Timeless delights: Patrons enjoying steamed bread with kaya, half boiled eggs, local coffee and other delights at a 70-year-old coffee shop in George Town. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Back lanes, old coffee shops, simple chairs with folding tables. Customers don’t mind the setting at all, so long as the food is good and tasty.
Simple offerings of plain toast or steamed white bread with butter and kaya (coconut jam), half-boiled eggs or packs of nasi lemak are appealing enough for locals and curious tourists to queue up for half an hour or more to get a seat.
Nadita, 28, from Batam, Indonesia, was surprised to see a long queue at an alleyway coffee shop in Lebuh Campbell.
“This is my first time in Penang and I want to join the locals, and look for places with history.
“This place has been around since 1950 so I had to check it out.”
She has never had steamed white bread with kaya before and marvelled at its warm softness.
Next came the packed nasi lemak and local coffee.
Nadita said she had resolved not to dine in fancy cafes while in Penang and only wanted to eat in places that locals patronise.
“I love the Malaysian breakfast culture. The atmosphere is noisy and active, yet at your table, you take your time and enjoy your food while other customers patiently wait in line outside the shop.
“We also didn’t mind lining up and waiting for a table,” she said.
Tuition teacher Jessica Tan, 34, said the routine of having toast and kaya in the morning was something she picked up from her parents.
“We would have a simple breakfast with half-boiled eggs, steamed bread or toast with kaya and coffee or tea.
“It’s nothing fancy and it’s cheap, but it somehow makes the mornings satisfying,” she said at the Lebuh Campbell coffee shop.
What amazed her – and almost turned her away – was the long line.
But she queued up anyway as she had dined there with her grandparents and wanted to relive that experience.
Another old coffee shop in Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong, facing Komtar, serves delights like halal koay teow th’ng and Teochew porridge alongside roti jala, lontong and others.
Penangite K. Karan, 45, was driving by when he saw the long queue, so he believed the food had to be good.
Since he had time, he parked and lined up. Upon seeing the menu, he realised he has not had roti jala for breakfast in ages.
“It is hard to find places with roti jala for breakfast.”
Karan, a technician, said as a Penangite, old places that offer local food are must-visits.
“Food trends will come and go, but a hot cup of ‘kopi’ hits differently in the mornings, especially when it’s made in a ‘kopitiam’,” he said.
