Emily Darling Cafe — Restaurant in George Town

I’d love if this place comes together, and avoids that trap of ‘Gramability-over-substance that plagues Penang. To an insufferable food-geek/cook, it’s sad when a promising new spot pops up, with a unique or charming atmosphere, displaying perfect-looking delicacies—and then after the first bite, you realize they just don’t prioritize the craft over the appearance. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here, however. The texture of the first pastry I had was great, and closer to European than a lot of the competition. Though—another pet peeve of mine—I think they reheated my pastry, which you really shouldn’t do, as it can destroy the structure if done wrong; some parts of it were still flaky but other parts were like tough and dry wadded up paper towel. The flavor left plenty of room for improvement. Something that features pistachios and Nutella and tasted of neither tells me the ingredients were either not so fresh or used too conservatively. Like a lot of the batch of “western-style” pastry shops in George Town, they have the visual presentation down almost too well, but the flavors were missing. I gave this 3 stars because there’s hope! The second pastry featured the exact opposite situation—the pastry was tough and dry, not at all what I was hoping for since it was called “kouign Emily”, which I assumed was a play on “kouign-amann”, my absolute favorite French pastry. But the flavoring on top was actually really nice! A well-balanced, tangy and fresh topping of strawberry, almond, orange and whatever else the dude said (along with the obligatory rosemary garnish that seems to have take Penang by storm for some reason—seriously, can’t seem to find a pastry or a 60rm G&T without getting a mouthful of piney needles these days). Anyways, I’ll come back and try something...

Stumbled upon this beautiful lil cafe - EMILY Darling on our way for roti canai breakfast at Argyl Road and decided to come back for coffee afterwards. 5 stars for ambience & decor albeit limited seatings unless you don’t mind sharing. The pastries are freshly baked daily and displayed beautifully. Once you walked in side the cafe you will feel like ordering everything you see. That’s how beautiful everything was… but… We ordered the Mango Danish (RM18) & Lavender Crombolini (RM16) a kouign Amman of sort with Lavender cream filling and black coffees Honestly, the pastries were a bit underwhelmed and tasted a bit dry and not as buttery as one would expect them to be. Maybe we expected more as they looked really delicious. The mango Danish was diced mango on top of a Danish pastry without even any custard to “glue” the mango to the pastry. Hence it tasted dry. The Crombolini in my opinion tasted better as the lavender cream filling is yummy, unique in taste and not overly sweet. The pastry however suffers from the lack of buttery richness. Overall, it was a nice to soak up the chill vibe of the cafe amidst the beautifully curated potted plants placed within the cafe as well as outside. The whole experience could be elevated even more easily with a simple tweak of the pastry recipe and probably cheaper coffee. At RM13 for a cup of black coffee, it’s a bit steep and even more expensive at some reputable coffee places in KL. Oh yes, the service was excellent and friendly though the lady at the reception was a bit pushy for us to order more items. But I guess she’s just doing her job. Will we come back? It’s a hard most probably…

P/S EMILY stands for Every Minute...

The moment we pushed open the door, it felt as if we'd stepped into a corner café in Paris. The taste of the bread and pastries was truly memorable, and the coffee and kombucha left a lasting impression, making the experience deeply enjoyable. However, the service was extremely poor. After handing us the menu, the server took forever to come take our order. Instead, she stood behind the counter chatting and laughing with her colleague, completely ignoring us. We were deeply disappointed-was this what you consider good service? Or was it because we were tourists? Fortunately, another server happened to pass by, so we stopped her to ask how to order. She immediately apologized: "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. Let me take your order now," and patiently answered all our questions, allowing us to finally place our order. We sincerely appreciate her help. No matter how beautiful the décor or how tempting the desserts, once service breaks down, the entire experience d True sustainability comes only from respecting every guest. We genuinely feel sorry for the owner-please make sure you're hiring staff, not just decorative props. This experience was reduced to nothing. Don't let the details ruin...