Artists, writers and other creatives also love to mingle at Narrow Marrow, a hip artsy café on Carnarvon Street. It was opened by yet another early Zapper, Alvin Neoh, a musician and interior designer, and his artist partner Jaime Oon.
As the name suggests, Narrow Marrow is a tunnel-like bar with high ceilings and bare walls, vintage chairs and a back area filled with art made from driftwood, books and DIY memorabilia. “Narrow Marrow is a collective of weirdos and non-conformists who can find comfort in each other’s company,” says Stephanie Kee, a lurker of George Town’s artsy underbelly, as she sips her Toddy Mojito, a rice wine-based Penang spin on the popular cocktail.
Meanwhile, Alvin makes sure the retro-pop, melodic punk, psychedelia and light trance crackling from his speakers doesn’t skip a beat. He doesn’t think Penang is the street art hub many visitors might think it is—not yet anyway—but he concedes there is a new guard of creatives, working away behind the scenes, to help establish a more tangible arts scene. “[Because of the famous murals], maybe people arrive in George Town expecting to find a thriving arts scene, which I don’t think really exists yet,” he says. “But I also don’t feel pressured into demonstrating the opposite: Outsiders keep coming, find us here at the bar, and we often click and make stuff happen”.
