We Went On A Shio Pan Hunt Across Penang To Find Our Favourite, Here’s Our Honest Review 

Shio pan in Penang

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Penang has never shied away from a food trend, and the latest one comes in the form of a golden, crescent roll called shio pan. With a crisp bottom, a melt-in-your-mouth inside, and a generous hit of fragrant butter, these plump rolls have been popping up across local bakeries on the island – classic buttery versions, more creative takes, and all.

Having tried the OG Jayeondo Salt Bread in Korea before, I carb-and-butter-loaded in the name of journalism at some of the top spots for shio pan in Penang, to see if I could find a close second on the island:

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1. Church St. BoysBaker

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Church St. BoysBaker is Penang’s newest bakery darling, which also means that getting your hands on its pastries is no easy feat.

The bakery-cafe, which is helmed by the same team behind KL’s DouDou Bake, has quickly attracted crowds. Its bakes often sell out in a flash – something we experienced first-hand, unfortunately.

Our first visit involved an hour-long wait, only for the shio pan to sell out right in front of our eyes. We returned for another attempt on a separate day, queued all over again, and finally managed to snag the Original Shio Pan (RM7.90) and Nori Furikake Shio Pan (RM9.90).

And after all that? Unfortunately, rather mid. The original was more bready than buttery, with neither the texture nor the aroma of butter making much of an impression. The Nori Furikake one was similarly forgettable, with the added nori flavour not really doing much for the shio pan itself.

They weren’t bad by any means, delicious enough without any expectations, in fact. But when a couple of pastries took us two trips and two queues, we’d hoped they would be a little more satisfying.

Jia-Ju: “I don’t like queuing for food. Especially for something that did not wow me.”
Sarah, a trained baker: “Like that lor.”

Overall rating: 3/5

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2. Roti Lah!

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Roti Lah! is a bakery that has been riding the shio pan wave particularly well in Penang.

With a menu that offers a dizzying variety of shio pan flavours – from savoury Mentaiko, Garlic Butter, and Truffle Mushroom, to sweet Taro Mochi, Red Bean Butter, and Pistachio Kunafa – this speciality shio pan spot has become the trendiest place for the salted bun, with long queues and bakes that often sell out by noon.

We visited on a weekday morning and managed to avoid the infamous queue – though we still had to wait a little for our order, as every bun is heated upon ordering. The shop is small, with only a handful of seats, so waiting can get slightly cramped.

Once our warm rolls arrived, however, the wait felt completely justified.

We ordered two bestsellers, the Plain Shio Pan (RM4.90) and Spring Onion Cheese Shio Pan (RM8.90), and were pleasantly impressed.

The bakery’s take on shio pan has a thin, crisp crust – almost like a delicate baguette exterior – but without the tough chewiness, gorgeously sprinkled with sea salt flakes. The buns are also generously buttered on both sides, the base with that wonderfully rich, almost fried-in-butter quality. What’s also impressive is that the bread itself is fragrant enough that it doesn’t depend entirely on the butter for flavour.

The Spring Onion Cheese version takes things up another notch, with the savoury combination turning the shio pan into more of a proper treat.

Jia-Ju: “Now I kinda want to try the entire menu.”
Sarah: “If Penang lang would queue for food at a certain place, you best believe it’ll be GOOD.”

Overall rating: 4.5/5

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3. Louise Boulangerie

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Tucked away in a quiet residential neighbourhood, Louise Boulangerie feels worlds away from Penang’s trendier bakery crowds.

Its steady stream of regulars tells you plenty about the place – there’s nothing particularly showy about it, and that same philosophy carries through to its bakes, which feel simple, thoughtful, and considered rather than flashy, with the quality of its ingredients shining through.

The bakery’s menu is switched up daily, so you’ll want to keep an eye on its social media before making the trip. Their Buttery Seasalt Roll (RM6), for starters, is only available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Calling ahead to preorder is highly recommended, which means your buns will be ready and waiting when you arrive to pick them up.

The shio pan looks almost too simple to be exciting at first glance, resembling a larger, beautifully neat dinner roll. But once we bit into it, its credentials become immediately apparent. Its butter-fried base shattered wonderfully when we tore one apart.

And from its core, the French Beurre Lescure butter seeps throughout the bread, giving the bun a distinct fragrance and rich, polished flavour. A sprinkling of Maldon sea salt completes the bun without overwhelming it.

It is a straightforward shio pan, professionally executed with premium ingredients. There’s no need for elaborate toppings or gimmicks to make an impression. It’s simply good butter, good bread, and good salt, done properly.

A reliable choice for a solid shio pan, but will we put it in the same league as Jayeondo Salt Bread in Korea? Probably not.

Jia-Ju: “I can taste the premium in this.”
Sarah: “The butter!!!!!!!”

Overall rating: 4.3/5

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4. Hara Shokupan

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Hara Shokupan occupies a tiny corner of I-Santorini at Tanjung Tokong, a tiny bakery that feels very much like a hidden hole-in-the-wall find. Open only from Tuesday to Thursday from 2.30pm onwards, it is known for its range of shokupan, as well as shio pan and bagels, with a daily rotating menu.

While there are some bakes available at the counter, most customers place their orders in advance and pay online before coming by to collect them. We did exactly that, and found the process pleasantly fuss-free, with a receipt and payment confirmation sent straight to our emails.

When we arrived, there were already customers waiting, but the store opened right on schedule, and our order was handed over quickly – fresh, warm, and practically irresistible.

Sold in a bag of three for RM18, the salted butter rolls looked slightly smaller than the other shio pan we had tried, and almost piping hot. After a good few minutes of puffing on the goods and wincing at almost-burnt fingers, we finally took a bite. And we were, to mildly put it, mindblown.

It was, quite simply, the best shio pan we’ve had in Penang. The salt-kissed crust was glossy with the butter, crisp, and deeply satisfying, giving way to an interior that’s exceptionally soft, light, and almost melt-in-the-mouth. We inhaled one rather quickly, and found ourselves reaching into the bag for another.

Jia-Ju: “So good, I could cry.”
Sarah: “Watch me eat this entire bag right here, right now.”

Overall rating: 4.7/5

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5. Kwason Boulangerie

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Nestled along George Town, Kwason Boulangerie is a quiet and simple cafe with a modest selection of bakes at the counter. Among them was a tray of rather good-looking shio pan, with a price tag that made us do a slight double-take.

We ordered one, nevertheless, as we were dedicated to our shio pan mission. The Sea Salt Shio Pan (RM10) was noticeably a little lengthier than the rounded, plump shape we had become accustomed to seeing.

Alas, what we got was a whole lot of bread. Kwason’s salt bread was rather dense, with a heavier crumb that meant plenty of munching. There was certainly butter in the mix, but rather than remembering the buttery fragrance or crisp base, we mostly remembered eating bread.

The sea salt that crowned the bun was also particularly assertive. There was a generous sprinkling of chunky crystal-shaped salt, so the saltiness came through quite strongly in almost every bite.

It wasn’t bad – certainly a substantial bread roll. But by this point in our shio pan crawl, the bar had been set rather high.

Jia-Ju: “I only remember the saltiness from the pebble-sized salt sprinkles…”
Sarah: “It was pretty pricey too…”

Overall rating: 2.5/5

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6. Ovalthinker

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We nearly forgot that we were here to review its shio pan as soon as we stepped into Ovalthinker Coffee, an incredibly charming cafe with a cute and homey space, set within a residential neighbourhood.

It’s not quite a bakery specialising in shio pan, but a cosy cafe with its focus primarily on coffee, and a handful of bakes to go alongside your cuppa.

We thanked our lucky stars upon seeing a fresh batch displayed, and proceeded to order a serving of the Sea Salt Shio Pan (RM8). It was served to our table warm and fresh, alongside serviettes and plastic gloves, which we thought was a very thoughtful gesture.

The shio pan was a balanced and enjoyable one. It wasn’t the most spectacular one we had tried, but it was certainly one of the more balanced – a fragrant bread dough, a nicely crisp bottom, and a measured sprinkling of salt that complemented rather than dominated the butter.

Our only gripe was that the bread itself could have been a little airier, as it leaned slightly bready, but thankfully not enough to make it heavy.

At RM8, it’s definitely on the pricier side for something that didn’t leave us completely speechless. Still, when paired with the cafe’s peaceful setting and a good cup of coffee, we wouldn’t say no to returning now and then.

Jia-Ju: “Yummers.”
Sarah: “Cute place, cute shio pan. I love it here.”

Overall rating: 4/5

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7. 250C Boulangerie

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And onto our next. To paint a picture of what 250C Boulangerie is like, it belongs in a little countryside storybook. The family-owned bakery has a distinct cottagecore charm, with just enough room for a few tables, a coffee setup, a small brunch menu, and a table filled with interesting German-style bakes.

There’s almost always something baking in the oven too, filling the little wonderfully homey space with a heavenly baking aroma that makes it difficult to leave empty-handed.

We spotted plump shio pans, lovingly encased in individual plastics, and made our payment. At RM6, it looks almost too simple. And similarly to the one from Louise Boulangerie, this one does not have an obvious buttered crust, feeling light-weighted enough in our hands to resemble an oversized dinner roll.

There’s a hint of the shio pan we know and love underneath, though: the base has been fried in butter, while only a sparse sprinkling of salt sits on top.

And yet, it was really good. The bread was light, soft, and beautifully fragrant, with just enough butteriness to make it moreish without turning greasy. We practically gobbled it down.

The only thing that left us slightly conflicted was that it tasted more like an exceptionally good dinner roll with shio pan elements than a proper, punchy shio pan.

For us, that was both its charm and its slight weakness. We just wish it had gone a little harder on the fried-in-butter richness, enough to give it that extra oomph, and perhaps a crumb that is more silky soft and melts in the mouth than a spongy soft one.

Jia-Ju: “It’s like in the midst of evolving from a plain dinner roll to a proper shio pan. Still good though.”
Sarah: “Delightful.”

Overall rating: 4.2/5

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Our verdict on the best Shio Pan in Penang

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Plenty of carbs and butter later, our verdict is in: Hara Shokupan is our clear favourite, and the closest local contender to the famous Jayeondo Salt Bread from Korea. We did wonder if the near-piping-hot temperature was responsible for some of the magic, so we kept one for the following morning. While it did become slightly heavier and breadier, it remained very good.

Roti Lah! was a strong second, with a particularly satisfying crust and plenty of flavour in both its plain and flavoured versions. If you’re not particularly keen on waiting in line for your goods, Louise Boulangerie, 250C Boulangerie, and Ovathinker are also reliable bets, all offering great shio pan without the frenzy.

Ultimately, the perfect shio pan is subjective, but our ideal has to be crisp, buttery, fragrant and soft enough to make us reach for another. And lucky for us all, Penang has plenty to keep us covered.

If you’re in Klang Valley, you’ll want to check out these spots too: We Tried Shio Pan From 12 Local Bakeries In Klang Valley To See Which Shop Has The Best

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Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia

Photography by Jia-Ju.

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