Cha Yu Kafei (茶与咖啡) @ Trang Road, Penang

Chinese Tea (Cha,茶) has always been very important to every single Chinese, basically, we use tea as a drink and we even use them in cooking. Cha Yu Kafei is also a place for Chinese tea lovers to learn and taste the real and authentic way in making a cup of nice Chinese tea. As the name of this restaurant suggested, Chinese tea will be included in most of the dishes, as we all are aware that Chinese tea do not only provide and blend the aroma into those dishes but they do reduce the oiliness of the dishes as well. The lady owner here is a very experienced Chinese tea lover that knows how to utilize the aroma of the tea and brings them to her customers. They do not serve pork in Cha Yu Kafei and they do cater for birthday parties and wedding dinners as well.

There is this small column for tea lovers to learn and make their own tea. Tea sets and necessary tools are also available for sale too. 

Cold Red Dates juice (Rm 2.50 each) A very nice and fragrant drink. It does not taste like red dates but it something close to herbal tea instead. Not too sweet either. Highly recommended.

Braised peanuts (Rm 2.50 per plate). This will be presented after you had ordered your dishes. 

Fragrant Tea Fried Rice (茶香炒饭 ,Rm 20.90) The fried rice comes in a big portion and topped with some tea. Although it was being named fragrant tea fried rice, however, we do not taste the fragrant of the tea. The ingredients used were very fresh especially the prawns which possessed crispy and springy texture. The taste and texture of the rice, were fairly good and above average than those ordinary fried rice out there. 

2 Ways Stir Fried Kai Lan (Chinese broccoli, 龙须芥兰, Rm 13.90 ) Some leaf-part of the Kai Lan were deep fried to perfection and maintained a crispy texture, where a stir fired version was covered underneath. The vegetables then topped with a garlic gravy. The vegetables were a bit oily to me but the taste and the flavor of the gravy were quite decent.

Kerabu Deep Fried Enoki Mushrooms (卡拉母金针菇 ,Rm 15.90) As the name suggested, the Enoki mushrooms were deep fried and topped with Kerabu (Mango salad prepared in Thai sauce), the mango salad was okay to me since the sauce was quite sweet and does not seem to be sour enough. The Enoki mushrooms were way too oily for me either, as well as it losses the unique flavor that Enoki mushroom supposed to have. I was rather disappointed with this dish.

Claypot Toufu (沙煲豆腐 ,Rm 15.90), the toufu was served piping hot, the taste for this dish was good, but after some considerations on the price, I think this dish was slightly over-priced since there were only 5 pieces of toufu given and there was not too much of other ingredients. The inner texture of the toufu was not as smooth as I expected either.

Stir Fried Pop Corn Chicken With Garlic Paste (蒜香鸡 ,Rm 18.90) The pop corn chicken was very disappointing, the chicken was deep fried ended up with a dry and oily texture. I would not knew that this dish was cooked using chicken if they did not told me earlier ago. I believe this dish is only suitable for those with exquisite taste buds.

A must try dish in this restaurant, Claypot Drunken Chicken Topped with Tea (茶香醉鸡, Rm 25.90). You will smell the aroma of this dish immediately the time when its being served. A very strong herbal (most likely its the flavor from dang gui, Chinese Angelica Root) and alcohol flavor, using the chicken thigh part as ingredients, you will be guaranteed a smooth and tender chicken. Although the sprinkle of Chinese tea does not seem to be effective as the flavor will be covered by the strong herbal aroma, but its actually a good thing to do from the prospect of traditional Chinese medicine since tea stimulates the effect of those herbals, well I am not going to elaborate more on that. This dish is very recommended.

Stir Fried Udon in Black Pepper Sauce (黑胡椒炒乌冬面) The taste was very similar to Tai Lok Mee (大碌面) out there but of course, the black pepper flavor will be much more stronger than those we can find out there. Overall, it was just okay for me.

Ratings:

Price: 6.5/10

Taste: 7.5/10

Service: 7.5/10

Parking: 7/10

Service Charge: Yes (5%)

Government Tax: No

Additional Information:

Address: 33, Jalan Trang, 10150, Penang. (Behind GAMA super market and directly opposite to Pinang optics)

Business Hours: 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 10.30pm Closed on every Tuesday

Phone Numbers: 016- 442 1028/ 604- 229 1028

Email: chayuafei.rest@gmail.com

Website: www.chayukafei.com