Wakaba Japanese Noodles

Wakaba, a new establishment that touts itself as the Japanese noodle-specialists, has opened its doors to the public recently. The Japanese noodle restaurant makes its own noodles and they specialized in serving Ramen. The place has the standard Japanese restaurant setting but the servers need to be trained. The restaurant employs foreign workers; there seems to be a language barrier between customers and servers. They did not manage to understand our needs and answer to our questions promptly. Service was bad on our visit- we were served undercooked Gyoza (with raw Pork filling inside), the foreign server did not know what to do but to offer us an exchange which we gladly accepted. The second serving of Gyoza was no different from the first one; it was apparent that the person in charge heard of our conversation but he has chosen to be ignorant and did not offer to assist. Extremely poor management. Nonetheless, their Ramen did manage to impress us but apart from that (to be fair to Wakaba), nothing is exciting here. 

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Salon Du Chocolat

Many chocolate lovers' wish is finally answered with the new opening of Salon Du Chocolat at the iconic Festive Square (Ground Floor) of Gurney Paragon Mall. The Hong Kong-based brand is not new for those in the know; Salon Du Chocolat is well-known for serving premium and fine Chocolate desserts as well as their home-made Pralines and Chocolate bites. The place has a minimal yet elegant interior decor- comfortable and snug. Step in the cafe and your attention will likely be drawn away by the three Chocolate fountain right next to the main entrance where one gets to witness the silky smooth, creamy and glistening Chocolate. The sizable menu has many desserts covered but they share one common appearance- heavily slathered by Chocolate syrup. It can be quite glutted for one to finish a chocolate dessert entirely on his/her own so it is advisable to visit the place in a group... for sharing the guilt; it is not the place that you want to have your regular meal fixed but a great place for a cocoa-rific experience to sate your cravings. 

Journey 2 Life

Vegetarian food is not interesting, vegetarian food is all about mock meat or greens.... you may often hear these lines (or think like them) but you may want to think again after visiting Journey 2 Life at Bay Avenue. Not only specializes in serving vegetarian food, the restaurant looks into healthy vegetarian food as well. Walk into the restaurant and you will find many posters promoting healthy campaigns on the walls, as well as brochures educating the public on Chinese Food Therapy. The place has a rather unique setting- in shades of wooden beam while the hanging light bulbs produce warm and soft light, exuding a harmonized melody to the dining area. The menu covers Starters, Entrees, Mains and even desserts; all reasonably priced by Penang standard. Journey 2 Life is right next to My Voice Cafe (Big Bowl Ramen) at Bay Avenue. 

Tin83 Cafe

It comes as no surprise to me when a cafe serves Western menu but Wanton Mee certainly does not come across my mind when it comes to a cafe. Opened for business on 14 July 2015, Tin83 Cafe defies the conventional menu in cafe. It has the hipstery interior decor- hanging light bulbs, fully air-conditioned, coffee machines. In case you are wondering, Tin83 serves Wanton Mee only at present (though they come in different variations- Pork Ribs, Traditional etc). Prices are more than affordable, though inevitably higher than hawkers' standard. Finding a place to park can be a little tricky in that district, especially for lunch hours. Tin83 Cafe is located at Cantonment Road, right beside Bank of China and opposite to Maybank/Public Bank Cantonment Road.

Artichoke Cafe

other new addition to the exciting cafe scene at Butterworth- Artichoke Cafe, is not an ordinary cafe next door. It does have something solid and sturdy to offer. The place has an interesting array of Brunch items to offer (but be mindful that it serves brunch items until 2:30 pm only) as well as some carefully curated mains and desserts. We wondered why was the cafe namedArtichoke since the menu has got nothing to do with the spiky green and we were informed that the initial plan was to incorporate Artichokes into their menu but the difficulty in sourcing the vegetable is one of the hindrances. The interior decor is simple and unpretentious, with its wallet-friendly price tags; this is one of the few places that you can visit for your regular meals at Butterworth. To find Artichoke Cafe, locate Coffee Venture and Marlons +Co.; Artichoke Cafe is within walking distance from the aforementioned cafes. 

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