy pastry with the right amount of corn and cream. Goes so well with coffee.

Crab spring roll is good as usual. Using only crab meat. Do request for less gravy if you do not like the wet version.

Yong Tau foo is a popular item there but it moves fast. Feel free to select the readily available meat and vegetables. The seller will chop it up and put it in soup. Special note on the handmade fishballs. Springy and right amount of saltiness.

Do visit if you...