GEORGE TOWN, Oct 27 — If you are turned off by the idea of joining the long snaking queue of people waiting to get a seat in popular alley cafe Toh Soon, you can now head over to its newly-opened cafe on Bishop Street.

Toh Soon, which has been serving its Hainan-style coffee for 64 years, opened a branch in one of the shophouses in the inner city.

Owner Ooi Yeok Sun and wife Lee Yoke Chin, who operate the iconic alleyway stall off Campbell Street, decided to let their eldest son try his hand at running a cafe.

The new place — Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe — is managed by Danny Ooi Si Foong, 21, who runs the cafe while still studying hotel management at a local college.

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The new Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe along Bishop Street.
The new Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe along Bishop Street.

“I worked in cafes for a couple years while studying and we decided in June to open a cafe to expand the Toh Soon brand,” he said.

He said he had always had an interest in food and beverage and wanted to experiment with different types of beverages, especially coffee.

Toh Soon is known for its rich Hainan-style coffee and charcoal toasted bread.

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From left, 'kopi o', caviar milk latte and 'kopi si peng'.
From left, 'kopi o', caviar milk latte and 'kopi si peng'.

Its coffee is made from custom-roasted coffee powder using Robusta beans and the way it is prepared is still in the traditional style where it is filtered, or slowly dripped into a mug, which is then poured into another filter before being mixed with hot water and milk.

According to Danny, Robusta coffee is not popular among the younger crowd so he included coffee made from Arabica beans on the menu at the new cafe. That means you can get the usual latte, cappuccino, macchiato and espresso here.

The Hainan-style coffee remains a main feature but at the same time, was also given different twists to attract the younger crowd.

Lunch at the new Toh Soon includes 'nasi tomato' (left) and 'nasi lemak'.
Lunch at the new Toh Soon includes 'nasi tomato' (left) and 'nasi lemak'.

Apart from the usual kopi-o (black coffee without milk) and kopi si peng (iced coffee with evaporated milk), the cafe also serves up caviar milk latte, salted honey latte and egg yolk coffee.

The caviar milk latte is Toh Soon’s answer to boba, except the “caviar” is homemade using coffee to produce tiny, caviar-like little orbs with a chewy consistency.

The salted honey latte is worth a try for those who prefer their coffee sweet as it is essentially kopi si peng sweetened with honey while the salt adds a different dimension to the whole thing.

They also have a range of coffee mocktails using Arabica coffee such as virgin Irish coffee, spiced latte, orange espresso martini, espresso tonic and chocolate infused cinnamon latte.

One of the options for lunch is a chicken burger, served here Toh Soon's famous coffee.
One of the options for lunch is a chicken burger, served here Toh Soon's famous coffee.

“We are testing and trying out different beverages and we may be introducing more mocktaisl and cocktails in future when we expand our opening hours,” he said.

The cafe currently opens from 8.30am to 4.30pm daily.

While the new Toh Soon also offers the usual items such as toast and half-boiled eggs, it has an extensive menu for breakfast, lunch and after lunch.

They have a selection of Asian and Western food like nasi lemak, nasi tomato, mee goreng, chicken chop, spaghetti, burgers and noodle soup.

Lee said they are trying out different items and food to see which works and which doesn’t so new food items will be introduced occasionally.

“We will have to see what people like and what they don’t like, we have to keep coming up with new ideas and I mostly leave it to my son to brainstorm it,” she said.

The original Toh Soon cafe is in an alley off Campbell Street, Penang.
The original Toh Soon cafe is in an alley off Campbell Street, Penang.

Danny said they have different menus for different timeframes; simpler meals for the breakfast crowd, meals that are fast and easy to prepare for the lunch crowd and Western-style meals for the after-lunch crowd who may be looking for late lunch or early dinner.

“We find that office workers prefer Asian-style meals during lunch so we offer items such as nasi lemak and nasi tomato for lunch,” he said.

Only the toasted bread sets with eggs are offered throughout the day.

Toh Soon Coffee Cave Cafe
37, Bishop Street
George Town, Penang
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 012-4982137