A touch of French in the heart of heritage George Town...
Which I did not even know existed until yesterday. And lo and behold, it was so obvious yet hidden at the same time; just along Sri Bahari road and it looked like any ordinary pre-war house occupied by normal Penangites, down to the motorcycles in the front porch covered by canvases to hide from the rain. And yes, we walked right past it without even bothering to take a glance inside until SHuey called out to us [which is another funny story altogether no thanks to our declining hearing..] and we were suprised beyond words.
How in the world could anyone find this place?! There was no signboard, save for a mini wooden chopping board hanging on the gates with "42 La Boheme" written in marker.
The place is sparsely decorated and you don't actually feel you are inside a French cafe at all except for that black and white photograph of ground level Eiffel Tower. And also of course the food. The food served were at least mostly French☺. There were ready-baked pies on display at the counter, a fridge full of mouth-watering desserts, and tables decorated with mini glasses of water with fresh blooms of chrysanthemums. The owner is a European-looking man, my guess French, who prepares the food in the kitchen behind and whose wife was not in at that time thus no coffee could be served (he said his wife makes the coffee..haha).
Anyway, tea was fine with us and there were the usual selection (earl grey, english breakfast and the likes) as well as a list of scented teas. I decided to go the apple flower tea which I found to be not much different from chamomile. All the teas were not off-the-shelf tea bags, and they came in individual pots with Japanese-like tea cups.
Food wise, we decided to share so we could have space for desserts as well as opportunity to sample a wider variety. We had the almond croissant (served on a mini chopping board), the chicken salad (colorfully displayed on a wide plate), the quiche Lorraine which came with a side salad as well, and the crème brûlée, which they caramelized immediately only before serving.
(They serve pizzas too which we were lucky we did not order for it was huge and definitely not a 1-person share, not even for 2 or 3 small eaters if you get what I mean.)
No complains really on the food. The croissant had chocolate fillings and tasted pretty good. The salad - drizzled with balsamic vinegar, if not mistaken - was appetizing. The crème brûlée's custard base was smooth while the caramel disc was crispy although CPeng find it to be a tad over-burnt for her liking. And lastly, the quiche.
Well, if you have been following my posts, quiches have been quite under the spotlight lately thus that dish was one I was more eager to try out the moment I saw it scribbled on the menu blackboard. So drum rolls please, here's my verdict:
That Little Wine Bar's quiche still reigned supreme! But La Boheme's quiche is definitely better than Delicious's *pins the silver ribbon on La Boheme's quiche Lorraine.
Also, while we were the first customers but as the day progressed, all the tables were occupied. I guess we were probably one of those few who never heard of the place until that day. Overall, La Boheme is worth going back to; both for its food as well as for it's "invisibility" for as I watched the cars and passersby strolled past, for a moment there it was as though I'd escaped the hecticness of life.
Which I did not even know existed until yesterday. And lo and behold, it was so obvious yet hidden at the same time; just along Sri Bahari road and it looked like any ordinary pre-war house occupied by normal Penangites, down to the motorcycles in the front porch covered by canvases to hide from the rain. And yes, we walked right past it without even bothering to take a glance inside until SHuey called out to us [which is another funny story altogether no thanks to our declining hearing..] and we were suprised beyond words.
How in the world could anyone find this place?! There was no signboard, save for a mini wooden chopping board hanging on the gates with "42 La Boheme" written in marker.
The place is sparsely decorated and you don't actually feel you are inside a French cafe at all except for that black and white photograph of ground level Eiffel Tower. And also of course the food. The food served were at least mostly French☺. There were ready-baked pies on display at the counter, a fridge full of mouth-watering desserts, and tables decorated with mini glasses of water with fresh blooms of chrysanthemums. The owner is a European-looking man, my guess French, who prepares the food in the kitchen behind and whose wife was not in at that time thus no coffee could be served (he said his wife makes the coffee..haha).
Anyway, tea was fine with us and there were the usual selection (earl grey, english breakfast and the likes) as well as a list of scented teas. I decided to go the apple flower tea which I found to be not much different from chamomile. All the teas were not off-the-shelf tea bags, and they came in individual pots with Japanese-like tea cups.
Food wise, we decided to share so we could have space for desserts as well as opportunity to sample a wider variety. We had the almond croissant (served on a mini chopping board), the chicken salad (colorfully displayed on a wide plate), the quiche Lorraine which came with a side salad as well, and the crème brûlée, which they caramelized immediately only before serving.
(They serve pizzas too which we were lucky we did not order for it was huge and definitely not a 1-person share, not even for 2 or 3 small eaters if you get what I mean.)
No complains really on the food. The croissant had chocolate fillings and tasted pretty good. The salad - drizzled with balsamic vinegar, if not mistaken - was appetizing. The crème brûlée's custard base was smooth while the caramel disc was crispy although CPeng find it to be a tad over-burnt for her liking. And lastly, the quiche.
Well, if you have been following my posts, quiches have been quite under the spotlight lately thus that dish was one I was more eager to try out the moment I saw it scribbled on the menu blackboard. So drum rolls please, here's my verdict:
That Little Wine Bar's quiche still reigned supreme! But La Boheme's quiche is definitely better than Delicious's *pins the silver ribbon on La Boheme's quiche Lorraine.
Also, while we were the first customers but as the day progressed, all the tables were occupied. I guess we were probably one of those few who never heard of the place until that day. Overall, La Boheme is worth going back to; both for its food as well as for it's "invisibility" for as I watched the cars and passersby strolled past, for a moment there it was as though I'd escaped the hecticness of life.
