Nomming in Penang #1: Bonjour!

My recent hobby is to explore nice cafes in Penang and surprise surprise... I'd found so many nice places to hang out in this beautiful island :) 

So I thought of sharing here some of the places I'd visited (and like ^^). This will be the first post, hopefully I don't get too lazy and will not stop after the first *cough*. Shall start with 2 places I highly recommended for breakfast.

A great way to kick start a beautiful weekend is to get out and find something nice for breakfast. My favorite way is to sit back in a quiet cafe, enjoy a slow breakfast while reading *bliss*...

Ferringhi Coffee Garden

As the name suggest, it's a dine-in-the-garden concept cafe. Not to be mistaken with Ferringhi Garden (which is just beside), this is a smaller place... and better, if you ask my humble opinion.

My friends and I really love this place, it's the outdoor dining concept (no worries, for those who detest the sun to the max, they have comfy air-conned indoor seating as well) that makes this place a gem.

If you notice, they have lots and lots of orchids in the garden, surrounding the tables. Pretty!

Sitting at the corridor adjacent to the indoor area is nice, cos it's shaded. But if I get there real early (before the sun gets hot), I prefer to sit in the garden under the sun umbrellas.

Ferringhi Coffee Garden doesn't have an extensive menu, basically it's all on this sheet of paper table mat. Basically they served Western food, price wise, I find them reasonable (for a good breakfast at a nice environment), perhaps slightly towards the higher-end dining range.

Probably because of its location far away up Batu Ferringhi, the place is never crowded. I visited them three times, and so far everytime we still to get to enjoy a peaceful morning with not much crowd.

Ok, shall move on to the food...

For beverages, I am a non-coffee-drinker. I opted for fruit juices everytime. It's nice sipping cold fruit juice under the warm (yet not burning) morning sun :) Ah... life is good~

Here are what I'd tried during the three visits.

Eggs and Sausages. My friend ordered this and I stole some sausages. I dislike baked beans and poached eggs (ewww~~~) so I didn't taste the rest. The sausages are homemade so the texture is not as fine (but I like them anyway!), and the brown sauce that comes with them... yums!

Sausages and beef bacon. Again, I don't really fancy bacon that much. But according to my friend who is a bacon-lover, those strips are heavenly. I took a bite at the toast (in fact, I stole one toast) and I like their thick bread a lot :D

Went with my Hun the third time and opted to share a Club Sandwich. I have to say, the portion is big enough for two girls (provided that you are not a big eater or in our case, when both die die wanna diet). 

This sandwich is so much LOVE *eye blinking in happiness*!!! Every bite is a surprise. The slightly crispy Focaccia goes perfectly well with layers and layers of delicious ingredients inside. Smoked salmon, turkey ham, mozzarella cheese, egg omelette, free range chicken and fresh salad... heavenly! 

The different ingredients blended up into this really interesting gastronomic experience :) Highly recommended.

I have a sweet tooth and my belief is "anytime is dessert time" :D

Yes, dessert for breakfast LOL.

I ordered the Petit Four on my first visit and it turned out to be a plate of colorful, pretty delicacies. I was warned by the waitress that "this is very sweet, you ok?" and I gave her a nonchalant shrug. Turned out... it's really... diabetically sweet =.=

This is really not recommended unless you just want to have a bite. It's actually different types of sugar coated sweet cakes. One bite might be fine, but eating all these, take it from me, is not fun at all. Hahaha.

The second time I chose more carefully, I went for the French Pastry instead (ok lar, I die-die want dessert LOL). It turned out to be a much better choice!

I don't remember much about the creme brulee but the passion fruit sorbet is really nice. The cheesecake, tart, chocolate mousse and greentea pudding are not bad too. It's fun to taste different desserts in mini sizes.

Ferringhi Coffee Garden

43-D Batu Ferringhi

11100 Penang

Tel: 04-4881192

Business Hours: 7am - 10.30pm (Daily)

55 Cafe & Restaurant @ Cofee Atelier

Recently, there are many interesting "heritage" cafes mushrooming in Georgetown area, especially in the heritage enclave. I find these cafes really interesting, one of its kind that you cannot get elsewhere. They are small and usually occupying refurbished heritage buildings and keeping the Georgetown vintage tone at its best.

One of them that I like a lot is 55 Cafe, tucked away at the backlane behind the Goddess of Mercy Temple (观音亭). 

It's a bit difficult to explain my favoritism for this cafe. But from the first time I accidentally walked past this place, I was really attracted and had been wanting to go ever since. 

I went there on a weekend morning and the place was quite deserted. They are usually more crowded in the evening, for dinners I think. 

I like the simple yet tasteful inside of the restaurant. how they keep everything almost monotone, giving the place a special modern artsy touch yet keeping everything in line with the vintage building.

The outside is comfortable as well. With coffee tables and woven arm chairs overlooking the quiet backlane of Georgetown. Love the concept!

It's the perfect clashes of new and old, Western and Oriental, traditional and modern that gives this place it's unique aura.

Event the menus look really cool :)

They have a black board outside showing what they are serving. And yes, Free Wifi for those who wanted to sit back, relax and work (or surf net) online.

I ordered the chocolate milkshake which tasted like... melted chocolate ice-cream hehehe. My friend went for the carrot juice and commented that their juices are 100% pure juice. 

The continental breakfast is a basket of bread and croissant with strawberry jam and butter. I like their bread, very nice even eating plain! I am a carb lover and I really give thumbs up for this basket of wonderful bites.

I went for the smoked salmon Bocadillo (Spanish sandwich) and yes, it's nice :) They are quite generous with the amount of salmon slices stuffed inside the crunchy bread. Great!

55 Cafe & Restaurant

47-55, Stewart Lane 

10300 Georgetown, Penang

Tel: 04-2612261

Opening Hours: 9am - 5pm (Breakfast/Lunch- Closed on Wed)

                       6pm - 10pm (Dinner- Thurs - Sat only)

Maybe should check out this place for their Tapas dinner another time :D