Tete a Tete at Ete Cafe

Carnarvon Street, Penang, is often known as Coffin Shop Street locally because it used to be lined with shops selling coffins, praying items and coincidentally book shops. With many of the old businesses going under (no pun intended), there are a growing number of Chinese food and beverage outlets there.

Ete Cafe's twist is that it offers French desserts, syphon coffee and a small variety of tea. It has that recycled shabby chic look with coffee gunny sacks put to good use as shop signs, old tree logs and cheerful sprays of cherry blossoms as decor in addition to small plants growing in cut-opened plastic mineral water bottles.

Be warned that the shop is very tiny with only maybe 4 or 5 small tables scattered around. As with most heritage shop lots, there isn't air conditioning, and Ete Cafe relies on simple ceiling fans and the hot afternoon breeze wafting in from outside. One side of the wall is covered with framed photos and certs of the owners who trained at the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.

It was too hot a day for either coffee or tea and we were there solely for the famed French desserts. There's a small refrigerated display area devoted just for pastries, gâteaux and macarons.

It was hard work trying to narrow down my selection to only 2 choices as every single dessert there looked so good. We settled on the macarons (mais oui!) and a slice of the mango chocolate cake. I really wanted to try the much famed sea salt caramel cake but it was sadly sold out. The owners were surprisingly pleasant and obliging when I requested for water and didn't charge for that.

Without a doubt, the lemon, chocolate and rose macarons (RM5 each or RM10 for 3) were the best that I'd ever tried so far. There wasn't any of that nasty, artificial taste of the filling nor the cloying, heavy feel of the meringue base.The flavours were delicately light and the texture was smooth and just the right amount of moisture. The mango cake (RM8) on the other hand was nice and had a fresh tang though a little on the pricey side for its size.

Hubs and Bubs wearing almost identical brown stripey tees and chinos. Since everyone says they both look alike, might as well dress them alike ;)

Me in shorts and a Dorothy Perkins black bird print top. I'm loving all the printed tops at Dorothy Perkins this season, they all have quirky prints, short sleeves and loose fitted which makes it perfect for all this hot weather we've been having recently. 

Ete Cafe, 79 Carnarvon Street (opposite the police station)
Tel: 017 4350922