It can be tough being a tourist in Penang - especially at meal times. This island, squeezed into the Straits of Malacca, within a sniff of the Malaysian mainland, is famed for its multi-ethnic makeup and is consequently packed with restaurants, food stalls and night markets serving a tantalising variety of cuisines.

Some days it can take a superhuman effort to decide between the Hainan chicken rice and a spicy Tamil curry, hot-and-sour assam laksa or a Malay char-grilled satay.

Variety has always been the spice of life in Penang. The sleepy backwater of Chinese shop houses and colonial bungalows off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia boasts one of the richest collections of original ...