Kassim Nasi Kandar

Yes! Yes! After a 10-year-wait, my craving for Kassim Nasi Kandar was satiated yesterday! It's not that I have not been back to Penang all these years, but it's always for meetings etc that I always had to skip this place every single visit. So this time when the opportunity came (background : had a meeting plus signing session with a company up in Sungai Petani and the nearest airport is Bayan Lepas - perfect!), since I had 1.5 hours to kill before heading to the aeropuerto, I drove in a frenzy around Komtar area to look for this place. Penang has really transformed since I last visited! The roads are difernet now! Almost missed this Nasi Kandaq seller though because I initially thought the Nasi Kandar place along Jalan Macalister was the one!

Kassim Nasi Kandar is located opposite Gama Supermarket along Jalan Gurdwara (it's a bit run down though. In its heydeys, this was "the" shopping place! With places like Queensbay Mall, Prangin Mall, Gurney Plaza; standalone departmental stores like this, are no longer popular! Parking was a breeze for me as there is an open air car park along Jalan Macalister (next to Masjid Jamek Simpang Enam).

I can still remember when we were young, dad would bring us to Penang (well the northern states, really) every single school holiday. My paternal grandparents hailed from Pontian, Johor but led almost a nomadic life because my granddad was in the police force and was stationed in various places like Sungai Petani, Kulim, Alor Star etc. They only settled down in Ayer Baloi when my granddad retired. My dad used to cycle to Penang Island from Sungai Petani/Kulim to watch movies and have his nasi kandar fixes! So back to our school holidays......My father would bring us to eat Nasi Kandar, whenever we were holidaying in Penang, at various places 3 times a day....(yes breakfast, lunch and dinner) - different stalls of course. But the one which I remember most is Kassim Nasi Kandar! It used to be a small stall but has grown four times the size when I visited them this time. To this very day, my dad would travel, with mom of course, to the northern states to visit friends whom have become more like relatives and would along side it indulge in a gastronomic gallivant!

Now you know why I'm into Nasi Kandar!

My nasi kandar with bendi (okra), fried fish fillet, prawn and long beans!

The prices have really increased

Prayed zuhr at this nearby mosque over a century old.

The original part of the mosque

The minbar (pulpit)

Must be the imam's bike