Bedrock Restaurant Cafe, USJ10, Taipan Business Centre, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
36-1, Jalan USJ 10/1, Taipan Business Centre, 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Sunday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-12am

Time Visited:
12pm, Saturday morning.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Primavera with Meatballs and Hot Latte

Along the busy district of Taipan, Subang Jaya, area lies a humble little cafe called the Bedrock Restaurant Cafe.

Sit above the cheap eats of the hawker restaurant Nan King below, it's a wonder why they decided to defy the odds and set up a cafe here anyway. In addition to that, it's located on the 1st floor which makes it even less likely to be spotted by a vagrant food spotter but there it is, still standing as it is. When I entered the naturally lit place, there's just one set of customer at the al fresco dining area where the couple looks like they're enjoying each others company chatting away whilst already finished with their food and having an after meal smoke. I glance at the clipboard menu and the person handling the cash register patiently await my order. I sounded out that I wanted the Primavera with meatballs and a hot latte and he got to punching my orders in while I take my seat. Another of their staff seems tired lying upon the sofa couch nearby but got up and got me a bottle of water and a cup when he realized my presence.

Looking out from the window, there's only the view of the distant row of shophouses since the roof blocks the sight of what's happening below. I didn't mind the lack of a pretty sight since the sunlight illuminating from where I sat gave me some radiance and joy inside of me. Not long later, in just around 5 minutes time my latte was served to me and a pasta dish was sent to me. But it was the wrong order. The one that was given to me was the Marinara. While I sat there carefully scrutinizing my dish, the very attentive staff behind the counter spotted the mistake and approached me and confirmed whether my order the Primavera. With an affirmation from me, he apologized for the mistake and brought the dish back towards the kitchen and educated the staffs there. He later brought the dish back out and ate it himself since it was the wrong order.

A little later again, the right dish finally came through. The Primavera looks almost alike the Marinara only thing is the Marinara was very red due to the tomato base as pasta sauce while the Primavera's only reddish sauce came from the cherry tomatoes. The Primavera is a cream based pasta dish which is gallant with Parmesan Cheese and seems to be laced with some chili powder which gives off spots of appeal in colorful red making it mimicking a bit like the Marinara. 2 Huge meatballs sit on top of it all indicating that it was indeed one of the highlights of the dish. The meatball was packed with minced meat, chewy and nice. The outer crust layer wasn't a crispy type of layer but rather just the chewy kind. The pasta were mixed well with the cream based sauce. Every bite I took will definitely have the sauce along with the pasta. The chili powder that's sprinkled consistently throughout the pasta did it's job in providing enough heat and sometimes even pack a powerful spicy punch to give a bit of a kick to me. The only thing that bothers me a little is the oiliness it produce once I hit the bottom but understandably, that is unavoidable if they used some olive oil to coat the pasta for flavor. All of the ingredients in this pasta hilarity did it's job well in making a very successful complete one.

As for the caffeine beverage, that too had it's moments of joy when it meets my mouth and awaken my senses to continue the day in a much more alert manner. Moderate coffee taste, perfect milk to coffee ratio for a cup of latte and no overly bitter aftertaste. A splendor in a cup.

When some families later got together at this place to celebrate a party, I took my leave and paid up.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM27.50. RM16 for the pasta with meatballs and RM9 for the latte. A 10% service charge was imposed but no signs of a 6% GST charge.

Final Verdict:
7/10. A nice quiet cozy place if you're around Taipan and decide to have something out of the norm (norm indicating cheap Chinese hawker stall food). One thing I have to say though, the staffs surprised me on their attentiveness because they seemed to be laidback and lackadaisical but in actual fact, they're very attentive to their customers.

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BroadBean Cafe, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
A-G-32A, Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Tue:
12:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Thu-Fri:
12:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Sat-Sun:
10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
Tuesday evening around 8:30pm.

Attire worn:
Business.

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Apple Crumble along with their specialty beans being concocted into a Latte

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

After me and my friend's stint at Betty Midwest Kitchen, we adjourned to this place called BroadBean Cafe as I crave to have a cup of coffee after meal. I have not been to Aman Suria for so long and seeing so many cafe's that popped up around the area, it motivates me to wanna try them out. Since we were already at Betty's Midwest Kitchen earlier, we just decided to walk a few doors down to arrive at BroadBean Cafe.

This place looks nice with it's many wooden like settings and they are painted in bright colors thus without them even needing to on all their light fixtures, it still looks bright enough. In order to enter through the door, the staff would need to press a remote to release the door and it is normally kept locked....well at least during the time I was there which is a night time. I can relate to that since this area is quite a quiet area and is quite dark and so safety may be a concern when night comes. We sat ourselves down and they handed menus to us.

I ordered the Apple Crumble to try and a latte to get my caffeine fix. They had some specialty beans from Colombia and Guatemalan which I first chose Colombian. I was gonna go for the hand pour but I was recommended against it and the barista told me that it's better to be made into coffee from the coffee machine. I'm not sure why this is the case but went with what he said anyway and so he went over to the coffee machine to brew my cup of coffee. It took quite a while but later on, the barista came up to me and said that due to calibration issues, he's unable to get it right for the Colombian beans and can only serve the Guatemalan beans which I agreed. Not much of a choice anyway. It's either that or the commercial beans. LOL. And so back he went to work on my cup of coffee.

Besides me and my friend, there were 2 other tables of patrons inside which seemed to have hanged around for sometime and there's one more guy sitting on the outside table setting. Later on, some loud obnoxious China man like people coming in and speaking really loudly like a true mainland China uncles. LOL.

After much testing and getting things right, my latte finally arrived. Yay! It looks really good from his handiwork which got me a little impressed just by looking at his artwork and the beautifully outlined lines between the milk and the coffee. Once the beverage were on our tables they immediately get on serving our Apple Crumble.

After taking the pictures as fast as we could (since the Apple Crumble has a scoop of ice cream on top), we emphatically use our utensils of choice to tackle the Apple Crumble. Before that, I had a sip of the latte to gauge on the niceness of the coffee and I can tell you that I tasted hints of fruitiness and chocolatey taste with some sweetness coming from the milk that blended exquisitely delightful on the caffeine drink. But what blew us away the most was the unexpected delectable taste of the Apple Crumble. We certainly weren't ready nor expecting such a gem of a dessert in such an unexpected place. Every bite of the Apple Crumble brought us to taste heaven and back and left us craving for more. The ice cream on top, if I'm not mistaken, looks like it's from Ben & Jerry's. The Apple Crumble by itself tasted mesmerizing with pure apples sweetness within the pie and their golden crumble pastry that envelops it was buttery smooth with a mixture of salty and sweet with every bite. The ice cream on top just provided an extra kick to the already impeccable pie which I find it a dessert worth every penny of it.

My friend later packed home another one to bring to office to eat since he needed to work late that night. As far as I'm concern, the staff there tries very hard to please their customers and will recommend what they feel is best to enjoy the food the most. They certainly get 2 thumbs up from me.

Total Wallet Damage:
I'm not sure again. It's hard to keep track when I'm out with other people and I don't keep the receipt. LOL. But the Apple Crumble costs a mere RM13.20.

Final Verdict:
8/10. Yes, I'm basing it solely on that one dessert I had along with the good coffee that got me waiting. But here's the deal though, the service is pretty good too plus a warm ambiance that makes you feel cozy.

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Betty's Midwest Kitchen, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
11:30 am - 3:00 pm
5:30 pm - 9:45 pm

Time Visited:
Around 7:30pm. Tuesday night.

Attire worn:
Business attire

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Jucy Lucy and Stewart's Key Lime Float

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Me and my friend were planning on heading to 6 2 10 Grill to test whether if their quality was still as good as back in the days of Section 17 but since it was a Tuesday, they were closed. And so, we decided to head to Betty's Midwest Kitchen instead.

It's been a very long while ever since I ate at Betty's Midwest Kitchen and the last I remember dining here was eating the Pulled Pork Burger which patty's were strands of the pork hence it's called Pulled Pork. Betty'e Midwest Kitchen is a place I usually avoid going to due to the heavy traffic of consumers patronizing this diner where peak hours means full house every single day. But on the day me and my friend visited, there were many empty spaces for us to sit ourselves down and be served comfortably. This time around, still craving for some burger, I decided to go for their Jucy Lucy and seeing the Stewart's Key Lime drink as part of their menu, I craved to have it which I made it into a float. My friend followed suit.

It didn't take long for our dinner to arrive and it was a pleasant surprise that they dish out dishes that quick despite it being a burger. The Jucy Lucy was enticing. A very power packed meat patty that's almost spherical that's sandwiched between two burger buns looking a tad small due to that but trust me, it's not that small because it's fat. There were some lettuce greens to provide you a wee bit of a balance diet and the Jucy Lucy comes with some fries on the side with a small dish of condiments to dip your fries in. The fries were thick and nice to consume which whet my appetite further in anticipating the succulent level of the burger. As I cut through the juicy beef and pork patty, the cheese though not very memorably visible in my mind has it's taste permeating through. The Jucy Lucy was ever more delicious than I can remember the Pulled Pork Burger was. This is a burger that my taste buds favor and would pull me back to try again once more when I get the chance.

The night grew later and patrons getting off work started to crawl towards the joint to have their dinner with their loved ones and family or friends. The area of Betty's Midwest Kitchen feels a little cramp with their small one shop outlet but does create a burger joint atmosphere. Although Aman Suria over at this area may be a quiet area but Betty's Midwest Kitchen and that Original Kayu Nasi Kandar mamak stall further down the street kept their place bustling with people.

We finished our meal and decided to head for dessert and coffee nearby.

Total Wallet Damage:
Again, something that I couldn't remember as I don't have the receipt with me and I didn't pay for this meal but the Jucy Lucy costs about RM19.80 and the Stewart's Key Lime Float costs RM8.50. 6% GST I guess is compulsory so it's charged.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Don't remember Betty's Midwest Kitchen's food tasting this good but it does. Service was average from the respectful staff but tend to be less attentive when the crowds come in.

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Kaw'd by Kaw Kaw aka Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar, SS15, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
47-G, SS15/8A,
Subang Jaya,
47500, Subang,
Selangor.

Opening Hours:
Monday-Sunday
Lunch: 11.00am-3.00pm
Dinner: 6.00pm-12.00am

Time Visited:
Around 6:45pm. Sunday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Say Japan

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Fresh from returning a trip all tired and sunburned, I met up with my friend to discuss on how I can further offer my aid to him since he's in need of a car. I won't go into details on that on how and what and when it happened. All there is to know is I met up with him and he said he wanted to eat burger. I then thought of Kaw Kaw Burger whom many were glorifying at one point where there were lines of people awaiting and you'll only get your order in 1 hours time. LOL. I couldn't be bothered trying such ridiculousness.

Now that the hyped has toned down very much, I now decided to go and try it out with my friend and so I head on down to Subang Jaya to try it out. When we spotted the place, it has completely transformed into something else and is much different than when it used to be. The outlet was a very bright looking place that indicates it's Kaw'd by Kaw Kaw and no longer known as the Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar. Upon walking up to the cash register counter, we looked at the menu and it seems to have transformed from what it used to be. In the end, I ordered something called "Say Japan". I had the choice of either the beef or the chicken and I chose the chicken.

We sat down, we got to talking, we waited for our food to arrive (which is pretty darn long to me. Even with my friend as a distraction, it seems like forever before it came out) and then we chowed down.

The burger was presented in a manner where the knife where you'll be using to eat the burger should you so desire is stabbed right at the center of the burger. A few fries were at the side of the burger sprinkled with some chili powder on it. The fries does nothing much in terms of taste and just proves to be ordinary or merely a step below par level. One thing I must say is that the burger was huge in portion but of course it's not to say I'm unable to finish it up.

I dug into the big burger and the crispy outer layer of the patty hits me. The inside of the patty were fragments of the burger and were flaking all over as did the burger bun on top. The taste of the burger was alright, kind of like a normal chicken burger until the "Special Japanese" sauce hits me. It's actually sweet teriyaki sauce which I find it a bit weird to eat together with the patty somehow. It just didn't jive well with my taste buds.

Me and my friend hurried along with our dinner and proceeded to move on to Flingstones cafe for some coffee and in turn, proceed with our plan of action.

Total Wallet Damage:
Not really sure how much did the set costs but Say Japan on it's own costs RM16.90.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Burger may be okay and with that price for that huge looking burger, it's pretty decent. It's just that, without the charm of their burger of how it used to be, there's no way these new creations are gonna create the hype that it used to be.

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Thursdvys, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
22, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), 60000 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Wed:
8:00 am - 11:00 pm
Fri-Sat:
8:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun:
8:00 am - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
8:20pm. Sunday night. 

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A Cheesecake and a Flat White

Unbeknownst to me, the day after this was actually a public holiday.

I came all the way to Thursdvys (I believe it's called Thursdays although they substituted the A with a V) after my meal at Interlude to sober up from the alcohol and also to grab a coffee to keep me awake for clearing some pending blog posts that I meant to supplicate. So off I went to Thursdvys instead of the usual place I go to which is Artisan Roast Coffee although being near Interlude since I've never been here before and it's a place that I've been wanting to try out.

When I arrived during night time, the parking around at the street was full and I had to make a round to head over to the next road nearby to park. The place was buzzing outdoors with no tables left at the al fresco section but inside were all empty tables. LOL. Perfect for me anyway. I prefer indoors to the outdoors since I don't wanna get smoke on me. The person handling at the cash register was very friendly and cheerful. I gazed upon the board above on what they have but interestingly enough, I don't see the usual suspects of coffee with milk. The guy greeted me and offered me on recommendations to have. He started with coffee? And I said yes. He then asked with milk? And I said sure. Then he said how about Cappuccino, or Flat White or....I spaced out after that. LOL. I said ya, flat white would be good. Then he got to the point of whether I want it 6 ounces or 9? The difference being the milk. Of course I went for 6 since both will still be a single shot of espresso coffee. I also ordered the cheesecake to go with my coffee.

I sat myself down connect to their WiFi and discovered that it's pretty decent. Being the only customer indoors, I again felt like the privileged one of having the whole place to myself again. Haha. The coffee and cake was quick to disburse to me both almost at the same time in just a matter of less than 5 minutes of when I sat down.

The coffee looks good with strong coffee art while the cake sits on a black small tray like dish which reminds me of Minime Cafe. I tried the cake before the coffee. The cake contains coconut toppings on top that was very strong and quite dominant in it's taste. The base of the cake was a cookie crumble like texture that's hard and compact and contains nuts in them as well. The cream in the middle that makes up the cheesecake makes up very little on the taste. And so this taste like a coconut cookie crumble cake rather than a cheesecake. But still, it's nice in it's texture and strong in it's flavors making it quite a good cake. It's borderline sweet at the bottom and if you very much like the taste of coconut, I'm sure it would be something of relish to you. But I'm not a fan of coconuts so I had to have in between sips of coffee.

The coffee during my presence there consists of South American beans which is a blend of Brazilian, Colombian and Ethiopian. Lovely mild chocolatey taste that goes well with the milk they use. The Flat White was indeed in the style of a flat white with correct milk to coffee ratio. (I fail to perceive how a 9 ounce one would fair as a Flat White).

The night went on further with more and more customers streaming in till a busy period of people hanging around for coffee and takeaways by others. I took my leave as it started to get noisier drowning the playlist that them and me were singing along as it comes on. It's certainly a nice place to hang out with friends.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM24.40. RM10 for the 6 ounce coffee while RM13 for the cheesecake with 6% GST imposed.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Not a bad place for some coffee and some dessert. A very laidback environment with my kind of songs playing over their stereo.

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Interlude International Tapas Bar, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
No 50, lorong Rahim Kajai 14, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), 60000 Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Tue – Sun: 4:00 pm – 2:00 am (Monday Closed)

Time Visited:
I think around 6:30pm. I just know it's a Sunday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Margarita with Pork Fried Rice

It may be called as an International Tapas Bar but it does serve main dishes and food as oppose to only Tapas.

Arrived for my dinner at a very early time and so patrons were scarcer than water in a desert. There's just a couple of ang mohs on the outside area drinking away some beer and chatting amongst themselves. That was about it. Inside was as barren as can be and it feels like I booked the entire restaurant to myself. Oh, I think there was an Indian guy hanging out at the bar there for drinks but due to the dim lighting of the place, I barely notice him being there. LOL.

They quipped as being the first International Tapas Bar in Malaysia but I'm not sure whether that's a statement that I can vouch for. However, they do certainly have Tapas that come in the form of different country type of dishes to go along with your poison beverage of your choice. I was there for my dinner to I directed my attention towards the mains.

The staff were Filipinos and were very friendly, accommodating and attentive. Despite this place serving different types of dishes that are staples or at least originate from other countries, I decided to dwindle upon the Malaysian dish instead. That being the Pork Fried Rice. All I saw in the beverage menu were alcohol, alcohol and more alcohol. I didn't manage to reach the end of the beverage menu as I've given up in search of something non-alcoholic and succumbed to ordering a Margarita. Good job in being a bar.

The low lighting condition surrounding the vicinity creates a much romantic atmosphere where dates would be great here, grabbing some drinks and getting to know a person better. But this place has schedules almost nightly with live bands and DJs that play when the evening gets late and is approaching towards the morning hours so during those times, probably wouldn't be a good idea for a date unless you want to just chill and maybe dance a little like a club setting. But on a Sunday night, it's all nice, quiet and tranquil with soft music of cover pop songs being played as a background.

The Margarita came after a fair bit of waiting and it looks like a sugar cane drink with it's light green tinge. The Margaritas here possesses a choice of either having it shaken or the frozen type which I went with the shaken pathway. It came upon in a typical Margarita glass fashion with no other fancy gimmick to further beautify the drink and visible spots of salt surrounding the circumference of the glass. I took a sip of it and felt the effects of the alcohol laced with the salt upon my mouth immediately. The taste of it was not bad at all. A mixture of Tequila, Triple Sec and some sweet sour taste.

Still later after some waiting, my fried rice came along with it's dark splendor awaiting to be devoured. The color may take a dark approach and may not be that majestic on such a dark place but the looks deceive more than the taste. The fried rice was delicious and tasted excellent with it's right amount of saltiness and the tenderness enough of the roasted pork completing the dish to rightfully be called a pork fried rice. The description read that it contains crackers but I didn't taste any that were there. Instead, there were many sprinkles of the dry shrimp on top that adds some crunch to the taste since the roasted pork gave no crunchy feeling but just good tender porcine taste. Some greens were the only contrast to illuminate the otherwise pure dark looking dish but I weren't complaining on the looks so long as the taste is great. My only regret was pairing the Margarita with the pork rice because it was salty upon salty.

A little later on, there were some trickles of customers edging in to the restaurant but that didn't dampen the 2 Filipino workers' attentiveness towards me. They cleared my finished dish within the minute and same with the Margarita with the waiter asking do I want a refill. No thanks. I'm already tipsy as it is and I'm planning to grab some coffee. LOL. I called for the bill, paid and left.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM42. Margarita costs more than my food at RM24 and the fried rice was RM18. LOL. 6% GST is charge here but no service charge yet they provide good service.

Final Verdict:
7.5/10. I like the food, I like the alcohol, I like the ambiance though awkward being a person of 1 at a romantic setting and most of all, I like the great service.

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Rebellions Coffee Bar, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
2-1 Jalan PJU 5/4, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu:
9:00 am - 11:00 pm
Fri-Sat:
9:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun:
9:00 am - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
Close to 8:30pm, Thursday night.

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Rebel's Breakfast Platter and Chai Latte (Iced)

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

I met up with a friend of mine after asking her does she want to try Frisson's Salmon Curry Fish Head with me one day when she and her husband is free since she said she loves curry fish head and so later that evening, out of nowhere she invited me for dinner and I eagerly head on down to meet her. We were at the Strands area that night and during the nights, I couldn't find anything nice to try out after scouting around for an hour and so me and her head on down to the other side where Sunway Giza is since it seems more happening there.

We ended up walking in to Rellions Coffee Bar to try out. I ordered their Breakfast Platter and the Chai Latte in ice. After a sit down and some chatter with her, my breakfast platter arrived firsthand before her pasta did. But even with the great company, it didn't fray my attention away from their slightly longer than I expect waiting time for my food to arrive. Imagine if I think my breakfast platter was long, my friend's pasta was even longer.

The presentation of the platter gives me the impression of a less caring way of plating the customer's food. However, the foot long sausage captured my attention on that dish the most since it looks the most impressive. It turned out to be the best thing about the dish. Other than that, the other things in the breakfast platter were pretty average in gustation with the exception of the Toasted Poppy Seed Bread. That was slightly above average. Other items that were on the platter includes pork bacon (which this wasn't as gussy as I would love it to), the sauteed cherry tomatoes and mushrooms and the scrambled eggs with some rocket leaves on top.

The Chai Latte Ice was better than my meal and quelled my thirst accordingly. Chai taste was strong enough, milk efficient in the mixture and ice enough to cool the whole drink off. That at least made a better impression while my friend didn't quite like her pasta but chowed down the whole thing anyway to cure the hunger pangs.

Total Wallet Damage:
Erm, I'm not sure. I didn't keep the receipt. But I know the breakfast platter costs RM25.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Not as impressive as I want it to be. Even though the confusing partial revolving door was an elegant fixture with the charm of 19th century, this place failed to allure me.

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Sudo Brew, SS22, Damansara Jaya (DJ), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
7 Jalan SS22/11, Damansara Jaya (DJ), 4700 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
24 Hours a day, 7 days a week! I'm not kidding

Time Visited:
Close to 8pm. Wednesday evening

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A Cheesecake and a Flat White

I thought nothing much of it when I explored an app to see where should I go to have a cup of Joe after my hefty dinner. I stumbled upon the name Sudo Brew and thought to myself,"Let's go!" without ever thinking much about it nor read any details on the description. When I arrived at the familiar residential area where I used to frequent last time when my sister and a friend was staying nearby, the area looks pretty much the same with new shops that I've never seen before there and a guard booth to enter into the residential area inside.

Being past dinner time, parking was easy where I just parked directly in front of the cafe itself. As I approach it's doors, I saw a sign indicating to please ring the bell if you want to enter. But of course I didn't do so and entered immediately by pushing on the the door (or was it pulling? I can't remember). I soon found out why that sign was on the door. This place is an awesome 24 hours cafe and opens all year long! I guess they lock their doors during the wee hours of the morning to prevent getting robbed. This totally blew my mind away. I've never seen a small cozy 24 hour cafe before. I know of really big ones that are franchise names like Donutes and Cosans Coffee both at Subang Jaya but never a nice independent coffee cafe. The shop sign amuses me because it reads "Kafe dan Perpustakaan" which translates into English as "Cafe and Library." LOL. So they're a library too huh? No wonder the half messy state.

As I entered the cafe, I was warmly greeted by the members of the staff. They were all so young looking, college students I guess and they were all so friendly. One of the girl is so pretty looking too. Kya! LOL. Before I made my order I was told that they're currently calibrating their machine and will take 5 minutes for my coffee to reach me. Actually, my order took less than that to arrived and I was pretty impress with the quality they present to me.

The place has a different feel at different areas where the front portion has a lounge like effect and a long table with lamps. The area that I sat at faces the wall and looks more like a study booth area so that you can concentrate on your studies as you hit the books burning an all nighter. The back there seems more like an Internet cafe with computers and screens there and still a little more back, it looks like racks of books. I didn't venture back there to confirm.

The staff respectfully pass me my orders by calling me sir and telling me what it was as she lay it down in front of me. The coffee looks great but filled with a lot of bubbles and foam at the top and so I was wondering whether how acidic is the coffee. However, the art looks beautiful and the ratio was near perfect. The cuppa was lovely and a friend told me that they use Ikea beans. Still, it tasted wonderful to me. Not to mentioned the great low price of the coffee, just RM8! It's practically a steal to me. The cake though was okay and priced as normal at RM12.

On top of the uniqueness of being opened 24 hours a day all year long, this cafe also provides 50mbps Internet line. I've connected to their WiFi and tested their Internet speed. It really is fast. This place really makes me feel like home and interests me a lot. I really love it because I knew I can come any time of the day or night or the wee hours of the morning and can expect a good cup of coffee. I'm totally revisiting it again if I somehow crave for coffee and I couldn't sleep. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
Just RM20. RM8 for the coffee, RM12 for the cake. That's just it. No GST nor service charge mentioned anywhere so I guess they don't charge.

Final Verdict:
8/10. Love it. Anytime I'm near there, I can be assured a cup of coffee no matter what time it is. Also, fast Internet line and not to mention very friendly staff. They're young and vibrant and I guess most of them are college students.

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GO Noodle House, The School, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
61-P1, Block D, The School, Jaya One, No. 72A, Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Opening Hours:
Daily, 11:30 am - 9:30 pm

Time Visited:
11:30am, just when they're opening on Monday lunch time. 

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Pork Ball Noodles (Mi Xian) in Superior Soup

Having planned ahead to head down to the branch office and upgrade a colleague's PC, I took the opportunity to venture around Petaling Jaya for great eats after doing so.

Since having failed to invite friends to join my gastronomical adventure, I pressed on on my own with the few places that's already been on my mind. The first stop started at a place where somebody had recommended me to try the noodles, GO Noodles House. GO Noodles House has a few outlets around but I chose to go the the Jaya One outlet. When I arrived at the scene, it had just opened and no one was there except for the staffs still preparing around opening up the place.

I inquired if they're opened and after receiving a positive confirmation, I decided to take my pick on my seating position. I finally sat down at the place nearest to their cash register and near the food dispenser area. Browsing through the menu, I finally to be typical and just decide upon their signature which is their Pork Ball Noodles, Mi Xian version with their Superior Soup. To drink, I just decided to hydrate myself with a 100 Plus. Note that this place is a place where you write down your own order on the order chit. Their noodles consists of a choice of whether to go for Mi Xian (the thicker noodles) or the Meehoon (thin vermicelli noodles). As for the broth, you have a choice of either their clear herbs Superior Soup or the Homemade Spicy Soup. I overheard a patron over there saying to go for their Superior soup.

The place depicts of ancient Chinese touch equipped with wooden hard wood furnitures and Chinese writings around. There's also a gong decor at the front too. The place quickly filled up with the working lunch crowd around within just 30 minutes. It seems that there's a lot of regulars that frequent this place, at least from my observation while I was there. There's an old uncle who works there (probably is the owner of the branch along with his wife) and many people seem to recognize and love to interact with the uncle. I've seen at least three times people walking in and asked is the uncle around and start talking to him. As I sat there observing the going ons of the restaurant, the place just seemed to be a bustling and busy place.

My noodles soon arrived and started to dig in to my grub. The pork balls were all sliced with a cross on the top to ensure that it's fully cook and easy to cool down to consume. The Superior Soup is basically cilantro/coriander since there were plentiful of it. Although I may not be a fan of the cilantro taste, the soup isn't as repugnant in that it's just cilantro taste. It's merely an essence of it but it's somehow changed, blended in with some other herbs mixed into the broth. The taste is most appealing to me and acceptable to my taste buds. I find it amusing that for spoon, they actually gave a small ladle for that purpose. The chili that I scooped up from it's container tucked in the corner along with the chopsticks and such packs a punch and gives off an addictive effect onto me. I couldn't stop eating it even though there's the suffering of the spicy backlash. The Mi Xian noodles were soft and fluid in it's movement easy for my pouty lips to slurp it up at one go without ever breaking it. The pork balls were full of porcine goodness; strong in it's taste.

A certainly satisfying meal. Great tasting all round noodles with the soup and pork balls, excellent condiments to go with it and a very conducive environment that contributes to my good feeling and appetite.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM13.40. 6% GST included and no service charge.

Final Verdict:
9/10. A very good recommendation to me. No wonder it's that person's favorite noodle place. This is the best pork ball noodles I've tasted and I've never tasted one with Mi Xian before. But then again, it's not very fair to compare this pork ball noodles to those hawker restaurants out there as that's not in the same league. That's why the price of this is about double the price. Still, it's such a lovely meal that I had. I'm definitely returning again one day when I get the chance and this time around, I would like to try the Frog Noodles.

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Plan B Roasters, Solaris Dutamas, Publika, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
(Inside B.I.G, Ben's Independent Grocer), Lot 1A, 83 - 95, Level UG, Publika, Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9am - 10pm

Time Visited:
Around sevenish in the PM. A Monday evening.

Attire worn:
Casual.

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A Latte

Never been inside BIG at Publika much before and when I did, I was blown away. It was so huge with some places to eat inside as well. Among the many inside, Plan B Roasters is one of them. I never knew Plan B had just roasters abound.

And so I decided to have some coffee right here before jetting off away. I can't remember what brought me over to Publika but it's most likely to try the some food there. Quite likely it was the time I went Okonomi due to it being declared a holiday.

This would be quite a short review since I only ordered a coffee to drink and nothing else. LOL. The barista was quite cheerful and greeted me with a smile as I ponder on what to order. I soon decided upon a typical latte even though trying some single origin pourover did cross my mind. I sat myself down and gazed upon the many shoppers inside B.I.G going about their business. Since it was a day where only Selangor was on holiday, there were many who were walking around in their work clothes since it is a working day over there that day.

It didn't take long for my coffee to arrive and it was such a perfect and lovely coffee done. The milk and coffee ratio was superb and the coffee itself was good. The milk was nicely frothed and is not runny but complements the coffee well. A good cup of latte. What's more is that I was surprised that they gave some biscotti to consume with the coffee as well. And not one but 2. The biscotti was good and went well pairing with the cup of latte. Overall, I was a very satisfied customer and didn't know such an outlet like this existed.

Total Wallet Damage:
Get this. It's only RM9 for the house blend latte. If you request for single origin, it would cost RM10. No service charge, no GST. And they served the coffee to my table too.

Final Verdict:
7.5/10. Lovely, lovely, lovely coffee. If it weren't for the busy walkway of the grocer aisle, it would be a perfect place to chill. But this place is catered more for a person who's waiting for the other half to finish shopping for groceries, I guess. LOL.

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Am Sande Cafe, Evolve Concept Mall, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
G-11, Ground Floor, Evolve Concept Mall, Jalan PJU1A/4, Ara Damansara 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Opening Hours:
Should be Daily 10am - 10pm since it's inside the mall.

Time Visited:
Approximately 6:45pm on a Tuesday evening

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Spaghetti Napoli and Spezi (well, sort of)

Am Sande Cafe is not something new here in Malaysia because there's one that is at One City Mall in Subang Jaya.

Since I decided to check out the Evolve Concept Mall this evening, I figured I find something to eat there too. The place like any typical mall consists of mainly franchise eats such as Texas Chicken being the most popular there, Little Fat Duck, Teh Tarik Place and Sushi Q. I probably only saw 2 eateries so far that weren't franchise born. 1 is called Peninsula which is a Chinese restaurant that's located way up on the 3rd floor where I had no idea how to get up there, LOL, another is a Japanese restaurant which I don't know what it's called. Haha. Right next to the Japanese restaurant is Am Sande Cafe. Though it's hardly a franchise, still it's a branch from it's first outlet.

I ordered the Spaghetti Napoli to which the lady owner replied to me in a thick foreign accent which I can't tell which part of the world it is that there's no meat in the dish. I acknowledged that having googled my way to see what it consists of and knew exactly what to expect; a pasta dish with tomato sauce like spaghetti bolognese.

For drinks, I noticed that they had Spezi written in the soft drinks section and got me wondering what it was. So I took a shot at it and ordered it. Turns out, they just mixed Mirinda Orange with Pepsi. LOL. It's not even the Spezi soft drink from Germany. Felt a bit cheated there that they called it Spezi.

Anyway, being freshly opened from the not so distant past, the outlet was empty of patrons. While I was there, there's a table of four person before me. Then there was a person who took away a meal after buying a bottle of beer and another 2 old uncles slowly scrutinizing the menu before finally deciding to enter and give it a try. The place was blaring cheesy international music, some German oom-pah-pah music, some Italian music and some English cover songs.

My Spaghetti didn't take long to arrive and when it did, it looked very pretty. All neatly laid out with cucumbers and tomatoes at the bottom with the pasta and then what looks like tomato puree. The taste wasn't bad at all. In fact it's quite nice. And with such a pretty presentation, it taste even better. With this, I forgive them on the rip-off Spezi. LOL.

I finished off quick and off I went grocery shopping downstairs where the Jaya Grocer is. Looks like this has to be my go to place before I head home ever since the Presto moved out of Citta Mall.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM19.80. There's a 6% GST charge and a 5% service charge.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Although Spezi is basically orange mixed with soda, they should have just called it that instead of Spezi because it's not exactly that. Anyway, the food was not bad. But then again, it's just pasta that I tasted and it's not exactly rocket science to get that right.

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Otherwise Cafe, SS4D, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
No. 6, Jalan SS4D/14, Kelana Jaya 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Opening Hours:
Mon:
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Wed-Thu:
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Fri:
5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sat:
11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Sun:
11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
12:17pm, Sunday where the church nearby was just starting welcoming people in

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Ciabatta with Beef Rendang and a Latte

I never knew this place existed despite being so near my home. This is the route that I took when I wanted to avoid the massive jam outdoors especially during the call to congregate when a certain political party called upon the nation to assemble at the Kelana Jaya Stadium. Anyway, this place didn't exist that time. But it's so near my place!

If you're just passing by which would be weird since there's nothing around here except that one row of shophouses and a field there where people play basketball in, surrounded by the residential houses, you won't spot this place at all. It looks so dark from the outside and the sign is not very apparent and visible if you weren't looking out for anything here. But because I was there to purposely pay a visit to this cafe, I of course spotted it right off the bat. Parking is a breeze here since the row of shophouses barely has anything there on weekday evenings and weekends. In fact, I drove and parked right in front of the cafe!

The place looks antiquated with rusted steel settings upon wooden fixtures. The big door that looms as the entrance has a cow bell hanging at the door handle indoors to help alert the staff of the place that there's a customer that walked in. Being the first customer of the day, I stand upon the cash register and look at their limited menu. "You can go for the Ciabatta or croissant or you can go for the Nasi Lemak but the Nasi Lemak will have a 10 minutes wait since the rice is still cooking." chimed the tomboyish character across the counter. Having a feeling that the nasi lemak is the best seller here, I initially wanted to go for that but then gave in to having the Ciabatta with Beef Rendang instead. I called upon for a latte as my usual dose of coffee to drink there.

The place is filled with many items around and really look like and antique shop. 2 different pianos with the sign "Do Not Touch" decorates the dreary looks and for some reason gave me the goosebump feel of an era that gone by. Perhaps around the 40s or 50s. The soothing sounds of the songs on their sound system puts me at ease and really gave me goosebumps when I heard of a Nat King Cole song coming on. Yes, that place really did transport me back in time to an era that I never existed. Separated by a glass partition at the center, the left side of the shop looks more modern with bright lights and park like table and benches. I chose to stay upon the counter area and sat at a rustic looking chair with a rustic looking table that has that Singer sewing machine leg churn just like Rekindle in SS2.

I soon discovered that although they told me that the Nasi Lemak has a 10 minutes waiting time, the time they took to prepare the Ciabatta with beef rendang was just as long if not more. But the latte did arrived in around few minutes time. Coffee was good, aromatic and strong in it's coffee taste. The yellow mug that they served it in somehow suddenly reminded me back at the time where I tried out Coffeels Coffee at Kota Damansara. Must be due to the yellow color of the mug though Coffeels Coffee contains a blue rim surrounding it.

After waiting for awhile, the Ciabatta with Beef Rendang finally arrived. The Ciabatta by itself was nice to eat. Soft interior with a crispy crunchy bread skin making it fun to eat. On it's on, though it may be just bread, it's delicious to enough to eat it on it's own. The beef rendang though may be more suitable for the Nasi Lemak, yet I married it off with the western counterparts of the Ciabatta and the salad at the side. The beef rendang was nothing out of the ordinary but good enough to consume finish for me. It was put in a tin foil bowl to house it and keep it warm. The salad has quite an extensive amount of different ingredients from carrots to tomatoes to the greens and is dressed with the familiar Japanese sesame seed salad dressing.

The internet line was fast which is a plus point but the thing I really love about this cafe would be their ambiance.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM30. I feel that their food and drinks are slightly a bit too pricey with the Latte amounting to RM12 and the Beef Rendang Ciabatta Sandwich (well, sort of a sandwich since the beef rendang is separate from the ciabatta) at RM18 and that is that they don't even charge GST nor service charge. I guess you're paying for the environment. LOL.

Final Verdict:
7/10. There's no denying it, I just love it's antiquity themed approach. Other than that, coffee's good and food is above average but a bit pricey in my humble opinion.

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Killer Gourmet Burger (KGB), Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
107, Ground Floor, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), 60000 Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Tues - Sun: 12pm - 3pm and 6pm -10pm.

Time Visited:
6:45pm, Tuesday evening

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
The Shack - Chicken set with Salt & Pepper fries and a coke.

Actually, I accidentally deleted the photos of what I took from here and have to retrieve it back through my Instagram. I only posted one, hence the one and only photo I have of it. LOL.

Arrived at this place quite early without a hitch of a jam because most were still off on a holiday or something and so there I was 45 minutes just after they've opened for the dinner session. Feeling pumped up and ready for some noms which consists of burger, I walked up to the counter and gaze upon the illuminated board menu. Kinda have that McDonald's feel. Just that at that time, it was really empty. I soon went with The Shack and decided on Chicken over beef and seeing the many flavors of fries on offer, I decided upon one that I'm most comfortable with which is the Salt & Pepper one.

I sat myself down at the very empty venue with just staffs all around. The diner has a canteen sort of feel for me with it's booth seating and wooden tables. As I sat down for awhile, the restaurant manager approached me and asked me what was my drink again to which he checked against my receipt and saw that it was coke. And so he went to the fridge and took a can of coke with a plastic cup filled with ice to serve to me.

"When the cats away, the mice came out to play." That was all I can think of as I observe the going-ons in the restaurant. The staffs were all playfully joking around and chatting with one another, even taking selfies and stuff. Most clumped together at the kitchen area there and some were on their phone busy fiddling with it. The mood immediately changed when the boss of the outlet stepped in from the kitchen door. From a very noisy, playful environment, it immediately changed into a serious, quiet one in a mere one second.

My burger finally arrived after much waiting but the fries were nowhere to be seen. Since I was very hungry, I decided not to wait for the fries and start eating my burger. About 2/3 of the way in finishing my burger, the fries finally made it's way to my table. It was such a long wait for the items. Simply baffles me on why that happened. They squirted out some mayo sauce on a sauce dish and served it with the fries basket. The fries were unimpressive. It's soggy, lukewarm to cold with most and lacks the salt and pepper flavor that it's supposed to give out. such a sad basket of RM6.30 for some fries.

The burger on the other hand tasted good. The bun is branded with their KGB sign on top and was fluffy but flaky though and falls apart easily. But the patty was nice. Filled with shack sauce oozing off from the burger itself and mouthful of cheddar cheese taste, it clearly works for me. Very much. At least some saving grace from the long wait and the awful fries.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM19.20. It's a set so the drink is free. The burger costs RM12.90 and the fries - RM6.30. No service charge just 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, it is a burger joint and the burger did tasted good. Just that the branch at TTDI seemed to be run by playful people and the food took quite long to arrive.

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Frisson Coffee Bar, Damansara Utama (DU) aka Uptown, SS21, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
71-G, Jalan SS 21/1A, Damansara Utama (DU) aka Uptown 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon:
11:00 am - 10:30 pm
Wed-Fri:
11:00 am - 10:30 pm
Sat-Sun:
9:00 am - 10:30 pm

Time Visited:
6:30pm, Wednesday evening

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Cappuccino Hot and P.TripleB French Toast

Just when I arrive at the place, it started to rain heavily. I count my blessings as I enter the cafe with a dry state and a warm heart eagerly anticipating something great and exciting to consume. But first, after being stuck in a jam for so long before managing to park at a location nearby, I needed a quick visit to the loo.

I chose a spot farthest from where the cash register and counter is; right at the front where the door is near because the sun was still up and was about to set but still produce a bright enough shine to illuminate through the glass wall. That's where I wanted to be, where the sun is. I looked through their menu before finally deciding to go with something that people would go for breakfast and that is the French Toast. But their French Toast isn't any ordinary French Toast at all. It has a very weird combination that got me thinking twice and fear of not being nice. It consists of sweet and savory items on it which sounds more like an oxymoron or a paradox to a very high degree.

The cappuccino arrived first without any surprise there and of course I was given a glass and a water bottle to quench my thirst should I need some water. So far so good on their service, attentive and gave out what I need without requesting much. During my occupancy there, there were few customers in number and so the staff outnumber the patrons. Unfazed by such, I marvel at the view outside with the heavy rain pouring down from the sky and some pretty women walking by. LOL. The inside of the cafe was quiet with soft pop music lingering around.

Pretty soon, my French Toast came. It took quite a while for it to arrive but I was impressed by the picturesque layout of the dish. It's stacked up high with about 6 pieces of bread in it and peanut butter oozing out to create a mouthwatering effect. Sliced bananas were strategically placed on top of the French Toast and some in front of it. A small bowl of honey placed beside it for you to pour it over the French Toast depending on how much honey you want. So far we have sweetness all over with the peanut butter meeting in between providing some saltiness and some savoriness to it. But here's the weird bit. It's the bacon. Sweet with bacon. So far, the ones that I've tried had never worked for me at all and I feared the worst. But as I tasted it all together, it's actually quite delicious. Even with bacon on my fork and I dip it in honey, it still works and didn't taste weird at all.

The cappuccino coffee had a bitter lingering taste to it but yet it's likable to me and something that I would go for again if I have the opportunity.

As the rain outside grinds to a halt and trickles of customers coming through the doors, it's time for me to leave and adjourn to another joint after that satisfying breakfast like dish at an odd hour.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM30.65. Cappuccino is RM10 and the French toast amounts to RM18.90. GST 6% is charged but no service charge.

Final Verdict:
7/10. A nice place for breakfast and coffee and surprisingly, this place serves Curry Fish Head as well which I intend to try with a friend of mine who loves Curry Fish Head. But as a lone diner eating here, no qualms at all and quite a comfy and quiet environment to relax in.

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Zawara Coffee, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
No 125, Jalan Aminuďdin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), 
60000 Kuala Lumpur Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Sun - Thurs (9 am - 11 pm)
Fri & Sat (9 am - 12 am)

Time Visited:
7:40pm, Tues Night

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Flat White Hot

I have no idea where did this franchise come from nor have I seen it before but after doing a bit of a research, I saw that it's a Malaysian brand and it's already had a few branches. TTDI just seemed to have popped one up recently out of nowhere.

Being on the same row as KGB (Killer Gourmet Burgers), I felt like having some coffee after my dinner there and so Zawara Coffee caught my eye. Usually, I don't go for franchise coffee because they're known to be more of being a syrup water or the most obnoxious of coffee to water ratio but something in me just wanted to give this a try and so I walked in.

It was during dinner time when I decided to avail myself to this place and the place was almost an empty barren location where I perceived it more as a shop that looks closed with a few customers left just sitting around. I walked in the shop and traverse all the way to the counter doubting myself on whether if they're still open. The staff were all located behind the counter all busy fiddling with the coffee machine and such. I was about to give up and walk out of the establishment when finally, one of the guys started to acknowledge my presence by saying hi. Seeing that the display case had nothing but just one cake, I refrain from ordering cakes and just went for their Flat White.

I was skeptical. I braced myself for it to be something along the lines of Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and hopefully not as unpleasant as San Francisco Coffee. The coffee was cheap (or used to be known as ordinarily priced) at RM10. They pass me one of those calling UFO numbers that lights up and vibrate when your order is done so that you can approach the collection counter to receive your items.

It didn't take long till it lit up and I straight away got up from where I am and approach the counter to receive my coffee. I saw right back down to enjoy my cuppa and relax for a while before I head off home. During that time, I felt really cold and was shivering. I also wasn't feeling quite well that day. Perhaps that's the explanation for my shivering condition. The coffee was a bliss to me. It cleared my headache quite a bit and warmed me up. On top of that, the coffee wasn't as bad as I expected. In fact, it's actually good. Nice frothy cup with apparent coffee taste that surprisingly has no bitter undertone but due to the amount of foam that was in the cup, it felt like a cappuccino rather than a flat white. Even so, it's a surprise wonder for me. And here I was being skeptical because it was a Malaysian brand and a franchise product.

They were using one of those good expensive coffee machine and I'm impressed enough for them to pull a fine cuppa. So it didn't come with a fancy coffee art. The taste more than makes up for it.

As for the surrounding, it consists of polished raw brick looked and wooden chairs and tables. The place looks huge but maybe because it's quite empty on patrons during that moment. The sounds that were blaring on the stereo gives me the impression of a Middle Eastern feel. Oh well. The cafe does look like it originated from Middle East. LOL. I ended my drink satisfied and head on home with a much refreshed vigor.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM10. That's it. That's just it. No GST nothing else. And it comes with free WiFi at moderate speed.

Final Verdict:
6/10. This reminds me not to judge a book by it's cover or rather to judge individuals rather than what group they seemed to belong to. Malaysian franchise and yet it churned out good coffee.

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Butter + Beans at Seventeen, Happy Mansion, Section 17, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
BG-1 Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13, Section 17 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am - 9pm

Time Visited:
10:30am, Sunday.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A Latte and a Blueberry Danish

It's been years ever since I've moved away from Section 17. It's a place where cheap and good foods galore and the neighborhood is quite a close-knitted community consisting a blend of old folks, families and the many college/university students due to it's nearness to some colleges and universities nearby.

Happy Mansion used to be a very dilapidated, run-downed flats where it doesn't seem a very appealing condition to stay in. I would know because I used to have 2 different sets of friends staying in that location and it just looks like a third world country on it's own. But the upside is that the rental is very cheap for a whole flat that time and that's the main reason why most people stay put there. Now at the present, the place has been done up nicely and even has barrier gates at the residential blocks below. The not too long ago fresh coat of paint gave rise to a refreshing lively look than what it used to be. Happy Mansion also gave birth to many now famously known eateries that started off small from very humble beginnings here. The first that I ever saw and patronized was the 6 2 10 Grill where it started off from just a small sidewalk stall with few tables and quickly arose to take over the corner lot of the building and was always packed to the brim up until the late nights. It graduated from Section 17 and moved out to Aman Suria. This place also saw the birth of Food Foundry and MyElephant and now Butter + Beans. When I was there, I also saw quite a few restaurants there now compared to just 6 2 10 Grill ruling the area of Happy Mansion last time.

Nostalgia reeks as I pulled up to the familiar sight and parked at the available parking slots. Already from a distance, I can see the clear black sunshade cum signage indicating Butter + Beans at Seventeen. This is definitely a very small and cramped cafe with the large part of the shop being occupied by the counter behind for the staff to craft out your coffee and prepare your pastries to be consumed. I saw many comments complaining about the lack of space for this place but if they were to understand the history of eateries in Section 17 better, they would've known that Happy Mansion is a place that is cheap in it's rental. So if you're a person who want to venture into the food industry but has limited capital, this was the place to do so. However, there's also the risk of just being an unknown forever and merely hiding in this neighborhood with the occasional visits of the residents nearby. Yet now, it has been a hotbed of breeding great eateries with the many examples given earlier. So yes, it's cramp and small. It's meant to be that way. It was meant to be a small start that unexpectedly gave rise to expansion opportunity.

While I was there at this quaint looking cafe, I entered the door where there's no automatic door closer and hence need your assistance to shut it yourself. There's just a narrow walkway leading up to a pastry display case that showcases a few of the pastries that you can have. As for the drinks, they do have a menu at the cash register where you place your orders but until you get there, you will need to settle for the less visible wall drawn menu. During the time I was there, there seems to be a line of people awaiting to get their coffee fix on the go or people who were there to buy their pastry.

I felt a little pressured as I was contemplating on what to devour as I peer into the glass case whilst the lady behind me in line looked a little annoyed from my silence. So I hurriedly picked the last item I saw which was the Blueberry Danish and went for my usual type of coffee which is a Latte. I paid my fee to a tired looking staff and sat myself down at one of the tables there. A little later on when I was there, the crowd cleared and the staff had some free time. The barista started to play some music from his computer.

My Blueberry Danish pastry and latte took quite a while before I got my order and I started to work with the limited space I had to obtain a nice photo (well, a nice enough for me photo). The latte that was produced to me was a nice one. I love the blend that they had and is similar to Artisan Roast Coffee in TTDI. The bitter undertone at the end to provide an aftertaste was much stronger than Eight Ounce Coffee at The Gardens Mall which I love more.

I kinda like the place despite being small and cramp. It feels cozy when I snuggle up at the corner with my back against the wall and the calmness and quiet surrounding after the crowd has left gave me a sense of tranquility in me. As for the friendliness of the staff, well, it's not there. Not to say that they're nasty. It's just that they seemed robotic and tired. If they're the ones who worked the full 7 days a week, I wouldn't blame them for being that way. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM18. 6% GST inclusive and no service charge. RM10.60 for Latte and RM7.40 for the pastry.

Final Verdict:
7/10. My heart always belonged in Section 17 though I've lost most of my memories. But it's those glimpses into the past where the place reminds me how I felt is the one that gets me the most.

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Eight Ounce Coffee (8oz, Coffee), The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
Lot F-06, 1st Floor, The Gardens Mall,
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 58000 Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
I presume it's daily 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
8:30pm. Tuesday night after dinner.

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A Latte

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience. My sister accompanied me to have coffee even though she doesn't drink coffee after our meal at Tony Roma's.

I've lost count of how many times I've walked past this place and telling myself how much I wanted to try out this cafe. On the fateful night of December 2015, I finally managed to do so and that was together with my sister.

I merely ordered the latte without any cakes because we were planning on heading off somewhere else after this. Though the place looks great in the daytime with streams of sunshine beaming in from both sides of the place, it's a whole different ballgame late at night. It's dark and seem to lack the light facility surrounding the walkway there. What's more, there's not much of a view out the window wall since it's just the back way between The Gardens Mall and Mid Valley Megamall.

I placed my order at the counter with the sole staff at the back of the counter busily and hurriedly punch in my order and handed me my receipt. I sat myself down to the nearest place available. Since it's nighttime, there's practically no one that's seated there who's a patron of Eight Ounce Coffee; a very stark contrast to the mostly packed brighter part of the day. This would be a very good opportunity to savor the coffee as there's no one else ahead in line and I expectantly await for it to be served to me without waiting much. True enough, that's exactly the case.

The coffee cup that my latte was served it was a colorful yellow one with a blue saucer. From the artwork that I saw procured to me, I concluded that the barista is a very skilled one seeing how firm and clearly defined the coffee art was. A sip of the coffee pleasantly stimulates my taste bud senses which puts a smile upon my face. This is certainly a coffee that I adore. Moderate in coffee strength, perfect milk to coffee ratio, great milk combination with the coffee, pleasant artwork, excellent temperature and a nice lasting aftertaste.

It kicks up my addiction to it a bit but I'm strong enough to resist it. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
RM13. That's just it. RM13. It has 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Very nice coffee. If it's during the day time, the nice rays of sunlight adds charisma to the ambiance.

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Coffee Planet, Quill City Mall, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
2-11, Level 2,
Quill City Mall, Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours:
Daily, 7:30am till 10pm

Time Visited:
8:16pm. Saturday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Cafe Latte Regular and a Summer Red Velvet cake

Seeing that I'm already present at Quill City Mall, there's not many choices for coffee places that I haven't try yet unless I venture outside of this shopping mall premise. But due to it being already late at night, I would like to avoid going to dark looking places, making my way to The Row where there's a couple of cafes over there that I would like to try. Namely, Butter + Beans and League of Captains.

So then I settled for the most less of all evils at this shopping mall and that goes to Coffee Planet. Coffee Planet seems to have originated from the Middle East and have already 5 outlets in Malaysia including this one at Quill City Mall. The place look quite nice with piquant ambiance that shimmer upon the glistening lights above. Cozy and comfy looking on their furnitures and an inviting beverage menu board.

When I enter this place, the staff were eager to serve and await at the cash register as if they're gonna start a race. Since it was already late into the night, there weren't any patrons there except for one couple. Of course, there's still the option of non-coffee beverage but with a name like Coffee Planet, who would've think about taking something non-caffeinated? I glance towards the display case on what to have for my dessert. In it house just about very few cakes left and some savory pastries. I soon decided on the Red Velvet cake.

I look around for the most inviting place to sit and take pictures of and finally decided on a 2 seater next to a shelf that showcase the various coffee products available there. It didn't take long till my cake arrives with the coffee. The person serving me carefully made his way to my seat and unsteadily lifts the cup and saucer off the serving tray while still trying to balance it with the other arm. I soon saw why the spectacle made and that was because the coffee cup was really full with some of the liquid already spilled onto the side of the cup and onto the saucer. I do like the smile the guy flashed at me. Genuine looking and full of warmth which prompted me to do the same.

The Red Velvet cake slice produced to me was huge. I didn't expect such a big piece given to me. Certainly value for money being only RM13.90. The taste however, left more to be desired for. It was very sweet with the icing covering mostly the taste from the cake. The cake part in itself gives off a very odd raspberry sweet taste which I didn't quite like. But most of the part, the icing would've killed off the cake taste just like a lot of wedding cake. Pure icing taste.

The Cafe Latte tasted very weak. It leans more towards water than coffee. Artwork was shoddy and unpleasant looking and milk dissolve into the drink within minutes without me touching it. This certainly is a nightmarish situation for me. But of course, being of such diluted taste, it's not repulsive till I can't drink at all. It just makes me feel that there should be more coffee taste in it rather than water. And the cake, more balanced taste rather than just sweetness all around.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM24.80. No GST imposed nor service charge.

Final Verdict:
4/10. Though the plus point comes from the value for money and no GST implemented, there's certainly no reason for me to return with a cake tasting that way and a coffee tasting a not so preferred way.

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Express Teppan-Yaki, Food Junction, Quill City Mall, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
Stall #R2, Food Junction, Lot 4-65, 4th Floor, Quill City Mall, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
Close to 7pm for dinner on Saturday after New Year

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chicken Chop Set

Food Junction is a known food court that provides variety of food at one place and has etched it's name into the scene of shopping malls.

But to me, it's merely a fancy food court because the pricing does not really reflect the cheapness of one. Perhaps you may consider it as the likes of Hutong at Lot 10 and the ever so busy Signatures food court at KLCC. That would be comparable to this food court since it dons the title of food court but pricing may exceed RM10 in a given meal.

Today, for once, I venture into the Food Junction of Quill City Mall; a most rarest of occasion because I dislike dining at food courts what's more one that costs quite dear in my opinion. At Quill City Mall, you have to wonder what is the purpose of building such a mall that serves no purpose with the already saturated market of Malaysia. During my time there, I did see some people walking around at the mall but I find it way too little. At the Food Junction, there's just about 10 stalls that occupy the whole of the food court. That's all. I soon settled for Express Teppan-Yaki which interestingly has a waitress to pass you a menu and take your order.

Despite the name Teppan-Yaki, it would be a gross misnomer to call it Japanese. I hardly saw anything that reflects Japanese. The only thing that probably describes it as such is that it copies the way of preparing the dish which is preparing the meat on an iron griddle and using 2 grill scrapers to cook the meat. The staffs there consists of only foreigners. I can't tell what language they were speaking. Maybe they're from Myanmar.

If you sit at where the staff prepares your meat at the iron grill, the staff there will lay out a piece of tin foil in front of you and later place the vegetables on it. If you're sitting at one of the tables not at the iron griddle, then the staff who takes orders will send it to you and the vegetables will be together with the meat on a plate. That's the only main difference that I saw.

The "set" comes with a bowl of rice and a bowl of vegetable soup. I initially wanted to go for the chicken breast set, but they said that it was out of stock and so I chose the next thing that's most closest which is the chicken chop set. I have no idea why it's called chicken chop since they chop the thing into pieces to serve to you and not a one piece chicken.

The vegetables were very greasy where towards the end, you can see a stream of oil just oozing off of the tin foil when you get to the bottom. The soup has some vegetable taste to it but mainly taste like water. The chicken that was served is just chicken ala black pepper sauce style with some chili in the mix to spice it up. Hardly Japanese like at all. The chicken with the black pepper sauce tasted okay. Good thing the meat was the best thing among everything that was served to me.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM15.90. GST 6% inclusive.

Final Verdict:
4/10. What do you expect. It's a food court anyway. It's where people go for the cheap food to fill their tummy and not for the taste nor environment. Though cheap isn't exactly what I would call it.
Not sure whether to tag this as Japanese since it's not exactly Japanese.

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