Special thanks to Bayview Hotel Georgetown Penang for extending this food review invitation.
It is a little known fact that Bayview Hotel operates a lunchtime eatery called Secret Alley Café. Located at the side of the hotel building, Secret Alley Café does not have air conditioning. But thanks to the high ceiling, the dining area is reasonably well ventilated.
Secret Alley Café serves economy rice (nasi campur) every weekday except on public holidays. Food is prepared from Kopi Tiam’s halal-certified kitchen. Adopting no-frills concept, Secret Alley Café aims to offer a variety of familiar dishes at very affordable prices.
Meat dishes cover chicken, beef, fish and squid. As for vegetables, there are water spinach, bok choy, broccoli, winged beans, bitter gourd and more. Soup is complimentary for dine-in customers.
Besides white rice, customers can also opt for nasi tomato (tomato rice) or nasi goreng (fried rice). Secret Alley Café adopts self-service model: Customers pick their own dishes and proceed to pay the cashier. Dine-in and take-away options are available.
Meanwhile, the noodle station serves a different noodle dish every day. Examples are laksa kahwin, mee udang, mee rebus, curry mee and koay teow soup. Fish head bee hoon soup (RM6.50) is served today.
Customers who prefer something light can go for roti jala (lace pancake), ulam (raw vegetables), acar (pickled vegetables), spring rolls, lor bak (fried rolls) or papadom (black gram crackers). The actual items vary from day to day.
As for drinks, the instant coffee machine dispenses coffee, tea and teh tarik. There are also canned and bottled drinks in the refrigerator.
Secret Alley Café is especially popular among office workers who work nearby. This is because the pricing is very affordable; a typical meal costs less than RM10.00. Compared to hawker stalls, Secret Alley Café has the upper hand in terms of better hygiene and significantly more dishes.
Name: Secret Alley Café
Address: Bayview Hotel, 25-A, Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-263-3161
Business hours: 11:00am-2:30pm, closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
Website: https://bhgp.bayviewhotels.com/dining-drinks/kopitiam
Coordinates: 5.42180 N, 100.33573 E
Directions: Bayview Hotel is located at Leith Street (Lebuh Leith), between Lebuh Farquhar and Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. Secret Alley Café is located at an alley between the hotel and Plaza MWE. The hotel’s multi-storey parking garage is accessible from Lebuh Farquhar. Street parking is also available in front of the hotel.
