What comes up to your mind when you think about breakfast? Ham and eggs? Noodles? For me, it's toasted bread! Well, on that particular morning, that is. Saucer came to visit in Penang, and we met up with his ex-colleague Wailian, who's a true blue Penangite. He always has a long list of famous eateries that he would recommend to us. So on that morning, I asked him about the famous charcoal-toasted bread in Campbell Street and he immediately said he knew where!
On the way to breakfast!
Needless to say, I gleefully sat patiently at the back of his car while he maneuvered through the busy streets of Georgetown. It's amazing how many people were up and doing marketing at 8.30am on a Saturday! It was a lucky day for us as we were able to find the perfect parking spot just in front of the bread place! This is the Campbell Street arch that you can't miss if you drive around the Georgetown area. And this is where Toh Soon Cafe is located.
Campbell street
It is a quaint little cafe, situated in the middle of a junction, and you would have missed it if you didn't pay attention. However, the large crowd there would probably be good enough to be the attraction. Again, we were lucky second time when we managed to get a table just when we entered the shop! In fact, a few minutes later, we bumped in Saucer's friend who had to stand outside the shop for a good 15 minutes to wait for a table!
Toh Soon Cafe signboard
Even though the place was small, it was not stuffed or cramped. At least the ventilation was good. Business was brisk too.
Alfresco dining
We started with our drinks order. The guys ordered iced coffee while I joined the crowd by ordering iced Nescafe. To me, Nescafe is a milder version of coffee because it's not as bitter. :)
Iced coffee
Iced Nescafe
We ordered three sets of half-boiled eggs, 2 sets of toasted Hainan bread and 1 set of steamed Coffee Marble bread. For your information, they have a variety of bread available, including wholemeal bread and the normal white sandwich bread. Of course, we only opted for the traditional Hainan bread to savour its goodness. The half-boiled eggs were done perfectly! Not a minute more or less than it should take. :) Went very well with bread too, I must say.
Half-boiled eggs
I must mention that the main specialty of this shop is that their toasted bread were toasted with charcoal! Not the modern toasters that you usually see in the shops. Isn't that amazing? Really old-fashioned! To me, I found that the bread was much crispier at the outside but soft and moist on the inside. Compared that to normal toaster, the whole slice of break would usually be hard or crispy. However, the two gentlemen with me said they couldn't taste the difference. :S
Toasted Hainan bread
The Hainan bread came with butter and kaya spreaded in between too. It's nice to even eat it on its own.
Second plate
Finally, if you don't like toasted version of bread because of heatiness, you can also try the steamed version. We tried the steamed coffee marble bread, which was very fragrant and extremely soft! Seriously, it's so soft it could melt in your mouth! I loved this very much.
Steamed coffee marble bread
Total amount spent for 3 drinks, 3 sets of bread and 3 sets of half-boiled eggs was RM13.50. That's pretty reasonable, I'd say. With the old-style kopitiam environment to boot! I enjoyed the experience very much and would definitely go back there again. :)
On the way to breakfast!
Needless to say, I gleefully sat patiently at the back of his car while he maneuvered through the busy streets of Georgetown. It's amazing how many people were up and doing marketing at 8.30am on a Saturday! It was a lucky day for us as we were able to find the perfect parking spot just in front of the bread place! This is the Campbell Street arch that you can't miss if you drive around the Georgetown area. And this is where Toh Soon Cafe is located.
Campbell street
It is a quaint little cafe, situated in the middle of a junction, and you would have missed it if you didn't pay attention. However, the large crowd there would probably be good enough to be the attraction. Again, we were lucky second time when we managed to get a table just when we entered the shop! In fact, a few minutes later, we bumped in Saucer's friend who had to stand outside the shop for a good 15 minutes to wait for a table!
Toh Soon Cafe signboard
Even though the place was small, it was not stuffed or cramped. At least the ventilation was good. Business was brisk too.
Alfresco dining
We started with our drinks order. The guys ordered iced coffee while I joined the crowd by ordering iced Nescafe. To me, Nescafe is a milder version of coffee because it's not as bitter. :)
Iced coffee
Iced Nescafe
We ordered three sets of half-boiled eggs, 2 sets of toasted Hainan bread and 1 set of steamed Coffee Marble bread. For your information, they have a variety of bread available, including wholemeal bread and the normal white sandwich bread. Of course, we only opted for the traditional Hainan bread to savour its goodness. The half-boiled eggs were done perfectly! Not a minute more or less than it should take. :) Went very well with bread too, I must say.
Half-boiled eggs
I must mention that the main specialty of this shop is that their toasted bread were toasted with charcoal! Not the modern toasters that you usually see in the shops. Isn't that amazing? Really old-fashioned! To me, I found that the bread was much crispier at the outside but soft and moist on the inside. Compared that to normal toaster, the whole slice of break would usually be hard or crispy. However, the two gentlemen with me said they couldn't taste the difference. :S
Toasted Hainan bread
The Hainan bread came with butter and kaya spreaded in between too. It's nice to even eat it on its own.
Second plate
Finally, if you don't like toasted version of bread because of heatiness, you can also try the steamed version. We tried the steamed coffee marble bread, which was very fragrant and extremely soft! Seriously, it's so soft it could melt in your mouth! I loved this very much.
Steamed coffee marble bread
Total amount spent for 3 drinks, 3 sets of bread and 3 sets of half-boiled eggs was RM13.50. That's pretty reasonable, I'd say. With the old-style kopitiam environment to boot! I enjoyed the experience very much and would definitely go back there again. :)
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8 comments:
Wow! The hainan bread with butter and kaya makes me hungry! Drooling : )
Haha...glad to see you finally found your way to this kopitiam.
MeiYee, Next we go to try the Beef Steamboat at Tanjung Bunga. Please Ask when Saucer come again ?
Sometimes the best food is served in traditional kopitiam rather than upscale restaurants...
Eh... since you are a Twitter user, you may want to read my latest post and give your opinion...
Jln imbi, near imbi pasar,kl. 1 old-stall, with HaiNan coffee, HB eggs, breads too...
Try ~ i feel ok lah for their beverage & kaya too...
foongpc: I know! Especially when it's piping hot and crispy on the outside! :))
ck lam: Yes, thank you for introducing this place to me. :))
weilian: OK! I'll let you know when he's back!! :)
khengsiong: I agree with you, best food doesn't necessarily have to be in fine dining or nice restaurants. :)
三股东: Oh, ok! Thank you for the tip! Will take note and try it out when I go to KL. :)
this is a must visit for me then. the other coffee shop that I went which serves toasts like this was along the road to bayan lepas airport
vk: Yes! Actually they way they both serve is a little different. The one at the bayan lepas airport is slightly sweeter with more butter and sugar. :)
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