Cottle Coffee Malaysia, SS21, Damansara Utama (Uptown), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Malaysia

Address:
15 Jalan SS21/60, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon:
8:30 am - 10:00 pm
Wed-Thu:
8:30 am - 10:00 pm
Fri:
8:30 am - 12:00 am
Sat:
9:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun:
9:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
Wednesday (Public Holiday), 10:30am

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Quinoa Salad and Magic

It was a public holiday and I intended to make a little bit of extra side income and then spend the afternoon with a friend but the play part never came at all. So I just drove around whole day to clear my mind until I was more than exhausted.

Anyway, I initially wanted to have breakfast at Village Park but the crowd was too much and so I decided to walk around Uptown a bit. Strolling along, I discovered why there was quite a jam in the area and that was due to a fire that broke out at one of the bookshops and the Firemen had just finished putting out the fire where the entire shoplot both on the upstairs and the downstairs were entirely soaked. There's police over there to poke their noses in to determine what was the cause of the fire. So I walked on further not having a destination in mind. I then came across Cottle Coffee which I remember seeing it once passing by but ended up I went to The Culture Pot instead.

So this time around, I ended up opening it's doors and stepped on in. The place was bright with rays of sunlight penetrating through the place even though the weather was cloudy. It's enough to give an aura of natural sunlight into it. The place was quite cluttered on one side with many things on display and the various types of seating with their tables while the other side sits the counter for ordering and things like that. I went for the quinoa salad and initially thought of Flat White but I spotted something called Magic and asked what was that. The guy who attended to me responded that Magic is actually Ristretto Flat White, ie double shot espresso with milk. So I went for that one instead. After all, that is the coffee I need to help me get me on my feet.

Immediately when I sat down, they instantly brought a glass and a bottle of water for me. Very good service on that. The salad came after followed by the coffee. They were very quick to provide for me as well so I would say their service is excellent. The Quinoa Salad was very pleasant nicely tying it up with the Rocket Leaves and Apples for sweetness. The apple was a delight to munch on and got me addictively sticking some quinoa and nuts onto it's natural juices before plopping it in my mouth. It's such a delight to be had.

The coffee was alright but I'm still reeling from the delightful Hong Kong coffee which I wish the coffee here were as creamy as that. But of course, it's alright. Some moderate coffee taste infused into it with the right temperature having the right amount of milk in it to be deemed as a Flat White.

All in all, it was a wonderful and nice cafe with a relaxing ambiance but the gloomy weather and the non-response from a friend had got me a little under the weather.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31. RM13 for the coffee, RM18 for the salad. No service charge, no GST. Excellent.

Final Verdict:
7/10.

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Urban Coffee Roaster, Hong Mei Building, Tai Kok Tsui, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Address:
135, Lai Chi Kok Road, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Opening Hours:
Unsure since it's not listed. But I gather Daily, 10:30am - 7pm (?)

Time Visited:
11:30am, Sunday morning. Hot hot hot hot day.

Attire worn:
Casual. Like a traveler. LOL

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Big Breakfast and Flat White (hot)

Last day at Hong Kong and I barely had any time. The night before I was fresh out of breath from the amount of alcohol consumed not to mentioned still sore from a terrible leg cramp from the first night. I was lazy to move but had to check out by 12pm else the cleaner won't be able to clean up my room for the next guest. LOL. So with my bag and all, I headed off to one cafe destination before heading to the airport and I wanna make it count. I open up my app in search for some beautiful coffee and decided upon Urban Coffee Roaster.

Urban Coffee Roaster was established back in 2014 so it's relatively new and it started with 2 coffee enthusiast in Hong Kong. It's also their own coffee bean brand. There's also another outlet in Tsim Sha Tsui which looks relatively more seats to me from their pictures. Over here at the Prince Edward outlet, it's teeming with many elegant decors. Books galore on the shelves and an old looking antique record player which actually is a common modern player instead of an actual record player. There's a very big wooden appeal to it with 3 of it's staff cramming up behind the coffee bar scuttering around in performing their duties. Filled to the brim with coffee paraphernalia, they skillfully weave their magic by grinding, tamping and pressing coffee for you.

The 3 staffs gives off a very chilled and laidback vibe that easily puts me at ease with my very hurried manner. They also took their time in preparing my cup of coffee as well as my food. But then again, Hong Kong has been a place that slowly prepares their food and take pride in it to give you the best that they have. So it was quite a more than my usual time of waiting if I were to compare to Malaysian cafe standards. LOL.

The coffee was placed in a coffee paper cup to my dismay but as soon as I sip through it, the dismay dissipated away to a satisfied happy customer over his creamy Flat White. Though it may not possess the more stringent and strong coffee aroma as Flat White's in Malaysia, it still passes in my book as a Flat White. So far in my limited visits to cafes around Hong Kong, this was the best I had. Mind you, coffee in Hong Kong tend to be a lot more creamier than Malaysia. It's gotta be their milk and their frothing ways. Something which I uniquely adore on Hong Kong cafe coffees.

Next came my Big Breakfast. It certainly looks like a very huge portion with the ingredients all laid on a chopping board that's branded with their name as your eating plate. The Big Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, mushrooms, 2 types of sausages, bacon, some salad, a tomato and a toast with baked beans. Unfortunately for me, Hong Kong food just don't have a strong enough taste for me. It just felt that they missed the salt and even that was true with the bacon. Nevertheless, it was a filling breakfast and satisfying enough to fill up my tummy.

This certainly is a nice place to have a cup of coffee with a very trendy environment. But there's limited seatings and it's all bar seats up front in the shop. There seems to be some seatings at the back past a door but I didn't investigate to find out what's beyond those doors. I headed off towards the airport in a jiffy as I'm already behind time. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
HK$143. $108 for the Big Breakfast and $35 for the hot Flat White. And like Malaysia, asking for ice with it costs more.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Very much in love with their coffee. Not so much on their food but then again, a lot of Hong Kong food seems to have similar flatness in taste.

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Gee & Geek, SS2, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
No 46, Jalan SS 2/4a, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
12:30pm, Saturday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
A La Goma Grilled Chicken Pasta and Organic Green Tea

It's just a typical Saturday. I felt worn out especially from a Tiger Beer event the previous night. Though I may not have stayed long for that event but I did drink 3 bottles of it which at my current condition is already considered impressive since usually drinking one will certainly leave me in a drunken stupor ever since my health deteriorated drastically. Though a little pounding from my head comes through from a numbing feeling which is not quite considered as a hangover, I still popped an aspirin at 3am which probably explains the numb feeling.

But I persevered through to get out of the house in order to force myself to get something to eat before I start with my part-time job which I'm already jeopardizing of losing. LOL. Even though the negativity lingers within me, I tried to maintain a positive position in order to try and get better at my part-time job. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be good in anything anymore.

I looked through my next destination on my list of places I want to try and Gee & Geek came up next. And head there I did. The place is familiar to me. I stumbled across a pleasant kopitiam shop just opposite of the row of shops where Gee & Geek is which I brought my family to dine in one fine day. So finding the place wasn't difficult but as for parking I have no clue since it's a place where there's limited parking. However, at the end of the row of shophouse, there exists an under construction building where there's plenty of parking still available there and that's where I left my car.

Gee & Geek places a third of their premise for al fresco dining while the interior was comfortable enough in air condition. The interior was more cement than wood and fixtures of greyish color than bright colored. Menus are aptly placed upon tables for you to peruse before placing your order at the counter. And the pasta dish with tea is what I ordered. It took some time till the food arrive but the drink was no sooner. After all, it's merely a teabag in a pot filled with hot water. The tea given was of Harney & Sons brand. The green tea tasted fantastic and I'm inclined to look out for this brand of green tea should I wanted some.

Out comes the pasta dish when it's ready and brought to my table. Looking a little pale in it's color with the cherry tomatoes brightening up with red, the dish looks bland. But when tasted, it's close to delicious and is above average. It's filled with familiar Japanese Sesame Seed Dressing but that is kind of expected with the word Goma in the dish name and the pasta properly cooked. Soft texture. Cherry tomatoes were a little too mushy but other than that, there's no fault at all with the dish.

Overall, tea was great due to the good brand that's known to be in line with my taste and the food was above average with a calming ambiance of Disney hits done instrumentally like elevator music. You'll be the judge of that.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM27.50. 10% service charged is charged. RM19 for the pasta. RM6 for the tea.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Overall, it's a nice enough place to be in for the occasional cafe visits.

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Sarawak Kuching Hand Made Noodles, Ming Tien, SS24, Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
10991, Jalan SS 24/8, Taman Megah, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 6:30pm - 12am (?) Not sure. I used to eat here during lunch as well but according to google, it opens in the evening only now.

Time Visited:
Sunday night. 7pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Sarawak Noodles (small)

It's been a very long time since I visit Ming Tien to eat the Sarawak Noodles there. The last time I stopped eating it was because I find it too oily and it makes me feel nauseous. It used to be a joint where it's 24 hours operational but looks like it's stated that it's only operating from around 6pm to midnight according to google.

Somehow, this Sunday, I felt the need to eat Sarawak Noodles but I don't know where I can find a good one. And so I headed back to an old place that I have not been to for a long while - Ming Tien in Taman Megah. Why I stopped going there is because I don't really like food court food and the reason I came here last time was because I was with friends. I've even brought my family here before but now, I've stayed away from this place. But this evening, I decided to venture back there. Knowing that there'll be a Pasar Malam (night market) over here since it's Sunday, I braced for the traffic jam. Well, the traffic weren't all that bad. Not as bad as Mid Valley on a Saturday.

I illegal parked at the junction ensuring that I wasn't blocking any cars like the rest did since it would be hopeless to find a parking with the Pasar Malam ongoing. Parked, walked and have a look around before deciding to enter Ming Tien to eat. I've already decided on the Sarawak Noodles so I head straight towards that direction. As before, the inside area has lots of vacant tables while the outdoor seatings were full. It took quite a long wait before I get my order. It looks like they had a long queue awaiting too. Didn't know they were so popular. I also got the feeling that they actually served me first before some other due to me sitting just beside their stall.

Anyway, the noodles were just like how it was before. It certainly reminded me the forgotten taste of the wavy hairlike noodles and the clear soup that's peppery at the bottom. It's still as oily as fuck but this time around, it's not too oily till I feel nauseous. The dark sauce at the bottom for you to mixed it up was more than adequate. There's some char siew given with the noodles and it tasty okay with it flaking easy. Basically, it's good enough in it's overall form. Enough for the local Chinese taste for a satisfactory dinner.

Total Wallet Damage:
It's RM5.50. Cheap if you ask me.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Food court food just isn't something I fancy but whenever I'm here at Ming Tien, I either go for this or the Crispy Chicken Rice but that was years back.

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Breizh Up, Pantai Cenang, Langkawi, Kedah

Address:
Lot 1, Jalan Pentai Cenang, Pantai Cenang, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
Saturday, 12:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Sugar Crepe and Hot Chocolate

It was the first day that I was in Langkawi and I've just checked into my hotel. Eager to embark on this solo adventure for the first time in my life, I started to make my way to my first food destination. At first, I wanted to try My French Factory Cafe as my first destination but I was too early and it shows in my phone that they were not open yet. Anyway, for some reason they weren't opened that day. And so I decided to head to Sun Cafe but along the way there, I stumbled upon this cafe called Breizh Up that caught my eye. Though it resides on the 1st floor, the bright red canopy that shades the pathway to the stairs were new and looks so eye catching to me. Due to this fact, I stopped my car and started to head my way over there to have a look at it.

I soon decided to go upstairs and try whatever they have at their cafe. The place was cleanly and as neat as can be with a clear indication that it's quite a brand new cafe. Mind you, I tried searching on TripAdvisor and to my surprise it wasn't listed so I figured it may be quite new. The place is run by a Frenchman and his partner where the Frenchman prepare the crepes while the partner prepare mostly drinks and some help in preparation of food. The menu consists of a French name and an English name but the description is in English. I thought I would just order a simple Sugar Crepe and that's what I went with with the hot chocolate.

The cafe being on the first floor has it's advantage as from the balcony area where they've converted it to an al-fresco dining area, you can actually see the sea at a distance since the shoplots opposite does not have a 1st floor. It took a moderate waiting time until my orders arrived. The Frenchman and his partner were very friendly (actually, culturally in Langkawi, most people are very nice and friendly as oppose to the harshness of the KL City) and chatted up with me a bit despite their still struggling on mastering the English language. I thought that was a very nice gesture from them.

When I started tasting the crepe after my photo taking session, I got the shocked of my life. Though it was merely a simple sugar crepe, it's the best damn crepe I've ever had in my entire life. This tops my list as the best crepe I've ever tasted. Though I've yet to taste My French Factory's crepe which is just down the road and rated number 1 in TripAdvisor and also verified by my friend, I knew I've stumbled on to something really very good. The crepe was soft and has a fluffy texture. Though the fillings were just sugar, they purposed on it perfectly adequate to make it not too sweet and just right. The perfect amount to make the simple crepe pop and delicious. Over at the side of it lies 3 squirts of whip cream which also is the perfect portion to eat with that size of crepe. The day after this, I did try out My French Factory and my decision still stands for this to still be the best crepe I've ever tasted. This should deserve the no. 1 spot on TripAdvisor.

It's profile is actually almost the same as My French Factory. Both are run by a Frenchman and his partner, both specializes in crepe, both crepes are done by the Frenchman himself and both use their own home made batter. The only difference I would say besides Breizh Up tasting slightly better would be Breizh Up selling cheaper and their place is bigger with a view of the ocean from the balcony. So I would say Breizh Up takes the cake (or in this case the crepe) for me. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
RM22. Sugar Crepe costs RM8, Hot Chocolate RM12 and there's a 10% service charge imposed.

Final Verdict:
9/10. Just lovely. The best damn crepe I've ever tasted in my life. Next time when I visit France again, I must try out a crepe there to see if it can beat the ones in Langkawi.

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Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle, Ximending, Wanhua District, Taipei, Taiwan

Address:
No. 8-1, Emei St,, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Opening Hours:
Daily, 11am - 10:30pm

Time Visited:
Sunday, around 5:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
They only serve one thing here, the Mee Sua Noodles. Ordered the small one.

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Since I was on tour in Taiwan with my family (which they usually like following tours), the tour guide brought us to this place on top of other shops in Ximending. This was the last day of my tour and the Ximending night market was our last stop before adjourning to our hotel and departing towards the airport the next day. Up until this point, I wasn't really that impress with Taiwan food with their food tasting less stronger than in Malaysia. In fact, I felt Taiwan food in Malaysia seemed to taste better than Taiwan herself because it tastes stronger over here so you get a more fulfilling taste. That was until I tasted the Mee Sua here. This is probably the only exception that I would place on food that is worth visiting Taiwan for. The Mee Sua here is leaps and bounds better than any Mee Sua I've tried over here in Malaysia. It is kinda like the excitement I got when I discovered the tastiest crepes I've ever had resided at Langkawi.

When we arrived at the place, there was already a very long line that snakes from the shop to the opposite shoplots and bending slightly. Every second you'll see there will be someone new joining the line. But if you think you're in for a long wait due to the long line, fret not! They dispense out their food at a very quick pace and so the line moves very quickly. It didn't take long till it was down to our turn probably just about 5-10 minutes or so. You place your order at the cashier and take your receipt to take your orders at the pick up area where they prepare the food. They were so quick that it was immediate. From the moment you pay, once you just step into the area to pick up, they've already got your stuff ready!

As this is considered a street food, there's no actual table and chairs for you to sit and eat. Well, there is a seating area where there's some chairs being laid out near the side for you to sit and eat, but due to the immense crowd buying from this place, most people just stand around to eat it. Hidden at the corner near the cashier there, there's chili sauce, garlic sauce and vinegar for you to take to put it on your noodles. Adding the condiments in nicely increase the already very tasty dish.

The soup is kind of peppery on it's on and the extremely piping hot temperature of the dish increases the spicy level. But I still prefer adding in some chili into it because it will produce a kind of unique taste to it. Taiwan's chili has a sweet but spicy taste to it which taste delicious to me. The broth is of an adequate thick level and does not lack flavor. The Mee Sua is very delicate and soft where you can just slurp it up and drink it down without even the need to chew much. LOL. What I also like about this dish is that they put in pork intestine instead of oyster and the pork intestine is gummy enough but soft and easy to eat. A nice texture which I've never encountered before for pork intestine in Malaysia.

We stand on the opposite shop where Nike is to eat our food because you can feel the air-conditioning unit outside there. LOL. This helps cool down the food for consumption faster since it's very, very hot. Truly recommend anyone to eat this because in my books, this is worth visiting Taiwan to try. Unless you're like my colleague who mentioned that she didn't really find anything special about this Mee Sua and only prefer to eat Pan Mee. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
If I'm not mistaken, it's NTD50 ($50) for a small bowl. For conversion purpose on my visit of 2016, it's about RM6 a bowl. But for NTD50, I consider it cheap.

Final Verdict:
8/10. This was the best food I had in Taiwan, others I would say it's better in Malaysia if it's available here and for those that aren't, it's not visiting Taiwan for just to have it.

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Grab Cafe, Menara UOA, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
Unit 1-5, Ground floor 
Menara UOA Bangsar
5 Jalan Bangsar Utama 1 59000
Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri:
8:00 am - 8:00 pm

Time Visited:
Around 1pm, Wednesday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Toasted Cheese Sandwich and Latte

It's a day off for me due to me needing to service my car and so I took the opportunity to make some moolah in addition to visit some cafes that I've been dying to try; Grab Cafe at Menara UOA Bangsar being one of them.

Why this is so is because Grab Cafe only opens during weekdays and during weekdays, it's difficult for me to visit this place since I had my work to attend to and this place being way too far from my workplace for me to ever visit during lunch hour. Imagine also the horrendous parking woes at Bangsar on a working weekday. So after my car servicing was completed, I headed off to Bangsar over here to eagerly try out what they had to offer. It's on the same level as the road behind at Menara UOA and is a level above where the feeder buses wait at the Bangsar LRT.

It wasn't difficult for me to locate since even though teh Ground Floor as specified is actually meaning the first floor. It's not difficult due to them installing a building directory which I could easily follow along. By the time I was in the cafe, I only spotted a couple of vacant places left. It's teeming with the lunch crowd that's there to have their quick bite during their lunch break. In the cafe, there were only 2 workers there where they quicken their pace every step of the way in order to meet the demands of the lunch customers. I quickly scan through on what they have for eating with their clipboard menu and proceeded to make my order once the group before me had done theirs. I just ordered a Toasted Cheese Sandwich along with a latte.

I then moved on to sit myself down at what's left for me to have a seat and waited for my meal. Since the place was buzzing and also there's only 2 person working there, I reckon it would be a bit of a wait. I observed them as I see them efficiently timed their tasks well like those time management games I so adore and everytime they're near a table that they're serving and a table nearby needs clearing, they would do so as a convenience sake. That's what I call efficiency.

The latte came quite quick to my amazement and that wasn't the thing that had succeeded in impressing me. The coffee was nicely done even though they were in hurry mode yet they manage to brew up a nice cup of coffee like it was effortless. The sandwich took a little longer than I expected even though it's just sandwich. Well, can't complain since it's not salad which would be even more faster. Anyway, it came with a good enough presentation to show that it had been put with some care into it. The sandwich is a cheese sandwich that's made from parmesan and cheddar cheese. The gooey cheese factor was enough to cause the 'pizza cheese pull effect' and the taste of cheese was also dominant enough to satisfy a cheese lover like me. The bread that they use were just a normal wholemeal bread. It may be something that is simple and easy to make in your home but over here it's delicious enough for me to give it a passing mark. At the side of the sandwich were some fresh looking vegetables consisting of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers that has some Japanese sesame salad dressing put on.

The place had a wooden and brick appeal and a cozy enough atmosphere for a chilling good time. I especially love the coffee. The food, well, it's passable.

Total Wallet Damage:
The total price was only RM15. How it arrived to that, I'm not sure. I wasn't handed a receipt.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Quite like the atmosphere and loved the coffee......lots.

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