Best Night Markets in Penang for Food Lovers [2024]

Let’s be honest for a minute. Although Penang is full of a rich melting pot of cultures and historic landmarks, that’s not why people are coming in droves.

They are here to taste and experience some of the best food in the world. And this is also the reason why we keep coming back to Penang.

The best way to discover the near-endless amount of amazing dishes this island has to offer is to visit the vast array of street food pods, hawker centers as well as the best night markets in Penang. 

This list includes our favorite hawker stalls and dishes for you to try after we’ve eaten our way through these markets. Let’s dive in!

6 Best Night Markets in Penang

1. Chulia Street Hawker Center

Address: Chulia St, Georgetown, 10450 George Town, Penang  
Hours: 6:00 pm to 12:00 am (7 days a week)

This evening street food area that used to be at the junction of Chulia St. and the bar lined Love Lane is now set up on Lebuh Carnarvon.

This is a great place to eat some amazing food before and after grabbing some drinks. This isn’t the biggest hawker center by far but the wantan mee is worth a trip alone.

Make sure to look for the wantan mee vendor ran by the older couple as that is the better of the two.

Most of the tables are owned by the drink vendors, so be prepared to order a drink if you want to sit in their seats.

2. Kimberley Street Food Night Market

Address: Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, Penang
Hours: 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm (closed on Wednesday)

This hawker area is equally about the dessert shops that line the street as it is about street food.

You can eat your way through the savory dishes before straddling up to a bowl of Tong Sui (custard-like dessert soup).

This night market in Penang is not the biggest of the street food markets, but they have a few dishes that are contenders for the best street food dishes on the island.

Also, look for the vendors that sell out of the Kopitiams (coffee shops) for additional dishes to try.

3. New Lane Hawker Centre

Address: Lorong Baru, George Town, Penang
Hours: 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm (7 days a week)

This pop-up style hawker center in Penang sets up every evening, closing Lorong Baru Road to traffic along with all of the walkways being taken over.

With well over 20 vendors and several coffee shops (Kopitiam) selling their dishes, you will find this hawker center to be a one-stop-shop for the most famous dishes in Penang. 

The tables and chairs are owned by several different beverage vendors, so be prepared to order a drink from the corresponding vendor if you want to continue sitting there.

Don’t worry, they will approach you to take your drink order after you sit.

As the New Lane food stalls have become really popular, we would recommend arriving early if you don’t want to wait in lines and have trouble finding a table.

4. New World Park Food Court

Address: 102 Jalan Burma (Lorong Swatow) 10050 George Town, Penang
Hours: 10:00 am to 1:00 am (7 days a week)

Are you a little freaked out by the idea of eating street food? Is it because of sanitation or simply because it is just outside of your comfort zone?

New World Park food court is like street food with training wheels and a perfect way to break through to eating from the street vendors that you will now have the courage to try.

This hawker center in Penang is a very organized food court style dining experience while still offering up some amazing local fare.

The extra bonus of eating here is that it is a covered area that makes it a great place to escape the oppressive equatorial sun.

Make sure to come by early (around 6-7 pm) as most food stalls close around 8 pm as soon as they run out of food.

5. Pulau Tikus Wet Market

Address: 3, Jalan Pasar, Pulau Tikus, 10350 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Hours: 7:00 am to 11:30 pm (7 days a week)

This market in Penang is a double agent, a wet market serving the locals in the mornings and transitioning to a street food haven at night.

If you arrive prior to the afternoon, this is a great place to taste a bunch of snacks and grab some lunch while perusing the market.

You will find a lot of prepared food like crispy pork belly to a rainbow of different colored desserts.

You can also take this opportunity to purchase and try any fruits that you might want to experience or take back to your room for breakfast the next day.

If you come in the evening, the onsite hawker center opens at 4:00 pm with many vendors to choose from.

6. Cecil Street Market

Address: 40-48, Lebuh Cecil, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Hours: 7:30 am to 7:00 pm (7 days a week)

This market is about a 7-minute drive outside of the center of Old Georgetown but is more than worth the trip out of the tourist areas.

This local market gets busy in the early afternoon when the wet market along with the hawkers open up for business.

Don’t wait too long into the evening before arriving as many of the best vendors sell out as early as 4:00 pm especially on the weekends.

This is another great place to have an amazing learning and eating experience all in one stop.

Wrap-Up: Best Street Food in Penang at Night

When you arrive at one of these street food paradises, you will be greeted with a huge cross-section of the cuisine that makes this region so special.

The sheer volume of different offerings will make the decision-making difficult as you won’t want to miss out on what might be the next best thing you have ever tasted.

Some of these markets are purely street food while others also offer up the raw ingredients for purchase that make up the cuisine of Penang.

There will also be all the sweets you can handle in the form of fresh fruits, baked goods, and delicious desserts that are packaged and ready for take away. 

The secret to eating your way through all of Penang night markets and amazing hawker stalls is to go for a walk and visit all the historic sites between meals in order to rebuild your appetite.

As one of the best things to do in Penang, no meals should be wasted when visiting one of the best culinary cities in the world.