The Oldest Nasi Kandar in Penang @ Hameediyah Restaurant, Campbell Street, Georgetown, Penang!

Coming back with a bang after being closed for a month for renovation, Hameediyah is set to redefine and raise the bar of Indian Muslim food and the ambience. On the outside, Hameediyah Restaurant still maintains its rustic and heritage feel but make no mistake, the whole restaurant is now brighter, cleaner, neater and smarter now! The floors, the walls, the toilets and the kitchens are way cleaner than last time. They have another extended outlet which is three doors away called, ‘Hameediyah Tandoori House‘ which can accommodate bigger groups of people. With such upgrade, patrons might worry that the great flavours of the food that they had might be gone too. Worry not, although the shop has gone through tremendous renovation, the management still maintains the authenticity and originality of their flavours and food. The management even vows to bring back some of the yesteryear flavours.

The waiters wear striking yellow T-shirt with the number ‘1907’ behind their T-shirt, proud to announce that their nasi kandar restaurant is the oldest in Penang and even Malaysia! Yup, the restaurant starting to serve nasi kandar since 1907. n It is now 107 years in business and still going strong! The whole restaurant has a better system and layout. You can see how your roti canai or also called as roti prate and murtabak is prepared on the outer part of the restaurant.

Here is where you can choose your favourite dishes for your old time favourite nasi kandar. Everything looked clean and neat with proper lighting. You just need to tell the server what you want and they will help you to scoop it! 🙂 On display above the stall is the olden time method of selling nasi kandar. ‘Kandar’ in Malay language means to carry something using a stick and your shoulder. That’s how last time nasi kandar is sold. KayaButter also learnt from elder people that due to bad economy at that time, nasi kandar consists of half hard-boiled egg, cuts of beef, some ocras and some rice together with curry fish gravy. Fast forward to the present time, we now have a variety of choices for our nasi kandar. That’s a big blessing! 🙂

This restaurant has gone through 6 generations of management and now the 7th generation of the family is running the business now. On display behind the cashier counter are the forefathers and great-great-grandfathers of the current owner of this restaurant.

Bloggers and the people from PenangLang.my taking a group photo! 🙂 Spot Kaya and Butter! 😛

The dining hall on the 1st floor is air-conditioned and they still keep the original century old table here. It is the table which we have our food to review.

Here we are for the food review. Don’t worry, KayaButter have other blogger friends to help us to finish all these awesome food.

Chicken Murtabak with Pickled Onion RM5

Lentil Sauce

This is definitely THE highlight of our review. Hameediyah preserves the authentic way of preparing their murtabak. They stuff a roti-canai like in the middle of the murtabak that gives the extra thickness and fullness and chewy taste. The accompanying lentil sauce is thick and not too watery and comes with potatoes and eggplants. KayaButter prefer to mix the murtabak with fish curry or chicken curry. 😛 Hameediyah insists on serving pickled onions to continue the traditional way of serving murtabak although many other eateries have long stopped serving that.

Kerabu Nanas RM1 per person

Nasi Briyani RM3 per portion

Nasi briyani is definitely a favourite among the patrons. Its strong flavour and inviting yellowish colour are best combined with other dishes. One thing that Kaya finds lacking is the amount of raisins. Kaya always love the extra juicy sweetness from the raisin when Kaya munches the nasi briyani especially when mixed together with spicy gravies. It helps to minimise the spiciness.

Roti Canai

The roti canai served is fluffy and tastes best when it is still piping hot. KayaButter prefer to eat it the old school way which is with sugar. How many of you still eat the roti canai with sugar and some gravies? 🙂

Beef Rendang RM2.50 per portion

One thing that makes the patrons keep coming back for nasi kandar or Indian Muslim food is their gravy. That’s why we have a Malay term here called ‘banjir’ which means flood whereby patrons flood their nasi kandar with all kind of gravies. This beef rendang gravy does not disappoint. The beef is a bit of hit and miss. Some of the beef is very nice and tender whereas some is quite chewy and tough. If you manage to pick the tender and nice one, then this dish is heavenly. 🙂

Prawn Curry RM7-RM12 (Depending on size)

For prawn lovers, please salivate! Haha The big size of the prawn definitely will help to make your appetite go crazy and break all your diet rules. The prawn is fresh and sweet. Goes well with its gravy.

Fried Fish RM4.50 per portion

For those of you who wishes to avoid the oily gravies, then this is a good choice for you. The fish is firm and has a hint of turmeric. Kaya loves the crunchy side of the fish. 🙂

Duck Meat RM16 – RM30 (Depending on size)

KayaButter somehow miss this dish during our review session maybe subconsciously since we are not a big fan of ducks. This is the before the cook cuts the duck into pieces. This is rather a special dish because KayaButter rarely see any Indian Muslim restaurant selling this dish. Although we missed the dish, one of the blogger says that the curry flavour overpowers the smell of duck which is good for those who avoid duck meat because of its smell.

Fish Head Curry RM60 (For 4 pax)

The highlight of the review is the fish head curry. Hameediyah does not cut short on quality and size for tho dish. The fish head is BIG and fresh. It goes through quality control of its management when their staffs go to the market to buy the fish heads. The curry is excellent. It is thick, strong flavoured and slightly spicy. Definitely goes very well with rice especially nasi briyani.

Mango Lassi RM5

This is a very good way to cool down after eating all the spicy food. The mango flavour is thick and it is a bit sweet for those who avoid sugar. The sweetness is just good for those who have sweet tooth like Kaya! Haha 🙂 Just a reminder, mango lassi itself is quite filling. Do choose your food wisely to avoid making your stomach too full.

One of the handsome waiter posing for us. Their uniform is remade to resemble the olden days. The white towel is used last time to wipe their sweats from moving around. The belt around his waist is used to keep coins and notes. KayaButter love this concept. Preserving the heritage values while improving on the service and comfort.

You can also see and experience yourself (of course with the permission from the waiters) how the people from the good old days transport their order from the lower floor to the upper floor. The whole thing doesn’t use electricity but manpower. The management purposely put a glass pane to let patrons see this old equipment in action.

contact information

Hameediyah Restaurant
164A, Campbell Street,
10200 Georgetown, Penang.
Contact No: +604-261 1095
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/hameediyah-restaurant

business hours

Daily

11:00am – 11:00pm