GEORGE TOWN: There are several ways to serve lobster with, and macaroni cheese is probably a family favourite. Some also bake it while others serve the lobster hot with melted butter.

But at Projek Nasi Lemak Box at the Esplanade, the crustaceans are paired with Malaysian’s favourite dish – nasi lemak.

The cheese-baked lobster is served with fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk and dyed blue with butterfly pea flower.

It is served on a rattan tray, on a banana leaf, to go with anchovies, pickled cucumber, peanuts, egg and sambal.

Wayne Chor, one of the outlet’s four founders, said the wild local leng heh (Hokkien for lobsters) they use have thinner shells, and hence, the meat is plump and succulent compared with imported cold-water lobsters.

Malaysian favourite: Chor showing the lobster nasi lemak at Project Nasi Lemak Box in Esplanade, Penang.

“The idea is to make eating lobsters affordable. We cut down on the marketing cost when we spread the news through Facebook,” he said yesterday, adding that the first 30 customers who order the lobster nasi lemak need only to pay RM39, instead of the usual RM69, during the promotion today.

Besides lobster, the nasi lemak can also be served with chicken, fish, prawns or squid.

Since its opening on Friday, holidaymakers have made a beeline to the stall located next to Fort Cornwallis behind the food court.

Nazian Zainal, 39, from Sepang, came for lunch with her family yesterday.

“We have never tried lobster nasi lemak before. We decided to give it a try since we are in Penang for the weekend and it turned out to be quite nice.

“My family enjoyed it, especially the pickles and sambal. We will definitely be back again here in future,” she said.

Co-founder Nigel Law said the idea was to create an enjoyable ambiance of eating lobster nasi lemak in a shady park while enjoying the sea breeze.