Wonderfood Museum Penang: what to expect from your visit

Penang is known for its varied and tasty cuisine and a visit to Wonderfood Museum in George Town offers a weird, quirky but enjoyable introduction into the history and recipes that make up this world-class food scene.

If there’s one thing Penang is famous for above all else, it must be its cuisine and diverse food scene. The choice and selection of dishes on offer throughout the island can be overwhelming for visitors, so it perhaps makes sense to visit a museum dedicated to all things food and learn your Popiah from your Assam Laksa.

Wonderfood Museum is a quirky place on Beach Street that uses dioramas, interactive displays and oversized models to bring the menus, ingredients and flavours of Penang’s food scene to life. Although it sometimes does this with mixed results, it’s a fun place to visit and is well worth thirty minutes of your time if you’re in this part of George Town.

Where is Wonderfood located?

Wonderfood Museum is located on Beach Street (Lebuh Pantai) at the eastern edge of George Town. It’s only a short walk from the Penang cruise terminal and the free CAT bus passes close by, otherwise a Grab taxi can drop you right outside the front door.

Opening times and entry fees

Wonderfood Museum is open from 9.00am to 6.00pm, seven days a week.

The museum is quite expensively priced at:

• RM30 for adults (MyKad holders RM20)
• RM20 for children aged 3-12, students and senior citizens aged over 60 (MyKad holders RM15)

Payment is via cash or e-wallets but credit cards are not accepted.

What to expect during your visit

We’ve written about a few places in Penang including the Ghost Museum, Asia Camera Museum, Upside Down Museum and Teddy Bear Museum which are quirky, bizarre and unexpected museums often housed in beautiful old heritage buildings. We’re still not 100% sure why Penang specialises in these type of museums rather than the more traditional kind, but Wonderfood Museum is another one to add to the collection.

Beach Street is arguably the grandest avenue in George Town and one of its many heritage buildings has been repurposed into this celebration of food and its place in Penang’s story. With a sometimes bewildering collection of dioramas, models and interactive displays, it’s certainly a museum with a unique personality, but it doesn’t always hit the right spot.

If you’re new to the Penang food scene or just need a refresher on the different styles of cuisine here, the ground floor of the museum does a good job in explaining such favourites as Nasi Kandar, Lemang, Char Koay Teow and Hokkien Mee. It also gives some information on how these types of food were introduced into Penang and their place in the history of the island. If you can get past the slightly obscure displays and randomness, there is plenty of useful information to be discovered.

At various points, there are some photo opportunities that are actually quite clever and make for fun shots, including a Mona Lisa food spread, a tea pouring illusion and noodle frying. If you’re here with kids, they’ll especially enjoy these sections.

The upper floor changes pace slightly, with displays on food waste and decay, the world’s most expensive dishes and a stark reminder on why we shouldn’t waste food. It just about makes sense, but a general feeling of quirkiness remains throughout your visit.

We’ve mentioned this same point in our reviews of Penang’s other museums but do remember to look up and around at the building as you make your way around. In some ways, getting access to these beautiful old rooms is worth the entrance fee in itself.

How much time to allow

Unless you’re the type of person who stops at every display and reads every scrap of information, you probably won’t spend longer than thirty minutes at Wonderfood. This is why we think the museum is slightly overpriced, although it’s by no means a waste of money and many people will no doubt spend longer here.

Other things to do nearby

The Clan Jetties are only a few metres away from Wonderfood and you’re also close by the Butterworth to Penang Island ferry.

Beach Street is the eastern boundary of the core George Town UNESCO site, so you’re ideally placed to explore the rest of the city, perhaps via our George Town walking tour. It starts from Fort Cornwallis (ten minute’s walk away), or alternatively pick up the tour at Wonderfood and make your way to Chew Jetty (steps D to E on the tour, from Kapitan Restaurant to Chew Jetty).

Final thoughts on Wonderfood Penang

Wonderfood Museum (like so many of the other Penang museums in this genre) probably isn’t going to be the highlight of your trip to the island as there are so many other world-class activities vying for your attention (check out our guide to the best things to do in Penang). However, that doesn’t mean you should strike it off your to-do list just yet.

It’s a quirky, fun and well-loved museum, with attentive staff members and thoughtful displays throughout the pretty and air-conditioned building. If you don’t already know the difference between Curry Mee and Roti Canai, this is the place to come, especially if you’re a fan of dioramas and oversized frying pans.

In a city where food vendors are around every corner, it might have been a nice addition if the museum included a small stall/cafe where you could actually try some of the food. It’s interesting to see the dishes in model form but the real joy of food is in the tasting.

At RM100 for a family of four, the entry fees are probably a few ringgits too high, but we’d still recommend you pay a visit to Wonderfood and learn more about the cuisine that makes Penang famous.