2 Going 1 Way
A blog following the adventures of Sam and Georgi around the world. Join us on our adventure as we travel, eat, inspire.
George Town, Penang has become one of mine and Georgi’s favourite little towns. There’s so much going on; restaurants, street food, diverse ethnicities bringing their culture to separate areas of the town as well as an abundance of street art to keep you wandering for hours on end. Of course my favourite part has been the food scene! You have little India, little China town and of course an array of Malaysian cuisine.
There are so many cafes to choose from all having their own USP. Some have bakeries attached, some are art galleries, others have blogger friendly WiFi with comfy seating areas. Whatever you’re after, George Town seems to have it covered. I could list endless suggestions but I’m going to list our favourite 6 destinations for a spot to eat.
Coffee 45 on Love Lane is a small rustic cafe serving fresh cakes and very reasonable priced food. The current exchange rate: £1 = RM 5.40. I went for the chicken burger (RM10) which was huge! And Georgi had the vegetable pie (RM14) which was also very tasty. Be aware that the food doesn’t come with sides, you need to order fries etc on the side.
The WiFi here is really good and where we are sitting right now to write this blog! The cakes are fantastic, Georgi has had both the rainbow and Belgium chocolate cake, which come with a free scoop of ice cream. (RM15)
Wheelers cafe, also on Love Lane is another great spot for lunch and with a good WiFi signal. Similarly priced to Coffee 45 the sandwich selection was our port of call on a hot afternoon. The tuna sourdough bagel (RM16) was Georgi’s favourite which came with 2 perfectly cooked hash browns. I had the turkey club sandwich (RM13.5), which came with spicy chunky potato wedges.
Thali vegetarian cafe is my favourite Indian restaurant so far on our trip and maybe even in life … big call I know! But if any restaurant can beat this value for money I will be very shocked. The taste sensation was incredible and it was all vegetarian. I went for the Maharaja thali (RM 13.90). Just look at this fabulous plate of food, 7 dishes, 4 gravies, rice, popadom, chipati, yoghurt and dessert all for £2.50ish, now that’s crazy!
They have an incredible selection of sweets and desserts from their front counter, don’t miss out on trying some authentic Indian sweet dishes.
Mugshot cafe, just around the corner to the left of Love Lane has an incredible bakery! As well as having a stone bake oven, which they cook the bagels in. We stopped off for a coffee/ hot chocolate and a couple of bagels for breakfast (total RM52).
The place is massive, it’s like the tardis from Dr Who! It stretches back, has an upstairs and is joined to next door. Of course we couldn’t go to Mugshot without having one.
Mish Mash was next door to our hostel on Lebuh Muntri street. The up market wine and cocktail bar had an incredible selection of spirits and wine. The food was also to a very good standard but a bit pricey than the previously mentioned venues. I went for the steak sandwich (RM 28) and Georgi had the roasted vegetable pot (RM33), mine came with some exquisite little sweet potato crisps, I could have eaten them endlessly all night. I also couldn’t turn down the offer of Guinness on tap at (RM25), G had the house white, large glass, for RM23.
They also had a cigar and whiskey pairing menu. This place was my dream venue and if we had a larger budget, we could have sat in here all day! The bartenders were highly knowledgable and had top notch skills, cocktails started from RM30. Definitely a great treat venue for travellers, very lively in the evenings and a lot of tables were reserved so get in around 7pm to be sure of a good spot.
On our final night we hit up Kapitan on the outskirt of little India. It seemed like the locals ate downstairs, with a self service system and they sent all tourists upstairs for table service. Was a bit weird but we really didn’t mind. We went for the tandoori chicken, vegetable biryani, alu gobi masala, garlic naan , mango lassi and a water.
The food was really good! The tandoori chicken was exceptional as well as the Alu gobi masala. The food in this part of the world is truly spectacular and the cost is remarkably low. I thought for once I’d show you my receipt to prove the extent of the value. Remember RM5.40 = £1ish.
