Rustic Heritage Cafe

Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)


Rustic Heritage Cafe is a now defunct cafe opened John Tay, a friend whom I've known for 4-5 years. Yesterday (4 January 2015), my wife and I had the pleasure of dining there, when John and his wife Wendy, invited us over to taste test their new cafe.

John previously run the Rustic Heritage Furniture Shop on Burmah Road, but has since moved his business to occupy 105 Beach Street, a 4,000-square-foot property belonging to Yeoh Kongsi fronting Beach Street. The property was formerly occupied by a paper printing company.

The interior of Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)

My Visits to Rustic Heritage Cafe

30 January, 2015
It is so nice to be invited back to Rustic Heritage Cafe. I am pleased to say that John has taken note of my comments from my previous visit and implemented some improvements. Then he invited my wife and me back to try again.

As usual, since we are being treated to the meal, we asked John to "give us your best shot". So, we just follow based on his recommendation. As we have had the spaghetti before, we agreed that we shall try the spaghetti once again, so that we can do a comparison. In addition to that, John also recommended his "Hot Thai Chicken".

Here's how the two items look like:

Spaghetti Bacon Carbonara, Rustic Heritage Cafe (30 January 2015)


Hot Thai Chicken, Rustic Heritage Cafe (30 January 2015)


The portion size of the spaghetti has certainly improved, and we can now say that it is large enough for a meal on its own. The portion size of the spaghetti is also similar now to what we get when ordering from other restaurants.

The "Hot Thai Chicken" turns out to be the highlight of our meal this time around. It is a piece of roasted chicken (well, Thai style?) on a bed of mashed potatoes, served by dip, salad and grilled vegetables. This is absolutely delicious, and I found myself slowing down my eating so that I can savor every mouthful. Whenever I drop by Rustic Heritage Cafe again, this would be the meal I would order. I am still thinking of this dish even n now.

5 January, 2015

Rustic Heritage Cafe opened for business on the 24 December, 2014, and even by the time we visited, he was still giving his cafe and menu some fine tuning. We were taken around for a tour of the premises. On the upper floor, John had created a gallery of period furniture and decorative items which he obtain from various countries. We even climbed up to the rooftop terrace. From there we enjoy a splendid view of the inner city of George Town and Chulia Street Ghaut below.

At Rustic Heritage Cafe, every table and every chair is unique. You are free to choose which table you would like to occupy. We selected a nice timber table that comes with heavy timber chairs.

John and Wendy, me and Chooi Yoke at Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)


John and I at the roof top of Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)


What do we like to have? Being the invited guests, we asked John to "give us your best shots", and that turns out to be the pasta. My wife chose the spaghetti with sautéed mushrooms and zucchini, while I chose the spaghetti with bacon. For drinks, my wife had the marshmallow milkshake while I chose the peanut butter milkshake.

The milkshake was very nice. But before we could get more than one sip, Wendy came running over, wanting to change it for us. She was concerned because the milkshake did not meet her expectation, and was concerned that it has been served to us. However, I told her we found no fault with the milkshake, the milk wasn't sour or anything, the aroma was good (and even now, a day after consuming it, there's no food poisoning - touch wood!).

Peanut butter milkshake and marshmallow milkshake, Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)


On the main course - the pasta, the taste was good, but my wife and I both agreed that the portions were too small. The portions looked more like a side dish to us than the entrée. When we make pasta at home, the volume was mountainous. We do not expect that much, but at least a little more - I told John I could finish my spaghetti in three mouthfuls. At the price of RM13.90 per plate for the mushroom spaghetti, and RM16.90 for the bacon spaghetti, paying customers would expect a larger portion for the price. Few local customers order full course meals, so the main dish has to be more filling.

This meal was on the house, of course, so this taste test is really to help John and Wendy face the true litmus test, when paying customers get their meals. Give Rustic Heritage Cafe a visit and provide your honest comments.

Mushroom spaghetti, Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)


Bacon spaghetti, Rustic Heritage Cafe (5 January 2015)

Contact

Rustic Heritage Cafe
105 Beach Street
10200 George Town, Penang
Phone: 016 434 3101, 012 472 9093

Getting there

Rustic Heritage Cafe is located at the junction of Beach Street and Chulia Street Ghaut, across the road from the Beach Street Fire Station.

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