Toh Soon Cafe: A Traditional Breakfast Spot Hidden in An Alley of George Town (Penang, Malaysia) and Operating Since 1950!

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This article is part of the Penang Food Trip series. Check out the installments in this series: Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery (MICHELIN-Starred Peranakan Restaurant) | Hameediyah Restaurant (Nasi Kandar) | Kafe Ping Hooi and Tiger Char Koay Teow (Traditional Coffee Shop with Popular Char Kway Teow) | Kimberley Street Food Night Market | Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay (Traditional Snacks or Desserts) | Penang Road Famous Laksa and Teochew Chendul | Sister Curry Mee (Curry Noodles)

Breakfast, as many say, is the most important meal of the day. So if you’re a breakfast person visiting Malaysia, one of the breakfast meals you should try is a set of kaya (coconut jam) toast, half-boiled eggs, and kopi (coffee with condensed milk).

In George Town, one traditional coffee shop that serves this is Toh Soon Cafe.

An institution in the city, Toh Soon Cafe was named after its founder who came from then Hainan province of China. Toh Soon (the founder) started the coffee shop in 1950. Today, his son—Ooi Yeok Sun—is handling the business with his family.

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What’s nice about Toh Soon Cafe is that they make their own bread (the current owner used to work for a bakery) and spreads. So imagine the labor behind every toast. Moreover, they grill their bread over charcoal, adding a nice char to it.

As expected, there was a long queue when we went to Toh Soon Cafe. Since we have a packed itinerary on the day we visited, we opted to do a takeaway. Thankfully, we were first in line for takeaways.

They offer different kinds of bread which you can have either toasted or steamed. The varieties include: Hainanese Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Coffee Bread, Chocolate Bread, Black Charcoal Sesame, Roti Kiap (I may be wrong but I think this has a spread of butter and kaya), and Polo Bun. Then you can choose a maximum of 2 spreads, including Homemade Kaya, New Zealand Salted Butter, Homemade Peanut Butter, and Condensed Milk.

I got the steamed Hainanese bread with kaya and condensed milk. The bread is soft and has a chewy crust. The kaya has a nice coconut flavor, and the condensed milk add sweetness.

My wife got a toasted chocolate bread with butter and peanut butter. At first, we couldn’t taste the chocolate flavor. I guess we expected it to ooze with chocolate. LOL. But it got better with every bite. It’s not the best bread but it’s decent.

Of course, our traditional breakfast toast won’t be complete without soft-boiled eggs and kopi or teh tarik (pulled milk tea). The eggs add creaminess, the coffee is strong and creamy. and the teh tarik is sweet and creamy.

Cold *Teh* (MYR2.80) and Cold *Kopi* (MYR2.80). Malaysia has a unique packaging for their takeaway drinks!

Toh Soon Cafe makes good traditional Malaysian breakfast toast. Their homemade breads (at least the ones we tried) and spreads are good. And eating in an alley, with a busy kitchen at the side, adds to the charm and experience. I highly recommend it to you!

P.S. The current owner’s son—Danny Ooi Si Foong—has opened a cafe called Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe, which offers both traditional and modern food. We hope to visit it when we return to Penang!

Address: Lebuh Campbell, George Town, Penang, Malaysia | Operating Hours: Monday-Saturday, 8AM-5PM | Contact No.: +60 4-261 3754 | Facebook

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