I know I mentioned popiah and yet I featured crabs, right? Well that's the thing! I love the popiah here for its crab fillings. And in addition to this, there are so many more great food here that I would not miss it every single time I visited Penang. This is Mount Erskine. Years back when I was still a fresh college student, I used to stay in Mount Erskine. This place was my main station. In order to limit my spending to RM5 per day, I used to buy buns here and keep for my daily consumption. But the popiah stall didn't start until 2-3 years back. This stall used to be located at the old Rex Cinema along Jalan Burma. It was already famous then (at least to me and my friends).
Now Mount Erskine has since flourished with even more variety of stalls. You can find mixed nyonya rice, chicken rice, fried rice, porridge, clear soup noodles, curry noodles, Indian noodles, snacks, desserts, fruits and the list goes on. Amazing right?Location: Mount Erskine, Penang
Rating: Great
Review
Like I said before, I have visited this shop from Jalan Burma till now. And I can assure you, you can't find this elsewhere.
I love the soft and moist popiah wrapping that envelopes the fragrant crab meat and crab eggs. The crab meat portion looks little compared to the vege, but believe me the balance is just perfect. I don't want an overpowering seafood roll, I would have gone for seafood if I want that. You can taste a hint of sauce and again it is just enough to add flavour and not overpowering. Oh I miss it already.
Then there is this dry koay teow (flat rice noodles). They come complete with a variety of fish paste.
And the owner. Oh man, can he talk.. He is one of the sweetest talker I have ever met. But you have to respect his spirit. Who wouldn't love a chirpy cook? I know he looked kinda serious in the pic (I suspect he is trying to act cool :P)
But his talks aside. You have to give it to him that his dry koay teow is really good. Especially when mixed with his sambal belacan (prawn paste chili). The sambal is so strongly fragrant and spicy. I can feel the kick.
The koay teow is also really smooth. What's beautiful is the fact that it is not oily, yet very smooth and blended well with the sauce. I practically had to kick Ben to stop in order for me to take this photo. He was happily slurping away without a care.
Ah.. Fried koay teow. Ben awarded this place best fried koay teow! I have to say the koay teow here is good.
The koay teow is also really smooth. What's beautiful is the fact that it is not oily, yet very smooth and blended well with the sauce. I practically had to kick Ben to stop in order for me to take this photo. He was happily slurping away without a care.Ah.. Fried koay teow. Ben awarded this place best fried koay teow! I have to say the koay teow here is good.The noodles is crispy and dry (not oily or lumpy). It is strongly fragrant with what Cantonese people call "wok hei", basically means enough heat to bring out the flavours and concentrate the juice into the food. If the above koay teow gives me a kick, this gives me an "umph".
And then there is Che Hu (Hokkien for fresh fish). Or some call it Chinese pasembur.
The sweet potato sauce is thick and creamy. The fritters are rather normal though. But at least it has fresh jelly fish as a che hu should have.
And then there is Che Hu (Hokkien for fresh fish). Or some call it Chinese pasembur.The sweet potato sauce is thick and creamy. The fritters are rather normal though. But at least it has fresh jelly fish as a che hu should have. With all the fiery stuff we had, this is just the best thing to douse the fire within. This is coconut sea with honey. They used to have a special which includes rambutan+pineapple mix. But the last time I tried to order, this newbie do not understand me. So you'll just have to make do with this.
But do not underestimate this sweet little thing. The fragrance of honey and coolness of sea coconut is simply refreshing.
But do not underestimate this sweet little thing. The fragrance of honey and coolness of sea coconut is simply refreshing.To be truthful, I hate to recommend this place. It is one of my fave and I selfishly want to keep it for myself. ngiat ngiat ngiat...
We picked eggs and anchovies, the conventional ones. The lovely green banana leaves serve as wrap, and it enhances the aroma of the rice. 
Don't worry abut its freshness. Although they are prepacked, the owner is just behind the stalls preparing them.
Sorry if my hands kinda shaky. I just can't wait to grab a spoon and dig my way into that inviting pile of 
Next we ordered dried 
But we did not order that. I am not sure if they still have that. But our 
Again, I did not expect the meat's colour to look so dark. Normally fresh beef slices are pinkish in colour. I thought the meat will be very tough then. Again I was wrong. The meat was just as tender. It is very juicy too. The beef ball is bouncy. Love the clear soup - fragrant yet not overpowering.
Then we have 
That's when we would stop by this shop for breakfast. My childhood memory on this place is quite a blur. In fact, most of my childhood is a blur. Anyway, I revisited this place during the Christmas holidays and I find the quality is still there.
Although the runner now is replaced by the younger generation, but quality wise isn't compromised. The noodles came with multiple meat choices doused with flavoured black soy sauce.
Then there is this fried koay teow. I seldom eat fried koay teow in Kuala Lumpur. They are just not appetising. In order to fried a good koay teow, the fire must be strong enough to create a crisp and dry koay teow. Another important step is to make sure the noodles are well separated as shown below. This is to ensure that each strand of koay teow is thoroughly flavoured and fried. 
And some western influenced snacks of Penang. Egg pancake with banana and raisins. Yes, you can find this in the "Kedai Kopi New Cathay" I have posted earlier. And this is the other place you get this fragrant pancake.
Girls who like sweet stuff will like this. The natural sweetness of banana and raisins coupled with fragrance of egg and salted margarine. Toss a handful of sesame seeds and voila - a great unity of the east and west. 
But when my bowl of Koay Teow Soup (flat rice noodles) came, I thought it was quite alright. Though the soup is a bit dark, but it suits me well. I wouldn't mind coming back for the koay teow.
As you drive along Jalan Burma in Penang, you can't miss this shop. I love coming here for breakfast. Many good food here. It took me multiple visits to collect photos of various food here. Yet I still miss out some of them.
What's better is the noodles were the transparent springy type. The drawbacks here are (1) overcooked noodles (lost a bit of the springiness), and (2) the sambal belacan is not spicy at all (no kick). But I supposed it could fit into general expectation.
Next special on my list is Koay Chiap. This you really can't find in many place. It's duck soup with flat square rice noodles. A bowl of Koay Chiap offers beancurd, egg, duck meat and innards.
If you worry that the soup may be affected by the innards, no worries there. The soup has strong herbal aroma, not very far different from bak kut teh herbs. It is basically quite like a noodle version of bak kut teh. Very good to warm the stomach.
Next on the list is the curry noodles. Heck, you don't expect me to miss this do you? Even the curry noodles here is slightly different. The squid used here has been fried with chili paste before serving on the bowl. This enhances the fragrance and attracts non-squid-lover like me.
Oh, you don't see the blood jelly here. Nah.. Not my cup of blood :P But I love the tau pok (fried hollow beancurd). The type here is more soft and moist as compared to its KL cousins that are hard and hard. If you like spicy, just get more sambal (chili paste) from the owner. But be warn that its price is not as cheap as its other counterparts in Penang.
We call it Apom. And this lovely egg apom sells at RM2 for 5 pieces. 
Fragrant cakes that are soft at the inside and crunchy at the outside. Both sides offered different level of fragrance. You can eat it togather or separately. 
There are more stuff that I wanted to share, but I have not got the photos. You should try its Lam Mee (clear soup noodles) with sambal belacan. The Chinese pancake with banana and raisins are also great. There is a plain fried noodles stall (chai fun) that includes tau kee (deep fried beancurd sticks) - Northen style. So much more. A good place to have almost everything..jpg)
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Nomatter where I turn, there are rows of long tables occupied with patrons busy digging into their curried rice. .jpg)
Not to be outdone. We ordered our fair share of dishes. There are (clockwise sambal chicken, curry fish, rice with a standard vege, and fried chicken).
The fried chicken is tender and well flavoured. The meat is tender but may be a bit too dry. No worries though, as all rice are accompanied with a small plate of fish curry..jpg)
