Areca Cafe

Areca Cafe, George Town (10 October 2017)

Areca Cafe (GPS: 5.41726, 100.32999) is a cafe on Khoo Sian Ewe Road in George Town. Occupying a restored prewar townhouse, part of a row that is today occupied by Areca Hotel, Areca Cafe offers a cosy little niche away from the traffic and noise of the city. It is beautifully decorated with antique figurines and porcelain.

Areca Cafe front entrance (10 October 2017)

Areca Cafe dining hall (10 October 2017)

Buffet breakfast is provided to the hotel guests at Areca Cafe in the morning. (10 October 2017)

Antique figurines decorate a niche in the cafe. (10 October 2017)

Porcelain vase in Areca Cafe. (10 October 2017)

This is Sam, serving us at Areca Cafe. (10 October 2017)

Service with a smile at Areca Cafe. (10 October 2017)

Meals at Areca Cafe

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Breakfast at Areca Cafe

My wife and I enjoyed having breakfast at Areca Cafe on 25 and 26 November, during our stay at the hotel. Breakfast at the cafe is buffet style. The items are clustered into different food stations. On one table are the toasts, along with croissants, fruit salad, yogurt, butter, cheese, and kaya, among others. At the counter is the egg station. On both days we ate there, we ordered half-boiled eggs. (I love eating croissants dipped in half-boiled eggs.) On another corner are the savoury items such as fried rice, grilled tomatoes, sausages, turkey bacon, and other stuff. There is also baked black eye peas, which is a departure from the usual baked beans. Although the cafe is not very big, and the selection is quite limited, Areca Cafe has a charming cosiness to it that made us feel so at home.

Areca Cafe breakfast (25 November 2017)

A Dinner at Areca Cafe

My wife and I were privileged to an invitation from Areca Cafe to a dinner with them. We have not been to the cafe before, and in fact arrived at the lobby of the hotel, from where we were ushered by the receptionist to the cafe, located at the other end of the row of townhouses. There, we met up with the co-hotel manager, Mr Azman Othman. We spent a little while touring the cafe and hotel, admiring and taking photos of its deco before taking our seat at the table. We chose a comfortable spot within sight of the open kitchen.

Areca Cafe offers a menu that can be descripted as Continental Fusion. It is mostly Western but with touches of Oriental elements. Take a look:

Here's the menu with prices as at the time of our visit. (10 October 2017)

For this evening, Mr Azman prepared for us a lovely three-course dinner. Our meal began with appetizers. There were two dishes. The first appetizer was Grilled Beef Salad, which is slices of beef served with rocket salad, slices of black olives, cherry tomatoes, pickled green chili (which surprised us somewhat), cubes of Feta cheese, onion and fresh cilantro. The beef is nicely done, very tender. It blends well with the crispiness of the rocket salad and the deep taste of Feta cheese, which I regard as "to the West what salted egg yolk is the East".

Grilled Beef Salad. (10 October 2017)

The second appetizer was Seafood Begedel. The begedels are patties of seafood and potatoes that are deep fried until they are crispy on the outside. This is served with cucumber, pickled papaya, red onion, fresh cilantro, mustard seed and drenched with a tamarind vinaigrette and sriracha mayo.

Seafood Begedel. (10 October 2017)

To wash down the meal, we ordered two different beverages. They were Virgin Blueberry Mojito and Mango Tea. My wife and I took turns enjoying both beverage. They were certainly refreshing on a hot day. Of the two, I prefer the Mango Tea while my wife the Virgin Blueberry Mojito.

Virgin Blueberry Mojito (left) and Mango Tea (right). (10 October 2017)

For our main course, we were served three items, Spaghetti with Flower Crab, Ricotta Gyoza and something off menu, which was Swiss Rösti with Market Fresh Vegetables and melted Gruyère Cheese. The spaghetti is cooked in a curry bisque, so it is a bit on the spicy side. This is served with crab meat, cherry tomatoes, Thai asparagus, lemongrass and Thai basil. The Gyoza, a sort of Japanese wanton or ravioli, is cooked in Ricotta cheese with a quail egg placed over it. This is my wife's favourite dish (she enjoyed the taste and aroma) while mine is the Spaghetti with Flower Crab. The Rösti is a Swiss-style potato pancake. I love the taste - but then again, I am always passionate over things potato! It is served with grilled mushrooms and other vegetables, with an egg on top, and the Gruyère cheese.

Spaghetti with Flower Crab. (10 October 2017)

Ricotta Gyoza. (10 October 2017)

Swiss Rösti with market fresh vegetables and melted Gruyère cheese. (10 October 2017)

For the dessert, we had Ricotta Chocolate Cake and Orange Panna Cotta. The chocolate cake is served with red wine pear, vanilla ice cream and crumble, while the panna cotta came with candied orange and a piece of Tuille biscuit. I enjoyed panna cotta very much, but was less fond of Tuille biscuit as it's hard. Nevertheless, they went well together.

Ricotta Chocolate Cake. (10 October 2017)

Orange Panna Cotta. (10 October 2017)

Mr Azman joined us at our table so that we could get to know him better and how he got involved in this business. He spent much of his life far from sunny Malaysia, and have only now decided to move back to Malaysia, and to Penang his new home, when the owner of the hotel invited him to come back to manage it.

My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Areca Cafe. It is stylish yet charming, elegant yet cosy. We thank Mr Azman for the privilege of experiencing its hospitality.

Here I am with Mr Azman Othman. (10 October 2017)

Address

Areca Cafe
27, Jalan Khoo Sian Ewe,
10050 Penang.
Phone: +60 4 261 0173

Areca Cafe is open daily from 8:00am to 3:00pm and from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.

Areca Cafe is on the Map of Jalan Khoo Sian Ewe, Penang

Areca Hotel main page

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