Old Friends Cafe

The Entrance:

Their colourful menu of variety:

Location:

34, Nagore Road, 10050 Penang (Near Penang Plaza)

Operation Hours:

11:30am-2:30pm

5:30pm-10:30pm (but by 5pm, you can go in for a feast already)

(Closed on Tuesday)

Tel.: +604-2271108

They have set and ala carte with a variety of food ranging from rice, noodles, porridge, snacks and desserts.

A colourful menu. I love the ambience as it brings out the charm of rustic old penang. A heritage feel with some easy going chinese songs in the background. The service was a bit slow as they were under-staffed but the wait was worth while.

I tried their Hot & Spicy Shanghai Noodles Soup Set @ MYR 10.90, Japanese Teriyaki Chicken Rice Set @ MYR 11.90 and their Cornish Potato Cake Snack @ MYR 6.00.

One set consists of: Main Meal + 1 side dish, dessert + drink (soya bean or Lo Han Gua)

I took their Lo Han Gua (I didn't know their soya bean was out of stock). It was truly home made as what you see in it and the tastes is tantalizing. It comes in a cute jar like bottle with an attached handle.

My noodles came and the aroma was already so delicious in my nostrils. The soup was lor-mee looking but it was just sour and spicy enough to please me. THe noodles, on the other hand, were fat noodles and I feel they're hand made....it was so GOOD! I found it to be seafood oriented noodles as there was 3 SUCCULENT prawns, some squid, and chinese traditionally seasoned steamed fish meat in there along with some spring onions.

As for the Teriyaki set, somehow, the price and portion look a little small compared to the noodles and I found the rice to be a bit on the dry side. But none the less, it came with a special papaya-peanut soup that tasted just like carrot stew...WONDERFUL soup. The chicken was very crisp and tender just needs a little bit more sweetness and it'll be perfect!

The side dish was an omellete. I thought it was a normal omellete when I first saw it, but looks are deceiving. It was packed with a few different layers of things I cannot explain as I don't know their names but it was uniquely filled with hidden delights.

The dessert was papaya. Sweet and cold. NICE!

Lastly was the uniquely named snack in the menu, Cornish Potato Cake! I thought it would be interesting to see what it was, to my delight, it was as interesting as its name implies. Its corn mixed with potatoes and fried. The taste was soo new and tantalizing. Sweet, salty and crispy at the same time and very RICH as well.

They have seats upstairs too but I chose to sit downstairs as its nearer for them to approach me and its a little noisy when the customers are stomping down the stairs.

They do not charge service charge or government tax. They do accept credit card as they just got their machine today but they are still learning how to use it so in due time, I can swipe swipe...Hehe...

Its a place I'd recommend and return to until I have sampled everything on the menu. FYI, anything dipped in the hot and sour shanghai noodles soup tastes FANTASTIC!

Service: Friendly, Excellent.

Ratings: *****