Constant Gardener Coffee — Restaurant in George Town

This is probably going to be a rare review from someone who rarely travels cross countries often.

I ordered several things, Paragon Espresso, Latte, Sunrise and a Croissant Ice Cream Sandwich.

So let's list it out:

First of all, the Latte is enjoyable, thick and creamy yet smooth. The little pattern on top of the drink doesn't dissolve even if you drink it, so that's a great touch.

Second, the Paragon Espresso. Just like many Espressos out there, well, it's the base of every coffee, so it tastes sour and bitter, a tad bit. But I find this one to be interesting, it doesn't really have a strong kick to it, rather it stays on your tongue for a while, like gradually building up. Oh and there's no aftertaste, which is good.

Third, my favorite, the Croissant Ice Cream Sandwich. When I first looked at it, I was expecting a mix of extremely sweet stuff, but I was blown away. To put it simply, don't let the appearance deceive you.

The sweet taste is rather light, even with chocolate. Get yourself a slice of the croissant and the ice cream, and the combination of both really tastes amazing. What I like about it is that the ice cream compliments the croissant well, which is rare to find in almost every Cafe back home in Indonesia. 10/10 for this one!

Last but not least, the Sunrise. It's a tad bit sour, but you can definitely feel the refreshing taste. The texture feels like a slushie, rather thick but enjoyable. Definitely a great drink after getting blasted by the sun.

So overall, I'll rate this place a full solid 5 stars, good atmosphere, good staff, and of course, excellent food! I highly recommend this place to anyone coming here...

Update Sep 2023. 4 years later, this place is still great. Excellent service, excellent coffee. The secret? They didn't need to change anything...

Original: Overall: After 18 months in Penang, this is outright my favorite coffee shop. Food: They do some little nibbles and breakfast bits -croissants, pies, pastries and so on -but its very limited. The croissant is very nice. It now comes with butter and a little HOMEMADE jam... Veggie friendly: If you like croissant... Price: Depends. Overall quite expensive, you can pay about 10RM for a black coffee, which is far more than next door at Subway. But its good coffee. Really good coffee. I go weekday mornings when they have a croissant+coffee deal. Service: Really nice. Everyone is so polite, they put coffee into my thermos for me and make my order with no plastic. Atmosphere: Also a really nice place to sit. right balance of light, wood, soft music and magazines to read. I sometimes go here for informal meetings. Location: On light street next to Subway Amenities: I don't think they have customer toilets. Maybe you can use the staff one of you ask. Must try: Just the black coffee. The guy who runs this place has a white board where he does equations about coffee ratios. You're dealing with...

Odd here, you can't enter Malaysia without being 'covid safe' but we turn up at this coffee shop and someone comes to ask to check our "my sejahtera" app.

We were in Penang for 5 nights, stayed in 2 different hotels, ate at countless restaurants and cafes, had massages, hired a car, and not a single person (including at arrivals at the airport) asked to see anything to do with our Covid status.

Except here at the Constant Gardener. I assume they only checked me as I'm clearly non-local. So they think I'm some kind of Covid threat based on being a foreigner I assume as they did not check other customers coming into the shop. They seem to fail to understand that you can't enter the country without being at least as safe as anyone else.

This may all be a misunderstanding, but based on the fact they allowed others into the store without checking, I can only conclude there's something to this. I would...