HIVE - A Casual Eatery Connecting People @ The Promenade, Bayan Baru, Penang - Crisp of Life

Love A Loaf Bakery Cafe, a modern style bakery has expanded its business into eatery, establishing a new restaurant named HIVE at the latest prominent business block - The Promenade. Bearing the tagline A Casual Eatery Connecting People, the cafe serve mainly pasta, fish and chips. waffles and some seemingly interesting special pots. Indeed, the food serves here are big in portion but may be too casual especially in terms of ingredients usage. Moreoever, it is strange yet true for a cafe claiming to be a place connecting people but with no WiFi for guests to use, yet there are hotspot with password for internal use.

We were intrigued with Spicy Carbonara (RM 20; chicken) but somehow the dish left us in a bewilderment. Noodles were cooked to the right al-dente texture and served along with generous portion of chicken slices but the expectations of carbonara was no where to be found. The main flavour comes from a tad of sauce composed of egg yolk and cheese manage to contribute a little to the creaminess, and the taste was average.

The proclaimed spicy was contributed by a radical way in Western dishes. It was derived from some green chili, which is called jalapeno slices thrown to the spaghetti. If you get a bite of the jalapeno, then you feel some spiciness. It is alike you have a noodle of wantan mee, then you throw some pickled chili on it.

All the waffles were sold off during our visit so we have to settle with Tilapia "N" Chips (RM 19). Initially we were slightly turned off by the usage of Tilapia fish but the end results were alright. Portion was generous with 3 pieces of nicely fried fish and a large quantity of chips. It goes well with the mayonnaise and the green pea sauce (I supposed), and it definitely worth the RM 19 paid if you are planning to look for something stomach fulfilling.

We thought the Floral Elderflower Tea (RM 11) would be served hot but it turned out to be a cold drink. They would have done better if they provide an option for either hot or cold.