Toh Soon Cafe In Penang is famous for its rich Hainan-styled Kopi (Coffee), charcoal-toasted bread (Roti Bakar), and half-boiled eggs.
Many who have visited the original outlet at Campbell Street feel frustrated waiting as there are limited seats in the alleyway.
Before Toh Soon Cafe became famous, I remember it was a regular breakfast spot for locals who enjoyed a breakfast of Hainanese-style cuppa, toast, and eggs.
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Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe
One day, Penny said in all earnest.
Penny: Dory, I found a place with Avocado toast you will surely like.
Dory: Where?
Penny: I forgot the name. But is it a café with a blue door? Just a shade darker than the Cheong Fatt Tze blue.
Dory: Indigo Restaurant, you mean?
Penny: It’s a blue door, not a blue house.
So, I went looking around half-heartedly.
There’s no blue-door café in Penang, and I even asked Google that, but the results returned zero.
Today, Penny said again in all earnest.
Penny: Dory, remember that blue-door café? It’s the Toh Soon Coffee Cave Café on Bishop Street.
Dory: I swear to you, I’ve walked by on the way to Vie Pre Restaurant, and it hasn’t got a blue door!
Penny: Anyway, let’s go. Maybe you didn’t look clearly since you’re so myopic!
At Toh Soon Coffee Cave Café, I took ten bad photos of Penny with the blue wall behind her, and she forbade me to post any image on the blog.
So, she’s bossy. But then she’s Penny.
Penny: Besides, we can find seats at the new Toh Soon café, which is not in an alley!
We went after 9 AM, not the usual Sunday early birds, and you definitely found a lovely table to sit at.
Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe Interior
The Bishop Street café is clean, has a well-renovated interior, and proper tables and chairs.
It feels like the ambiance of a modern-day café.
We looked; it didn’t look like a cave, not with the arresting blue walls and natural light pouring in from the Air-Well Courtyard.
Penny loved the blue walls and told me it was a blue-door cafe.
History of the Toh Soon Kopitiam
Toh Soon has been serving its Hainan-style Kopitiam for over six decades.
Many visitors make a beeline for the most authentic Kopitiam setting and the best Roti Bakar in Penang.
The owners operate the iconic alleyway stall at Campbell Street, and their son runs the new café.
The Bishop Street café was opened to expand the Toh Soon brand.
The new Toh Soon offers the usual Kopitiam items, such as toast and half-boiled eggs, and has an extensive menu for breakfast, lunch, and after lunch.
Only the toasted bread sets with eggs are offered throughout the day.
Toh Soon Kopitiam Menu
There’s no Kopi Kia to take our orders, and we must scan to order.
The Penang regulars’ favorites are Hainanese Kopi, Roti Bakar, and Nui (Eggs).
As for the bread, there’s a variety for every taste, from
• black charcoal
• sesame toast
• sunflower seed
• rye toast
• whole-wheat toast
• Hainanese toast
Types of bread available at Coffee Cave Cafe. Image: Facebook
Instead of Charcoal fire, you can order steamed bread or toast (grilled over an electric grill).
Other café items include Polo Buns, Noodles, and Western food items.
It seems like a good place for you to bring the family and seniors who appreciate the Kopi.
Before 11 AM, if you’re here for breakfast, toast, polo buns, and noodles, which we see other tables eating.
What we ordered at Toh Soon Cafe
Penny did the honors of ordering.
Dory didn’t think the App was friendly like a real-life Kopi Kia.
Penny: Move on. That was like a dinosaur years ago.
Dory: I still prefer recommendations and table service LAH.
Penny was ordering. Dory is looking around as usual.
Food Items
Fish Fillet & Egg Mayo Sandwich RM20
I wanted a bit more protein and got this Fried Fish sandwich.
The bread is two thick slabs of crunchy toast with sesame.
The classic sandwich filler’s beauty lies in the Egg Mayo’s simplicity.
I must admit there was no vinegary mayonnaise taste that I disliked immensely.
It was a smooth, old-fashioned subtlety of eggy flavor, pleasurable and straightforward.
But it was a little hard to eat.
It had a squidgy layer of creamy mayonnaise and egg and was hard to cut through with my butter knife.
Biting into that height was a bit hard on these old gnashers.
I was expecting sour cream, American cheese, and breaded tilapia fillets.
There’s a little salad in the middle of that.
So, I eventually solved that by separating the sandwich into two open-face sandwiches.
Creamily comforting but substantial enough to satisfy the cold Egg Mayo with Crispy fried Fish Fillet was a good marriage I enjoyed.
My RM20 Fish and Egg Mayo sandwich.
Coffee Bread (Steamed) With NZ Butter RM5
Penny’s steamed coffee bread was so soft and limp.
It was a little hard to dunk that into the cup of two soft-boiled eggs
She didn’t remark that it made any difference to the taste of the eggs.
It was only on reading the receipt that I saw Sous Vide Eggs.
Eggs are sumptuous and filling, soft and rich proteins that are a profound pleasure to have for breakfast.
Yuan Yong (Cold) and Butter Kopi. Next time I stick to Kopi O
Drinks Items
Opt-in Yuan Yong (Cold) +RM1
Opt in Yuan Yong (Hot) +RM1
The Yuan Yong is mildly sweet; I still prefer (really like) the version at Trois Canon Café.
Black Tea with Evaporated Milk (Hot) RM3.50
Penny punched the wrong order.
Kopi O + Butter (Hot) RM4
I’ve wanted to try Bulletproof Coffee since I heard this from Veronique.
What does Bulletproof Coffee do for you?
According to research, MCTs (one of the main ingredients of bulletproof coffee) are metabolized quickly, making them an effective weight-loss tool.
Additionally, grass-fed butter has high levels of omega-3s, whose anti-inflammatory properties can improve energy levels, brain function, and gut health.
Accordingly, I asked the crew what butter goes into my coffee.
The answer was “Un Kor,” the Mandarin pronunciation for “Anchor.”
It works for me.
Toh Soon serves an Anchor’s mini-dish butter (salted) that you place in the Kopi O yourself.
Penny: What’s the taste?
Dory: Like drinking melted butter.
Takeaway
Two in 1 Coffee Sachet (Without Sugar) RM15.50
I decided to get this for Mom; Hainanese Kopi O is always good at home.
Toh Soon Hainanese Kopi
Toh Soon Hainanese Kopi is made from custom-roasted Robusta beans that have been prepared traditionally.
It is filtered or slowly dripped into a mug and then poured into another filter before mixing with hot water milk.
The Cafe serves traditional kopi O (black coffee without milk) and kopi peng (iced coffee with condensed milk).
Other interesting coffee drinks include
• Caviar Milk Latte
• Salted Honey Latte
• Egg Yolk coffee
Toh Soon’s answer to the boba craze is the Caviar Milk Coffee, a tiny orb of coffee with a chewy consistency.
Penny and I looked at each other and ordered our usual Kopitiam fare, Yuan Yong.
Besides Toh Soon’s famous Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee, the café also serves filter coffee.
As the Robusta coffee is not popular among the younger crowd, you can order Arabica beans on the menu for your usual coffee, cappuccino, macchiato, and espresso.
Toh Soon Cafe – Coffee Cave Cafe Review
Aside from the famous Hainanese Kopi, toasts, and eggs, the menu also includes Local Noodles, Pasta, Rice dishes, and Western Food.
If you want an authentic Penang traditional Roti Bakar experience, head to the original Toh Soon Café on Campbell Street.
The tell-tale signs are long queues and groups of people.
The Toh Soon Kopitiam even hires a Rela guard to help manage the crowds.
Check out their Facebook for the latest updates and promotions.
Coffee Cave Cafe by Toh Soon Cafe 多春茶室
Address: 37 Bishop Street, George Town, Penang.
Hours: Daily from 8.30 AM – 6.30 PM
Coffee Cave Cafe by Toh Soon Cafe Facebook
