It might be near impossible to chance upon Norm Micro Roastery if you’re just walking around George Town, Penang. This is because the door (and café interior) is not immediately visible from the outside.
Despite this, Norm Micro Roastery is often full of customers. We went on a weekday afternoon, and it was almost full house.
What is so nice about Norm Micro Roastery? Read on to discover what we think of Norm Micro Roastery.
Table Of Contents:
About Norm Micro Roastery
Before their current location, Norm Micro Roastery was at Carnavon Street and their former name was just Norm.
That was back in 2020 and they operated at this location for around 3 years before moving to Gat Lebuh Gereja.
Today, they still keep their unusual concept – café by day (Norm Micro Roastery), bar by night (Open Minded by Norm).
The operation hours of the café are from 9am to 6pm. While the bar starts from 6pm to 11pm.
Ease Of Parking At Norm Micro Roastery
Norm Micro Roastery does have a few parking slots for customers right outside, but they fill up quickly.
Which will leave you with these options instead:
This part of George Town rarely has vacant street parking because of all the nearby banks. If you don’t want to spend time looking for parking, you can go for the large open-air car park close to the jetty (parking fees apply).
Another paid parking area you can try is Sri Weld Food Court Car Park.
The closest attractions to Norm Micro Roastery are Wonder Food Museum. Walking to Penang Little India from here will take around 6 minutes.
Those walking to Norm Micro Roastery from Swenttenham Pier Cruise Terminal will need roughly 7 minutes.
Ambiance At Norm Micro Roastery
Norm Micro Roastery’s exterior blends in with its surroundings. The main entrance is a large swivel door that looks like a wall from the outside. It is lighter than it looks.
On the inside, Norm Micro Roastery looks amazing. The café is blessed with a high ceiling which lets in natural light.
Real trees draw the eye upwards too. The interior styling is minimalist/ industrial, complete with raw walls and built-in cement seating and counters.
Part of the seating is on loose gravel which is something we’ve not seen before in a café.
There is another room off to the side of the main seating area. And this brightly lit space is just as inviting.
Norm Micro Roastery offers WiFi for their customers, and we did see people bring their laptops to work here too.
But even though the building is spacious, there are many tables close to each other. So, the atmosphere may be a bit too lively to carry out conversations.
Service At Norm Micro Roastery
Most of the staff work behind the counter. And a few of them will wait on tables.
They are polite and we did not face any problems with communicating our order. The drinks we ordered came in a timely manner too despite the café being full when we walked in.
The kitchen is constantly churning out orders and it seems that service is quick and efficient.
Food At Norm Micro Roastery
Pasta and salads are popular orders at Norm Micro Roastery from what we observed.
But we chose to get drinks since we were still full from our meal at Fu Er Dai dim sum restaurant.
There’s quite a lot of different drinks to choose from on the menu of Norm Micro Roastery. There are different variations of black and white coffee. You can get affogato and an Aussie latte here too.
If Chinese tea is your preference, they have some too.
Other drinks include usual café staple beverages like matcha latte. But they do have hot (or iced) chocolate too.
We ended up getting one of their signature drinks, Matcha Yuzu and an iced white coffee. Both of which were good.
The Matcha Yuzu is not sweet and tangy from the yuzu. Which is so refreshing on a hot day!
Pricing At Norm Micro Roastery
Mains cost around RM30 (the cheapest is around RM22 for soup and sourdough bread) while drinks range from RM10 to RM20.
Note: We just ordered two drinks, and our total was RM30+.
Their signature desserts go from RM10 for a cookie, to RM17 for tiramisu or burnt cheesecake.
So, if you’re planning to have a main, drink and dessert here, it will come up to more than RM50 per person.
Conclusion
Even with so many cafes competing in Penang, Norm Micro Roastery is doing really well. Their pricing is on the high side. But they do not disappoint.
Come for the stunning interior, and stay for their coffee and signature drinks, food, and desserts!
It’s a comfortable place to hang out with friends (day or night).
