Possibly the best white curry mee you’ll taste, hidden in Penang

When Penang food is mentioned, your mind wanders to the streets of Chowrasta, Little India, Gurney Drive and basically every tourist spot imaginable on the island. As a fellow Penang mainland-er I’m perplexed about how so many hidden food spots just across the bridge remain underrated. So imagine my surprise when this curry mee stall popped up!

One such spot that I came across is Chain Ferry Road Curry Mee located in the Old Market Food Court, Chain Ferry. With impressive Google reviews, patrons were calling it the best white curry mee they’ve ever had in the whole mainland, if not the whole of Penang. Well, you can’t throw bold statements like these around, and this got me wanting to check them out.

What I tried at Chain Ferry Road Curry Mee

When I arrived at the stall, I was surprised to find a queue specifically for the stall despite it being a working Friday morning. The rest of the food court, on the other hand, didn’t boast many options nor did most of the patrons express much interest.

The curry mee stall’s approach was direct and simple; queue up, place an order, pay and bring your food to your respective tables. The stall only served White Curry Mee (RM5.50) but gives you the option of customising the type of noodles you want.

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After about 15 minutes, we got our noodles and to be frank, it looked like every other bowl of curry mee I’ve come across. The “accessories” which accompanied the curry mee included ONE prawn, a generous heap of cockles, cuttlefish and pork blood.

After mixing the sauce and curry to complete fruition, it achieved a silky golden colour. Now, as with the case of most curry mee, it’s usually with a thick layer of oil film that can put people off, and not to mention, unhealthy.

However, in the case of this white curry mee, albeit a few speckles of oil here and there, it mostly looked like a hearty bowl of curry mee. The first sip of curry completely blew me away with its rich flavour profile.

The curry was creamy and rich without being overwhelming in any way. It hit all the right notes and I had to resist the urge of slurping up the curry right there and then. When paired with the noodles, the flavours were elevated but the curry still remained the star of the dish.

As someone who seeks out the proteins in curry mee, I was a little disappointed with the lack of it in the noodles. (But, can we expect much for RM5.50?). As a first-time pork blood taster, I found that it didn’t add much to the overall cohesiveness of the dish. Could this be a sign for me to taste more variations of pork blood?

Final thoughts

Prior to this, I always assumed that an excellent bowl of curry mee consists of noodles, curry and most importantly, protein. With one sip of this curry mee, I am now a changed man! If given the option, I would just devour the curry over and over and hopefully be drowned in it.

I’m still unsure if this curry mee is the BEST in Penang but it’s definitely one of the best I’ve had in a long time. If you’re travelling to Penang, make sure to check out this spot before your voyage across the bridge!

Pro tip: This stall continues to favour the traditional approach, so it’s advisable to have cash on hand when visiting!

Expected damage: RM5.50 – RM11 per pax

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