Lovecipes Vintage Cafe - Penang

Last year, I embarked on an epic journey of Penang, Malaysia to unearth all the superb vegetarian delights that the island holds.  For today's review, I feature the very first eatery that I visited on this long three month exploration - Lovecipes.  This is a calming and trendy new eatery, which only recently opened.  They claim to use the freshest ingredients in their cooking.  More information can be found on their website here.















Lovecipes Cafe
Location: 42 Jalan Rangoon
Contact: +60 14-306 9942
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 11.00am-3.00pm & 6.00pm-10.00pm.  Closed Monday


The setting of Lovecipes is very nice, with a rustic homely feel about it.
Ok, I have to admit that visually this thing looks a little grotesque. These Lor Rolls look like a pair of decaying intestines.  Inside these beancurds rolls one can find chestnuts and mushroom.  The price is a little on the high side for such a small item.

Price: RM8.00.     6/10
Next dish was the Kong Bao Lion's Mane Mushoom.  For this dish they are using monkeyhead mushroom (also known as hedgehog mushroom) - Personally nothing beats monkeyhead in terms of juiciness and texture, it is really one of the best ingredients vegetarian cooks can use.  The sauce in this dish was strong and flavourful, and matched the mushroom and other ingredients well.

Price: RM14.90.     7/10

If you want a vegetable dish, then you may want to consider ordering the Steam Lady Finger with Homemade Asam Sauce.  As the ladyfingers are steamed (unlike most places, who fry them) it does make this dish considerably more healthy.  Although this dish is more healthy, I didn't find the taste to be particularly impressive.  The ladyfingers were a little too firm, and there was not enough asam sauce to make this dish tasty enough for my liking.

Price: RM8.90.     5/10
Another dish I was a little underwhelmed by was the Oatmeal Abalone Mushroom with Curry Leaf.  I didn't like the brittle texture of the mushrooms, and would have preferred them to be more juicy.

Price: RM12.90.     5/10
Last dish of the evening was the Asam Curry.  These sort of curries will always put a smile on my face, I love the strong flavourful spices used, the lemongrass and galangal particularly stood out in this curry.  The ingredients were cooked well, and overall it was a very satisfying dish.

Price: RM12.90.     7/10



Conclusion - Food wise, Lovecipes can improve more.  The quality of vegetarian food in Penang is increasing sharply, so during my three month stay in Penang, Lovecipes was one of those eateries that became easily forgotten.  Having said that, I did love the ambiance of the place, and the staff seemed very polite and friendly.

Overall Rating
Food - 6/10
Ambiance- 8/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 6/10