SUKA MAKAN: COPTHORNE KING'S HOTEL PENANG BUFFET

People actually travel to Penang for its food. If you cannot spare the time and airfares, one trick is the Copthorne King's Hotel Penang dinner buffet. Its ground floor restaurant and breakfast hall is called Princess Terrace, but nobody remembers that name. All we remember is Penang Buffet at the King's. 

The legendary Mr Yeoh Cheng Kung.
Also a well-known classical music-lover.
Rumour has it he has a grand piano
in his bedroom at the King's.

Penang rojak / Nasi lemak & Nasi ulam

Persembuk or Indian rojak (right)

It's authenticity is without doubt. It's tradition dates from the 1970s when the hotel was managed by the legendary Mr Yeoh Cheng Kung, a Penangaite true and true who still stays on the premises and makes frequent appearances. He's here this evening, especially because its 21 October, the founder's day of Penang Free School, which holds its annual general meeting and dinner here every year.

Chicken satay & Har Cheong fried chicken

My modest first plate of dishes,
and Kueh Paiti for the table to share.

There are so many dishes here that it is impossible to take in one sitting. So one has to be strategic, take small portions of your favoured dishes, and small portions of things you want to try. Once you've had the full spread, then focus on your favourites. This is the night-time equivalent of coffee shop hopping for breakfast in Georgetown, where you have a single dish (for 5 ringgits) at one shop corner and move on to the next, until its lunchtime, and you repeat the cycle. An epicurian's dream!

What is the chef making?
Char kuay teow, best eaten piping hot.

Two favourite dishes:
Char kuay teow and Hokkien prawn noodles.

"Fried" porridge (top left)
is a rarity these days.

Penang assam laksa (top),
squid & stingray (bottom).

Here is the sum total of the dishes I tried, and yet I had not even covered everything.  By the time I left, my stomach was almost full to bursting and the thought of more food was near impossible. The next time, I shall skip breakfast and lunch and only have a Penang dinner fit for datuks and datins. 

Ban chung kuay
(durian and peanut fillings)

The best part of the ice kachang
and chendol here is you can choose
how much attap chee you want to add!

COPTHORNE KING'S HOTEL

403 Havelock Road

Singapore 169632

princess-terrace-2026-10-buffet-dinner-menu

People spotting at the King's Penang Buffet:

Why was I even there? I was the guest of prominent Penangite lawyer Malcolm Tan, and I also had Penang roots to do with Penang Free School. My maternal grandfather Datuk Tay Hooi Keat was an old Free, and so were all three of my maternal uncles, Tay Lee Inn, Tay Lee Soon and Tay Lee Kheng. Had I been born in Penang myself, I would have attended Penang Free School. Instead it was its equivalent in Singapore, Raffles Institution.