Traveler Reviews

• Jennifer B 11-Jun-2018

  I wish there were more stars to give this tour! Very highly recommended.
  I took the food and culture tour on a Tuesday morning. I was traveling solo, and nobody else joined that day, so I had my own private tour with Joy.
  Our meeting place was clear and easy to find. We started eating right away, so definitely skip breakfast on this day. The tour kicked off in the morning markets to see where the vendors and locals get all their ingredients. We ate several varieties of local fruits, and a couple of other snacks from the vendors there. We then visited a local coffee and tea house and enjoyed some fantastic specialty cakes. Then there was a stroll through some of the dry goods markets and a stop for some more traditional local foods.
  The markets and food houses were so colorful and vibrant, and I was given a good amount of information on the local history and traditions. All of the vendors were very friendly and welcomed questions were happy for you to take photos.
  Joy is an outstanding guide! Good humored and full of knowledge. She even sent a follow up email with information to help me do some further exploration on my own in Georgetown and my next stop, Singapore.
  It was a fabulous morning. Well paced, interesting, and the food was delicious. The highlight of my time in Malaysia.

• Mary M 15-May-2018

  This tour is a must for anyone visiting Penang! It was definitely one of the highlights during my week visit to the island. Joy is a fabulous tour guide. She's extremely knowledgable of the history of the local cuisine and culture and makes sure you and your belly finish the tour fully satisfied.

• Martin M 17-Mar-2018

  Joy , who is a Singaporean who moved to Malaysia 6 yrs ago, was very knowledgeable and was able to pick us up and drop us off from the ship. We had an off the beaten track foodie tour of breakfast / brunch foods including Char koay teoh, oyster omelette, chendol, Assam laksa, ban Chiang Kuei, Hokkien noodles, curry noodles.
  We travelled in her car, suitable for max 3 people, with good aircon. We saw some of the local sights and heard about the differences in history and culture of the Malaysians. A very enjoyable morning 9-1pm.

• Jnorrissmall 11-Jan-2018

  My wife and I went on the evening food tour on 27 December and it was absolutely fantastic. Lily was a great host and had amazing local knowledge which really brought the food to life. It was great to learn about the multicultural background to all of the different dishes and to try them from the best local stalls that we never would have found on our own. We even got to try an extra couple of local specialities not usually included on the tour which was amazing. We highly recommend this tour, thanks again to Lily for making it very special.

• Linda W 27-Dec-2017

  Joy was a fantastic guide. Thoughtful, interesting and really knew her subject matter. Good contact prior to tour to make sure it met our needs. Saw and tasted a lot of things we would have missed out on if we tried to find food ourselves.
  The car and the driver were also excellent.
  I would highly recommend it.

• Aegina B 05-Nov-2017

  One of the highlights of the trip. Good guide, authentic food and informative narration about culture -- What's not to like?

• Paula.michaels1 18-Aug-2017

  This tour was the absolute highlight of my visit to Penang. Lily was so personable, knowledgable, and generous of mind and spirit. There was a bit of a mixup and she was very accommodating. As someone travelling alone, this was a great way to meet people, to get a different perspective, and to get a little glimpse of an insider's view. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If i go back I might very well do it again!

• Dennis L 02-Apr-2017

  It was a wonderful experience. It is not about just eating the best food, it is also about the learning the history of why the food became what it is and how it is linked to the history Penang and #39;s history and culture. It is a must try if you love food, culture and history! You will not regret it.

• Flora 15-Jan-2017

  What a great tour around the sights of Georgetown tasting the local street food. Our guide was extremely friendly, organised and well versed on the history of Georgetown and the food delights. Suits tourists of all ages, there is some walking involved but you are transferred through to each destination in an air conditioned car. The tour was customised to what we enjoyed eating and the guide was very flexible and accommodating to our tastes. Lovely little touch at the end with a gift which was a pleasant surprise. Definitely worth doing especially as an introduction to the town itself.

• Ejc 22-Nov-2016

  Having been born and lived in Malaysia for a couple of decades, I can strongly recommend this tour to anyone who has never been to Penang. It is an excellent introduction to the food utopia that is Penang.

  Joy and her husband took me on this wonderful foodie journey.

  We had assam laksa, char koay teow in Penang Road before heading off to the Tan and Chew jetties where I was provided a perspective of the history behind the jetties.

  Then we headed off to the New Lane hawker centre where where had oyster omlette, lobak, chee cheong fun, stir fried yam bean cubes and apom with banana. The last was a great reminder of my childhood when my late mother bought this for me for weekend breakfasts many many years ago.

  We then headed off to visit the famous Ming Xiang Tai pastry shop where Joy made an offer to sample the various local pastries. As i could not fit in more delights i settled instead for a light herbal chinese jelly (kwei lin kho) to finish my meal for the night in the shop next door which also sold herbal teas.

  Whilst the food experience was wonderful, it was enhanced by the great company of the two hosts. They were flexible in meeting my food requests.

  Highly recommended.