4 stores · curated ORBIS register
66, Lebuh Campbell, George Town / Online
It is best known for Aesthetically pleasing stationery, notebooks, planners, art supplies, postcards, stickers, washi tape, handmade items; minimalist café at the back; workshops and unique Airbnb accommodations; bright white tones and natural lighting.
Best for Aesthetically pleasing stationery, notebooks, planners, art supplies, postcards, stickers, washi tape, handmad
145, Victoria Street, George Town / Online
The Warung sells named local-designer goods, from the Ben Journal leather journal to Lahym coasters, at its George Town, Penang shop. It also runs craft workshops like cyanotype and brush lettering sessions.
Best for Local-designer goods like the Ben Journal leather journal and NyoCup
The Warung operates from 145 Lebuh Victoria in George Town, Penang, open daily except Wednesday from 10:30am to 7pm. Its stock leans on named local-designer lines rather than generic gift-shop goods: the Ben Journal, an A6 leather journal book; the NyoCup; and the Lahym range of square coasters and name-card holders, each crediting a specific maker rather than an anonymous supplier. Beyond retail, the shop runs hands-on programming — past events include a Cyanotype Workshop and a Brush Lettering Workshop — and has used its platform for features like an International Women's Day tribute to the makers it stocks. That combination of a fixed George Town heritage-shophouse address, named local-designer product lines, and its own workshop programming is what distinguishes The Warung from a typical souvenir or lifestyle shop: the goods on its shelves are traceable to specific small makers, and the shop itself functions as a venue for craft learning, not just a point of sale. For a visitor to Penang's heritage district, it offers a stop where the coffee blends, journals, and skincare on the shelf connect back to named local designers and artists rather than wholesale stock.
Transfer Road (Jalan Transfer), George Town
Lim Ah Hock has hand-made Malaysian batik since 1980, and his son James Lim now runs the Jalan Transfer workshop and shop under the Batek-Lah name he launched in 2012. Batik tulis (hand-drawn) and batik cap (hand-stamped) pieces cover menswear, womenswear, accessories, kitchen textiles and corporate commissions.
Best for Handmade Penang batik apparel
Batek-Lah Collection traces to Lim Ah Hock, who began making batik in George Town, Penang in 1980 and built Lim Trading into a local fixture of the island's batik trade over more than four decades. The shop at No. 158 Jalan Transfer, near Hotel Penaga in George Town's heritage core, still produces its cloth on site using the two classical Malaysian techniques: batik cap, stamped with carved copper or wooden blocks, and batik lukis (batik tulis), drawn freehand in molten wax before dyeing.
In 2012, Lim Ah Hock's son James Lim took on the business and rebranded it as Batek-Lah, aiming, in his own account, to breathe new life into his father's products while keeping the handmade process unchanged. The range grew from clothing into accessories, kitchen textiles, tailored corporate uniforms and gifts, sold from the same Jalan Transfer premises alongside a second outlet at Aman Central in Alor Setar.
The shop is a recurring stop on Penang heritage-trail listings (Tripadvisor, George Town World Heritage Incorporated) as one of the city's working batik ateliers where visitors can watch wax-resist patterns applied by hand rather than machine-printed.
George Town
Founded by Farhana Shariff, this maker turns Malaysian-grown cocoa into dark bars and fusion flavours drawn from Penang's kitchen, alongside a small chocolate museum tracing cocoa's history. Visitors can join chocolate-making classes or put together a DIY truffle kit on site.
Best for Malaysian-cocoa craft chocolate
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