[Part 1] Noor & Dean’s Cafe Espresso Bar & Asian Fusion & Noordin Street House @ Noordin Street, Georgetown, Penang!

*This is a very long post as Kaya gets to eat a lot of food and also visit its guest rooms. So, Kaya will cover the appetizers, main courses and drinks in the Part 1. Noordin Street House and the desserts & coffees will be covered in Part 2*

So, KayaButter were invited by TourDirections Penang, a directory portal of all things Penang that includes food, accommodation and places of attractions, for a food review session at Noor & Dean Cafe, located at Noordin Street (双裕楼) @ Lebuh Noordin. Butter can’t make it that day because she has a class at WOU that time. 🙁

Noor & Dean Cafe is located at the ground floor of this historic 2 and 1/2 storey heritage house. The 2nd floor and above are used as rooms for their guesthouse. Noordin Stree House started in October 2013 together with Mr Muniswaran and Mr John that comes together with Noor & Dean Cafe to provide great food for their guests and public as well. Mr John, being an architect, was responsible for all the renovation in Noordin Street House. He really did a great job to turn the heritage buildings into the retro style of the 1950s. Every corner of the guesthouse and cafe have the feeling of the 1950s and exudes the feeling of style & retro look.

It is easy for you to miss Noor & Dean Cafe if you are not familiar with the roads in Georgetown. If you are coming from Lebuh McNair, turn right when you see Noordin Street sign. After that, start looking for parking as Noordin Street House is on your left, around 200 metres after your turn in.

Kaya is always a fan of chalk writing on blackboards or walls as they can be quite creative with their writings. 🙂 Here, they introduce their chef’s recommendations. Shish Kebab is a MUST TRY! Very unique presentation and juicy meats!

This is the cafe & lounge area of Noor & Dean Cafe. The whole ambiance is very inviting and makes you feel that you have been transported to the 1950s. But their space is rather limited as you can see from the photo above and do remember to call to book in advance if you are coming in a big group. This area is a no-smoking area.

Besides the cafe & lounge area, is the espresso bar where you can enjoy your cocktails or coffee while chill in the 1950s atmosphere with all the antique and old furniture and electrical appliances. This place is a smoking area. It is good that they separate smoking and non-smoking area to cater to different needs.

Before the start of our food review, the bloggers are being treated with colorful mocktails. Such eye candies. We get to see how the bartenders prepare all these mocktails. 🙂

Cool Mint & Lime Fitz RM12.00

Beautifully decorated with lime and mint leaves, this drink is made with grenadine and mint leaves that are mashed together using a muddler. Then, they add soda pop and crushed ice for the extra kick. Minty and sourish taste. 🙂

Teoh’s Punch RM12.00

This a very fruity mocktail that is made of apple, cranberry, orange and pineapple juices mixed with soda pop for the carbonated taste. This is one of Kaya’s favorite! 🙂

Noor Meets Dean RM12.00

This is Noor & Dean’s house signature mocktail. Cranberry, lemon, orange and pineapple juices are added to the base of ginger ale and grenadine. Grenadine, a commonly used bar syrup gives a sweet taste and pinkish hue to the drink. 🙂 Kaya still prefers the fruitier version of this mocktail.

After taking photos of the mocktails and the dishes that are presented to us, it is time to FEAST as Kaya’s stomach was growling as it is lunch time already and the smell and aroma of the dishes tease my stomach’s gastric juice!!! 😛

This is the most impressive part of Noor & Dean Cafe. They are able to look out and use such a traditional style of plates. Reminds Kaya of the olden days. Good stuffs. Another traditional design is the cock design bowl. 😛

Let’s start with the appetizers first:

Noor & Dean Platter RM28.00

These are very good finger food. A mixture of different influence of Western (chicken wings), Malay (cucur udang in Malay aka shrimp fritters), Indian (bread pakora or fried chickpea batter) and Chinese (spring rolls) food. Kaya loves the satay sauce. Goes very well with some of the finger food!

Cucur Udang (Shrimp Fritters) RM10.00

The most outstanding part of this dish is the spicy peanut sauce. Kaya can literally drink the sauce! 😛 It is that nice! Do dip the cucumbers, beancurds and the shrimp fritters to get the maximum taste. 🙂

Gado-Gado RM18.00

This is an Indonesian version of vegetable salad. The word gado-gado also means mix-mix with means the mixture of steamed vegetables that are offered in this dish. There is an additional hard-boil egg and fried prawns. Again, the spicy peanut sauce brings out the flavor of this dish.

Panini-Mutton Varuval RM16.00

This is a fusion of Western & Indian style food. Stuffed between two toasted bread is dry mutton curry. Indeed a very special combination yet tasted nice. A good fusion indeed. 🙂

After sampling the appetizers, we are ready to ‘attack’ the main courses. 🙂

Grilled Chicken Arrosto RM22.00

A juicy seasoned chicken meat grilled to perfection. It comes together with broccoli, cauliflowers, carrots and mashed potatoes,  Loved the added rosemary sauce that help to excites my taste buds. Definitely a safe selection for those who are unsure of which dish to order.

Batter Mix Garupa Fish & Chips RM26.00

A decent dish and nothing much to shout about except the refreshing tartar sauce. 🙂

Nasi Goreng Jalan Dua RM18.00

What a catchy name. Jalan Dua literally means 2nd Road which refers to Noordin Street as the locals used to call this road as Ji Tiau Lor (2nd Road counting from the Magazine Road). Fried rice (Nasi Goreng) is one our local’s favorite food. Here, it comes with a lot of ingredients notably the prawns, chicken skewer (satay as the locals fondly call), ikan bilis (anchovies), egg and keropok (fried crackers). A very good dish! Tourist must give this a try to feel our Asian’s food culture.

Shish Kebab & Pasta (RM26.00)

This is the signature dish and very well received by the bloggers during our food review. Its visual presentation is very catchy with its hanging chicken skewers. Shish is a Turkish word that means skewer. So, chicken meats together with bell peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms are heated in an oven. It comes with spaghetti cooked al dante with a lot of olive oil. You can add on mint sauce and cheese powder as you like. The pasta is a bit too oily to my liking. It can be a bit pricey but still, this is a highly recommended dish! The bloggers can get enough of this dish and they have to order extra. 🙂

Bawal Goreng RM16.00

A rather simple dish that reminds me of my grandma’s cooking. Kaya loves the crispy outer layer of the fish. It is best dipped together with the sliced chili pepper soy sauce and also sambal (shrimp paste with ground chili). It also comes with a bowl of fish curry which is rather spicy and some lady fingers (okra). Kaya wonders why they don’t give a bowl of rice to complete this dish? 😉

Oyster Char Koay Teow RM16.00

This is the highlight of the food review! It is very seldom that we get great CKT in restaurants. All famous CKT in Penang are usually fried at road side or hawker stalls. It is well fried and the koay teow is soft and nice. It is slightly larger in portion and served with generous amount of prawns, squids and oysters to justify the price it commands! Definitely a great dish for those who come from outstation or tourists! 🙂

Joo Hoo Char (Stir-Fried Shredded Vegetables with Dry Cuttlefish)  RM10.00

This is a favorite dish among the Chinese. It is a mixture of cut dry cuttlefish, turnip (jicama), cabbage, carrots, onions, Shiitake mushrooms that are stir-fried. After that, this mixture will be wrapped with stem lettuce and for the extra kick, you can dip it into sambal. A very satisfying dish. 🙂

Chicken Curry Kapitan RM16.00

This a decent chicken curry kapitan. This is a Nyonya dish which is a combination of Chinese & Malay cooking styles. This is a mild and not very spicy dish.

Lamb Varuval (RM18.00)

This is a hot and spicy dish. It is acceptable for those who can take spicy food. A very strong flavored mutton due to the the usage of many types of spices. The lamb meat Kaya tasted that day is quite soft & not to chewy.

Overall, the appetizers and main courses of Noor & Dean Cafe do not disappoint. All of the dishes are decent with some exceptionally good dishes such as Shish Kebab & Pasta (RM26.00), Oyster Char Koay Teow (RM16.00), Nasi Goreng Jalan Dua RM18.00 and Noor & Dean Platter RM28,00.

Kaya will continue in Part 2 to share about Noordin Street House and Noor & Dean Cafe’s desserts and coffees. 🙂

Planning your Penang food tour? TourDirections Penang helps you discover Penang cafes and restaurants, Penang hawker food, Penang budget hotel and Penang homestay.

contact information

Noor & Dean’s Cafe
71 & 73, Noordin Street,
10300 Georgetown, Penang.
Tel No: +604-262 7173
Fax No: +604-262 7172
Email: noor.deans@chef.net
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NoorDeans73?fref=ts

Noordin Street House
71 & 73, Noordin Street,
10300 Georgetown, Penang.
Tel No: +604-262 7173
Fax No: +604-262 7172

business hours

Daily

8:00am – 11:00pm

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lebuh+Noordin+%26+Gat+Lebuh+Noordin/@5.410944,100.332734,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x304ac394a6fa1a13:0x9c23786ec38ee4a6