Wednesday 18 December 2013

Special Feature: Cafe Hopping in Sungai Petani, Kedah

A special feature on the cafes in Sungai Petani, Kedah since we were there for a half day trip recently to do what we do best, cafe hopping! You will be surprised that they have really nice cafes there! No point keeping these hidden gems to ourselves since sharing is always caring! ;) 

Since all these cafes are located near or in the Village Mall itself, just take the Sungai Petani Utara exit and then turn left after the toll. Go all the way straight and you will be able to spot the Village Mall on your right :)     

1. Bites Cafe
    Opening Hours: 12pm - 12am (Sunday - Thursday)
                        12pm-1am (Friday & Saturday)
    Location: 155, Jalan Lagenda Heights 6, 08000 Sungai Petani
Tel : +604 425 7923


This cafe is located beside the Village Mall and behind the Old Town White Coffee, which is not hard to miss. The highlight of the cafe would obviously be the Post It On notes stuck all over the wall of the cafe with all sorts of cute messages. The food and drinks are all reasonably priced and reasonably tasty as well. From their Facebook, it seems that this cafe will be undergoing some renovation in January 2014 so faster head on over if you like current design! ;) 

2. French Kisses Patisserie
    Opening Hours : 11am to 10pm Daily (Closed on Tuesday)
    Location : 2-17, Village Mall, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani
Tel : +6019 474 5570


Absolutely fell in love with this cute cozy cafe nestled right inside the Village Mall on the 2nd Floor. It came as surprise to us to see such a pretty cafe in a small town like Sungai Petani! :) The place is really small with only about 5 tables.

We read from The Star online that the owner of the café, Melody graduated with double degrees in Australia and returned home to Sungai Petani with her Australian boyfriend to start the cafe back in 2011. From their blog entry, we found it interesting that they still keep buying all the best ingredients to keep the pastries up to its standards, one of them being the Varlhona chocolate, a French luxury chocolate. They actually have to go all the way to Kuala Lumpur just to specifically purchase them. Bless their hearts and dedication!

French Kisses Patisserie also highlighted to us recently that they are THE ONLY cafe in Asia with the "Has Bean" coffee beans, roasted by the world renown coffee roasters from the UK! If you don't believe us, do check out this link provided by French Kisses Patisserie!

That is why their food and coffee is a little pricey, but without a doubt they are all very tasty and we give them two thumbs up. Their macarons are seriously to die for so make sure you order them when you are there! :)


3. Ice Cream Societe
    Location : Village Mall, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani


We stumbled upon this cafe about a year ago and completely fell in love with the place. Just look at the pictures above, how can anyone not fall in love with the place? It's also located on the 2nd Floor, right beside the French Kisses Patisserie and yes, they share the same owners! However, during our recent trip there, we were disappointed to see that the place is closed. We later FB message them, only to get this back:


So, let's all start flooding French Kisses Patisserie to make them open up Ice Cream Societe again. After all, 5 tables isn't hard to fill up right? ;) We've given so many reasons above so do give this lovely cafe all the support that you can! The place is just too pretty to be turned into a kitchen and production area! :(  

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Penang : Cafe Hunting Part 1

We couldn't help but to notice that new cute cafes are popping up at almost every corner of Penang driving locals and tourists alike to go on a cafe hunting craze. Since we are also doing a lot of cafe hopping ourselves, we decided that it would be a good idea to introduce to all our readers the little cafe gems hidden all over Penang ;)

We will be reviewing 3 to 5 cafes per post so get ready to join us on a cafe hunting craze! 
 
1. Kaffa Expresso Bar
Opening Hours : 8am to 10pm Daily 
Location : 22, Green Hall, Georgetown, Penang
Tel : +604 262 2822

Absolutely loved everything about this vintage themed two storey cafe from the interior to the service to the food to the coffee! This is their second outlet, with their first one opened in Kuala Lumpur. A little bird also told us that we should look out for its second branch in Penang, opening soon at the Penang International Airport! :)

2. Dolce Dessert
Opening Hours : 3pm to 11pm (Tues to Sun)
Location : 18, Kek Chuan Road, Georgetown, Penang
Tel : +6016-441 9120
FB Link : http://www.facebook.com/DolceDessert18
 

Born in the Year of The Rat ourselves, we were excited with this cafe. Rats were found  all over...Not in a bad way, of course but in forms of cute drawings on the walls of the cafe! :) The cake and coffee were okay but there's definitely room for improvement! Some coffee art of the rat would also be a bonus!

3. Pit Stop
Opening Hours : 9am to 6pm Daily 
Location : 12, Lorong Chulia, Georgetown, Penang


This cafe is opened by the same person who opened Manila Place in Gurney Plaza previously. The cafe is cozy and the most interesting part of the deco would have to be the hanging chair and the usage of chalks to write meaningful quotes on a luggage bag etc.  The food and coffee here is not too bad and quite reasonably priced.

4. Gathers Cafe
Opening Hours : 2:00pm - 11:00pm (Except Wednesdays)
Location : 155, Ground Floor, Jalan Raja Uda,
Pusat Perniagaan Raja Uda, 
12300 Butterworth, Penang


If you are being a little bit adventurous, perhaps you can cross over the sea to Butterworth where cafes are also starting to bloom. Found this cute cafe nestled in the heart of Jalan Raja Uda and what we love about this cafe is definitely their creativity. Just look above at our dessert and coffee, it's so in line with the spirit of Christmas! *melts* Both the dessert and coffee are not only good to look at but they're just as delicious too! :)

This cafe is also famous for its "NO" rules and seriously, we're not sure whether we should cry or laugh. Read through this and let us know! Lucky for us, there's no such thing as "No Photos Allowed"! Phew!



5.  沿海地带生活馆 By The Sea Boutique Cafe
Opening Hours : 3:00pm - 10:00pm (Tues- Fri), 2:00pm - 11:00pm (Sat & Sun)
Location : 6924 Jalan Ong Yi How, 13400 Butterworth, Penang
Tel : +604 323 3449
FB Link : http://www.facebook.com/CoastalZone


This cafe, which is also situated in Butterworth is unique as there is real beach sand on the floor! As beach lovers, we thought we would fall in love with this place at first glance but sad to say, it fell below our expectation. The concept was great but the delivery of the concept somehow fell short in our opinion. Extra brownie points are also taken off as the wooden chairs are really uncomfortable to sit on :( Didn't have the chance to try their desserts but their drinks were quite alright.