Ete Cafe, Penang
Quaint interior
Ete Café (Summer Café in French) is a hole in the wall, tucked among a row of old shop houses along Carnavon Street in Penang. It is easy to miss, as there isn’t a large enough signage to attract attention when you’re driving along this busy stretch. And in Penang, there’s no such thing as a slow drive. If you know what I mean…
Coffee selection
Cakes on display
The décor is simple; old school charm, with wooden tables and metal chairs, random wall paintings and a hand painted signboard. Ete Café serves mainly coffee and houses a good number of beans, along with a selection of cakes and pastries. One of the owners has a qualification from Le Cordon Bleu, so desserts had to be quite good. So I thought.
Syphon method
I opted for the Brazil Santos (RM10) and rif, the Ete House Blend (RM10). Both were prepared using the syphon method and served without milk or sugar to allow us to savour the taste and aroma of the coffee.
Brazil Santos, Ete House Blend Coffee, Hazelnut Chocolate Cake & Mont Blanc
The Brazil Santos was medium-bodied and became progressively mellower as the temperature dropped. I liked this better than the house blend, which was flat at first taste. Like the former, flavours only started developing as the coffee cooled down.
Le Cordon Bleu School of Pastry
Hazelnut Chocolate Cake
We tried a Hazelnut Chocolate Cake (RM10) and Mont Blanc (RM15), both we found to be rather average. For such a portion, it was expensive. I was disappointed with the chocolate cake as the ganache was uneven and the cake texture was dry.
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc, cross section
Mont Blanc tasted better, but lacked a certain nuttiness I look for in this dessert. I did however like how the cake came layered with chestnut puree – made it a lot moister. We paid RM45 for the above, which I thought was overpriced even for KL standard.
Menu
Note that Ete isn’t air-conditioned so expect the place to be stuffy on hot days. Dress accordingly if you’re planning to have coffee here.
Old school feel
- Like my Facebook page here.
Ambiance: 5.5/10
Price: 5/10
Food: 5/10 (pork free)
Verdict: Not great, but not terrible either. But it is expensive.
Exterior
Ete Cafe
79 Lebuh Carnarvon
Georgetown
10300 Penang
Business Hours: 11am – 6:30pm
Tel: 017-435 0922
3 Responses
ehhh..didnt know penang got such dessert shop.
cakes looks good but too bad you mention overprice. .
I would’t recommend the cakes lor. Quite average for the price. It’s near the Oh Chien shop…Seng Thor. 🙂
I went there once after a recommendation from another blog. I love quiche so I thought someone with a Le Cordon Bleu qualification would be able to do a decent job on this quintessential, hearty French pastry. It turned out to be the WORST quiche I’ve ever taken. It was also RM8 each. Too thin and it resembled a slightly burnt pizza pie. I ordered 3 pieces and I received 3 pieces of kitchen disasters. You’re better off ordering quiche from another independent bakery, Delifrance or even The Bakery from Genting Highlands. Their coffee was overpriced as well. Avoid this place if you don’t want to be disappointed because a visit here burns a hole in your pocket by KL and Penang standards. Even if I were to be a European tourist, I’d go to other places with more reasonable price tags. The E & O Hotel would be a better place to burn some money and enjoy a European tea time experience in comfort!