Bayan Baru Hawker Centre

Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (17 September 2012)


Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (GPS: 5.32507, 100.2856) is one of the major food courts in Penang. Built by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), it is also one of the biggest food courts on the island. Due to its size, the food court has different sections for Chinese hawkers, Malay hawkers and a sprinkling of Indian hawkers here and there.

Chinese hawkers occupy the side of the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre facing Jalan Mayang Pasir 3, where Suntech @ Penang Cybercity is located. This is also the direction towards Sunshine Square. On this side, you can find shrines to the Dato Kong and other Chinese guardian deities. There is a lot of Chinese hawker food sold here, including wan tan mee, economy bihun, economy rice, sar hor fun, yee foo mee, curry mee, Hokkien char, hoo bak bihun, koay kak, Hokkien mee, Lor Mee, chicken rice, chee cheong fun, fried oyster, char koay teow, Ban Cien Koay, nasi lemak, nyonya kuih and others.

The Malay hawkers occupy the side of the hawker centre facing Jalan Mayang Pasir 4, where Masjid Umar Al Khatab is located. On this side of the hawker centre you can find nasi kandar, roti canai, mee goreng and mee rebus. The nasi kandar stall here, called Pasar Nasi Kandar, was one of my favourite nasi kandar stalls in Penang. The stall has since been renamed Restoran Farsal.

Scattered throughout the hawker centre are miscellaneous Indian food stalls. They sell Indian vegetarian rice, apom, idili and putu mayong, among others.

What to eat at the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre

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Features of selected stalls at the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre

Hock Kean Char stall at Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (25 August 2012)


Chinese hawker stalls, Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (25 August 2012)


Inside Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (15 September 2012)




13 December, 2019
Today I had the chicken chop (I had wanted the barbecue chicken, but they were out). I ordered from the old stall that has been around in that spot even before this hawker centre itself was built, when it operated in the open air. Still tasted good after all these years. The price was RM8.

Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (13 December 2019)


2 July 2017

My wife and I returned to the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre where we visited the Ah Chu Fish Head Curry Stall. This stall moved from nearby Sunshine Square recently. I enjoyed the fish head curry very much, even though we don't have it often. We also ordered the popiah and ais kacang. It was thoroughly a nice hawker meal.

Ah Chu Fish Head Curry (3 July 2017)


Bayan Baru Hawker Centre Ais Kacang (3 July 2017)


5 November, 2016

My wife and I went to the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre for our breakfast today. We looked around the place and decided to order the wan than mee and curry mee. I have had the curry mee before. It is not too bad, but in my opinion, the wan than mee is below par. The wan than is very flat and meatless.

Bayan Baru Market Wan Than Mee (5 November 2016)


Bayan Baru Market Wan Than Mee Stall (5 November 2016)


Bayan Baru Market Curry Mee (5 November 2016)


Bayan Baru Market Curry Mee Stall (5 November 2016)


18 December, 2014

Today I had the curry mee from the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre, as takeaway for my breakfast at home. On the whole not too bad and also not too expensive.

Food Rating: Bayan Baru Hawker Centre, 29 November 2014
Curry Mee: B+
Curry mee from Bayan Baru Hawker Centre, taken at home (18 December 2014)


29 November, 2014

It has been a while since I last tried the nasi kandar at the Bayan Baru Market. It used to be one of my favourites, but I felt the quality dropping on my last visit. As a result, there was a lapse of time before I returned to the stall today.

On today's visit, instead of my usual order (beef, fish, egg and ladies' fingers), I ordered sotong (squid), egg and brinjal. I asked for a good drenching of the gravy.

Today's meal was a big improvement to my last visit. The sotong is very soft and not rubbery at all. The gravy has the nice aroma that I enjoyed. On the whole, today's meal is just as tasty as I remembered it formerly, and better than on my last visit. My usual order came up to be around RM7 plus, but with the change from beef and fish to squid, my order today came to RM9.20. Not cheap, but part of the reason I ordered what I did today was because the person in front of me in the queue ordered beef, squid and egg, and his order came to be around RM11.20. Seeing him splurge induced me to spend a little more. But the thing is, I enjoyed today's meal very much.

Bayan Baru Market Nasi Kandar (29 November 2014)


Food Rating: Bayan Baru Hawker Centre, 29 November 2014
Nasi Kandar (Restoran Farsal): A

17 October, 2014

For a chance we are having a takeaway meal rather than eating in. For this evening, we bought our meal at the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre. We ordered the fried oyster, tomyam maggi mee and fish meat bihun.

The fried oyster at this hawker centre is one of my favourites, alongside the one at Carnarvon Street's Seng Thor Coffee Shop and that of Lebuhraya Jelutong Hawker Centre. It is good value for money, and usually offers big, succulent oysters.

I had the tomyam maggi mee while my wife had the fish meat bihun. We are both satisfied with our meal. We ordered the noodles with fish meat as well as minced pork. Each bowl costs RM6. To us, it is still good value, because it provided a good many pieces of fish meat and minced pork.

Fried Oyster, Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (17 October 2014)


Tomyam Maggi Mee, Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (17 October 2014)


Fish Meat Bihun, Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (17 October 2014)


Food Rating: Bayan Baru Hawker Centre, 17 October 2014
Fried Oyster: A-
Tomyam Maggi Mee: A-
Fish Meat Bihun: A-

In my opinion, all three items were very good. Should they deserve an A? The thing with Tomyam Maggi Mee and Fish Meat Bihun is that it is difficult to give a higher rating, unless it does something truly exceptional. I am now watchful of the fried oyster to see if it consistently maintains its quality. If yes, perhaps in my future re-rating, I may give it an A.

Interior of the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre (9 August 2014)

Getting to the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre

The nearest bus stop is along Jalan Mayang Pasir, which is served by Rapid Penang Bus 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308 and 401.

Bayan Baru Hawker Centre is on the Map of Lintang Mayang Pasir 3, Penang

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List of Hawker Centres in Penang