Have you bing! there lately?

Posted by The Wordsmiths on May 20, 2009 · 10 Comments 

Published in The Borneo Post, Saturday, August 14, 2004.

There’s a new joint town. bing!’s the name and coffee’s the game. And boy, I’d say it’s one of the hippest coffee places in town. Well, it’s not only coffee. There’s cakes and cookies and all things yummy.
Where O Where, you say? Tucked in the middle of Padungan Road, very near to Everise and almost sitting on Tom’s lap (the eatery, not the man, please).

I entered through the spacious back door, which faces the large carpark in front of the old rugby field of the Song Kheng Hai area – lots of space! The trickling water by the pebbled walkway and life-sized stone Buddha were very zen. The decor is a very cool mix of minimalist and steely industrial, with a complementing splash of orang, which is bing!’s trademark colour.

What I like about the interior is that it’s simple and classy with a touch of warmth all at once. Through the backdoor, one comes straight to an area with elegant black tables and very nicely textured chairs. The wall-sized mirror to one side gives depth and warmth to this section. This is the smoking area. The play on lights and lighting are very nicely done throughout. Check out the crazy mosaic lamps.

Then comes the hub, which is the counter, where food and drinks are ordered. Here, I got to ogle at the pastries, cakes, imported sodas, coffees and teas galore. What’s more, they have my favourites: wraps and Panini sandwiches! There is an added fun factor to all this – orders are written on the metal counter top instead of mundane paper.

Past the counter is where everybody wants dibs on – the sofa chairs. And these are not your run-of-the-mill sofas. I recognized them instantly. They’re soft leather couches with ethnic weave imprints from Atelier Gallery in Main Bazaar.

I spoke to bing! managers Paul Satem and Justina Wong. The entire decor conception was borne of Paul’s and Atelier Gallery owner, Lucas Goh’s putting their heads together to merge Lucas’ trademark minimalist design with Paul’s taste for urban industrial chic. The result – well, see for yourself.

Being inside made me a really curious cat. What…why…how…bing!?, I asked. The idea is to bring to Kuching the atmosphere of a hip coffee joint of international standards. Paul and Justina drew ideas from Canada, America, Australia, Singapore,…you name it. They also scoured every single cafe in Perth, Western Australia and this is where lies the inspiration for bing!.

There is a dual idea to the bing! concept: to recreate that particular coffee culture so prevalent in the West for those who once lived overseas; and to challenge the gastronomical spirit of others beyond kolomee, char kueh teow and nasi lemak.

But what really matters to Justina and Paul is to pull away from the culture of the large cafe franchise of the West. bing! strives to be personal, to have a strong appreciation of its patrons and to provide top notch service. Eventually, Paul and Justina aim to bring bing!  to other parts of East Malaysia, not as a franchise, which is what bing! is not about, but as a chain that keeps the personal touch intact.

“LAYGO”, as Justina put it.

Eh??, thought I trying not to look too ignorant. “Learn-As-You-Go”, and this is the motto that both managers abide by when it comes to staff conditioning. There is not training as the rest of Kuching knows it. The staff are guided and taught as they go along, by Paul and Justina. This includes responding to customer feedback, which is a crucial part of the bing! identity. It’s all on-the-job, baby! Having been there twice, I can vouch that the service is pretty much above the fold in Kuching.

Coming up with the name was more experimental. Paul and Justina wanted something different, something with a punch and individuality. After a few tries, Paul came up with bing!. Justina, who is a graphic designer by training, came up with the rest. Make no mistake, a lot of research went behind those four little letters and one exclamation mark. At the end of it, ba-da-bing!.

My, my, all these words and I haven’t come to the food yet.

The bottled drinks are all imported – Clearly Canadian sodas, Bundaberg, root beer, Britvic…those are what my posse and I have tried. The teas are refreshing, and come in all sorts of combinations.

I left the best till last. The coffees are, in my humble opinion, the best feature of bing! They stock Illy coffee, which is one of the best there is. I have a pretty high regard for the Illy brand name. They have had a long history in coffee production (founded in the 1930s in Italy). The coffee is selected from high quality Arabica beans and tastes richer.

I had the ice-blended mocha and was very nicely surprised when what looked like chocolate chips turned out to be coffee beans. By the way, try the ice-blended mocha. It’s really, really good. Sinful, but good.

I haven’t really tried the food yet. The Afghan biscuit is delicious. I’ve been eyeing the wraps and Panini sandwiches and the banana bread slices look entirely enticing. But those will have to wait for next time. I can only eat so much at a time, you know. All that and I haven’t looked at the cheesecakes yet.

The wraps and sandwiches are all made on-site. Part of the LAYGO for the staff is producing these behind the counter. The food menu is a little  limited at the moment but is scheduled for expansion and diversity this month. Justina promises an ever-changing menu. It keeps it interesting and exciting at the same time.

Price-wise, for what I got (service and quality), I think it was reasonable. Bear in mind, this is not a kopitiam. They do not serve fried rice, fried bee hoon, teh-c-peng or air bandung. So there is a minimum budget to the place. Drinks start from RM7 or thereabouts. Food plus drinks would cost around RM13 or RM14 onwards. It is cheaper than some other establishments of its class. And, the variety of sodas is very different from what one normally finds elsewhere in town. The service has been pretty solid the both times I was there. I do think it’s important to keep the prices reasonable to maintain constant patronage because market forces in Kuching are a lot weaker than other parts of Malaysia.

I’m always on the lookout for quality hangout places. bing! provides a nice atmosphere, good quality food and drinks, good service, reasonable prices. But that’s just me. Oh, and if you fancy catching up on the latest news outside of Kuching, there’s the New York Times, the Scotsman and the West Australian, amongst other international papers at the stand across the counter.

I do think that space might be a limiting factor in time to come as patronage increases. This might need looking into in the near future. But hey, it’s a good sign when the customers overflow, isn’t it?

I detect a genuine passion in those who run it to keep it high quality without being overly exclusive, fun, sexy, interesting and attainable for the Kuching public. And that’s really what makes good business. I think bing! has incredible potential. I hope that it’s going to bring Kuching to the next level for this genre of being out and about town.

So, have you bing! there lately?

Opening hours: 11am till late (~1am). Closed on Tuesdays.

Author’s note: A few years after this article was published, Justina and Paul moved back to Canada and the management of bing! changed hands. There are now three bing! outlets in Kuching. If you frequent bing!, drop me a comment and share your thoughts about the bing! then and the bing! now.

Filed under Features · Tagged with bing!, coffee, eateries, food, kuching