GEORGE TOWN, July 29 ― Penang is well known as a food paradise so there's no better place to introduce a popular food and beverage brand than here, as the recent opening of at least five international brands here seems to suggest.

Hong Kong's Tasty Congee and Noodle Wantun Shop has been expanding rapidly in Hong Kong and China in recent years before it took the first step out of that region by opening in Penang early this year.

“We have always planned to open in Malaysia and we decided to test the market in Penang because we felt that the location is suitable for us to introduce authentic Hong Kong cuisine,” said one of the restaurant directors, Wilson Tsui.

Tasty Congee and Noodle Wanthun Shop's signature congee.

The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star for its wantun noodles in 2009 and now Penangites can try the award-winning noodles for themselves at Paragon Mall along Gurney Drive.

Tasty Congee is also well-known for its warming, smooth congee along with other Hong Kong fare such as fried beef flat rice noodles, carrot cake and deep fried taro.

Tsui said they import most of the ingredients to make sure the flavours and tastes are as close as possible to the offerings in their Hong Kong shops.

“Even our local chefs here are trained by our main Hong Kong chefs,” he said.

“We are now already looking to open another outlet in Penang, perhaps in the Queensbay Mall area, and at the same time, we are also scouting for suitable places in Kuala Lumpur,” Tsui said.

He said opening its first outlet in Penang was a good move as it allowed them to gauge customers' response here even as they planned to open outlets elsewhere.

HK Triple Milk offers yogurt and their fragrant egg puff.

Another international chain that found its way to Penang as its first Malaysian outpost is HK Triple Milk, a popular yogurt and snacks brand.

Hong Kong couple Himko Ko and Yuko Poon wanted to introduce Hong Kong's snacks such as egg puff, honey butter French toast and yogurt to their new home in Penang.

Hong Kong couple, Himko Ko and Yuko Poon (right) decided to make Penang their home and opened HK Triple Milk here.

“We don't like living in Hong Kong anymore because it is too congested and too polluted so I've  travelled all over looking for a suitable place and felt that Penang is the best place to settle down,” Ko said.

The couple wanted a city that's still green and less hectic so they were attracted to the rather laidback lifestyle here.

HK Triple Milk at Golden Triangle in Relau.

They opened their HK Triple Milk cafe at the Golden Triangle in Relau sometime in April and has been seeing brisk business since.

“We were not sure how receptive Penangites would be to our food so we are trying it out now,” Ko said.

Taiwan's Coffee Smith at Maritime Piazza at Karpal Singh Drive.

These Hong Kong businesses are perhaps following the lead of Taiwan's Coffee Smith which decided to expand to Malaysia by opening several outlets in Penang sometime last year.

According to the cafe's person in charge in Penang, Nelson Ng, the owners, a Taiwanese and a Malaysian, chose to bring the popular coffee place to Penang because they believe there is a market to tap into here.

“The owners wanted to introduce good quality coffee, where the beans are roasted by ourselves at our outlets, here and also delicious Italian cuisine so this is why they chose to open in Penang,” he said.

Coffee Smith has three outlets on the island; Maritime Piazza at Karpal Singh Drive, Summerton in Bayan Baru and next to Obsidian along Jalan Bagan Jermal.

Coffee Smith offers western style meals like eggs benedict and fettucine.

Their main target is Penangites who can appreciate a good cup of coffee and a mostly Western and fusion menu of items like eggs benedict, fettuccine and risotto.

Another international brand introduced here this year is the premium mochi ice-cream, Kane Mochi, at Beach Street within the heritage zone of George Town.

Kane Mochi Cafe offers premium mochi ice cream dessert.

Kane Mochi cafe owner Joyce Low said Kane Mochi is a well-known premium mochi ice-cream chain in Thailand and Cambodia.

“It is something different and a specialty that can't be found elsewhere in Malaysia so I decided to bring it in to introduce it to the Penang market,” Low said.

Kane Mochi Cafe on the ground floor of Lang Hoose, Beach Street.

The Penangite added that Penang is the best place to introduce the ice-cream especially when it is her hometown and she's based here, making it easier for her to manage the shop.

There are more than 15 different flavours of mochi ice-cream offered at the cafe along with mochi sodas, sundaes or even on its own.

Early this month, another international premium ice-cream brand opened in Penang ― the Korean-style soft serve ice-cream parlour, Honey Creme.

Customers lining up at the new Honey Creme outlet at Gurney Plaza.

Honey Creme, located on the lower ground floor of Gurney Plaza, is a popular Taiwan-based ice- cream parlour that has spread out to Hong Kong, Singapore and also Indonesia.

It opened its first-ever outlet in Malaysia in Penang and according Roy Teow, who brought the brand in, this is because Penang is Malaysia's food paradise.

“Penang is well-known for its good food so naturally, it is the best place to introduce this premium ice-cream here,” he said.

Teow did a market survey both in Kuala Lumpur and Penang before deciding to open in Gurney Plaza first before Kuala Lumpur.

He felt that there is now a trend for organic food in Penang so introducing organic ice-cream is a good move since there are no other organic ice-cream brands here.

Honey Creme offers creamy soft serve ice cream with a variety of toppings like honey comb and chocolate.

“We are also planning to open in Kuala Lumpur after this and our target group will be teenagers and youths so we are looking for hip and trendy places,” he said.

These five brands have added to Penang's expanding food and beverage scene but if their success is anything to go by, perhaps more brands will make Penang their first stop in Malaysia in the months to come.