“Seize the Morning Penangites” and head out for a tremendous, trendy, cafe-style Western Big Breakfast with eggs in Penang.
A high-protein big western breakfast in George Town is what you need to eat well.
No one has time to cook breakfast.
With the workweek crawling, running errands before clock-ins, and using the drive-through lane just to get caffeinated is an appealing alternative.
Not all of us live near Kopitiam or the wet markets or have the luxury of getting a favorite hot bowl of noodles every morning.
So, does waking up 15 minutes earlier to make something on the fly excite you?
Blend a smoothie with fruit, yogurt, and soy powder for a quick power-up.
Or cook eggs over toast and chow down with store-bought in-tant coffee.
You say it’s too much hassle.
No worries. Eating your meals properly can permanently save you time on your weekends.
Slowly.
Contents
Big Breakfast with Eggs in Penang
Trending now, the rise of breakfast cafes has made their presence felt in little Penang.
Inspired by the best cafes in vibrant metropolitan cities, these spots serve delicious all-day brunch options.
They are known for their machine-pulled coffees and lattes made from high-quality beans and leaves.
Some even have an in-house bakery!
I begged you egged it/she/he egged, we egged, they egged. All egged!
When I embarked on this project to write about breakfast cafés, I used the infamous chef’s “egg test.”
If they know how to cook eggs, they know how to prepare them correctly.
Otherwise, follow the instructions of my favorite chef, Raymond Blanc, one of the UK’s most respected chefs, as he cooks a simple omelet in just three minutes!
Big Breakfast with Eggs in any style
My request to the cafes was for some Breakfast eggs in any style. And, of course, coffee!
While there are many ways to cook eggs, trendy cafes in Penang serve these popular styles.
- Soft Boiled Eggs
- Sunny-Side Up
- Poached Eggs
- Egg Benedict
- Scrambled Eggs
- Omelets
- Baked Eggs
With that settled, we proceeded with the nine interviews.
Insta that face!
My focus is on people and communities; everyone contributes to breakfast, whether they are the chef or the owner.
I am pleased with the results.
These nine Instagram photos show the love people have for George Town, crossing ethnic and age groups.
Most of the café owners were strangers I met on the day of the interview.
I took these photos with my S6 and uploaded one to Instagram each day with a short description, careful not to reveal the cafés’ locations.
The clues include a backdrop, a small emblem, or a discreet sign that is only noticeable upon closer inspection.
Each photo features smiling faces.
The café owners don’t know each other, and there was no accurate pre-planning; it just happened.
Moulmein Gourmet with MG Brunch Set
Beangels with Cheesy Eggs Croissant Photo: Doris Lim
Soul Café with French Brioche Monte Cristo Photo: Doris Lim
Kim Haus with Famous Caramel, but seriously, The Full English and Florentine Photo: Doris Lim
The Big Beans with Mom & Pop st le Big Breakfast. Photo: Doris Lim
Tavern in the Park with a trio of Crostini Photo: Doris Lim
Secawan’ ‘ n’ Such presents a delicious Middle Eastern egg dish, Shakshuka Photo: Doris Lim
Real Food Penang with Organic Banana Pancake Photo: Doris Lim
To me, it’s simple. Everyone featured is a winner!
“Big Br breakfast with Eggs! How Do You Want Your Eggs Done?”
Eggs are easily digestible.
They are nature’s fast food, on-the-go protein, and the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen.
In the hands of a creative chef, magic happens.
The local kopitiam in George Town makes fabulous soft-boiled eggs with warm, runny yolks and custard-like whites.
They are easy to enjoy but hard to replicate at home, so we eat out for the pleasure of being served while engrossed in our devices.
I dunk cubed hot buttered toast into the eggs, seasoned with soy sauce and white pepper.
The result is a warm golden liquid on clouds of white.
Big Breakfast with Poached Eggs
With the recent boom in café culture, locals have come to enjoy poached eggs, which are like boiling an egg without its shell.
The whites are fully cooked, while the yolk remains warm and runny.
Most cafés can now whip up decent poached eggs.
My favorite is Eggs Benedict, topped with bright hollandaise sauce, a few slices of extra crispy bacon, and chopped fried chorizo.
Bliss!
Fish Fun Fact: This meal inspired the name of SmartDory.
Moulmein Gourmet @ Moulmein Road
Featured prominently in Chinese press and magazines, this little café has a kitschy decor.
It is surprisingly popular among elderly Japanese customers who enjoy simple, organic, and lightly salted food.
Twin poached organic eggs with hollandaise on crusty bread, side salad, potato soup, garlic bread, and a mug of 3-in-1 white coffee for RM14.90.
Big Breakfast with Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Getting the eggs done, just as in the “perfect” scrambled eggs, is hard.
So far, the only near-perfect scrambled eggs I had were in a small hotel in a northern state.
A young commis chef prepared it.
He was so chill at the egg station, continuously scrambling away with a wooden spoon, despite the queue.
How good was it?
I remember the taste nicely.
The scrambled eggs were a pleasing deep yellow color, creamy in texture, and just set with big, soft curds.
They were velvety smooth and perfectly salted.
I don’t usually eat breakfast in fancy hotels, but this memory takes me back to standing in line, watching the young chef cook, and writing the recipe!
I kid you not!
There are several versions of this so-called king of the breakfast table, and texture preferences are subjective.
Shall I egg you to try it all and decide on your preferred eggy perfection?
Kim Haus @ Campbell Street
Better known as Penang’s first Open Mic Café and a hangout for international fingerstyle guitarists, Kim Haus has its bakery and serves a mean breakfast.
The Full English breakfast features firmer, fluffy, buttery scrambled eggs that are moist, served with perfectly toasted multi-grain bread.
The sautéed mushroom and garlic-flavored potato mash fritter may be a bit salty, but I enjoy a stronger taste.
I rather enjoyed that.
The only snag was that the chicken sausage was overcooked and dry.
It would have been perfect if it had been pan-grilled and juicy!
At RM17.90, the portion is a good size and overall tasty.
RM17.90, the English Breakfast portion is a good size and overall, tasty eats
Beangels @ Island Plaza
The new breakfast menu has two items with decadent scrambled eggs, which are all buttery, runny, and soft.
It’s best enjoyed with extra butter.
Overall, taste and texture are intensely buttery, with a natural dairy sweetness.
Now that I think about it, I’ll go back for a croissant, butter, and a good cup of coffee to start my mornings!
The price was not available at the time of the interview.
Breakfast croissant is always a great idea!
The Haven Harbour Cafe @ Chime Heritage
With a stack of huge stuffed teddies piled high against a wall, everything in the café seemed sized up at first glance.
Beginning with the Big Breakfast, which is Herculean in portion.
The scrambled eggs turned out a little watery. How did that happen?
But everything else more than made up for the less-than-perfect scrambled eggs.
The streaky bacon-wrapped Emmentaler pork sausage, stuffed with cheese, comes with multigrain bread.
It’s a substantial portion that’s difficult to finish alone.
Taste-wise, Haven Harbour wins hands down for the best-tasting pork sausage.
No complaints about the price of RM26.
Herculean-si ed Big Breakfast. The folks at The Haven Harbour Café don’t kid around when they say BIG!
The Big Beans @ Madras Lane
Chef Susan runs Big Beans, a mom-and-pop tuck shop/café. Barista Mike’s cooking has a homey feel and taste.
Unpretentious, their Big Breakfast set has hard scrambled eggs that taste like tiny bits of omelets, and Mom’s signature is all over it.
With 4 chicken frankfurters, 2 slices of chicken ham, 2 rashers of pork bacon, a hash brown, buttered toast, and a side salad the RM15 deal is a steal!
If you’re counting, two chicken frankfurters sprouted legs and walked away before the photo shoot. LOL
Note to chefs: For the best-tasting sausages, poach them to lock in moisture before grilling.
Everyone enjoys meaty, juicy sausages with some color to make them perfect!
Breakfast that says, “Made by Mom.”
Big Breakfast with French Toast
Anyone can make French toast by dipping bread in an eggy custard mixture and frying the slices in a lightly greased pan until browned on both sides.
The worst thing that can happen is ending up with soggy toast.
Soul Cafe @ Kek Chuan Road
Tagged Italian Food and Photography, the café is packed at meal times daily and popular with regulars.
Soul Cafe’s new breakfast promotion has French Brioche Monte Cristo on the menu.
A Monte Cristo perfectly combines French toast and a sandwich—some recipes for a Monte Cristo call for ham and turkey ham.
For this version, the café uses French Brioche and makes a comforting and simple sweet treat of fried ham and cheddar cheese.
They serve the sandwich with homemade cranberry sauce, which is enhanced by the salty, streaky bacon.
I prefer the fried bacon in the sandwich rather than eating that separately.
French Brioche Monte Cristo sells at RM28.
French toast made with French Brioche!
Big Breakfast with Pancakes
Real Food Penang @Straits Quay
The owner explains, “We use simple, unprocessed ingredients with no artificial preservatives or trans fats.”
Their entire family eats slow food and is vegetarian.
The eggs for the pancakes come from free-range hens that are raised apart from cockerels, so the eggs are not fertilized.
To make the pancakes, the chef whisks the egg whites to soft peaks and adds flour.
They cook slowly, forming the pancakes into tofu-shaped squares.
The organic banana pancake costs RM20 for two pancakes, topped with banana and agave nectar.
The chewy pancakes are not too sweet but taste great because they are made from scratch.
You can add a scoop of organic vegan ice cream made from brown rice milk and sugar cane for RM12.
Go for organic!
Big Breakfast with Hard-Boiled Eggs!
My pet peeve is the poor, abused, and mishandled hard-boiled egg.
Often, we find halved hard-boiled eggs with a green ring around the yolk to be a turnoff.
A perfect hard boiled egg has the whites firm but not rubbery: the yolks cooked but still creamy with a dot of raw.
Nothing is impossible! American Chef John, a video blogger and YouTube celebrity, shares instructional cooking videos on his channel, Food Wishes.
One popular video shows how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs.
So, no excuses for not getting this right.
Tavern in the Park @ Hin Bus Depot
My expectations for the egg are met when crumbled hard-boiled eggs bring bold flavor, especially when garnished over pesto and tomato-topped crostini.
The Set of Three (RM18) features delightful flavors like smoked duck over cannellini beans and orange slices, topped with almond slices.
For something sweet, there are sliced bananas drizzled with caramel sauce.
Served throughout the day, this light brunch offers intense flavor and a satisfying crunch.
The café wins top marks for the perfect hard-boiled egg.
It restores my trust.
A Set of Three Acquisitions at RM18
Big Breakfast with Shirred or Baked Eggs!
Breakfast gets upgraded with two cafes putting baked eggs on the breakfast menu.
Ever since I had my first eggs in pots (oeufs en cocotte), I would try to order this whenever I eat breakfast at a café.
Super fancy and hearty, I ended up polishing up these two versions.
There’s only one way to eat baked eggs. First, break the jingly egg yolks into the barely set whites and mix them into the sauce.
Kim Haus @ Campbell Street serves a delicious Florentine, featuring poached eggs in a cheesy béchamel sauce made with cheddar cheese, mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
This indulgent dish is definitely worth the calorie splurge!
It’s best eaten hot and shared; just break the freshly baked bun and dip it in to mop up the beautiful sauce.
A fork helps to pick up the sauteed mushrooms and spinach.
The heavy cream makes for a creamy cheese sauce that is a winner!
At RM19.90, we can share this dish with two.
Secawan ‘n’ Such @ Hutton Lane
A café that sets the bar high for Egg Benedict with a fantastic, opaque, creamy, smooth, and sunny yellow Hollandaise sauce.
It is a pure emulsion of egg yolk and liquid butter.
Their new menu features a delicious Middle Eastern egg dish, Shakshuka, with minced chorizo, beans, plenty of spices, and a robust flavor.
Tearing the crusty bread and using it to mop up the tomato and the oniony spicy sauce make this one of the new taste tests in town.
This brunch-worthy bright dish provides a spicy kick-start to any day.
Priced at RM18.70, I believe Secawan has another winner on its menu.
Brunch-worthy and heartwarming, the Shakshuka had my vote!
In conclusion
So do eat breakfast every morning to have a better morning.
Perhaps you’ll eat less at lunch and dinner, sleep better, and not snack past midnight.
As for me, I can’t wait to power up with some wholesome eggs.
I’ll get up 20 minutes earlier and make those perfect hard-boiled eggs for my snack later.
Or hang out at the cafes and Chillax!
The cafes host a series of interviews.
Breakfast dates that are awesome and informative rock my mornings.
I appreciate all the café staff and chefs who got up early to make this possible.
Again, if I could, I would include and feature all the trendy cafes and everyone whose smiles brighten every morning!
Cafes listed in the sequence of the interviews
Moulmein Gourmet
44 Jalan Moulmein, Pulau Tikus
(04) 226 6512
Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:30 AM–3:30 PM, 6:30–10:30 PM
Closed: Every Thursday
Beangels
Island Plaza, 118 Jalan Tanjung Tokong
(04) 890 5102
Hours: Open Daily 8 AM–12 AM
The Haven Harbour Cafe
Chime Heritage, 21 Jalan Bawasah
(04) 226 6508
Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11 AM–11 PM
Closed: Every Wednesday
Soul Café
12 Jalan Kek Chuan
(04) 226 8200
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 8 AM–11 PM
Closed: Every Sunday
Kim Haus
9 & 11 Lebuh Campbell, 10100 George Town, Penang
Hours: Daily 9 AM–10 PM
The Big Beans
52 Lorong Madras, George Town
(04) 622 1876
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:30 AM–6:30 PM
Closed: Every Monday
Tavern in the Park
Hin Bus Depot, 125 Jalan Timah, George Town
(04) 218 9394
Hours: Open Daily 11:30 AM–10 PM
Secawan’ n’ Such
205 Jalan Hutton, George Town
(04) 226 2182
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8 AM–12 AM
Closed: Every Monday
Real Food Grocer
3A-G-13D Straits Quay, Jalan Seri Tg Pinang
(04) 890 8295
Hours: Open Daily 10 AM–10 PM
