Penang's street food is internationally famous and largely lives up to the hype. The best things to eat are cheap, made by specialists who have cooked the same dish for decades, and served at simple stalls inside hawker centres (called food courts in Malaysia) or along specific streets. Follow the queues — the longest queue at a hawker centre is usually the best dish.
Penang assam laksa is the city's signature dish: rice noodles in a sour fish broth made from boiled mackerel, tamarind, ginger flower and chilli, topped with mint and shredded pineapple. The classic place to try it is Air Itam Laksa near Kek Lok Si. Char kway teow — flat rice noodles stir-fried at intense heat with prawns, cockles, egg, bean sprouts and Chinese chives — is the other Penang classic; Lorong Selamat is widely considered the best. Nasi kandar, a Mamak (Indian Muslim) dish of rice with a heap of curries and meats, is best at Line Clear, a 24-hour alley restaurant on Penang Road.
For full meals indoors, try Hameediyah for nasi kandar in a sit-down setting, Tho Yuen for dim sum, China House for café-style brunch, and any of the Peranakan restaurants like Suffolk House or Indigo for the local Straits Chinese cuisine combining Chinese ingredients with Malay spices.
Hawker centres worth the trip: Gurney Drive (touristy but vast); New Lane (locals-only, evenings only); Chulia Street night market (chaotic, central, late-night).