Why this Penang fusion cafe is a must-visit “pit stop” for car and motorcycle enthusiasts

To stand out, it seems like new cafes nowadays must have a unique theme to offer to customers. Just recently, Vulcan Post has featured an aquascape-themed cafe, a school-themed cafe, and office-themed cafe, amongst many others.

Up north in the buzzing food scene of Penang, this is true as well. A relatively new addition is Pedal & Rolls, a car-themed cafe for car enthusiasts.

Rolling into the scene

As you might’ve guessed, the people behind Pedal & Rolls are car enthusiasts themselves.

Speaking to Vulcan Post, co-founder Ken Lam shared that he and his partners are all very much into vehicles—both cars and motorcycles.

Although he isn’t an interior designer, Ken has a background as a graphic and multimedia designer. This creative background was something he leveraged during the design process of Pedal & Rolls.

“It was quite an adventure,” he shared about the journey of establishing the cafe. “We’ve had this inspiration since last year. We were brainstorming together what kind of concept we wanted to do for our cafe, and we finally decided to do a car-themed cafe, which is related to our hobby as well.”

With that decision made, Pedal & Rolls opened its doors at the end of July this year.

Located in Tanjung Bungah, it’s described as a “pit stop” for cars and motorcycle lovers. The cafe mimics a “home garage,” featuring industrial concepts and various car-related paraphernalia to fit the theme.

If you know about car culture, you’ll know that it oftentimes involves a lot of physical meetups so that hobbyists can check out others’ vehicles while connecting with each other over their common interest.

Pedal & Rolls isn’t just tapping into this culture but is also uplifting and growing it in Penang.

Aside from car meets that gather enthusiasts, they also host Simmatch racing games for customers.

As Ken said, “It’s like a dream for us to gather with friends with our vehicles parked right next to each other, having meals and beverages while talking about cars or motorcycles, playing simulator racing games, sharing the same interest, and meeting new people.”

Late nights and fusion food

Pedal & Rolls serves fusion-styled fare, as the team believes this type of cuisine is most suitable given the theme and local audience. The establishment is pork-free and does not serve alcohol.  

Instead of just targeting vehicle enthusiasts, Pedal & Rolls also welcomes many walk-in customers who simply want to experience the ambience.  

One thing about Penang, though, is that the F&B scene is quite competitive. Plus, many restaurants serve modern, Western-inspired cuisine. There’s Whisk & Whiz, Yolk, Syarikat Cafe, and many more. Given, these are mostly in the George Town area.

Still, Ken acknowledges the competitiveness and even embraces it. He believes that every cafe has its own subset of loyal customers.

“For us, we have our concept, culture, and audience as well,” he said. “So, the branding that we are creating, and the marketing is important. Growing with a natural way and exposure to the community helps us become more recognisable.”

Something else that’s unique about Pedal and Rolls is also the fact that it operates from 5PM to 2AM. So, instead of going the brunch route, this spot is more for the night owls.

“The reason is because we are a car-themed cafe,” Ken said. “Most car enthusiasts or car meets are usually during nighttime.”

Catering to this audience, Pedal & Rolls aims to be a space where customers can chill with food and drinks after a long day of work.

Pedalling forward

When I first came across Pedal & Rolls online, it had been marketed as a crossover between a car wash and a cafe. However, this concept seems to have changed, with the business no longer honing in on the “car wash” aspect.

To that, Ken explained that at the moment, the team has decided to focus on the F&B side, for the reason of creating strong branding and community.

“Then only we will further discuss and go through with the car wash,” he said.

While a car wash-cafe combination sounds like a cool idea, it makes sense that, as a start, Pedal & Rolls aims to focus on just the cafe portion first.  With its unique lean, hopefully they will one day revisit the concept of a car wash as well.  

Featured Image Credit: Pedal & Rolls