Wonderfood Museum Penang

Wonderfood Museum Penang is a fascinating place to visit, and if you can control your appetite around the colourful, quirky, and over-sized displays of local dishes, then there is an educational aspect worth visiting for, making it one of the best Penang attractions.

The multi-tourism award winning museum is not only a fun place for kids, and the young at heart, but it is also an interesting way to learn about the historical eating patterns of Penangites.

As well as through the written word, visitors can learn about the local cuisine through dioramas (miniature displays) of street food scenes dotted throughout both floors showing the different foods eaten at different times throughout the day and their individual settings.

I certainly knew when I had arrived at the right place with a large bowl of fake chendol sitting out the front of the historical building with a sign proudly announcing that this in’t the biggest display and that there are bigger inside.

The very realistic and intricate food displays are the work of the owner Sea Lao, who uses the same food replication techniques seen in Japanese restaurants around the world. I can only imagine the painstaking work that went into making these.

For simple navigation, Wonderfood Museum is split into 3 zones, with the Info Zone and Wow Zone located on the ground floor, and the Educational Zone located on the 1st floor.

Watch the short video (3 minutes) first to get an idea of the museum before reading on.

Info Zone

This zone takes an in-depth look at Penang’s and Malaysia’s tasty and traditional cuisine by showcasing  dozens of dishes that originate from one of Penang’s diverse food sources, namely Malay, Indian, Chinese, and Peranakan.

The dishes fill the walls like a colourful version of modern food art, with standalone cases offering up the same concept. None of the famous foods are left out, and if the displays seem a little overwhelming to start with, the helpful staff are happy to provide more information.

Seeing the Peranakan display in particular took me straight back to the wonderful cooking class I went to in Malacca, where we were able to dive into a style of cooking that proponents are trying to keep alive.

And to see the Nyonya Kuih with their impossibly bright colours made me want to order a cup of tea and snack away!

As mentioned above, to gain a better understanding the historical side of how, what, and when Penangites eat their meals, dioramas line the walls depicting scenes of daily outdoor cooking and eating.

I found these dioramas quite intriguing as they each told an important historical food story, and lent an important visual perspective to the local food culture.

Wow Zone

The Wow zone contains not only huge replicas of local foods, but interesting set displays that ask the visitors to imagine if food wasn’t in the form it is today and how that would impact us. The table relating to food being weightless is a riotous mess of fun and anarchy.

The next display is the motherlode of the museum where super-huge displays of classic street food dishes fill the room.

Dishes include AIS kacang, laksa, char kway teow, chendol, and even a few large satay sticks.

Oh, and there are more fun props for the family to have some memorable photos of the visit. The tea pouring ones look the most fun.

Educational Zone

It is upstairs at the Wonderfood Museum Penang that the displays take on a more teaching role. There are still a few dioramas and some photos and displays of less eaten foods.

But from here on, the museum adopts a more random route, with the next few exhibits being far more diverse.

They range from a lavishly decorated table with examples of some of the worlds most expensive foods, a catalogue of the different durian types, a disturbing display of a bowl of shark fin soup sitting on a table with dead sharks on the ground, through to a display on how many spoons of sugar are in different foods and drinks.

And although the the Wonderfood museum Penang is a fun, playful, and educational destination, there is a poignant message on the way out reminding us of the necessity of not wasting food.

The Wonderfood Museum Penang is one of the more interesting things to do in Penang Malaysia related to food, without actually sitting down to a meal. It is fun for the family, but there are also opportunities to learn and take in more about the Penang food scene than first may meet the eye. An excellent Penang museum.

Wonderfood Museum Penang Address

49 Lebuh Pantai
George Town, Penang

Telephone: +604 251 9095

Wonderfood Museum Penang Ticket Price

Adult RM25, Child RM15 (Foreigners)

MyKad Adult RM15, Child RM10, Senior RM10

Open 9.00am to 6.00pm