*Nothing beats a comforting bowl of noodle soup in the morning*

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge noodle guy, I much prefer rice, but since I was on a tour to to eat Michelin Awarded restaurants in George Town, Penang, I felt like it was my duty to try the famous Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodles.

And I’m so glad I did because Tok Tok Mee is special, though in my opinion, for something other than their original handmade bamboo egg noodles, but I’ll talk about that later. So come with me as I bring you to eat these delicious Cantonese style egg noodle soups!

Affiliate Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. By clicking on the links and purchasing the product, I will receive a partial commission at no cost to you. All of these products are ones that I fully trust and recommend with my heart. Thank you for your support!

My YouTube Video on Tok Tok Mee

If you want to eat at Tok Tok Mee with me as well as touring through all the amazing eats in George Town, Penang then check out my YouTube video above! Also if you enjoy the video how about supporting me by subscribing to my YouTube Channel? ;)

The Original Bamboo Noodle

Tok Tok mee Bamboo Noodle — *Can anyone translate what the writing says in these pictures?*

I keep mentioning “bamboo” but what does it mean? Well it’s Tok Tok Mee’s way of making the noodles! Baffling right?

Traditionally, the egg noodle dough is kneaded and flattened using a long log of bamboo, one end would be anchored on to the table, the chef would sit on the other end, and the egg noodle dough would be in between. The chef would then jump, or rather bounce, on the bamboo stick and his/her weight would flatten the noodle dough. How fun!

Though nowadays I think the bamboo noodle making technique is just for theatrics because while I was there they were mostly using their hands and industrial machines to flatten the dough. While the bamboo log was only brought out once for a short moment, maybe because it was impractical nowadays.

Michelin Guide Award Winning Egg Noodles!

I find it astonishing that Penang island is home to probably dozens of Michelin Guide or Michelin star awarded restaurants, such as the case of the Kimberley Street Food Night Market, where there is like 4 Michelin guide awarded hawker stalls in just that tiny street.

But yes, Tok Tok Mee Bambo Noodle has been awarded the Michelin Guide Recommendation for I believe 2 years in a row now (2023 - 2024).

Honestly, so far my Michelin Guide eating journey in Penang has seen a couple of hits and misses but I remain optimistic for Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle.

Tok Tok Mee’s Pastry Section

Tok Tok mee Bamboo Noodle Pastry — *I could eat all of these egg tarts and still want more, they’re so good*

Here is where I believe Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle really shines, their pastries! Yes rather unexpectedly, Tok Tok Mee has a wide selection of Cantonese style pastries available. They’re out on display in front of their restaurant and you can just order them to go if you’d like.

In fact, after finishing my meal, my girlfriend and I decided to get some pastries to go because they were so good, but more about that later :)

Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle’s Menu

Tok Tok mee Bamboo Noodle menu — *No pictures but they do have on online menu via QR code*

For a little street side restaurant specializing in Cantonese egg noodles, Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle has a surprisingly varied set of dishes on their menu. Some of the things on their menu are:

Egg Noodles - dry/soup with various toppings like dumplings, bbq pork, etc…
Fried Noodles - stir fried Hokkien Mee, fried oyster noodles, fried noodles with gravy, etc…
Roast Meats - duck, crispy pork, claypot chicken feet, etc…
Fried Rice

Their pastry menu is also equally varied containing classic items like egg tarts, bbq pork buns, custard buns. But they also have special items which I’ve never heard of before like “Happiness Red Bean Bun” and “Wolfberry Treacle Sponge”.

Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle’s Pricing

I think Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle’s pricing is pretty cheap, like a large bowl of their signature Tok Tok Mee noodles is only 10 MYR which is pretty good considering their portions are quite filling.

The pastries are fairly priced as well coming in at around 2-3 MYR for each item. Fair pricing all around.

Dumpling Tok Tok Mee Noodle Soup

I ordered their Dumpling Tok Tok Mee with soup. First impressions, this looks like your typical bowl of Cantonese style egg noodles, nothing really stands out. Which isn’t a bad thing, you don’t judge a book by its cover after all.

As I took my first sip of the broth I could tell a lot of passion went into making this bowl. Though the broth might look plain, it houses a deep and complex flavor, a little salty, and a little fishy(?). It is comforting, like eating at your grandma’s house kind of comforting.

The bamboo noodles themselves are fine, cooked a little al dente, they have a nice little chew when you bite them. Honestly, if you replace these noodles with any other egg noodle then I'm not sure if I would be able to tell the difference…

The dumplings were quite tasty, it’s filled with pork and when you bite into one you get a little bit of a splash of the pork juices onto your taste buds. Though it might look like the filling to wrapper ratio is off, I think it’s the perfect ratio, the pork is not too overpowering and you are still tasting the flavor of the egg wrapper. Too much pork and the filling can get dry.

halfway through, I started to get a little bored with the Tok Tok Mee noodle soup, luckily it’s served with a side of roast chili paste. Adding that to the noodles was a game changer, the chili added a nice subtle spice and a bit of a roasted flavor to the broth.

It doesn’t overpower the flavors of the broth but merely compliments it with another dimension of flavor. If you like spice then I recommend adding the chili paste.

Overall, a solid bowl of egg noodle soup.

Signature Crispy BBQ Pork Bun

Here is where I think Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle really shines, their pastries. The Signature Crispy BBQ Pork Bun is absolutely divine! There is not other way to say it, the whole world needs to know about this BBQ Pork Bun.

The pastry is the most flakey, crispy, and buttery pastry I’ve ever had, literally, as soon you start chewing it crumbles and as the flakes touch your tastebuds you get a rich buttery flavor. The BBQ pork is also really good, it’s sweet, jammy, and really porky, and it complements the buttery pastry so so well.

Though be careful when take a big bite, it can be too dry and difficult to swallow if you are too excited to eat it like I was…

Pandan Kaya Dumplings

Similarly, the Pandan Kaya Dumpling is also delicious, despite being called a dumpling it uses a similar flakey pastry as the BBQ pork bun. This was served warm and guys, it is THE BOMB!

Flakey buttery pastry, and a warm comfortingly sweet pandan kaya custard in the center. It feels like a Chinese auntie made this and she is giving you a hug through her pastries. I’m literally salivating as I’m typing out this paragraph haha. Though personally, I still prefer the BBQ Pork bun, I just like savory more than sweet.

These pastries are like, a gift from the Gods. Ok maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but these are some seriously good pastries.

Conclusion

Pros

Very affordable pricing, and good portion sizes.
A lot of variety in the menu, from noodles, to rice, to roast meats.
The noodle soup tastes good, all flavors are well balanced and tasty.
The pastries are the absolutely divine.

Cons

Nothing too mind blowing, the bamboo aspect doesn’t really add much.

Overall I highly recommend you check out Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle, the pricing is very affordable and the menu has a lot of variety. But I insist that you must try some of the pastries, that’s the real star of the show for me personally.

Though I did enjoy their egg noodles, I feel like there wasn’t anything outstanding about them, don’t get me wrong, they were delicious but just not really anything “wow” worthy about them.

Tok Tok Mee Bamboo Noodle | 8.5 / 10

Phone: +60 4 261 9875

Location: 37, Lebuh Campbell, George Town, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Opening Hours: 9:30 AM - 7:30 PM | Mon - Sun (Closed Thursday)

Pricing: ~15 MYR | $

Looking for Things to Do in Penang?

TOP Penang - 249 meter tall observation point atop Komtar Tower, tallest in George Town
Entopia Butterfly Farm - A large farm with over 15,000 butterflies and 200 plant species
ESCAPE Penang - Water park with the world record for Longest Tube Water Slide at 1,111 meters
Discounted Tickets - Browse a variety of attractions, tours, and transports all for a great price

Useful Resources for Traveling in Malaysia

Tourism Information - All the information you need when travelling in Malaysia
Private Airport Transfers - Private transfer from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to the city
KLIA Ekspress Ticket - Ticket for the KLIA transfer via express train