Legacy Lives on at A Ghaffoor Martabak Original

Post by Chiefeater Peter Yeoh

Finally, we found the most authentic murtabak in Penang, made using a recipe which sticks faithfully to its Yemeni origins, at on Dato’ Keramat Road.

Run by Nizal Ashriff Abu Mubarak, a 4th-generation Penang-Hadhrami-Arab whose great-grandfather, A Ghaffoor Adan, emigrated to Penang from Hadhramaut, Yemen, and plied his trade from a pushcart on Bertam Lane in 1945, right after the end of World War II. A Ghaffoor had learnt the murtabak recipe from his own uncle – a closely-guarded family secret involving a blend of 21 spices.

Ghaffoor’s family operated there for about 6 decades, first taken over by his son, Tahir Abdul Ghaffoor, then Tahir’s son, Abdul Mubarak Tahir. Today, Abdul Mubarak’s son, Nizal, 39, runs the eatery at its current Dato’ Keramat location since Mar 2019.

Super-friendly owner-chef, Nizal Ashriff Abu Mubarak, looked like he came straight out of the Arabian Nights.

The term “murtabak” came from the Arabic term “mutabbaq” (Arabic: مطبق) meaning “folded”. And here at 𝗔 𝗚𝗵𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗸 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹, one can literally see how the chef folds the oblong-shaped, cooked murtabak before serving it.

There are two types of murtabak to choose from: beef or chicken. We ordered one of each.

Bandung iced rose syrup-and-milk drink.

It’s really wonderful that a family has been able to preserve the original tastes of their family’s specialty dish for 80 years now.

Besides their murtabak, A Ghaffoor also offers a wonderfully-scented tomato rice (cooked using basmati grains), with a plethora of Jawi-Peranakan dishes to choose from, like Ayam Pesamah, Khaliah Kobis (cabbage with chicken livers), Pejari Nenas (sweet-sour pineapple), a very good Dalcha with big chunks of potato, carrot and brinjal, and much more.

Ayam Pesamah

Khaliah Kobis

Business Hours
Monday to Friday
11:00 am to 05:00 pm

Saturday
10:00 am to 05:00 pm

Closed on Sunday