The best restaurants Georgetown

The best option in town for vegetarians. It's so good that meat or fish would be too much. The wooden clapboard doors leave no doubt as to the origin of this venerable house. It's an old Chinese shophouse. The tiles are old-fashioned and the round tables with marble tops give it a chic air. Be sure to try the eggplant kung pao, sautéed with a hint of chilli and peanuts, or the monkey head mushrooms, a Taiwanese specialty.

Founded in 1907 by the Hameediyah family in a small shophouse with a yellow-and-green frontage on the famous Campbell Street, this simple, popular restaurant has been serving the must-try recipes of local cuisine for decades. The most popular recipes are Nasi Kandar, Penang's star dish, which is not to be missed, and Murtabak, which can also be taken to go. Simple, authentic, spicy cuisine in a no-frills setting. Although the dining room is large, the queue can be long at lunchtime.

This typical but brick-built Chinese restaurant, open to the street, is one of the city's precious addresses. Take a seat around a round table, on a small red plastic stool and under aggressive neon lights, and let yourself be guided. The house specialty is dim sum, delicious steamed ravioli. Presented in a variety of ways, they are served at breakfast (until noon) and in the evening on a cart. You can also opt for sang har mee, large prawns served on a bed of stir-fried noodles.

Ideally located on Rue d'Arménie - where you'll certainly want to go to admire the famous fresco of the children on bicycles - this café is full of charm and character. The owners, lovers of antiques, have chosen an elegant decor to convert this ^19th-century shophouse . On the menu: rösti, fondue, Swiss chicken curry, apple pie with mövenpickice cream... as well as local specialties. All very well cooked. It's also an excellent place to stop off in the afternoon for a delicious cake.

Don't be put off by this address's faux-company restaurant look, with its prepared buffet. The restaurant is renowned for its vegetarian cuisine. Here, you can enjoy Penang classics such as char kuay teow (flat noodles with oyster sauce) or laksa (noodles served in a potentially spicy fish broth), but in a vegetarian style and without losing out on taste. The low prices attract many Western tourists who leave meat out of their diet.

The Tandoori House seems to blend into Georgetown's old, gleaming decor. It may not look like much on the outside, but the inside makes up for it in spades. The air-conditioned dining room is a welcome change from the stir-fried, fried or brothy noodles of Malaysian and Chinese cuisine. The house specialty is dishes cooked in the tandoor, the traditional Indian oven. Marinated chicken, minced meat kebabs and even fish are spiced up and cooked in this oven, preserving all their softness.

Indian cuisine is particularly varied, but two dishes are unanimously acclaimed: tandoori and biryani. Kapitan excels in both. Tandoori is a skewer of meat, fish or cheese cooked in a wood-fired oven and seasoned with a special blend of spices. Biryani is a dish of basmati rice stewed with meat and spices. This excellent restaurant is very popular with travelers and locals alike, and despite being open all day, dishes are not always available.

Close to the city center, this food court is open late, and locals and tourists mingle merrily every night of the week. It features a large number of stalls and a festive, popular atmosphere. With its central stage featuring live concerts, karaoke evenings and mini-balls, there's always a good time to be had. You can come for dinner or just for a drink or dessert. You'll find Penang's specialties and more, with varied and very inexpensive menus. Not to be missed!

Here's a great place to try Nyonya cuisine. This multi-influenced cuisine is served in a welcoming family atmosphere. Inherited from the Peranakan community, the first Chinese to arrive in Malaysia in the ^15th century, Nyonya cuisine blends Chinese flavours with Malay traditions. Enjoy kerabu pomelo (grapefruit salad) with chives and ginger flowers,assam pedas(fish in sweet and sour sauce) or kari kapitan(chicken cooked in a coconut milk curry).

Here, Nyonya cuisine is taken to its highest level and shaped according to the standards of French gourmet cuisine. The presentation is sophisticated and tempting, but the service is Chinese-style: everyone picks from the dishes in the center of the table. The setting of the Seven Terraces luxury hotel is absolutely magnificent, with its heavy crimson velvet drapes and crystal chandeliers. The service is very pleasant, but the bill is rather steep for Georgetown. Every gastronomic experience has its price.

At the end of the day, Lorong Baru is overrun with plastic tables and chairs, and of course a bevy of hawker stalls. Each one more appetizing than the next, you'll find just about anything in a lively atmosphere. Local specialties include popiah (a deep-fried, stuffed pancake, similar to Vietnamese egg rolls), char koay teow (flat noodles sautéed with egg and shrimp in soy sauce) and Penang's famous laksa (noodles served in a spicy fish sauce).