The next day, 7th Oct., will be Gill's birthday, but we will be preoccupied with preparations for the forth coming discussion at the end of the week, thus we decided to celebrate a day earlier and at place near to home. With much deliberation, at the end we decided to try out a place which CK & Lingzie have tried and blogged about, Vintage Bulgaria (VB).

Vintage Bulgaria is located on Jalan Sungai Kelian, just next to Ingolf Knipes. The proprietors has made some modification to the shop unit there, which was previously two storeys, to make it now two and half storeys. The lower ground floor would be the non-smoking dining area with a low lit ambient environment, which is a good place to go for romantic couples. The upper ground floor has bar and dining area too, thus it would be a bit 'happening' area for the energetic person. Then there is the 1st floor, which is still under works, that will will be their function room. Silviya, one of the owners of the place, informed me that the function room/floor may fit up to 60 pax. Therefore, a small party could be held there.

Lower ground dining area(top pix). Ground dining area and entrance(bottom pix).

The first dish that was served was the Shepperd' Salad, with eggs, black olive, mushroom, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, capsicums and feta cheese. The salad was light and refreshing because it did not come with all the common dressings like Thousand Island, Mayo or other heavy, creamy dressings. Gill and I actually like to have our salads lightly dressed with just olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar and season with pepper and salt. Thus, we will be able to taste the freshness and sweetness and feel the texture of the vegetables and its condiments in our mouth. Going back to the Shepperd's Salad, it was filled with the above, and thus we enjoyed the dish until the very last piece. But the salad is only good if you were forked all the ingredients of salad and eat it in a mouth full. In this way, then the explosion of freshness from the vege, sourness from the tomatoes, creaminess from the cheese, richness from the hard boil egg+yokes and saltiness from the black olives will hit the sense on your tongue and mouth. straight forward but complex experience.

The second dish to come was their Crepe Rila. A very good combination of flavours, salty cheese, earthy mushroom, sweet chicken and rich mayo. But the crepe skin was a bit of a disappointment, not enough egg and slightly on the the thick side. Overall it was a good dish.

For the main course, we had their Plovdiv Ribs and Platter Bulgaria. The Plovdiv Ribs if compared to the ribs from Tony Roma's, it will a bit of a put off not on taste but on portion. Taste wise it is a total different style from Tony Roma's, as the ribs (VB) is usually dry without glazing. But it was fragrant, with just enough seasoning meat dish. The meat patties, sausages and pork chop in the Platter Bulgaria should be home made, but they were not juicy nor moist and slightly salty taken on its own. The meat patties brought back memories of the house made pork burger patties my parents used to buy from the old Cold Storage in Penang Plaza, which has disappeared with their initial shut down many many years ago when I was still in Primary. In fact the two meat dishes would be better savoured with more potato, vegetables and pickled baby onions/shallots.

After trying out their signature meat dishes, we decided to try their signature desert the Baklava. It is made of mixed nut caramelised in sugar wrap in 'Poh Piah' skin and drenched in honey. The sweet and nutty taste was just what we needed to cleanse our taste buds of the salty and oily taste and feeling. They have actually taken the effort to improve this desert, but still it needs more work on the texture of the skin and the presentation. The skin was a bit tough and hard to handle. For presentation, it could be decorated with some mint leaves. And for serving, it could be served hot and crispy and accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it crispy, and thus easier to handle yet cool enough when taken with the ice cream. But that is only my opinion, which have not been tested.

Although some of the set backs, I would definitely find the effort to revisit the place due to service rendered by their staffs. We like the style of waiting provided by this F&B outlet. The waiter/waitress are allocated to an area and are to wait the table until its guests leave. This enables the waiter/waitress to fully serve the guests and create the relationship with the guests and also get to know their likes and dislikes. I still remember the waitress who waited on us is Queenie who was friendly, informative and helpful, but somewhat shy at the beginning of the service.

On average, I would give this place:

• 3.3/5 for value (although the total bill was only RM 101.00)
• 3.5/5 for taste (because of the reduced portion of side vege with the main course and dry meat)
• 4.3/5 for service
• 4.5/5 for cleanliness
• 4.5/5 for atmosphere

Including the Penang Food Bloggers gathering on the 27th September 2008, I have patronised this cafe, Edelweiss, 3 times since July. I must say, on all the visits I have managed to try a few of their signature soups, entrees and deserts. This cozy cafe is tacked in one of the oldest parts on the Penang Island and was once used as the backdrop for the Hollywood movie, The King and I. The cafe is located in Armenian Street, just before the Colonial Restoran which serves modified Hainanese cuisines.

Do not let the Swedish name fool you, as this cafe serves cuisine from the East(Malaysia) and the West (Sweden). But me and wife only had the privilege to savour part of their western side of their menu. Thus, we still have more to go before we can't say that we have tried everything there. This place does not only serve good homey food, it also serves some good European beers, but it would be a bit pricey for us locals.

Before I continue with my review of this cafe, I would like to put forth that the photos were taken during my various visits to Edelweiss at different occasions, thus the different ambient color of the photos.


The Barley Soup which is serve daily is something different from your common cream of mushroom or corn. It is light on the pallet but still provides the opportunity to feel the texture and taste the various ingredients used in preparing this soup. With some bread, one could be filled the brim and not be able to go further with the entree. So the best way to savour this dish is to share amongst yourself, don't let this not so little bowl of soup fool you!


The Beef Goulash came in a small bowl but was packed with potatoes, carrot, beef, etc. As I am not an authority on goulash, I am unable to judge whether it is good or bad, but to me it is something that I can accept. It is not too heavy on the flavour, therefore would not subdue your taste buds for the entree.


Edelwiess serve some good and genuine sausages in town. So far I have tried their Double Jumbo(top) and B 52s (bottom). The sausages are juicy and firm to the bite. It is totally different experience with what we get from some of the eateries that serve sausages as their entrees. To compliment the sausage dish, the cafe prides a portion of mustard that is essential in enhancing the smokey taste the sausages have.



Then there is their specialty, Smoked Pork Belly. This is my wife's' favourite of all that we have tried in Edelweiss. At a glance one may think that it will be very hard to consume a piece of pork layered with all that fat, even for any non-health-conscious person. Then you would be missing out on the experience of savouring the piece of well smoked and tender piece of pork that is well complimented with mash and mustard sauce. It is like a marriage made in heaven.


Not much I can say about the Pork Ribs other than it is tender and juicy. I find the ribs to be a bit over flavoured by the glaze or sauce(some may call it), but by not much. Although so, overall it is still a good piece of rib. For my preference, I would have better enjoyed the ribs with mash rather than fries. The mash potatoes would have brought down the richness of the sauce to my acceptance level.




These two offerings, the Gammon Ham and Leg of Lamb are not included in their daily menu. They were specially requested and prepared for our Penang Food Bloggers gathering. But fear not, if you are interested in tasting the two, then you would have pool enough people to order them. The Gammon Ham was not heavy, it gave me a little hint of saltiness, smokiness and sweetness of the meat. In short the flavours were clean and light, suitable for those that are not meat crazy and dislike rich tasting food. If you ant to bring the Gammon ham to a higher enjoyment level, one could try layering the ham with black pepper, mash and brown sauce to enhance the taste and texture of the ham.

As for the Leg of Lamb, it taste common and nothing extraordinary about it. This may be due to that it was already cold from all the photo shooting before I got acquainted with it. The lamb was actually still slight pink in the centre and warm when it arrived on my table. But fear not, I improvised by adding salt and the accompanying gravy to make it more delightable. The lamb was actually good enough without the accompanying mint sauce, it did not need the mint to cover-up the overwhelming smell and taste that lamb emits.


At the end of each meals, I had their signature deserts to cleanse my pallets. Although I do not fancy sweet delights, their two signature deserts were quite acceptable to my standards. Their warm Apple Flam with Movenpick Ice Cream, gives one the sensation of soft and hard, cold and hot. The cool creamy soft ice cream matched with the textured and warm apple flam. Then there is the other signature desert, which I forgot what it is called, ice cream on bananas, poach peach and almonds. It is flavourful but a bit too sweet for my taste buds. It would be a favourite for those who have a sweet tooth to satisfy.

Other than enjoying the food in Edelweiss, one could also feast your eyes on the furniture, old photos, decor and ambiance in the cafe. If you are lucky, one may find their ancestors' photos in the cafe as the owner is an avid collector of old stuff. Another thing that one could find is the funny looking light overhead. These are the work of the proprietor's husband. He recycles and modifies the old stuffs into something which is practical and usable for the cafe. Innovative and earth-friendly!

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the propietor, her husband and staffs for the friendly, prompt and accomodating service to all of us bloggers although we were a bit a handfull with all the moving around and talking. And also we would like to show our appreciation to the proprietor for preparing the special menu for us bloggers to enjoy and review.

On average, I would give Edelweiss Cafe:

• 3.8/5 for value (for the the blogger gathering, then it would be 4.5/5)


• 4.5/5 for tast
  
• 5/5 for service
  
• 5/5 for cleanliness (what can we ask from a coffee shop)
  
• 5/5 for atmosphere (old style cafe without air-conditioning)

The below photos were taken during the Penang Food Blogger (PFB) gathering recently at Edelweiss. We are currently planning another gathering for the PFB in te coming December to celebrate Christmas. The date is 6th of December 2008. And the location is at my in-laws house in Tanjung Bungah. The gathering is a test of the cooking skills of PFB as it would be a 'Pot-Luck' gathering. Places are limited and it is first come first serve only!




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