Now I know why my friend, B always eats Magnum ice cream whenever he’s in Malaysia. It only cost about S$1.50 per stick! So cheap compared to Singapore! We grabbed one stick each when we popped into 7-Eleven for air con. The earlier breakfast at Transfer Road Roti Canai did not turn out as good as we expected so we definitely needed something good (and sweet) to perk us up, haha.
Moving on to our next stop. Mervin brought us to Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay to try some Nyonya delights. This Nyonya kueh specialty shop has been in the business since 1933 and is one of the oldest Nyonya kueh makers in Penang.
Locating Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay
Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay is an unassuming shop/eatery that is somewhat hidden away from the main road. Just walk into Jalan Masjid via Chulia Street and you should spot this fading signboard in the distance. Not that difficult to find.
Sleeping so soundly. Our furry friend here did not even bat an eyelid when we walked past. ?
We had to pass by the kitchen to get to the counter/dining area. That was where we saw some of the staff making kueh by hand. Smelled so good!
This was the dining area. Quite an experience to be eating kueh in such an old school setting.
Menu and Prices
Prices of their kueh and snacks range from RM0.60 for a piece of kueh lapis to RM10 for a bak chang.
Besides kueh kueh, they also serve main dishes like nasi ulam, laksa, pie tee, nasi kunyit, nasi lemak, roti jala and more.
For the full menu, you can check out their website here.
From the order chit, I couldn’t quite tell what some of the kueh were. So what I did was to pop over to the counter where the various kueh were displayed. Whatever caught my fancy, I just ticked off the order chit, handed to the staff and made payment. Our order would then be sent to our table.
Honey Cucumber Drink
First time coming across Honey Cucumber, which was really refreshing and thirst-quenching. Tasted really healthy too, haha.
Everything was quite small in size hence making this the perfect sampling platter without filling us up.
These were what we ordered:
- Kueh Bengka – Purple
- Kueh Bengka – Ubi
- Kueh Lapis
- Kueh Talam
- Pulut Tai Tai (w/ Kaya)
- Rempah Udang
- Abuk Abuk
- Kueh Koci Santan
Abuk Abuk
This was my favourite kueh of all. Pandan flavoured sago with shredded coconut and gula melaka. The banana leaf imparted a lovely fragrance to the kueh. This was chewy, springy and had a good crunch from the coconut.
Rempah Udang
This was rice wrapped with prawn and shredded coconut. The tiny bit of prawn meat was quite dry but the coconut was delicious. The rice was also very savoury.
Kueh Koci Santan
Enjoyed this too. It was like ondeh ondeh in a coconut milk pudding! Textures were fantastic. Flavours combination was heavenly.
For the rest of the kueh
The Kueh Bengka (Purple) was like a sweet firm pudding with a strong tapioca taste. The Kueh Bengka (Ubi – yellow coloured one) was a bit too sweet and it kind of concealed the tapioca fragrance.
I would prefer Kueh Lapis to be more springy but theirs was more of an agar-agar texture. Not quite my cup of tea. I liked the Kueh Talam, which had a nice combination of fragrant pandan and salted coconut milk. The Pulut Tai Tai was delicious too although the kaya was too sweet but the rice itself was nicely flavoured. Very fragrant.
Final Thoughts
I’ve not tried enough handmade Nyonya kueh to know what’s authentic or not but all in all, the kueh from Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay were not bad. Most of them were quite sweet in flavour so if you like sweet kueh, you’ll definitely like them too. I liked those few that were wrapped in banana leaves as they were less common in Singapore. Worth coming if you want to try different varieties of Nyonya kueh!
Closed on Mondays