ChinaHouse

the place is so cozy! so packed but the service is still good! this place is so unique because the table itself have paper that we can draw, they even provide crayon too, and they will hang your art if its good! you also can bring home if you want of course! the place is 4 big house building combine into 1, theye ven explain it in one of their poster, they have 4 section each cafe have different vibe/purpose. i highly suggest to come here if you looking for experience and good dessert ( ◜𖥦◝ )

This place was recommended to me and for a coffee and cake, it did not disappoint! The selection of cakes was incredible and made for a very tough choice. I opted for the pecan caramel tart and it was seriously delicious! My coffee was perfect and they encouraged people (possibly just children) to draw on the table. It made me wish I was in someway artisticly talented but alas, I went upstairs to the art gallery and looked at the professionals do their thing! Great restaurant with a cool atmosphere.

— A Night Best Discovered, Not Advertised — ChinaHouse is less a venue and more an experience in layers: a traditional compound of three heritage buildings, stitched together by an open-air courtyard and transformed into a small universe of cafés, bars, galleries, shops, and live music spaces. I arrived late at night, wandering through the compound almost by accident, passing quiet corners and dimly lit rooms until I reached the canteen bar, where live music filled the back of the space. I ordered a bottle of Tiger beer (RM 28.95)—pricey, yes. Yet I kept ordering more, not out of thirst, but because the atmosphere was that good. Warm, relaxed, unforced. The kind of place where you stay until the band finishes—not because you planned to, but because leaving would feel like a mistake. It turned into one of those nights you don’t rush to define, only to remember later with a quiet smile. Should I recommend it? I hesitate. Because if it becomes any more popular, next time I return I might not find a seat—and that would be unforgivable.

Sister came for holiday, had to bring her twice in a week. The cake is really good. Though the price is higher, but it’s worth every penny! Ordered the coffee chocolate masala cake. Very good

Service was so-so, chill vibes and the place felt a bit narrow and packed. Interior is very rustic which suits the shop name. It was crowded but the shop opens late, making it a great dessert or supper spot since the menu is of variety. Ordered the signature tiramisu cake which look quite big and tastes not bad. The matcha latte was good too. The best part is being able to draw on the tables (crayons are given) which made the experience really fun. Food was fine and the price was unsurprisingly expensive but overall it is worth visiting for the unique experience and considering the time it opens for too!

China House is one of those places where orientation matters, because the complex has two different entrances: one on Beach Street and the other on Victoria Street, close to the fire station. I mention this because I met a tourist outside who was trying to find the fire station to meet her friend, but she was standing on Beach Street, while the fire station is actually one block away near the Victoria Street entrance. If you are meeting someone here, choose the street in advance, or you may end up doing the same. Once you step inside, the place reveals its real charm. China House is a long, beautifully restored shophouse complex divided into different sections, each with its own atmosphere. Cafes, bars, galleries, a courtyard, and rooms dedicated to music and small events all flow into one another. It is a creative hub where you can sit for coffee and cake, browse artworks, enjoy live music, or simply wander through the spaces. The interior keeps a lot of the original shophouse character, mixed with contemporary art pieces and casual seating. It feels relaxed and lived in, not overly curated, which is part of the appeal. Despite being located in a touristy area, China House has a strong local crowd. Many people come here to work, meet friends or just enjoy the ambience away from the streets outside. Food and drinks are good, with a wide selection of cakes that seem to be a favourite among both locals and visitors. Prices reflect the concept and location but remain reasonable for what you get. China House is one of those spots that offers a bit of everything without trying too hard. A great stop in Georgetown, especially if you want a break from the heat or a creative space to unwind.

China House is famous for its massive selection of cakes, and we finally gave it a try. The atmosphere is very unique, super long heritage building with an eclectic, artistic feel. You can't visit China House without ordering from their famous cake table! We came specifically for dessert and ordered the Nutella Cake and the Orange Cake. The selection is overwhelming (in a good way), but these two were great choices. The Nutella cake was incredibly rich and decadent, perfect if you have a sweet tooth. The Orange cake was a nice contrast; moist, zesty, and not too heavy. It’s a great spot to soak in the artsy vibe and enjoy some high-quality treats.

The cake house itself gives the aesthetic vintage vibe and the cake portion was large and generous. Do stop by to visit the adorable dog named Hannah 😆

I had a monstrous slice of tiramisu here and it was one of my favorite desserts in Malaysia. The cake was bigger than my hand but not too sweet nor heavy--a perfect afternoon snack. The candied walnuts were also a nice touch.

This is the perfect place to grab a drink and enjoy some live music in the Canteen side of the venue. From what I gather, this is a restaurant, tea house, bar, and music venue all in one. The drinks were fantastic and bartenders were very friendly. Rotating bands throughout the week nights - overall a great way to end the night in Penang.

A really cute place by Penang Street to relax, have some tea/wine, look at art and enjoy one of their many cakes! I came around little before lunch and it was a little busy, but not too much to deter me. I ended up sharing a slice of tiramisu and rock tea. OOOH this cake is SOOO good! Not too sweet, bouncy, with bits of coffee and chocolate. I loved this one. The rock tea was also great. I had to wait a bit for the tea to seep, but it came in a cute pot and glass. Each table is also covered with paper and crayons so you can draw/get creative while you wait!

Excellent everything here! Why it isn't 5s across the top is unclear to me. The atmosphere is unlike anywhere else I've been as far as coffee/tea houses go. Services was prompt and we were immediately seated and attended to. And then there are the cakes and desserts! Before that I had the bento box and It was absolutely delicious. Highly recommended.

Great food loved the sea bass. Love the vibe and the entire layout. Many choices for food and drink.

The good- live DJ. Good jams. Interesting art exhibits of local artists. As for the food, the mediocre desserts are not too sweet. Ok drinks. Service could be greatly improved. Essentially, you wait forever before you get a menu, your order is taken and kitchen to table service. Let's not even talk about how long it takes to get the bill.

A place we will remember, for sure. The wait was short, the cakes delicious, jasmin tea and juices as you would expect. We sat in the back room, which is relatively quiet. The fifth star would be given if prices were lower and service just a bit more personal. There are a lot of people and a lot of staff in the cafe. Possibly the experience wouldn't be the same with less chaos, but nevertheless you can get the feeling that you are a bit ... well, in the way. Next time in Penang, we will probably be back.

Right by Armenian street is this coffee house. It spans 2 colonial shop lots and host several distinctive spaces inside, all adorned with quirky wall art. They serve coffee, pastry, lunch, dinner , a wine bar and a full bar with musicians in the back. Some anytime of the day to eat and chill. Do not miss the The Great Monkey sage wall art in the back. A hidden piece not listed in the Armenian street wall art collection!

Great selection of cakes and beverages, in a shophouse with a really cute interior and a kitschy shop upstairs. It was let down by its poor service. On our first visit, nobody attended to us for 20 minutes. This outfit basically has a selection of say 30 cakes, and they slice it upon request/order. Our cake took at least 15 minutes to come, followed by beverages about 5 minutes into the cake. I suppose they are under-staffed and the popularity and IG-worthiness of this joint doesn't help. Would return, but take note you'll have to wait.

Hidden gem to find in Penang. Experience the good-old-times interiors of a traditional long shophouse and check out their interesting rows of cakes to choose from! Nice place to chill after exploring Penang streets and tourist spots. Personally liked their tiramisu, and it's with alcohol! Every layer of the cake is a bliss, especially the fresh light coffee cream. Though stuff on the menu are pricier than the normal cafes out there, it's a good experience I had with friend and will definitely recommend this place to others.

Nice cake and drink, beautiful decoration but nothing is special. Quite expensive for budget travellers who want to enjoy local dishes. When I came, it was quite crowded but I needed to wait only around 5 mins. Good service. Service charge applied :(

The food is good but this place is a complete and total rip off. Apparently they call this a liter (carafe) of sangria and charge 128 RM which is 32$ in USD. There were three of us and we barely got 3 glasses out of this "carafe". As you can tell the liter Mark is at the TOP of the glass and this carafe was barely half way full. I asked them to change this to 3 glasses of sangria instead @ 28 RM each (7$ usd) of which they did not. Don't spend your money here and this place should be ashamed. I will never come back here and will advise everyone to avoid. Worst place I have been in Penang to date.

Awesome little bakery/tea house in the middle of Georgetown. We came in for the live music actually, but it was so crowded we decided to just enjoy desserts in the bakery. They offer tons of books, magazines, and games. Crayons are also offered at every table so you can definitely lose yourself in time here. And both desserts and teas are good.

The recent surge of growth and development in Penang provided favourable conditions for entrepreneurs to do their thing, and this has resulted in the many independent businesses we hear about today. ChinaHouse has become some sort of an icon representing the current "scene" in Penang, and is one of the most famous spots in the Georgetown heritage area. ChinaHouse is a cafe, gallery, event space, bar, restaurant and bakery rolled into one, occupying three beautiful heritage buildings offering a variety of food and drinks to the many guests who visit daily. While it may be a pain to get a spot during weekends and peak hours, the experience is very worthwhile. ChinaHouse serves a wide variety of cakes and their Tiramisu comes highly recommended. Coffee is decent while the food is well above average. It is also worth spending some time to explore the entire space, where you will find many Instagramable spots along the way. For those visiting in the late afternoon on weekends, skip the crowd at the cafe and restaurant. Go for The Canteen instead, which is located at the rear end of the cafe behind the open air courtyard. Get your cakes brought over from the cafe, kick back with a few beers and enjoy some quality live music.

Nice artsy spot for grabbing dinner, desserts, brunch or even a cup of coffee. The space is huge with each section having a different theme. Chill at the Canteen which is loud and cheerful with live music or sit by the quaint Chinese lanterns and pool under the tree or grab a table by the fabulous spread of delectable pastries and cakes. The place stays open late but the kitchen closes by 10. Unfortunately we could not make it in time to be served dinner but we enjoyed the visit and hoped to come back. There is also a fine dining room which you need to make reservations to dine in. Unfortunately we were too casually dressed and also did not make a reservation so we were denied entry :/ Definitely a must visit for tourists!

Service level was a major turn off. The lady in charged of slicing the cakes seems unwilling, and gives a v negative aura. Service was slow, you are better off walking up to counters ordering and waiting for your food. Cake selection was amazing, sadly, the cake don't live up to the expectation. We ordered 4 diff slices, only tiramisu was on mark. Red velvet was too moist, vanilla cup cake tasted like those factory made u buy in a pack of 4 from mama shop. Chocolate cake was a huge disappointment. I would say this place is NOT worth visiting. I do like the cafe deco, I would recommend u to come in for a look ( most likely you will be ignored as service staff walks by u) but take your business somewhere else. There are many better food and service cafes across the road.

Wow the amount of different cake options here is crazy! The tiramisu and salted Carmel cheesecake are bomb. Definitely don't get the mint chocolate cake, the frosting is hard and taste like minty butter. Otherwise nice place :)

Great coffee spot with free wifi and an incredible array of cakes! There is plenty of seating, a small gallery upstairs, and at night has live music, drinks, and a full dinner menu

Great atmosphere, beautiful tea house. They even allowed us to doodle on the table while waiting for our cake to be served. The italian cream cake we ordered was delicious. There are plenty of cakes to choose from. Definitely a good spot for tea.

I just stopped in here for dessert after dinner elsewhere. The decor is good and there is AC. There is music but it isn't overly loud and the clientele isn't either (at least at this hour, 7 to 8 pm). Nice and relaxing. I had the salted Carmel cheese cake and an iced latte. The cheese cake was good but not great. The latte was slightly bitter.

Amazing salted caramel cheesecake. And snickers cheesecake. And every other flavour cake you could possibly dream of on one big table. Goodbye new years resolutions. Hello sugar. Welcome to China House, you open the door and it just keeps going and going and going.. Not only do they serve great food, coffee and cakes but also the customer service is fantastic. They also have live music playing in the Canteen at night so be sure to grab a seat early. Worth visiting while in Penang.

The building itself is located in the heritage district and it's a renovated old house. It's what's called a longhouse in Malaysia. Very cool architecture. There is a restaurant, a bar, and a bakery. It's a combination of both Malaysian and American cuisine. Once finished dinner, you can walk outside and go into another historic district. It's where the famous Malaysian picture of two children on a bicycle is. Very cool restaurant.

Decent cakes but terribly snobbish staff and poor service..come here if u like being treated with an attitude

Other then the cakes were nice, everything else we're normal. The place was unhygienic, the service was bad. As I went on a Saturday night, the place was overly crowded, and I had to wait for a staff for 20 minutes.

Cool café with good cakes. Tables in the back are nicer, as the front is kinda cramped. Service can be glacially slow at lunch (waited 55 mins for a small pizza...). Also, wifi doesn't work, despite the staff saying to try again. So couldnt get an uber back. It's become "the" hipster place in Penang I've the last year or so.

This place is just amazing! Cakes galore and interesting tea. The carrot cake. So moist! Loved the arts on the walls and the opportunity to draw some stuff myself!

Went for a drink in the evening on a weekday and it was dead. The band playing wasnt good either. Was surprised at how expensive the drinks were. A bottle of hoegarden was 27 myr! For comparison you can get a mojito for 30 at E&O. We left disappointed so wouldn't recommend going here. Maybe the cakes are better and that's the hype?

Food was good and they have a huge variety of cakes and beverages. However, I felt like the place was a rip-off. Overpriced and service was a little slow.

Great atmosphere, great food, friendly staff and live music in the back starting at 9:30pm each night. They change the bands every week. Some fantastic stuff!