CRIZ BON APPETITE

Kopitiam @ Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang would be pepping a selection of sumptuous buffet dinner dishes to pamper you during the coming festive celebrations, namely on 2019 Christmas Eve and this 2020 New Year Eve, from 6.30pm onward. The Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner is priced at RM98nett (adult) and RM78nett (child), whereas the New Year Eve Buffet Dinner is priced at RM118nett (adult) and RM88nett (child). It’s advisable to make you’re your advance booking via +604-263 3161 (Ext. 246) to avoid any disappointment.

There main highlights for the Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner would surely be their Roast U.S. Tom Turkey and Turkey Meat Loaf, served with Giblet Sauce, Cranberry Sauce and Rosemary Sauce. You could also get to savor their Roots Vegetables Soup with Dry Scallops, topped with Croutons. Some of the notable main dishes would include Deep Fried Prawns with Salted Egg & Herbs, Nestum Fish with Cheezy Mayonnaise, Mutton Rendang and more. There would also be an abundant of Christmas Cakes and Cookies to end your meal.

The New Year Eve Buffet Dinner would consist of a mixture of BBQ meat and seafood plus delicious hawker food. Do check out on their delicious Nyonya-Style Kapitan Chicken Curry, Braised Fish Maw with Giant Octopus, Half Shell Green Mussel Au Gratin, Panggang Whole Sea Perch with Air Asam, Char Koay Teow, Laksa Kahwin and more. The Laksa Kahwin is a combination of assam extract and coconut milk, which is a dish not to be missed.

There are also two ongoing “Stay & Dine” promotions this festive season. Do check them out as below.

Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang is located right in the heart of Georgetown. The entrance to the car park is at Level 2 of the hotel. Keep to your right when your see the Petron petrol kiosk as the entrance is right after the hotel. Do take note of the small sign. Just follow the sign within the car park premises and take the elevator to Level 1 of the building. Kopitiam @ Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang is just next to the hotel’s reception counter.

Name: KOPITIAM @ BAYVIEW HOTEL GEORGETOWN PENANG
Address: Level 1, 25-A, Farquhar Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: +604-263 3161 (Ext. 246)
Business Hours: 6.30am-1.00am
GPS: 5.421963, 100.335973

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

About Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang: In the heart of Penang Island’s vibrant capital, the Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang combines contemporary style with an enviable central setting. You can relax in one of 340 tastefully appointed rooms and suites, and host distinguished events in sophisticated boardrooms and an elegant ballroom. The open-air Sky Bar is the perfect place to sip a cocktail as you take in panoramic rooftop views from one of the best nightspots in Penang. The hotel is ideally set for business or leisure. Our extensive meeting and events facilities are complemented by high-tech equipment and free WiFi throughout. The Lobby Lounge serves drinks and snacks by day, while in the evening it’s the place to enjoy live music over crafted cocktails or a chilled glass of wine. Airy Kopitiam serves local specialties like classic Malay fish curries, as well as signature Western cuisine. In the rooftop Three Sixty Revolving Restaurant, you can savor an international buffet every evening while enjoying views across Georgetown and the Straits of Malacca.

Kopitiam @ Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang serves a mixture of traditional local specialties and familiar Western dishes in a bright, open dining room with large murals and marble-topped tables. One of their main highlights would be their Sunday Buffet Lunch which would be served from 12.00noon until 2.30pm at an economical price of RM38nett (adult), RM35nett (senior citizen) and RM15nett (child) and you would be surprised that their selections of dishes could be quite delectable. Due to its reasonable pricing and huge demands, it’s advisable to make you’re your advance booking via +604-263 3161 (Ext. 246) to avoid any disappointment.

Sometimes, simplicity is at its best when the selection of the buffet spreads would be just adequate for your dining pleasure without hurting the pocket at all. That’s what Kopitiam @ Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang has been stressing on – Quality vs Quantity. The main buffet spreads would consist of various dishes with higher notes on local flavors from salad, appetizer, main, desserts to local street fares. Our thumbs-ups would go to the tactfully prepared Malay-Style Fish Curry and Nyonya-Style Kapitan Chicken Curry, not forgetting their street food dishes such as their Hainanese Chicken Rice, Char Koay Teow, Laksa Kahwin, Mua Chee and so on which I personally felt tasted much better than some of those stalls outside the hotel.

The dish which attracted me most and is not found anywhere else in Penang from my knowledge was their Signature Laksa Kahwin, a combination of the best from the North and South of the Baba Nyonya community, namely the Nyonya Assam Laksa of Penang and the Nyonya Curry Laksa of Malacca. With the addition of Penang’s famous Hae Ko (petis udang/shrimp paste), it was a bowl of heavenly made dish which could be quite addictive, with or without the Penang-style laksa noodles.

Do check out their other promotion too as below:

Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang is located right in the heart of Georgetown. The entrance to the car park is at Level 2 of the hotel. Keep to your right when your see the Petron petrol kiosk as the entrance is right after the hotel. Do take note of the small sign. Just follow the sign within the car park premises and take the elevator to Level 1 of the building. Kopitiam @ Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang is just next to the hotel’s reception counter.

Name: KOPITIAM @ BAYVIEW HOTEL GEORGETOWN PENANG
Address: Level 1, 25-A, Farquhar Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: +604-263 3161 (Ext. 246)
Business Hours: 6.30am-1.00am
GPS: 5.421963, 100.335973

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

About Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang: In the heart of Penang Island’s vibrant capital, the Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang combines contemporary style with an enviable central setting. You can relax in one of 340 tastefully appointed rooms and suites, and host distinguished events in sophisticated boardrooms and an elegant ballroom. The open-air Sky Bar is the perfect place to sip a cocktail as you take in panoramic rooftop views from one of the best nightspots in Penang. The hotel is ideally set for business or leisure. Our extensive meeting and events facilities are complemented by high-tech equipment and free WiFi throughout. The Lobby Lounge serves drinks and snacks by day, while in the evening it’s the place to enjoy live music over crafted cocktails or a chilled glass of wine. Airy Kopitiam serves local specialties like classic Malay fish curries, as well as signature Western cuisine. In the rooftop Three Sixty Revolving Restaurant, you can savor an international buffet every evening while enjoying views across Georgetown and the Straits of Malacca.

Sometimes, it’s great to dine in where no one else would ever take a second look at when passing by the place. Who knows you might just stumble upon another hidden food treasures of Penang. Located within the heritage stretch along Church Street Ghaut (Gat Lebuh Gereja) right under a big huge tree, is a little shed, that had been pepping up delicious meals for those office workers around that area for many years. The place looked like it has been worn out through time but no one could have imagined that such a place would churn out meals that got many loyal customers coming back for more. Commonly known as Under the Big Tree by the locals, this little kopitiam is manned by Ah Lai and his wife, Ah Lim and their son.

So what’s the fuss over this kopitiam when they would just serve any common meals like some of the old coffee shops or mamak stalls scattered around Georgetown? You would be surprised as they have a truly 1-Malaysia concept here where all races would come in daily to have a boost of their delicious meal, basically instant noodles soup and toasted bread. Huh? Are you serious? Indeed I am! They do serve delicious instant noodles (RM3.50 per bowl – Maggi Mee to be precise) just like how you would cook at home, boiled with some cabbages, carrots and big onion, topped with a poached egg and 4 parts of a sausage. Next you would be asking why you should be paying for that amount when you could easily cook your own at home, in fact much cheaper than that pricing. The secret lies within the soup base. You surely won’t get that taste as you would here. On top of maintaining the al dente of the noodles, Ah Lai somehow managed to perfect his secret paste to be added into the soup. On top of that, some of the noodles had some evaporated milk added in for that extra creaminess. There are four types of noodles you can choose from here ranging from Clear Soup Noodles, Duck Noodles, Curry Noodles and Tom Yam Noodles. The Curry and Tom Yam Noodles are the two most sought after noodles here, a bit spicy for many but they were definitely delicious.

Their toasted breads here are indeed done to the crisp I always like. This place has been my second alternative for toasted bread after Ah Wang’s Cafe at Tanjung Tokong. The Toasted Butter & Kaya Bread (RM1.40/set) has the eggy type of coconut jam (kaya) just like how my granny would have made. What got the customer coming back for more were not these toasted breads or their half boiled eggs but their Toasted Sandwich Special (RM3.80). This item was so uniquely prepared that it would only be available at this place. The bread would be laced with some cheese, topped with omelette, sausage slices and sauce prior to being toasted. The sausage has been carefully peeled to get even thickness, thus you would get an even flavor throughout your bites. Other than these, there would also be some Nasi Lemak in-a-box (RM2 each) with different combinations, supplied by other vendors, for you to choose from.

It would rather easy to find this kopitiam as it is situated right under the biggest tree you can find along Gat Lebuh Gereja. If you are coming from Lebuh Light, you would come to a roundabout (aluminium betel nuts sculptures/Queen Victoria’s Memorial Clock Tower). Make a 270 degrees right turn into Lebuh Pantai. Drive all the way and make a second left turn into Gat Lebuh Gereja. You can see the stall on your left. There would be ample parking space there.

Name: AH LAI KOPITIAM @ UNDER THE BIG TREE CAFE
Address: 15, Gat Lebuh Gereja, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-477 1332 (Ah Lai/Ah Lim)
Opening Hours: 9.00am-5.00pm (Mon-Fri), 9.00am-3.00pm (Sat) – off Sunday & Public Holidays
GPS: 5.416629, 100.34294

RATING:
Ambience: 5.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

You would be surprised that some of the “kopitiam”s (coffee shops) in Penang has become so modernized today that your comfort and cleanliness preferences would always be their priority. One of the recent ones I had visited has some simple menu which would tempt your appetite as well as to allow you some comfort for your business discussions. It’s none other than Kopitiam Yue Lai, located along Jalan Argyll in the heart of Georgetown, Penang. Other than the availability of WIFI for your internet convenience, this kopitiam has a very systematic and categorized area for business persons to leave their name cards for that extra publicity mileage. It’s so cool!

Barely a few weeks old, Kopitiam Yue Lai has some light breakfast and meals without you having to worry about paying the additional taxes. All items are priced nett. You could always enjoy a hot cup of Kopi “O” (local black coffee – 90sen) or a glass of Iced Penang White Coffee (RM1.90) while escaping from the burning heat of the humid weather.

Do you want to have some toasts to go with your beverage? You could try out their Yue Lai Kaya Butter Toast (RM1.20). From the first look, I thought it would be another extremely sweet caramelized coconut jam that you would get from the mamak roti man. It turned out just like what I always wanted to have – a mildly sweetened with fragrant eggy taste kaya. This order was not bad at all.

There are also savory version of toasts and sandwiches for you to choose from ranging from mayo egg to mayo tuna. Here’s how the Triangle Toasted Mayo Tuna Set (RM2.20) would look like.

Not enough still for your breakfast? Well, there’s always the Half Boiled Eggs (RM1.40 for 2) with a dash or two of soy sauce and pepper to your liking.

There are also some heavier dishes for your lunch such as the nasi lemak (steamed coconut rice), spaghetti and noodles. You could try out the Yue Lai Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken (RM5.00). This dish would be served with a bowl of rice, some cucumber pieces, half a hard-boiled egg, some deep fried anchovies with peanuts, curry potato and of course with a juicy yet well marinated piece of fried chicken drumstick. This was quite a good bargain for the price paid.

There goes the same for the Yue Lai Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken (RM5.00). Every side dish would be the same except for the chicken drumstick curry.

They do serve Hokkien Prawn Mee (RM4.00) too. I was quite surprise to find this local hawker dish here as it would involve a lot of preparation to get a great bowl such as the Hokkien Prawn Noodle recipe I had earlier. Although the bowl of noodle (instant noodle used here) looked quite simple with only two halves of a hard-boiled egg, 3 medium sized prawns with a few strands of water spinach and garnished with some fried shallots, it tasted quite good. It would be better if the kopitiam were to add in a few pieces of chicken shreds or pork slices for more bites.

Other than those few dishes mentioned above, there’s also the Yue Lai Mee Soup (RM3.50) which was basically your home cooked version of instant noodles. The bowl of noodles came with some cabbages, egg, half a ham and two halves of a sausage. This is another great bargain for all the ingredients given.

Since this kopitiam is still quite new, more delicious dishes and snacks would be added next month onwards. Do check them out for some simple break time food. It would not be hard to find this kopitiam as it is strategically located just behind the Island Girl’s School along Jalan Argyll, Penang. As you pass the Jalan Argyll/Jalan Transfer junction, drive all the way towards the end of Jalan Argyll and you would see a newly constructed building on your left. Kopitiam Yue Lai is at the ground floor.

Name: KOPITIAM YUE LAI
Address: 203-G, Jalan Argyll, 10050 Penang, West Malaysia.
Contact: 604-226 0181
Business Hours: 8.00am-6.00pm (Closed on Sunday)
GPS: 5.422347, 100.328613

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)