Tom Penang Hill was an attraction that we missed during our last visit to Penang. This time, we decided to take the funicular up to Penang Hill and visit both David Brown’s restaurants (Hilltop Garden Restaurant and Sky Terrace) for a leisurely afternoon tea, while taking in the best views over Penang from Penang Hill!
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Funicular up to Penang Hill
There are essentially two ways up to Penang Hill. You can utilise the road that leads all the up or ascend Penang Hill via the Penang Hill Funicular Railway. The walk up to Penang Hill is about 5km but is rather challenging due to the gradient of the slopes. Hence, this time, we decided to take the funicular up Penang Hill. This time, we took a grab and arrived at the Penang Hill Lower Station to purchase tickets for the funicular…
The funicular tickets up Penang Hill costs 30RM per person for foreigners. Locals get a discount. To purchase the tickets, only one person from each party is allowed to enter the queue to purchase tickets for the entire party. This is to minimise the number of people in the queue and prevent overcrowding. Also at the lower station, you’ll find a Penang Hill funicular souvenir shop, A&W and Marrybrown.
Prior to the funicular ride up Penang Hill, you’ll walk through a tunnel that has a history of Penang Hill – of how it was chosen as a strategic lookout site as well as the engineering placed into the development of the Penang Hill Funicular Railway.
The funicular ride up to Penang Hill upper station takes only about 5 minutes. During this time, there isn’t a very good view over GeorgeTown during the ascent due to the trees and canopies that obscure the views. The best views are at the lowest seats, facing the city. The same seats will provide some views during the ascent and descent. However, if you’re not able to secure those seats, do not worry because the best views are right at the top of Penang Hill!
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What’s at the Top of Penang Hill?
Astaka Cliff Cafe
Astaka Cliff Cafe is a three-storey food and beverage eatery that offers a wide variety of local food, drinks, desserts and souvenir stalls. This is one of the first venue that you’ll see upon arrival at the upper station of Penang Hill. At the top of Astaka Cliff Cafe, there is also a view point – though we think the best is still at Penang Hill Gallery @ Edgecliff.
Little Village
As you proceed towards the viewing areas on top of Penang Hill, you’ll be asked to pay for certain vantage points such as a heart-shaped frame, lockamania as well as the Little Village. The Little Village is where the Love Arch, Dwarf Village, Rabbit Garden and green surroundings are located. However, there are also other free areas for great views over Georgetown as well – just continue to head toward signs that says “Penang Hill Gallery”.
Penang Hill Gallery @ Edgecliff
Penang Hill Gallery is actually a heritage bungalow-turned-visitor gallery “relating” history biodiversity and the funicular system at Penang Hill. If you head to towards the entrance of Penang Hill Gallery and make a left turn down towards a flight of stairs, you’ll reach the back of the gallery where a platform offers one of the best views of Georgetown from Penang Hill!
The Habitat Penang Hill
The Habitat is an eco-tourism discovery centre that is nestled on the edge of a virgin forest. It offers unique rainforest experiences especially to nature lovers. The entrance fee starts at 60RM. Yes, this is on top of the funicular price that you’ve paid to ascend Penang Hill. However, there are unique attractions at the Habitat such as the Langur Way Canopy Walk (230m in length, 40m above the forest floor) and the Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk, which is the highest public viewing platform at Penang Hill.
Bellevue Hotel
If you’re thinking of spending the night at Penang Hill, there is Bellevue Hotel – a historical property that has some of the best panoramic views of Georgetown. It is also famed for an aviary at the front of the hotel that keeps exotic feathered breeds. The only downside is that the premise is a little too “historic” which may not appeal to all travelers.
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David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant – Sky Terrace Penang Hill
As you walk towards the various viewing points at Penang Hill, you can’t help but notice a flight of stairs that leads to a restaurant named “David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant“. Actually, the premise consists of both a Sky Terrace (aka Skybar) as well as a restaurant. Our original plan was to try out the afternoon tea set at the restaurant. However, as we were still early, we chilled out at Sky Terrace – the highest bar in Penang…
The drinks at Sky Terrace Penang Hill are actually rather expensive. Of course, relative to Singapore terms, it is comparable due to the currency exchange (1SGD:3.3RM at time of visit). We had the Mojito (42RM) and Shandy (16RM) while enjoying unblocked views over Georgetown Penang. Strangely enough, the tunes played were oldies that were not familiar to us. Perhaps to attract the older and wealthier clientele. Yet, even stranger, a young couple from US sat next to us and the girl, likely in her early 20s, was able to sing (complete with the lyrics) all the oldies played at Sky Terrace. A mystery that we’d not be able to solve 🤔
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David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant Afternoon Tea Review
After chilling for about 30 minutes at the Sky Terrace, it was time to visit David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant for the afternoon tea. Ascending the flight of stairs from the Sky Terrace, you’ll enter a garden that has a little pond in the middle and greenery on each side of the terraced-house restaurant. This is also probably why the restaurant has a “hilltop garden” attached to it. Afternoon tea is available from 3pm to 6pm and after we were seated, the staff brought over the afternoon tea menu…
We decided upon the afternoon tea set for two, priced at RM118++. Do note that it takes about 20 minutes of preparation time. Which is ok as it allowed us time to wander around the gardens and take in the sights and sounds. Sounds, because there is literally a family of exotic birds roaming the premise. While we were there, a particularly beautiful blue-coloured species was posing while a group of guests were busy snapping away on their cameras at a close distance…
For drinks, we chose Peach and Passion Fruit tea which allowed refills of hot water. Note that coffees are not included in the afternoon tea set. Soon, the 3-tiered afternoon tea of David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant arrived…
The afternoon tea selection at David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant is very extensive. We also love it that it is “tiered correctly” with savouries at the bottom and sweets on top. In terms of taste, not all of the items were good but most were. The sandwiches had a weird-tasting mayo sauce but the crab canape was good. Scones were warm and the puff was particularly good with fresh cream that was not too sweet. It was even topped with gold flakes. Decadent stuff. We spent about 1.5 hours just chatting and enjoying the ambience at the gardens. The temperature was a nice 24 degrees. It was not humid and we did not have to contend with flies or mosquitoes. A perfect afternoon tea to just enjoy each other’s company. As we were not able to finish all the items, we were able to pack the macarons for supper back at the hotel…
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All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip up to Penang Hill. The weather was cool after a light rain. The air was fresh and the views were amazing. If you have time to spare, we’d recommend dropping by for the afternoon tea at David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant – one of the best afternoon teas we’ve had in Penang. Hopefully, the sandwich has been improved by the time you visit. If you have visited Penang Hill or David Brown’s Hilltop Garden Restaurant, let us know more in the comments section below.
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