KEN HUNTS FOOD: Nostalgie Cafe @ Stewart Lane, Penang.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Nostalgie Cafe @ Stewart Lane, Penang.

The name "Nostalgie" originated from a French word, similarly to Nostalgia, which refers to memories of yesteryear. Located at one of the Penang's heritage area - Stewart Lane, Nostalgie is not only an ordinary cafe, the interior of the restaurant was beautifully furnished with a lot of gorgeous and handsome antiques. The place has a very good ambiance and its definitely a place where antique lovers should not miss. Nostalgie is operating as a boutique hotel too, but they are preparing the rooms currently which scheduled to be done next year. Nostalgie serves Italian food, their pizza is a must-try item. Although the prices are slightly higher but its worth of money considering the portion and the quality since most of the food are home-made and their service was very good indeed. Customers will be greeted immediately after entering into the cafe. One big problem will be the parking. Parking can be really hard especially during peak hours and there are a couple of schools around the area.

They have a couch towards the end of the building, right beside the couch was a small garden. Its a perfect place hang around with friends or family or to make a short escape from the fast-paced world.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Prawns (Rm24). The spaghetti was well maintained with the al-dente texture and was lightly stir fried with the right amount of garlic and olive oil and topped with some cheese. The two gigantic prawns were very fresh indeed, the spaghetti was so aromatic due to the brilliantly used herbs which have successfully brought out the flavor. It was one of my favorites of the day.

This tantalizing Spaghetti Marinara with Prawns (Rm24) was another hit, the sourish marinara sauce was home made and it has complemented well with the spaghetti. Similarly to the Spaghetti Aglio Olio, this Spaghetti Marinara came with two huge and fresh prawns, then sprinkled with some cheese, adding some creamy and cheesy texture to the whole dish. Taste-wise, was decent and the Spaghetti Aglio Olio still prevails in my opinion.

Fettuccine Carbonara with Turkey Bacon (Rm21). The fettuccine has the right texture (al-dente), the turkey bacon does not give a significant aroma in my opinion, but it gives a boost in terms of texture. The sauce was a little bit too creamy to my liking.

Move on to the pizza, Chicken and Feta Cheese Pizza (Rm28) is one of their signature dishes. Basil Pesto paste was used instead of the usual tomato paste. The pizza was 100% home-made, including the pizza base, the cleverly used cherry tomatoes have balanced out the creaminess and cheesiness of the pizza. The pizza has an irresistible fragrant aroma thanks to the Feta cheese. The unique bitterness from the Feta cheese has successfully pushed the pizza to whole new level too.

Prawns and Chili Pizza (Rm30). The delectable pizza was not spicy at all, but the tomato sauce and the Mozzarella Cheese complemented well with the prawns, together with the perfectly baked pizza crust. The cheese used was at the right amount, was not too cheesy or creamy, just nice to my liking. Recommended.

Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich (Rm14). It comes with some nachos and a small bowl of their home-made salsa to go with the chips. The sourish salsa was made of chopped onions, tomatoes and some fresh herbs. The succulent chicken was sandwiched using their home-made Focaccia (Italian Bread), together with some onions, lettuce slices and a spread of mayonnaise. The chicken and the nachos were more to the salty side in my opinion but they did work well with the fluffy and freshly made bread.

Chocolate Brownies with Walnuts (Rm10), the portion was very big indeed. Melted chocolate sauce was topped on the thickly sliced chocolate brownies. The chocolate sauce was bitter in taste in my opinion, I would have preferred a slightly sweeter version but it works well with a cup of hot coffee.

The signature dishes of Nostalgie Cafe, their Carrot Cake (Rm12) comes in a very huge portion and definitely will fit two person well. Sharing is recommended. The Carrot Cake has a layer of Creme Cheese Frosting topped, the generous amount of Walnuts used contributed a lot to the nutty texture of the cake, not to forget the use of Raisins as well, it has given the cake another special flavor too. Its definitely one of the must-try in Nostalgie.

We were given a few types of beverages to try on, Ice Lemon Tea (Rm5), White Coffee (Rm5) and Black Coffee (Rm4). It was my mistake that I have missed out the chance to shoot the Cranberry Longan (Rm9), the Cranberry Longan was very flavorful and appetizing.

They do have a special menu for this year's (2011) Christmas too. If you are looking for a place to enjoy a scrumptious meal in this meaningful festive season, do consider to give it a shot at Nostalgie.