Restaurant in George Town, Malaysia
Queue early. The duck justifies the wait.
Jit Seng is the Michelin Plate-recognised roasted duck stall on Lebuh Carnarvon that sets the standard for the style in George Town. The kitchen operates for only three hours a day, so arrive early and expect a queue. At a single-dollar price point, the roasted duck, pork belly, and char siew make this the most straightforward quality-to-cost decision in Penang's street food tier.
If you are eating roasted duck in George Town, Jit Seng is where you go first. The Michelin Plate recognition (2025) confirms what regulars on Lebuh Carnarvon already know: the duck here is the reference point for the style in Penang. At a single-dollar price tier, the decision to visit is easy. The harder question is when to show up, and how to use your visits strategically — because the window is short and the queue is real.
The visual signature of Jit Seng is the duck hanging in the window: deep-red lacquered skin, the colour somewhere between mahogany and brick, that signals the Cantonese roasting technique the chef-owner brought from years working inside a larger kitchen before striking out independently. That skin is the first thing you see walking up Lebuh Carnarvon, and it is the right instinct to follow it.
The roasted duck over rice is the anchor order on every visit. The skin crisps without drying the meat underneath, and the deep colour is not caramelisation alone — it reflects the time and temperature control that separates this from the more casual roasted duck stalls elsewhere in the city. On a second visit, the roasted pork belly (siu yuk) earns your attention: crackling surface, yielding interior, a direct test of whether the operator has consistent heat management across more than one protein. The char siew rounds out the trio if you are building a plate across visits, though the duck remains the reason to return.
Shop operates on an extremely compressed schedule , roughly three hours a day. This is not a quirk; it is the operational reality of a small owner-run kitchen where the product is only as good as the person making it. For the food-focused traveller, this compression is a useful signal: go early, expect a queue, and treat the constraint as quality evidence rather than inconvenience.
A single visit to Jit Seng answers the main question , yes, the duck lives up to its Michelin Plate status. But two or three visits across a Penang trip give you a more complete picture of what the kitchen can do.
Visit one: Roasted duck rice, ordered simply. This is the baseline. Arrive at or near opening to see the full selection before the leading cuts go. The queue moves, but the good pieces do not wait.
Visit two: Add the roasted pork belly or char siew alongside the duck. A mixed plate across two proteins tells you whether consistency is a strength of the kitchen or whether the duck is the sole standout. Based on Michelin's own notes, both the pork belly and char siew are described as worthy extras , not afterthoughts.
Visit three (if your itinerary allows): Come later in the service window and observe what sells out first. At a stall operating on this kind of compressed schedule, the sell-out sequence tells you as much about the kitchen's priorities as any review. If duck is gone early and pork belly remains, that ordering on your next trip is confirmed.
For a comparison point within George Town's duck rice category, Air Itam Duck Rice offers a different neighbourhood context and style worth comparing if duck rice specifically is your focus this trip.
The three-hour daily window is the single most important practical fact about Jit Seng. Arrive early , ideally within the first thirty minutes of service. The queue is a known feature, not an anomaly. George Town's street food culture means queuing is expected and generally moves faster than it looks, but at a stall this size, late arrivals risk finding the duck already gone.
For the broader George Town street food circuit on the same morning, 888 Hokkien Mee (Lebuh Presgrave) and Ah Boy Koay Teow Th'ng operate on comparable schedules and geographic proximity makes a multi-stop morning practical. Air Itam Sister Curry Mee and Ali Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang round out a full street food morning if you are building an itinerary around Penang's hawker tier.
Reservations: Not applicable , walk-in only. Booking difficulty: Easy, but arrival timing matters more than booking. Budget: $ , expect to spend under RM 20 per person. Dress: No code, casual street attire is standard. Address: 206-208, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, Penang.
Jit Seng sits within a strong tradition of Michelin-recognised street food across Southeast Asia. For comparison, Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles in Singapore represent the same category logic: owner-operated, abbreviated hours, queue-dependent, guide-recognised. The Penang context is distinct , lower price points, more casual settings, a different queuing culture , but the underlying proposition is identical: one person, one product, executed at a level that earns outside validation.
Within Malaysia more broadly, the contrast with a restaurant like Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur illustrates the range of the country's food recognition landscape: Dewakan operates at the fine-dining end, while Jit Seng earns its Michelin Plate at street level. Both are worth your time; they are answering completely different questions. If you are combining Penang with a broader Malaysia itinerary, Bee See Heong in Seberang Perai and Christoph's in Penang offer further reference points at different price tiers on the island.
For everything else in George Town, see our full George Town restaurants guide, hotels guide, bars guide, experiences guide, and wineries guide.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jit Seng Hong Kong Roasted Duck Rice | $ | Easy | — |
| Au Jardin | $$$ | Unknown | — |
| Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery | $$ | Unknown | — |
| Ah Boy Koay Teow Th'ng | $ | Unknown | — |
| Aria | Unknown | — | |
| Communal Table by Gēn | $$ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in George Town for this tier.
Not in the conventional sense. There are no reservations, no table service, and no atmosphere to speak of beyond the queue and the street. That said, if your group treats serious hawker food as the occasion itself, a Michelin Plate-recognised duck rice on Lebuh Carnarvon at $ pricing is a deliberate choice, not a compromise. For a sit-down celebratory meal in George Town, Au Jardin or Communal Table by Gēn are better fits.
For a different hawker register, Ah Boy Koay Teow Th'ng is the comparison if noodles suit your group better than rice. For a full restaurant meal with Penang heritage cooking, Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery gives you a table, a menu, and significantly more time to eat. Jit Seng is the right call specifically when roasted duck is the target and you can arrive within the three-hour daily window.
There is no booking system. Jit Seng operates on a walk-in, queue-and-order basis during its three-hour daily window. Plan your day around the opening time and arrive early — the duck sells out, not the seats. If you arrive late in the window, the roasted duck may already be gone even if the stall is technically still open.
Yes, straightforwardly. At $ pricing, Jit Seng holds a 2025 Michelin Plate, which means the quality-to-cost ratio is among the clearest in George Town. The roasted duck with deep-red skin and juicy meat is the draw; the roasted pork belly and char siew are worthwhile additions if you are ordering for two. You will spend more on transport to get there than on the meal itself.
Small groups of two to four manage fine at a hawker-style setup like this. Larger groups should be aware that seating is limited and communal, and the three-hour window means timing coordination matters more than at a full-service restaurant. Order a spread across the roasted duck, pork belly, and char siew to give a larger table enough variety — but keep expectations hawker-level, not restaurant-level.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
