Penang - 1pm Breakfast at Kopi Cine

I first heard about Kopi Cine back when my friend showed me a link about the place. Then, this cafe made an appearance in the Lonely Planet Asia Magazine last month edition and this further piqued my interest on it. Finally, I managed to locate the place after searching high and low during my solo walk tour around Georgetown (here and here) few weeks back. While I was not entirely impressed with the coffee that I had, I still enjoy the place a lot and it warranted another visit, which happened sooner than I had imagined.

Bar 

This time around, I did not come along but with another friend of mine. Both of us were not exactly very hungry even though it was already about 1pm and we had nothing in our stomach for the whole day. For me, it was due to the nauseous feeling in my stomach. Anyhow, we ended up ordering egg based breakfasts and pineapple based drinks.

Pineapple Juice - RM 8.00

Pineapple Mint Tea - RM 10.00

Honestly, the pineapple juice has nothing to shout about other than the fact that the ingredients used, the pineapple, are fresh. The juice is freshly made and natural, not some ready made drink. Same goes to the pineapple mint tea but it has more oomph factor than mine. The mint blended well with the tea, which goes without saying, but the overall taste of the drink is nice.

Scrambled Egg w. Capsicum Relish and Toast - RM 16.00

Feta, Cheddar and something Omelette w. Onion Relish and Toast - RM 20.00 

Personally, I preferred my scrambled egg better than the omelette simply because all the cheeses hidden inside the omelette had made my stomach bloated. Not to say that it is not nice, which is totally opposite of it. It was delicious. Bloating, but delicious. And fattening. Haha. I like the basil leaves inside the omelette. Smelled great. As for my scrambled egg, it was done to perfection. Love it to the max. I even liked the capsicum relish but I did not finish it that day to avoid upsetting my emotional stomach.

Apparently, the toasts were homemade, as with all the cakes and desserts in the cafe. I had a chat with the owner of this place and she was very proud of the fact that it was all freshly made. She asked me whether I had tried their homemade gula melaka ice cream, their signature dessert, I presumed, and when I said no, she gave us a scoop to try on.

Gula Melaka Ice Cream

All I had to say is, OMG! It was simply amazing. I had not realize that gula melaka (brown sugar, is it?) could be made into such a scintillating dessert. There were even small bits of gula melaka hiding in the ice cream, giving a crunchy and sweet bite. It rivaled the sweet memory I had of the heavily tasted gula melaka cendol that I had back in Malacca last year. Speaking of that cendol, I must go back one day to have it another round. As for now, my sweet tooth was simply satisfied.

The building that housed Kopi Cine

Other than the good food served, I guess the reason why this cafe was heavy with traffic is due to the incorporation of heritage into the cafe. The building that housed the cafe was an old pre-war shop house which are aplenty around Georgetown. A lot of these buildings were left unattended, which is a waste in my opinion, as these uniquely designed shops should be restored back to its old glory. 

During our visit, we were told that the Reading Room, the building next door which were owned by them as well where we can borrow books to read, was booked for filming purposes for a Taiwanese series. A Taiwanese star, Jonathan Lee, will be there to showcase this place to the general public through his series. I had no idea who was Jonathan Lee until I saw him first hand. No, I still do not know him but at least I saw him before somewhere in the idiot box. Apparently, this fella is quite a star back in the old days and was credited for discovering and mentoring Fish Leong, a Taiwan-based Malaysian singer. We were not really interested with him, so, we continued with our next stop.

The crews preparing the setups

Jonathan Lee, the guy in the black shirt

*TO BE CONTINUED*

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For those who are interested to have a taste at this cafe, it is situated almost at the end of Stewart Lane. Stewart Lane is a turn away at Love Lane or opposite of Muntri Lane. Once you can find the lane, then it should not be a problem locating this quaint cafe. The prices are quite steep so be prepared to pay a hefty sum. A 10% service charge was applied.