Cendol is a sweet shaved ice Malaysian dessert that has soft fresh pandan-flavoured palm flour noodles, coconut milk, kidney beans and a sugar syrup known as gula malaka (very popular ingredient in this part of the world). You can find many different variations of this around the country with many weird and wonderful toppings such as jackfruit and durian!
The most famous place serving this treat is probably this small pushcart in Penang – Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul. Tan Teik Fuang, the founder, learned making and began selling Cendol at Penang Road back in 1936 – with the intention to create a living for his family. 1936!!! And they are still going strong. They’ve come a long way – from a small pushcart to having multiple outlets. To this day, you can still find the original one tucked in Penang Road. They’ve become like a local “instagram-friendly” spot – meaning everyone flocks here to take photographs of them in action – amazing considering their humble beginnings. It is super popular and the queues are evidence of that! Locals and tourists alike queue up in the scorching heat to get a taste of this. You do get your bowl of Cendol in no time upon ordering – so you’re not in the queue for long. It’s almost impossible to get a seat, so it’s a stand up and consume kinda dish.
If ever there was a dish that can attack the Malaysian heat full on, it’s this one! The flavours are amazing, you get the sweet vanilla like taste from the pandan, the caramel-y sweetness from the gula malaka and a nice crunch from the kidney beans (weird in a dessert, but it works!). The shaved ice just goes down so well in the heat.
What is fascinating and really adds drama to the occasion is the pushcart right opposite it – Penang Road Famous Chendul. They sell the same dish at the same spot and have been doing so for decades. They can be distinguished by the bowl colours they serve the Cendol in. The other one serves it in blue and this one in red. This one doesn’t have the queues (like none whatsoever), so that’s a positive. It is said that some of the locals actually prefer this. We did prefer the blue bowl one (wife: this one had strong aniseed flavour, the other one had the perfect balance), but if you’re in a rush, then this isn’t a bad option to try out this famous Malaysian dessert!
Getting There:
Google Location Link: click here
[…] on Penang Road and legend has it that they have been at “war” for decadessss (read post here). The above three dishes can all be found in their full glory all in one small alley – just […]