The newly-opened, 2-week-old Two Frenchies on Bishop Street offers perhaps the most authentic French bistro fare in Penang. Owned by two long-time French expatriates in Penang, Bruno Guillon and Cedric Delmotte, Two Frenchies is an oasis for good Gallic home-cooked fare on a little street which used to be Penang’s High Street a century ago. Bishop Street itself is named after the 18th-century Toulouse-born French Bishop Arnaud-Antoine Garnault who settled here in 1781.
Fronted by Diana Delmotte, the amiable Penang-born, French-speaking hostess (and wife of Monsieur Delmotte), Two Frenchies provides the perfect break for travellers who want a respite from Penang’s assertive Chinese-Indian-Muslim street fare, relax over a glass of wine & indulge in good French bistro classics like a soupe à l’oignon, boeuf Bourguignon or blanquette de saumon.
Two Frenchies took great pains to ensure 100% authenticity in its dishes, a departure from the usual practice in Penang of localising its Western fare, be they American, Italian, Spanish or any other European cuisine, to suit the local/native palate.
What we tried so far:
- Soupe à l’oignon (French onion soup).
- Escargots à la Bourguignonne (snails in garlic–herb butter).
- Croque-Madame (French toasted sandwich with gruyère, béchamel sauce, topped with a perfectly fried egg).
- Quiche Lorraine
Mains
5. Confit de canard (duck confit from the South-west region of France). The rendition here was perfect: fall-off-the-bone tender duck-meat, on rich but not too creamy mashed potatoes.
- Blanquette de saumon - my fave dish there so far, the rich creamy sauce was exquisite, and the fish was perfectly-cooked.
- Boeuf bourguignon - utterly delicious here. The chef made sure cured pork was used to impart the rich, salty tang atop the deep, mellow flavours of the stew.
Desserts
7. Profiteroles - the ones here were filled with ice-cream instead my fave filling: whipped sweet cream.
- Vacherin with mango coulis (meringue with whipped cream & mango sauce).
- Mousse au chocolat - very rich, chocolatey flavours. Perfect textures.
- Pancakes with caramel - this item is available on Two Frenchies breakfast menu: very tasty as I polished off both pancakes despite having had two heavy courses earlier.
Two Frenchies continues to add to its menu as its kitchen settles in. Really looking forward to the new items it plans to add to its current repertoire.
Address
Two Frenchies Cafe Bistro
36, Lebuh Bishop, 10200 George Town, Penang
Tel: +604-261 2000
Opening hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm daily, except Monday (closed).