Kopitiam: A Slice of Penang in the Lower East Side

Kopitiam, a “coffee shop” in Hokkien. On a casual weekday, you would probably miss this medium-sized coffee shop tucked away in the middle of the block on 151 East Broadway (Figure 1). Only keen eyes would catch the large Kopitiam logo sticking out from the side of the establishment. As you make your way up the steps approaching the front of the shop, you see a small casual outdoor seating area with two brightly colored ceramic stools and a bright pink rotary telephone to the right of the door. Walking into the shop post-COVID, the once brightly decorated interior now only seats half its capacity with sleek white dividers sectioning off the dine-in tables and plexiglass separating the register from the dining area.

But the homey feel of a traditional coffee shop remains. The small team of front-of-house employees, composed of mostly high school and college students, and the kitchen staff of aunties and uncles, are what keeps this ‘kopitiam’ running during the stretch of the pandemic. Now imagine sitting at the window bar, sipping on a Malaysian hand-pulled white coffee and snacking on kaya butter toast (Figure 2). Not only are you enjoying the traditional ‘kopitiam’ experience, but at one of the best shops introducing Baba Nyonya cuisine to all New Yorkers.

Starting as a small four-seater coffee shop on the corner of Canal Street, Kopitiam moved to its new space in 2018. The founder and executive chef, Kyo Pang, founded Kopitiam in 2015 as a homage to the coffee and tea parlors of Malaysia where she grew up. Its first location mainly served sweets and drinks along with a short selection of savory snacks. After re-opening within the new space as a fast-casual eatery, Pang released a more extensive menu of traditional Baba Nyonya eats (Wells). In comparison to typical Malaysian food, Baba Nyonya cuisine draws on ingredients and techniques from Malay and Chinese flavors, along with influences from the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British. In place of additives and artificial coloring, Pang sources ingredients directly from Malaysia and local NYC markets. From 10 a.m., when the doors open, until 9 p.m., when they close, Kopitiam offers an all-day breakfast menu that includes Nasi Lemak, Malaysia’s national dish typically eaten for breakfast. A bowl of fragrant coconut milk infused rice topped with an in-house blend of fried anchovies and caramelized peanuts, slices of cucumber, and a hard-boiled egg is a perfect way to start the day (Figure 3).

Now, ‘kopitiam’ in Hokkien means ‘coffee shop,’ so we can’t forget about the coffees and teas. Kopitiam’s black coffee beans and white coffee powder are shipped directly from Koon Kee, a coffeehouse in Penang, Malaysia (Tishgart). The black tea is also sourced from BOH Tea, one of Malaysia’s most popular tea brands. Pang has an exclusive partnership with Koon Kee, boasting that Kopitiam is the first and only Stateside cafe to carry their  products. The black coffee beans are roasted with butter to tone down the acidity of the bean to produce a smoother taste after brewing. The white coffee bean is roasted with olive oil and then ground into a fine powder, which helps ratio the caffeine, making the white coffee three times less caffeinated than the black coffee (Figure 4).

The art of brewing Malaysian kopi (coffee) and teh (tea) all starts by pouring hot water over coffee grounds or tea leaves in the bottom of a filter sock. Kopi beans must be brewed with water above 200 degrees to enhance the beans’ flavor. Pulling the liquid through the sock two to three times makes the coffee and tea flavor stronger. Served plain, customers would order a kopi-o (black coffee) and teh-o (black tea) to enjoy the drink’s simplicity. Adding unsweetened evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk only enhances the flavors. White coffee embodies a more delicate and creamier taste as it is pulled with sweetened condensed milk.

Anytime a customer orders a drink that contains evaporated milk or condensed milk, they can see the young barista behind the plexiglass pulling their drink from pitcher to pitcher (Figure 5). Pulling is the “art of cooling the beverage while coaxing the milk in it to form a foamy head by pouring it from one pot to another in long, swooping, steamy cataracts” (Wells). Customers can enjoy  a nice, warm cup of sweetened coffee or a drink iced in a clear plastic pouch, printed with Kopitiam’s store logo and a “Certified Awesome” on the back (Figure 6).

Kopitiam has appeared on one of Eater’s “16 Best New Restaurants in America of 2019” and in Bon Appetit’s hundred recommended restaurants in New York (Goddu). The founder and executive chef, Kyo Pang, is also a James Beard Semifinalist. All these recognitions and awards aside, Charlotte Goddu from The Ringer describes Kopitiam as having “the profile of a buzzy New York restaurant, but the backbone of a much humbler neighborhood mom-and-pop” (Goddu). The baristas pulling the coffee, the person taking orders, and the waitstaff running the food are often  high school or college students. Most of the team comprises young students who live within the Chinatown and Lower East Side area, representing a connection to its neighborhood that “most of the restaurant’s counterparts lack” (Goddu). At the time of opening in 2018, roughly half of the team were high school students, many of whom had no prior working experience at all.

Three years later, many of these young workers remain and are entering college, while others are newly hired and joining the “Kopiteam.” Ethan Chen, an alumnus of Stuyvesant High School and a current student at Cornell University, told Goddu in 2019 that his experience at Kopitiam has given him something more “valuable than the traditional office internships” (Goddu). William Li, an alumnus of Baruch College Campus High School and a current student at CUNY Baruch College, told Goddu that “working [at Kopitiam] builds my self-esteem and my confidence in talking with people” (Goddu).

Two of Kopitiam’s newest additions to the team include Tommy Chen, an alumnus of Millennium High School and current student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Vivian Zhao, an alumna of Prairie Central High School and current student at CUNY Hunter College. After personally speaking with the two employees regarding their experiences after joining the team, Chen spoke of the challenges that he faced during his beginning months: “When there are a lot of customers coming in during rush hour, we have to be really organized and communicate with our team to make sure we’re giving customers the best service” (Chen). Zhao expressed similar thoughts and said, “I have become more aware and conscious of customers’ needs and of the importance of hospitality” (Zhao). Both Chen and Zhao mentioned the welcoming environment that Kopitiam has fostered for its team and its customers, with Zhao saying, “I have quickly come to realize that a lot of people can call Kopitiam a second home, a welcoming place with down-to-earth staff (Zhao).” In an interview with Goddu, Pang said, “The major goal is to create a place where people feel like this is a little corner where they will usually hang out. Kopitiam in Malaysia is about the same thing–your family goes to the same place over decades” (Goddu). With a team of employees stretching over generations–the back-of-house staff made up of primarily elderly Malaysian women and the front-of-house staff made up of students and young adults–the foundation of Kopitiam is, in and of itself, a family. Over the years, the team has developed a family-like dynamic, which is difficult to foster in a workplace. This strong bond that the team exhibits also influences our customer-base and keeps them coming back.

As a current employee, I can contend that Kopitiam is a special place for all its staff and customers. Kopitiam is doing more than just feeding people. It brings people in the community together to appreciate Baba Nyonya cuisine and an opportunity to catch up with old friends over a cup of coffee or tea. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, staff members would linger around in the coffee shop after their shifts and chat over a late-afternoon meal. Many of them would visit Kopitiam even on days when they were not working; they would do homework or play games, huddled in the small employee area of the shop. During the height of the pandemic, that was not possible. After Governor Cuomo signed the NYS On Pause Executive Order and establishments shut down operations in mid-March of 2020, the Kopitiam team did not fully return until late 2020 and early 2021. Now, when customers make their way up the steps of Kopitiam’s entrance, they can catch a glimpse of the employee area. Once again, team members hang out and converse like the old days: playing card games, doing homework, or studying for exams.

While the new Kopitiam location will only celebrate its third birthday this upcoming summer, it has established its title as a hidden gem in the Lower East Side and a place where many can call “a home away from home.” On April 18 of 2021, Pang posted to her Instagram page a behind-the-scenes photo of her late-night kuih (bite-sized dessert) making along with a heartfelt caption:

Today, I met a lady who was also from Penang, [Malaysia]. She lived in upstate New York and asked if I was also from Penang. When I said ‘I was,’ she asked for a hug. [It] turns out that she also [grew] up eating at my family’s restaurant in Penang. How the world works is always amazing, isn’t it? It feels so good that two Penangnites are meeting each other [on the other side of the world] outside of Penang. She came all the way [from upstate] for these kuihs, [searching] for the taste of home and childhood memories.

While this may seem like a scene too picture-perfect, these instances occur more than I can remember. Day in and day out, countless customers approach the register after their meal to thank us for bringing their hometown to NYC and for bringing back nostalgic childhood memories. Countless times customers ask to thank Pang personally, resulting in beautiful moments like the one Pang detailed in her Instagram caption.

Kopitiam is more than just a coffee shop. It is a living, breathing product of Pang’s family recipes, traditional Baba Nyonya cuisine, and a gathering place for fellow Malaysians and Malaysian cuisine lovers. While it is a relatively young site, Kopitiam continues to spread appreciation for Malaysian cuisine and is a place where generations of families and friends will return to visit. What started as a simple homage to Pang’s childhood and hometown of Penang has become a gathering place for over a hundred customers a day (Yes! Reopening after the pandemic got under control in the city was met with great customer turnout) and part-time employment opportunities for young adults and students. In a bustling city like New York, keep your eyes peeled for the large Kopitiam logo on 151 East Broadway. Who knows, maybe you will fall in love with a coffee shop too.

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Works Cited

Goddu, Charlotte. “The Buzziest Café in New York City, and the Teens Who Make It Go.” The Ringer, The Ringer, 8 Aug. 2019, www.theringer.com/2019/8/8/20755602/kopitiam-nyc-chinatown-teens. 

Chen, Tommy. Personal interview. Spring 2021.

Pang, Kyo (@Kyo_pang78). “Today, I met a lady who was also from Penang…” Instagram, 18 April 2021.

Tishgart, Sierra. “Why You Should Definitely Try Malaysian-Style White Coffee.” Grub Street, 27 Jan. 2016, www.grubstreet.com/2016/01/kopitiam-white-coffee.html. 

Wells, Pete. “At Kopitiam, Malaysian Food Powers Through Some Growing Pains.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/dining/kopitiam-restaurant-review.html. 

Zhao, Vivian. Personal interview. Spring 2021.