Penang Lok Lok is a fun steamboat meal to enjoy with your friends.
A Lok Lok meal is a must-try when you visit Penang; it is a social hot pot!
For the best al fresco meal with an expansive menu, the selection is the best experience to enjoy in Penang.
Penang Lok Lok venues are popular for dinner parties or gatherings with family and friends.
What Is Penang Lok Lok?
Penang Hokkien calls the skewered food dipped in a pot of boiling water. Lok Lok, which means “dip dip,” is one of the MUST-EATS street foods in night markets in George Town.
When I have visitors, I will take them out for a lovely Penang Lok Lok Meal.
Most visitors enjoy a fun meal, cooking, eating, and laughing.
There is a wide variety of delicious local delights at many cheap affordable places in Penang.
One of the frequent requests I get is, “Take me to a Penang Lok Lok Meal.”
The origin of this type of hot pot or steamboat is unknown.
In the 1970s, I remember going to Padang Brown for a feast with my high school classmates every time we had to Add Maths tuition.
That was the only place we could find by taking the public bus.
Penang Lok Lok is widespread, and it’s easy to find a street stall by the roadside, hawker centers, and near busy road junctions.
Before 2020, eating in a crowded environment was the norm.
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The food is laid in a multi-level rack with rows of skewered food on sticks, all stacked neatly.
There will be two pots of boiling water on both sides of the stall, and in between, there will usually be three dipping sauces; chili sauce, sweet sauce, and spicy peanut sauce.
Don’t worry; the food is cooked through when you immerse the skewers in the rapidly boiling water.
The social hot pot is the rapid boiling pot of water in the center of the table for you to stick in the skewers to cook.
Penang Lok Lok Supper After Office Hours
At night, a famous Lok-Lok roadside stall is parked near Penang Chinese Girls’ High School.
It is one of the easiest and fastest snacks for a late supper.
That explains why Lok-Lok stalls open very late at night. Great for after work when you hang out with colleagues, you eat Lok Lok together.
It makes chilling out FUN.
Look at the variety of Penang Lok Lok skewers available.
Ever Tried Eating Penang Lok Lok Standing By The Roadside Stall?
You stand around the stall to eat. Choose and dip the stick into the hotpot until the food is cooked.
Then dip (only once) into the sauce of your choice.
You eat it straight from the stick without re-dipping or mixing the sauces.
If you’re visiting or trying the first time, watch and learn.
Most Penangites are friendly and will help you explain the more interesting raw ingredients.
Until today, I draw the line at boiled blood clams.
Blood Cockles connoisseurs will laugh as I make a face when they dangle a stick dripping in blood at me.
Er… pass?
This stall is popular with office workers or even supper crowds who ride on motorbikes for a stick or two of their favorite food.
The pot of water is on a rolling boil, so cooking and eating your Penang Lok Lok skewers is safe.
Find A Table For A Fun Penang Lok Lok Meal
At hawker centers, the Penang Lok-Lok served as a roundtable steamboat.
You sit and cook your food.
They place the skewered raw ingredients on plates spread around the table.
They stack the plates one above the other.
There is a large variety of every imaginable bite-size food that ranges from simple
- bean curd
- bacon
- pork liver
- intestines
- fish balls
- meatballs
- squid balls
- sausages
- squids
- shrimps
- vegetable rolls
- mushrooms
Pre-cooked items include stewed pig’s ears and Chinese sausages.
Some stalls have deep-fried wontons and deep-fried bean curd sheets.
There is a hole in the middle of the roundtable with a cylindrical metal pot.
A gas burner keeps each pot of water at a rolling boil.
After cooking, you can dip the food in the sauces before eating.
If you like meats, there’s always a selection that varies from stall to stall.
Dipping Sauce
Try the different dipping sauces for your Penang Lok Lok steamboat and find your favorite!
As most of the ingredients for the food are identical, the proof of the pudding is in the sauce.
Some stalls have their special homemade sauce.
The secret to most of these Lok-Lok stalls is in the sauces they provide.
Some stalls can provide up to eight sauces, from chili sauce to unique blends of dried shrimp spicy sauce and Sambal Belacan Sauce.
The sauces are at a Penang Lok Lok Cart, where you stand, dip, boil, dip, and eat.
Everyone has their favorite sauce in sweet, spicy, or hot sauces.
It is common for most people to mix the sauces, a little of each variety, to enjoy a multi-flavored Lok-Lok.
The Sambal Belacan or Satay Sauce is a good choice for those spice lovers.
We will typically try all the sauces.
In most cases, we almost always ladle satay sauce over our food, and it goes well with our Lok-Lok ingredients.
It is inevitable. Lok-Lok tastes best with satay sauce.
Satay sauce is available in most of the Lok-Lok stalls.
My younger days, we frequented the seat-down Lok-Lok stall at Padang Brown.
There are two stalls at the Pulau Tikus wet market in the evening with their followers.
Both stalls have identical food skewers.
The dipping sauces are identical, and both taste the same.
Perfect for families, groups of friends or even colleagues, communal cooking and eating are bonding processes.
The Lok-Lok hits the spot for small eaters or even those with ravenous appetites.
Everyone has their favorite skewer. Mine is a cheese-filled Tufo, which tastes delicious smothered in satay sauce!
Lok Lok Price Per Skewer
The street-side version of a steamboat, with partially cooked or uncooked food, is skewered on deep-fried sticks, barbecued, or dipped in hot boiling water.
The variety and price of skewers differ from one stall to another.
Once an item catches your eye, you pick it up and dunk it in boiling water to cook.
There are healthier choices of boiled vegetables and stuffed Tofu.
But the indulgent deep-fried skewers of bacon, sausages, and Tofu filled with ‘cheese’ always look more appealing.
Under RM2 Greens
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli
- Kang Kong
- Brinjal
Each skewer usually wields about four pieces of green, which you can boil.
If you’re vegetarian, there’s a selection of Lok Lok greens and Tofu!
- Lala
- Blood Cockles
This could be a hit or miss, depending on how fresh it is.
Unless you have had Hepatitis shots, I suggest you either miss this or boil it to death first.
RM2-RM4
- Meatballs
- Beef balls
- Fishballs
- Exploding pork balls
Classic Dim Sum items are not meant to be boiled.
After boiling, it’s just a sloppy mess!
- Siew Mai
- Sui Kow
There are deep-fried pre-cooked items that you can dip in water to heat them.
Melted Cheese take food to another level.
- Cheese sausage
- Cheese Tofu
RM4 and above
- Baby octopus
- Bacon
- Bacon and Enoki wraps
All the skewers will have different colors to denote each stick’s price, which can be from RM1 up to RM4.
The colored end of the skewers denotes each stick’s price
Most Popular Penang Lok Lok Outlets
Some Penang Lok Lok stalls are open for business during the day, others until late.
Penang Lok Lok Lunch Time Stalls
Padang Brown Ah Beng Lok Lok
Address. Jalan Johor, Tapak No. 9, 10400 George Town, Penang
Hours. 3.00 PM to 6.00 PM (Closed Fridays)
Lok-Lok Rojak @ Air Itam
Address: 9A, Lintang Angsana, Bandar Baru Air Itam, 11500 Ayer Itam, Penang.
Hours: 12.00 PM to 7.00 PM (Closed Thursday)
Night Penang Lok Lok Stalls
发仲乐乐 Huat Teong Lok Lok, 71, Jln Trengganu, Taman Free School, 10460 George Town, Penang.
Hours: 8.00 PM – 10.00 PM (Closed Sundays)
Lok Lok at Gurney Drive
Address. 172, Solok Gurney 1, Pulau Tikus, 10250 Jelutong, Penang.
Hours. 4.30 PM to 11.00 PM (Closed on Tuesday)
Jetty Lok Lok @ Kimberley Street
Address. Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Penang.
Hours. 5.00 PM to 11.00 PM
Lok Lok @ Farlim Night Market
Address. 27-75, Medan Angsana, Bandar Baru Ayer Itam, 11500 Ayer Itam, Penang.
Hours.5.00 PM to 11.00 PM (Only Wednesday)
Lok Lok @ Carnavon Street
Address. 116, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, 10450 George Town, Penang
Hours. 6.00 PM until late at night
Ping Hwa Lok Lok 槟华乐乐
Address. Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus, 10350 George Town, Penang.
Hours. 6.00 PM to 11.30 PM (Closed on Wednesday)
Air Itam Lok Lok @ Keat Seng Restaurant (Zhong Nam)
Address. 10J, Mk. 16, Jalan Air Itam, Taman Ria, 11500 Ayer Itam, Penang.
Hours: Evening till 12.00 AM
SS Penang Lok Lok
Address. 209, Lebuh Pantai, George Town, 10300 George Town, Penang.
Hours. 8.00 PM to midnight (Closed on Monday and Tuesday)
Lok Lok Supreme Restaurant
Address. 27, Jalan Sri Bahari George Town, Penang.
Hours. 6.00 PM to 2.00 AM (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun) / 6.00 PM to 3.00 AM (Fri & Sat)
Butterworth Lok Lok Stall
Market Lok Lok
Address. 2, Lebuh Kurau 5, Taman Chai Leng, 13700 Butterworth, Penang
Hours. 4.00 PM to 11.00 PM
Pantai Lok Lok @ Chai Leng Park
Address. Jalan Kurau 5, Taman Chai Leng, 13700 Butterworth, Penang
Hours. 5.00 PM to midnight (Closed on Monday)
Here Is Where You Can Find A Penang Lok Lok Stall When You Visit For A Fun Dining Experience.
Penang Lok Lok Map
Have You Ever Had a Penang Lok Lok Dinner Party?
The ultimate food truck at house parties is the Penang Lok Lok.
In KL, Ipoh, and Penang, these food skewer trucks have boiling pots for cooking with a different charcoal grille and deep-frying station.
