Penang Food Crawl: Aki Pancake and Other Goodies, Super Tanker Hawker Centre

I recently found out about a really awesome pancake stall in Penang  and have been dying to go back there.  So the six of us went back there for dinner and as usual, check out the amount of food we consumed at this place.

Taman Lip Sin is located in Bayan Lepas area in Penang and this is a very heavily populated area for the locals. When I was there at the hawker centre, the whole place was super busy with people eyeing for tables despite the fact that the centre was huge with lots of table and also lots of various hawker stalls.

Overall, there are some really great food, with some average and minimal ones. The centre has at least more than 40 food stalls hence the choice is huge. Business is brisk but food arrives quite fast as well.

Highly Recommended

Aki Pancakes aka ‘Ban Chang Kueh’ is super famous in Penang. I had eaten here few times but now I m back for more! Owner is super nice man and when I asked to take some pictures, he smile and said go ahead and take till your heart drops! J

He is a super busy man as he works non stop at making his specialty. He also accommodates to special request and his partner lady also works fast to wrap up the orders despite long queues. With ten plates going on at one time, this man has his operations flow like a smooth river stream going at super fast speed.

I tell you hor, his pancakes is summed up in one word – Sensational!

Check out his main ingredients all lined up ready for his hot pans! Lots of peanut butter, corn, chocolate sauce, cheese and many other yummy ingredients.

Ah…crushed peanuts and thick sliced bananas, all piping hot slowly resting on soft batter crisping up on the hot plate. Owner is super generous with ingredients.

You will be spoilt for choice with Aki as owner is very creative and fills his pancakes with lots of creative goodies. I ordered few Peanut, Brown Sugar and Corn pancakes and two Tomyam Cheese pancake.

See how the ingredient oozes out of the nicely brown pancake batter? This is super addictive as the brown sugar aroma is really fabulous! Lots of roasted crushed peanuts and sweet corn kernels, I could eat a few pieces of this if I don’t eat other stuff. The brown sugar is marvelously fragrant and really adds a gorgeous dimension to the pancake. This is my favorite combination and I order this every time I go to Aki’s.

I decided to go adventurous and try his Tomyam Cheese version. The pancake was layered with ooey gooey cheese and filled with sliced mushroom, shredded ham and onion cooked in tomyam sauce. I quite like this as the tom yam sweet and slightly sour sauce seems to go well with cheese and the pancake surprisingly. I would order this again if I crave for tomyam.

I have also tried ham and cheese and also the crispy cheese on last previous visits. Both were also super delicious and lip smacking awesome!

One good find here is the Char Koay Teow. This is certainly a popular one as I saw most tables having one plate! Nice wok hei and taste is lovely with the added lap cheong and big juicy prawns.

‘Oh Chien’ or Fried Oyster Omelet… this is a masterpiece! First time I see so many oysters on the dish. Most sellers skimp on the oysters and I think it was only RM 7 for this portion. Fresh super luscious baby oysters were magnificient! Cooked perfectly with equal balance of starch and egg, the omelet also has ‘ku chai’ and a great chili sauce to enhance the overall flavors. My 2^nd favorite dish after Aki pancake.

Another recommended dish is the Fried Stingray. Yummylicious to the end! Well seasoned and flavored with the spices and chilies, the stingray was fresh and cheap. Lots of meat and the accompanied chili sauce with fresh shallots were spicy and sour with a kick. I love this fish as it was really cooked beautifully.

Average

Belachan Fried Chicken was ok. Crispy and juicy, the chicken was average as I didn’t really get the belachan oomph in the taste.

Belachan Tofu was also average. Its quite unique as this is my first time tasting belachan tofu but taste was a bit bland. The chili sauce did nothing for the dish.

Taiwan sausage was just deep fried. I don’t think one can screw up this sausage.

Penang Loh Mee was also normal. The dish tasted ordinary as the flavors were just not strong enough compared to my favorite place for Loh Mee.

Popiah or Fresh Spring Rolls was another ordinary dish. Nothing stands out as it tasted average.

Below Average

Penang style Jellyfish Salad was not to my likings. Sauce was diluted and just sweet. The ingredients were average but the crispy cracker was good though.

We ate other stuff as well but my family devoured the dishes before I could take a photo! We had fish & chips, curry mee and asam laksa. All three dishes were quite good as well.

My advise is do go there early as there is always a queue at Aki Pancake. Owner is nice to give his phone contact for you to call and check if they are open or order. Don’t forget to order a popular Penang drink called ‘Pat Poh’. It’s actually a famous herbal drink made from eight ingredients to cool the body.

Aki’s Pancakes is a must-have for me when I am in Penang. Cheap and filling with quality ingredients and magnificent flavors, what more can one ask for? Go straight for Aki’s Pancakes and eat it hot!

Aki Pancake and Other Goodies

Super Tanker Hawker Centre

Jalan Nipah,

Taman Lip Sin

11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang

Aki Pancake Phone: 012 482 1077

* full spread of stalls at night only