Kopi Cine reopens at China House

The wait is finally over.

If you recall from my previous post on Kopi Cine, the café at Stewart Lane was temporarily closed in anticipation for something bigger to happen. Fret no more. Kopi Cine has finally found its new home at China House, undoubtedly bigger and better.

The China House is the new jewel in Penang. Located at Beach Street in the UNESCO Heritage site of Georgetown Penang, China House is made up of 3 heritage buildings linked by a traditional open air courtyard.


I read that the place is house to 14 exquisite spaces with shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries and a theatre under the same roof including a bar and a private dining room where the chef cooks in the presence of the patrons.

The China House is part of the Straits Collection in Penang which has a mix of cafes, restaurants, boutique residences, retails shops and galleries in the heart of Georgetown. (If you don’t already know, the Straits Collection happens to be part of the famous Bon Ton group which also owns and operates the beautiful Bon Ton Resort and Temple Tree Resort in Langkawi)

We saw a lot of the familiar items from Kopi Cine on the menu, which is great. They serve all day breakfast from 9 am to 6pm. Hubs ordered the Big Breakfast with fried eggs, lamb sausage, beef patty, mushroom, spinach, caramelized onions served with lemon hollandaise sauce and chili jam. We absolutely loved the hearty breakfast with the homemade sausage. Everything just came together perfectly.

I ordered Roasted Chicken with Ras-el-Hanout spices on Focaccia with cherry tomatoes. I loved the toasted sesame seeds and zesty lemon pickles with the herbed roast chicken.


We can't help but order a Pavlova from the array of mouth watering desserts. The meringue cake with strawberry, passion fruit and mango slice was very light and fresh and we just can't have enough of it.


I have to say Straits Collection did such an excellent job with China House. Kopi Cine was already enjoying brisk business in its opening days with the steady stream of patrons. We could already envision coming back for more of what China House has to offer.

Cafe Latte and Mocha Latte

Big Breakfast (RM28)

Roast Chicken Focaccia (RM26)

Pavlova

China House
153 to 155 Beach Street
10200 Georgetown, Penang.
Tel: 04-2637299

http://www.facebook.com/ChinaHousePenang

http://www.straitscollection.com.my/ChinaHouse.htm

Coob Coffee Club Cafe at Komtar Walk Penang

Coob Coffee is a rather unique Japanese themed café tucked away at Komtar Walk. Its origin goes back to a small group of coffee clubs in Osaka.

Coob Coffee’s main draw is freshly brewed Japanese Sumiyaki coffee using a syphon coffee maker. The Sumiyaki coffee beans are charcoal roasted and imported from Japan. Apart from the traditional Japanese coffee, Coob Coffee also serves a variety of coffee drinks made from its Italian espresso coffee maker with 100% Arabica coffee beans, tea, ice blended drinks, smoothies etc.

For those looking to fill their stomach, Coob Coffee’s menu includes some pasta and Japanese dishes, albeit limited. I ordered the Kinoko (mushroom) Pasta which is an all-vegetarian pasta cooked with extra virgin olive oil with a variety of mushrooms. This simple pasta was surprisingly very flavourful with lots of freshly grounded black pepper, sesame seeds, garlic and seaweed.

Kinoko Pasta (RM14.90 including one drink)

Hubs ordered the Grilled Chicken Pasta with white sauce. The food dish comes with a drink, with an option of either an Iced Tea, American or Blend Hot Coffee or Iced Lemon Tea. You may upgrade to other drinks by paying an additional RM2 / RM3 / RM4.

Grilled Chicken Pasta (RM15.90 including one drink)

The Sumiyaki coffee was indeed good with a strong and distinct taste.

Sumiyaki Coffee (RM7.90)

The Iced Caffe Mocha and Caffe Granita Ice Blended were equally good as well.

Iced Caffe Mocha (RM11.90)

Caffe Granita Ice Blended (RM10.50)

Pistachio Cake (RM7.90)

The Pistachio Cheese Cake was indeed quite unique with a subtle pistachio flavour. I was told that it is quite a bestseller. They are currently running a promotion for any piece of cake with a drink for RM8.90 (you may also opt to upgrade to your choice of drink by paying a little extra).

They are also currently offering the Coob Summer 2010 Seasonal Selection of 100% fruits smoothie with a choice of kiwi, mango or papaya smoothie at RM11.90 per drink.  

The Japanese style café is cozy with its simple and yet tasteful décor. To me, it’s the perfect setting for catching up with friends or chilling out on a lazy afternoon.

Coob Coffee Club Cafe
Komtar Walk, Komtar,
Penang,
coobcoffee@yahoo.com
Tel: 012-5903099
http://www.coobcoffee.com/

Opening Hours:
Sunday to Wednesday 11 am to 10 pm
Thursday Close
Friday, Saturday 11 am to 11 pm

Pappa Rich e-Gate Penang

The Pappa Rich kopitiam franchise chain has made its way to Penang shore recently with the opening of its first outlet on the island at eGate.

Pappa Rich, with its tagline The Malaysian Traditional Delights, is a modern kopitiam which serves just about any classic hawker fare you can think of. The menu includes kaya and butter toast, curry mee, prawn mee, cendul, ais kacang, laksa, fried koay teow. nasi lemak, chicken rice, dim sum, fried rice, chicken porridge and the list goes on. If you are awed, wait until you see the beverage and desserts list (see full menu here).

Pappa Rich also serves gourmet coffee using Brewer’s Coffee beans which are roasted in Singapore.

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Brisk business during lunch hours

Dry Curry Mee with Foo Chok & Fish Cake (RM8.90)

The curry mee was flavourful and the yellow noodles were done al-dente and tangy, just the way I liked them. The only setback was the lack of ingedients with some 'foo chok' (bean curd skin) and fish cakes.

The Detox Tea with Honey  (RM6.90)

The Detox Tea with Honey sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try. The menu claims that it is a detox and energy booster herbal tea with a blend of 7 herbs which are supposed to burn fat and boost metabolism with antioxidants. Not sure if it worked but the tea sure was an acquired taste and was a tad bitter and strong for me.

Organic Soya Milk (Hot) (RM5.90)

Kopi (Iced) (RM3.80)

Soya Milk Cendol N Red Bean (RM6.50)

Pappa Cham (Iced) (RM4.90)

Hainan Cham (Hot) (RM3.50)

Pappa Mocha and Ice Cream (RM6.90)

Pappa ABC Special with Durian Ice Cream (RM9.90)

The durian ice cream was good but it was quite impossible to eat the dessert with the shaved ice all stacked up so high.

Roti Stim with Butter and Kaya (RM3.80)

As the name suggests, the bread is steamed and served with butter and traditional kaya. The steaming hot bread was soft and fluffy. I was surprised that I actually prefer the steamed bread over the toasted version. 

Roti Bakar with Peanut Butter (RM3.80)

Steamed Avocado Bun (RM4.80)

The avocado bun sounded interesting but unfortunately we couldn't tell the avocado paste from kaya.

Steamed Home Made Fish Otak Otak (RM5.80)

 The steaming hot otak otak was quite interesting with its soft and smooth texture.

Roti Bakar Susu (RM3.80)

Ipoh Koay Teow Soup with Steamed Chicken (RM9.90)

I personally prefer the Old Town Ipoh Hor Fun as the latter has a smoother hor fun texture. However, I have to say the steamed chicken was quite soft and the serving quite generous.

Dry Koay Teow with Curry Chicken and Foo Chok (RM9.90)

Pappa Char Koay Teow (RM8.90)

Pappa Rich actually did quite a good job with the char koay teow. It was sinfully good. :)

Pappa Curry Laksa Special with Foo Chok (RM9.90)

The curry laksa is what Penangites fondly refer to as curry mee. It was flavourful with quite generous serving of tau pok, cockles, chicken and foo chok.

Chicken Porridge (RM7.90)

Overall, you should have noticed that you pay a premium at Pappa Rich for the hawker fare that you can easily get access to and take for granted in Penang.

To be fair, what you get from Pappa Rich is the convenience of having lots of variety under one roof with a comfortable and air-conditioned ambiance and setting. It is also in-line with the modern kopitiam trend that is fast becoming of Malaysians in the recent years.

Pappa Rich e-Gate
1-01-01 & 1-01-02 Lebuh Tunku Kudin 2, Gelugor
Tel: 04-655 4977
http://www.papparich.com.my/