A Chinese coffee shop all races can enjoy
GEORGE TOWN: The aroma of prawns sizzling on a lightly oiled black wok blends deliciously with the smell of bread toasting in the back kitchen.
It is the classic, appetite-whetting aroma of a typical Chinese coffee shop, complete with Chinese New Year decor that stays on the wall until it is time to put up next year’s fresh set of greetings.
A piece of Jawi calligraphy, however, stands out at Bee Hwa Cafe.
Many years ago, a Jawi teacher came to try Bee Hwa Cafe’s char koay teow and was bowled over by the flavour and texture, said cafe proprietor Angie Ng.
“He loved it so much that he wrote it out in Jawi and gave it to us. So, we decided to include it as part of our decoration,” she said.
Is char koay teow different from koay teow goreng?
Yes, according to electronics engineer Nurul Fathiah Mazlan, 28.
“It is so fragrant, so satisfying. Penang is famous for kopitiam and Chinese hawker food, but we cannot eat many of them because they are non-halal. It is great that we can finally get the real thing. We will be back for more,” she said.
Nurul Fathiah and six of her colleagues tried it for the first time yesterday.
She works in Bayan Lepas and had heard about Bee Hwa Cafe some time ago.
She and her colleagues had a team-building session in George Town and they jumped at the chance to visit the place for breakfast.
Ng said since she first opened the coffee shop in 1992, she had resolved to never to serve pork or beef, only seafood and chicken.
Her kitchen crew comprises Indonesian Muslims.
The chicken is provided by a halal supplier and details of the supplier are pasted on the coffee shop wall.
Part of the reason Ng decided to be considerate to the dietary sensi- tivities of all races is because her eatery is smack in front of the main entrance of the Penang police contingent headquarters on Dickens Street.
Insp A. Ganthan, who is the liaison officer of Penang police chief Comm Datuk Seri A. Thaiveegan, is a regular customer.
“Without beef and pork here, all of us get to enjoy Chinese hawker food in an old-fashioned kopitiam,”
he said.
Bee Hwa Cafe serves all the vintage Chinese street fare, including curry mee, hokkien char, hailam mee
and even the little-known “birthday mee” – noodles in a clear, starchy gravy that the Chinese traditionally eat on their birthday.