Wonderfood Museum is a one-of-a-kind museum that showcases Malaysia’s local cuisine. For those who are unfamiliar with Malaysian food culture, this is definitely a must-see attraction where you can discover over 100 popular street foods and local dishes.
Even if you are somewhat familiar with Malaysian food, you will still be amazed by the life-sized food replicas and even the giant ones. I tried to test my Brit hubby, whether he was able to identify the various foods on display. Was curious to know how well he knew his food after living in this part of the world for the last decade. But it seemed like I gave most of the answers away because I got so excited looking at the food, I kept pointing and naming each dish myself. ?
“OMG, the nyonya kueh looks so delicious!” Lol! ?
Just like what the sign says, that BIG ice kacang is not the biggest. There is another BIGGER one inside the museum, haha.
The entrance fees for foreign visitors are as follows:
- Adult – RM25 per pax
- Children – RM15 per pax (3-12 years old)
- Student (must show valid student card) – RM15 per pax
- Senior Citizen (60 years & above) – RM15 per pax
You can also purchase discounted tickets via Klook or Traveloka.
Wonderfood Museum consists of three sections: Info Zone, Wow Zone and Educational Zone.
Info Zone
At the Info Zone, we can see a huge display of different cuisines – Malay, Chinese, Indian, Peranakan, street foods and so on.
I must say, all the food replicas were very well-made. They looked almost like the real stuffs.
Like Singapore, Malaysia is also a melting pot of cultures and races and this can be shown through this plethora of food items. All kinds of flavours. All shapes and sizes. Different colours. Various cooking techniques. Assortment of ingredients.
Note: Don’t come to this museum on an empty stomach. Looking at all these food really made me hungry!
Enjoyed looking at these miniature displays. They really brought the buying, selling and eating of food to life.
Food is such an important part of our culture. Everybody’s life simply revolves around food. It is food that brings people together.
This was how street food was being sold in the old days.
Feel like grabbing a piece of that samosa! Everything just looked so good, lol.
Top left shows a plate of pasembur which is similar to Singapore’s Indian Rojak but with the sauce doused over the ingredients.
There are also ‘rooms’ with 3D displays with which you can pose with like what you can do at Trickeye or Alive Museum. For example, a long table that’s about to topple with plates of food all over the place. The friendly and helpful staff onsite would always take the initiative to help you take pictures though they may not be the most ideal shots due to the angles.
Wow Zone
Over at the Wow Zone, you can see gigantic replicas of Penang’s local favourites such as ice kacang, nasi lemak, char kway teow, assam laksa, satay and more.
And yep, that’s me posing with my mouth wide open, haha!
And that’s me ‘eating assam laksa’, lol.
Educational Zone
At the Educational Zone, we get to learn more about specific foods and messages.
We saw a table filled with The World’s Most Expensive Foods.
Also, there was a special message to encourage people to say no to shark fins so we all can play our part in saving our sharks.
There were exhibits and posters that touched on healthy living and diet too. Like how too much sugar is bad for the body, etc.
And of course, we all have to bear in mind that we should never waste food as hunger still exists in many third-world countries.
Final Thoughts
As a foodie, I really enjoyed this museum tour a lot. It’s just fun to see replicas of all my favourite local foods. And these ‘exhibits’ are pretty much self-explanatory so you don’t have to read lengthy information labels to know what they are.
Wonderfood Museum – a must-visit site when you’re in George Town, Penang!