The Malaysian state of Penang—known far and wide in a culinary context—is synonymous with the city of George Town, the region’s capital. Awash with rows of heritage buildings, George Town is rightfully one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations, with magnificent temples, sandy beaches, lively markets, and incredible street food making it a magnet for visitors year-round.
While the coffee scene in Kuala Lumpur is better known, and quite well-established, coffee in Penang has grown leaps and bounds in the last decade, building on the foundations laid by Constant Gardener and Ome by Spacebar (both were mentioned in our 2020 Penang article by Tung Nguyen, and highly worth a visit). Since then a new batch of brewers and roasters have been planting their footprints into the local scene, more than enough to warrant a proper update.
As expected, you will find plenty of cafes serving decent flat whites and avocado toast, but the way the city has evolved leaves you with third-wave options galore. An award-winning AeroPress bar, ring-a-doorbell coffee shop decorated like a hoarder’s cave, sleek Taiwanese minimalism, a neighborhood third-wave shop in a house, and even specialty locales with vegan burgers and tattoos in the same floor space. It’s enough to make you wonder: is George Town currently Asia’s most underrated coffee city?
Mundane
Early birds flock to Mundane to drink their batch brew before hitting the office. The cafe opens at 6:00am sharp—a rarity here—which means travelers might consider this a first-stop option on a coffee crawl, before the heat sets in. Run by Johny Koay, this small cafe is a refuge for specialty coffee, expertly brewed behind the famous Pulau Tikus market.
Koay prepares his AeroPress orders at the back bar, dotted with high stools so you can watch and chat about methods and doses. The rest of the counter is home to the espresso maker, batch brew, and snacks. If your idea of the perfect morning is waking early, having a delicious coffee, and heading out to explore street food stalls, start your adventure here.
Need another reason to visit? Locals know an added benefit of heading to Mundane early is its proximity to Ravi’s, where one can grab a pile of delicious Michelin recommended claypot Apom (a sweet fermented rice flour pancake) before they’re sold out (usually by 9am).
Lunabar
This neighborhood shop offers a quintessential cafe hideout experience. Occupying the bottom floor of a house, the cafe’s concrete-pastel interior is studded with dry flowers, ceramic pottery and hand painted menus. A backroom provides space for work, the front area, containing the bar, is perfect for a quick chat and a long sip.
The coffee here is all thoughtfully hand-picked. Colorful menus guide you through flavor profiles to aid in your decision, and for a moment the congested streets of George Town become a dull thudding in the distance.
Lunabar is where the Penang’s coffee pros go on their day off. That says it all really.
Wells
Born in 2013 in Taiwan, Wells Cafe arrived a few years later to George Town. Their ethos is in combining Japanese and Scandinavian roasting methods, to create the flavor profiles they desire, with tasting-note cards explaining the steps involved in how your cup arrives at the table.
The pour-over coffee here is especially good. Brewed with a light hand, and bringing out both the floral and the sweet notes of their beans. Upstairs is a relaxed, open-plan room with comfortable chairs, bookshelves full of reading material, and large windows on all sides. Downstairs is the brains of the operation with espresso machines and filter coffee set-ups.
A Soar
Gadgets piled on the counter, Tupperware tubs crammed with resting beans, subscription bags spilling out of wooden boxes and the constant hum of a coffee grinder: A Soar is not your regular cafe. Focused on roasting a variety of beans, using different processing methods as a foundation, the coffee here is bold, clean and vibrant.
Whether your tastes lie in sweet, washed coffee, intense co-ferments or black honey processed, A Soar has something for everyone.
Double Check
This cafe is unique in Penang, boldly international with a visual style that draws on classic American hip-hop and contemporary branding trends. Founder Chui May San quit her desk job in 2024 to start this place, and sources coffee from the very good roaster Afloat in Kuala Lumpur. In a short time, she has managed to create an original space in a crowded, local market.
Espresso and pour-over coffees are both on offer here, but our tip is to ask May to recommend whatever her favorite might be that day. This is a distinctly owner-operated place and she won’t steer you wrong.
Orcabrew
A minute’s walk from the popular New World Park food centre, Orcabrew delivers specialty coffee in artistic surroundings. In fact, it may be something of a world’s first, a combination coffee brew bar, tattoo studio, and (great) vegan burger shop called “Susu Mylk Bar” at the back.
The specialty menu reads from affordable to “monthly splurge,” and drinks are prepared conscientiously. On a recent visit, one highlight included a floral and peach-forward Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Gelana washed coffee that was balanced and delicate. Their food and dessert menu is popular, so lunch dates are a hot topic here. The high ceilings give you a sense of breathing space, and the chatter never becomes too cloying.
Slow Coffee Person
A home-brewer-turned-coffee-shop owner, Slow Coffee Person is tucked along a row of buildings three blocks from Chulia Street. Entered only after ringing a bell, the interiors are a study in maximalism, with every conceivable coffee item given its prominence on the shelf space. The walls are adorned with posters; countertops covered with brewers, drippers, grinders, filter papers, and coffee bags. This place is something of a personal coffee museum, but also, somehow, a working coffee bar.
Seating is tight, but that creates a cosy atmosphere where you can easily chat to the barista. Roasters are selected with great intention, and often skew local, to favorites such as Tongue Mission, or else go totally international, from the likes of La Cabra and Manhattan. This shop is truly a one of one, distinct experience.
The Alley
No guide to Penang is complete without a nod to The Alley. This cult-status shop (located just behind the Goddess of Mercy Temple) serves excellent espresso and pour-over coffee. One of the first-wave of specialty shops to open, back in 2013, they have quietly let the coffee do the talking in the decade-plus since, inspiring a whole generation of coffee bars and coffee lovers here in Penang along the way.
Despite being in the centre of George Town, the location in a small side-street ensures that only the coffee-forward tourists find it. With five to six small tables, the space is compact, but the lack of loud music makes it excellent for planning your tourist itinerary in peace and quiet.
The Ais & Hani
What could be better than an ice-cream store and coffee shop in the same space? Hani specializes in the growing popularity of Yunnan beans, roasting them in light and medium options and preparing delicate, sweet pour-overs. Their honey-processed offerings are particularly delicious, prepared in a manner that highlights sweetness and clarity.
Nine Lives Roaster
Open only on Thursday to the public, the main purpose of Nine Lives is roasting, training, and promoting specialty coffee. Run by passionate owners and always participating in events to inform people about the coffee universe, if you happen to be in town during their narrow opening window, make a beeline.
Numerous cafes roast their beans at Nine Lives, so it is a hive of activity. We were treated to a tasting of three new coffee’s whilst the roasters worked tirelessly in the background filling the room with amazing aromas.
There’s so much more happening in George Town—here’s additional cafes that are very worth your time:
Ome by Spacebar, Coffee Lane, Constant Gardener, AE, Forest Cloud, Sweetbar, Altertaste, 2F+, and Reframe.
Taste Note Crews if you are visiting Butterworth. Tongue Mission if you need to stock up on beans.
Benjamin Sand is a freelance journalist and the creator of The Mouth. Read more Benjamin Sand for Sprudge.
