Gathers Cafe ~ Disciplined patrons only

Yes, the cafe that serve this cute LINE iconic bear is seriously strict with their house-rules. Frankly speaking, the cafe is only for disciplined patrons, if you think you might lack self-control as required, perhaps this is not the place for you. But if you're a reasonably disciplined person yourself, you might enjoy the environment of this cafe.

Basically they sell the general kind of espresso based beverages and the cutely designed affogato desserts.

Honestly... I didn't have the heart to pour the espresso on the cute bear... I know it's silly but really, look at the bear... ( a___a)

I heard their crepe cake is really nice, and guess what, it taste really good! This one is a tiramisu flavour crepe cake.

P/S: It taste best when fresh! so make sure you snap photo really quick and then dig into it!

This LINE bear here is actually a cup of cappuccino. It not only looks nice, it taste just as nice as well! They serve arabica beans. I'm guessing it's city roast cause it has got a bit smoky ending with mild chocolaty taste. I barely taste the sour part of the coffee bean mainly because the sweetness of the milk has covered it. In a nutshell, this can be considered as the standard good quality coffee you can get from those serious cafe (serious as in they pay close attention to the quality of the beverage they serve).

If you want it with more kick, I would recommend their espresso macchiato. This is more foamy than the cappuccino thus feels thicker.

They also serve fruit tea. They'll provide you with and tiny hourglass just so you can remove the teabag from the hot water when the sands is out (roughly about 4 minutes). This will make sure that your cup of tea is properly brewed and not over-brewed. 

P/S: Do you know over-brewed tea will gives you the uncomfortable bitterness and odd flavour? It's always advisable to remove the teabag instead of letting it soak in your cup.

If however, you're not in the mood of coffee or tea, perhaps you may opt for iced honey lemon. The lemon is sliced neatly and thin, just like those in the high-end restaurant, definitely will make you feel special and in the hands of professional ;-)

So here is the "coffee beverages factory"...

And here is the house-rules:

Although some of these rules sounds funny, but really, when it happen just right on the table next to yours, you'll definitely feel uncomfortable about it.

To come to think of it, why was it not necessary to paste house-rules in a French Cuisine restaurant? Viewing this phenomenon from anthropology perspective, it is most probably due to the societal norms and cultures. Not to say being rude is our culture, but more apt to say that most are less sensitive and considerate of others' feelings nowadays.

Speaking from experience, I did find my "coffee.me time" trashed by a bunch of kids running, screaming and stomping all over in a cafe while their parents continue chit-chating  aloud away in oblivion of the basic manners in public places. I have to comment here that kids learn the fastest way through mimicking their parents, have the parents forgotten that they have the responsibility of teaching their children the manners to behave in public places? When their parents chatting aloud in a cafe, it makes the kids think it's alright to scream and shout in a cafe. Or maybe it was the other way round, that the parents have to speak louder due to the screams of their children. But anyway, I personally think this cafe is doing the society a great favour in reminding the people of how to behave in a nice cafe.

I find myself really able to relax and enjoy a cup of good coffee in this disciplined environment. Despite being 80% full, you can only hear people whisper in their chatter, which is quite amazing given that I'm in a cafe and not a library.

They got quite a variety of seats there, so feel free to try them out and you might just find your favourite seat in the cafe ;-)

Fascinating clock on the ceiling isn't it?

Gathers Cafe

155, Ground Floor, Jalan Raja Uda, Pusat Perniagaan Raja Uda,

12300 Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.

Mon~Tue: 2.00pm~11.00pm

Thu~Sun: 2.00pm~11.00pm

Tel: +604-313 2842

E-mail: gathes.cafe@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Gathers-Cafe

Monkeycup Cafe @ jct ~ Retraced

It's been a while since I last visited Monkeycup Cafe as I was outstation. I got to say I'm stunt when I saw their chiller when I enter the cafe... you can see it for yourself:

The space is all filled up with jars of non-baked cheesecake! Although I'm not really a fan of cheesecake, but the flavour they offered really tempted me to taste them all out. So I really did try each of them each day of my visits together with my favourite cappuccino.

Non-baked Cheesecake by Alex Koe:

PROFILE: BABANA

TOPPING: Banana cubes with caramel

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

Rich in banana flavour in every bite! Should scoop it from the top to the bottom to taste the combination texture of the banana fruit, banana flavoured cheesecake and the biscuit bottom.

Personally I like the creamy texture of the cheesecake probably because it is free from the odd gelatin taste

         

I know, It's not a typo! They actually named it "baBana". When I asked them as to why they call it as such, they prompt me to sing the suddenly famous "Banana Song" of the Minions which sounded like this "ba ba ba, ba ba na na"... lol

PROFILE: BLUEBERRY

TOPPING: Blueberries jam

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

It taste like the conventional blueberry cheesecake where you get to taste the blueberries separately from the cheesecake unlike the babana cheesecake. The sweetness of the blueberries is well-balanced with the sourly cheesecake.

PROFILE: GREEN APPLE

TOPPING: Sliced fresh green apple

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

The apple flavoured cheesecake is made to leave your breath in apple freshness. Personally I like this cheesecake because it's not coupled with sweet topping and the aftertaste is soothing to me. It is a much light cheesecake compared to others.

\

PROFILE: GREEN TEA

TOPPING: Green tea powder

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

It's rich in green tea taste and sweet-free. It has got a bit of sourly taste due to the cheese they used coupled with the unbaked condition. This would be a perfect match ('matcha') to the iced green latte to make a perfectly green day ;-D

PROFILE: OREO

TOPPING: Oreo Biscuit

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

It has got a blend of oreo cookies in the cheesecake, so it's rich in oreo flavour from the top to the bottom. The base is oreo biscuit instead of the ordinary biscuit base. This is the ordinary but tasty dessert for those sweet-tooth.

PROFILE: STRAWBERRY OREO

TOPPING: Oreo biscuit

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

In each bite you take, you can taste the strawberries like you're actually eating one while eating oreo biscuit. It feels luxury to taste both chocolaty oreo and strawberry at the same time. Personally I like this cheesecake more than the ordinary oreo one as you rarely find anything like this elsewhere.

PROFILE: STRAWBERRY

TOPPING: Sliced fresh strawberry

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

To my surprise, I can taste the strawberry fruit in the cheesecake like I'm actually eating a strawberry. Initially I thought it was a strawberry flavoured cheesecake like those strawberry flavoured ice-cream, apparently I misjudge it from its look.

PROFILE: PASSION FRUIT

TOPPING: Chocolate mini love-letter

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

The passion fruit flavoured cheesecake is a bit sour like the actual passion fruit. When taken with other sweet desserts, it will balance the taste. When taken before meal, it is very appetising.

Personally I'm quite worry that they're going to serve it with the actual passion fruit topping. Thanks to my boss, I had some very unpleasant experience of the passion fruit seed stuck in between my wisdom tooth and gum for hours before I could finally remove it. T_T

Thank goodness they're very thoughtful in this sense.

PROFILE: PEACH

TOPPING: Peach cubes

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

The combination of texture from the topping to the biscuit base, is like Christmas. You got to really feel them with your tongue and embrace the unique taste and texture to get your present. :-D

The peach flavoured cheesecake is really smooth like yoghurt (but I think it's probably because I left it for some time to take photos) :-P

PROFILE: PEANUT

TOPPING: Peanut grounds

HOW IT TASTE LIKE:

I'm not sure how many people did it, but I once took a few scoop from the peanut butter bottle when my mom wasn't looking when I was really young :-P

This is the one that will bring back the memory by filling your mouth with nutty rich flavour.

At first I thought why would they took the trouble to fill the cheesecake in a jar, then they explained that that way they could better preserve the freshness of the cheesecake by preventing the cheesecake from exposure to the air in the chiller.

If you did pay attention to the chiller display, you'll notice that all those cheesecake jars are without their respective topping, that too is due to their aim to serve the desserts as fresh as possible, just like their coffee, they both taste best when fresh!

P/S: The trick of eating this cheesecake in jar is to scoop it from the top to the bottom so you taste the textures of the whole column!

Other Desserts

Other than the cheesecakes, their signature Peaberry Tiramisu is a MUST TRY item! I got to say, of all the tiramisu I had elsewhere, this is the most unique one I've ever tasted! Read on to find out why I said so ;-)

PEABERRY TIRAMISU by Alex Koe 

(RM10.90)

My new favourite ^_^

Due to my personal medical reason, I'm a little concern when deciding to give the tiramisu a try. But to my utmost surprise, their tiramisu is alcohol-free! 

This is a great news for all isn't it? By this it is officially the dessert everyone can enjoy!

Although it was made without one of the key ingredient of tiramisu, to me it is nothing less than the usual tiramisu served in any other restaurants or cafes, but rather more outstanding as to how they manage to preserve the unique characteristic of tiramisu and at the same time, making it consumable to general public at large!

Their Peaberry Tiramisu have a mysteriously moist layer that gives the irresistible sensation to your tongue and ignite your taste buds. So watch out for it ;-D

Okok, the truth about that mysterious moist layer is their Signature Peaberry Espresso freshly brewed just before making the tiramisu.

Awesome isn't it? I'm stuck to this dessert mainly because of the unique aroma of the Peaberry coffee. XD

CHOCOLATA     by Alex Koe

(RM4.90)

It taste like the dark chocolate bar with nuts which goes just right with the americano.
The legend has it that the marrying of chocolata & americano is the taste of happiness.

Although I'm not a fan of americano, but when I tried it in its prescribed combination with chocolata, I do feel much better after having a long day.

THAI COCONUT ICE CREAM

(RM8.90)

The coconut ice-cream is rich in coconut taste topped with peanuts, chocolatechips and some bread pieces. When taken on a sunny afternoon, it feels like the cool breeze in summer! XD

AFFOGATO

(RM9.90)


when ice-cream meets espresso...

I think I don't need to tell you how it feels or taste like and you already feeling it in your mouth...

 

CREME BRULEE

(RM8.90)

My all time favourite... now taste even better!

The brulee texture is much smoother than before and more rich in vanilla taste. They told me they're working on thin crust for the crisp caramel top. Personally I prefer the thin crust than the thick because it feels more crunchy than the thick one. (Albeit I once thought the creme brulee taste better with the thick crust)




But again, when it comes to taste, it's all about personal preference hence it could be very subjective and vary from person to person.

So, enough of the desserts, let me show you the updates on their menu:

Menu (As at 10-10-2014)

 I didn't have the stomach to try all of them, so allow me to introduce some that I've managed to try out:

TERIYAKI CHICKEN BURGER

(RM15.80)

Much videos and photos of the 'before' and 'after' makeup of burgers we can see on the internet... but not in their case, the Teriyaki Chicken Burger is actually as thick as it looks. But the problem is... I can't fit it into my mouth without getting sloppy  (>.<'')

PLAIN CROISSANT

(RM5.90)

The plain croissant is pretty crispy and goes just nice with the honey and butter. When coupled with the coffee... mmm~ it brings out the best scent of the cup of coffee you take with it! (At least it did to mine ^o^)

SALMONIE

(RM11.90)

This is actually the small croissant topped with cheesy scrambled egg and smoked salmon dressed with their special sauce and sprinkled with a little bit of black pepper and served together with a garden salad. 

The portion size is just nice to go with other desserts (I just couldn't leave the cafe without having a dessert... it's like they're waving to me in the chiller XP)

If this Salmonie if not enough to fill your stomach, don't worry, you can always customise your order for Croissantism. This is their hidden menu:

The "recipe" for the hidden menu is                         CROISSANTISM+SMOKED SALMON, so it is served with the big croissant instead of the small croissant.

SARDINE PUFF 

(RM6.90)              

I waited a for about 15mins for this pastry and upon enquiry, I was informed that they wanted to make sure that it is fully heated up before serving it as it was kept chill enough to ensure its freshness. So I would recommend the ready-to-serve desserts if you're really hungry and needed something to eat like in less than 5 mins.

Other than their menu, they've done some upgrade to their cafe layout. So here goes the virtual tour in the cafe:

There's one very interesting new deco in the cafe that you won't miss for sure, that's their coffee cup art deco:

Here's some of the art you can find in Monkeycup Cafe:

If you're genuinely a Monkeycup's coffee maniac, you would have noticed that each and every cup of your coffee is presented with the up-to-quality coffee art

so I seek their permission in taking the insight photos of their secret weapons to share with you all

But, but, don't mistake that it is all because of the milk pitcher they used, anyone who ever tried pouring coffee art would know that it takes persistent practice to pour even the simplest coffee art. 

Although many have said that the coffee art does not necessarily reflects the quality of the beverage, but I think here it does... Not only it is a pretty mark, it also shows that the barista made it with care and consistency :-)

Monkeycup Cafe

Tel: +6012-209 5536

36C, Jalan Chow Thye, 10350 Georgetown, Penang.

Kitchen Close on Sunday

Kitchen only Open at Lunch (12pm~3pm) & Dinner hour (6pm~9pm).

Business Hours: 9am~12am (Fri, Sat, Eve: 9am~1am)