Penang - Gurney Drive

Gurney Drive is a vibrant hawker centre in downtown Georgetown. It's right on the river and next to a large shopping centre. It's full of food stalls selling all manner of bizarre, interesting and potentially tasty treats.


Getting here is easy. Any tax driver will be able to take you here. I had a bit of trouble with my taxi driver though. I asked him to take me to the night market at Gurney Drive. He said Gurney Drive was a shopping centre only, no night market. OK, I thought. Never mind. We then drove on and asked if I wanted to eat. He suggested I go to Gurney Drive. Derr... I guess "night market" means shops and not food...


The place was buzzing when I arrived. There were swarms of people eating, talking and just hanging out. The range of food was pretty cool. There were stay stalls, fruit stalls and a huge amount of sea food.


I had a long walk through the stalls, but nothing really grabbed me. That's always the problem with hawker centres. The emphasis is on taste, not on presentation of the food. That means the food often looks like a pile of droppings, but is actually really tasty. They say the first bite is with the eyes, but maybe it's best just to keep them shut until you taste it. Then again, if all else fails, at the end of the hawker centre is McDonalds...