Wonderfood Museum
Penang
Visited December 2018

Wonderfood Museum is a fun place to see and photograph larger-than-life models of Malaysia's national obsession - food, in all its varied and delicious forms.

Giant-sized dishes. Some fun food-themed props are available for taking selfies.

If you have ever seen those ultra-realistic plastic replicas of dishes outside Japanese restaurants you will know what to expect here except that the models are mostly of Malaysian food and they are huge.

Indian indulgences such as fish curry, tosai, nasi biryani, chutneys and sweets.

The museum showcases Malaysia's unique food culture, drawn from the nation's rich multi-racial diversity. The replicas are beautifully made and if you weren't hungry when you entered the museum you will be by the time you leave.

Malay flavours such as pulut kuning, chicken rendang, ketupat nasi impit and traditional kuih-muih.

Themes include Malaysia's street food and there is a map and recommendations on where in Penang you can find the best places to enjoy dishes such as nasi kandar, banana leaf, char koey teow, wan tan mee and so on. For foreign tourists it is worth visiting the museum for this information alone.

Nasi Kandar. Getting hungry now. Shame it's not edible!

Lovely models illustrate how Malaysians like to eat different types of food at different times of the day.

Of course durians, the king of fruits, have to be included.

Food as Art. This table just looks a mess until viewed from a different angle.

The museum also seeks to educate by including displays on the history of food in Malaysia and heritage foods and rare and disappearing dishes such as this glutinous rice cooked in pitcher plants, an Orang Asli dish.