Petit Mary Pattisserie, Taman Teh Teng Seng, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Address:
 83, Jalan Langsat, Taman Teh Teng Seng, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9am - 8pm.

Time Visited:
11:13am, Wednesday (Public Holiday)

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Mary Breakfast (set)

Public holiday. Wesak day to be exact. Not working much on this day, I decided to take a spontaneous trip down to Ipoh on this day. 2 of my colleagues asked why didn't I say earlier? Else they would've joined me. LOL. Yeah, right. Like that 2 family men has time to accompany this lone soul down to Ipoh. I shall ask you guys the next time around but then again, if it's just a local trip, it's most likely short notice so you guys won't be able to go too. LOL.

After dilly dallying a bit in the morning, I finally departed from Klang Valley towards my hometown in Ipoh. Once arrived at the cafe, it was just almost lunchtime which was perfect for me. From the outside of this cafe, it says nothing that it's a cafe. The giveaway was more of it's looks and an open sign hanging by the gate. This place looks like some part of a palace, Englishmen style. As I walked in, I'm pretty sure I was in the right place with a person greeting me by the door. The guy explained to me that ordering of food takes place downstairs while the seating is upstairs. This place is a Mandarin-centric place where people talk and order mostly in Mandarin. A little queer for me because I'm so used to Ipoh being a place where they just mainly speak Cantonese. Since I didn't make any stops on my way here, I decided to head upstairs to the toilet first before descending back down the stairs to take a look at the menu. This place seems a little cramp downstairs which I guess it's why they don't have seatings downstairs. However, I'm just wondering what happens if you're coming with older folks who has bad knees? Guess they would have to slowly make their way up the stairs. There's a Breakfast set menu which reads available from 9am - 12pm and that comes with coffee or tea and since I've been on a long journey all the way here, I thought of giving the Mary Breakfast a try instead of just the croissant which was what I was thinking of ordering at the beginning.

I made my way up the stairs and chose a table to sit down at. Being a cafe that doesn't have any signboard but is a house of it's own, it looks pretty popular. By the time I was halfway through my breakfast, it had already turned into a full house of customers. This place just didn't do much alteration from it's original house design. You still see the layout like a house where there's just the front of the house and the back of the house as places to sit and eat. One thing I always see the staff struggling with is that they have to find where the patron who has ordered is sitting. You see, once you've ordered, you're given a number and you're to display that on your table so they know the food belongs to you. But without a camera to monitor the upstairs on where you had sat down, the waiter will always go to the front of the house all the way to see if there's a number around before heading back to the back of the house to continue finding the number. But I guess it's merely a minor inconvenience. In this cafe, there's also a fake fireplace to spruce up the ambiance which I hardly see these things around. I remember seeing one at one of the hotels in Europe.

Anyway, the Mary Breakfast came and I was surprised by the number of items they gave to me. The guy put the plate of breakfast on my table and then the coffee, and as he was about to turn and leave, he said this belongs to you too, right? And put a basket of bread with butter down. I was surprised. This is definitely way worth eating if you want bang for your buck because with that amount of food given, you're definitely gonna be full finishing the whole thing. I can imagine some girls saying unable to finish the whole thing. LOL. So what I think all in for just RM18, that's considered cheap in my books. Taste-wise, well, it's just your regular tasting breakfast. Nothing superb nor out of the ordinary for it. As you can see in the picture, besides the 2 croissants and coffee, the breakfast platter consists of baked beans, a sausage, hash brown, ham (I think it's turkey ham), some salad on the side and scrambled eggs. I just wish the salad and it's dressing were separated because it did interfere with the taste of the eggs. It gets soaked in it's sauce and didn't really go well with it. But eating the whole thing got me quite full and as I mentioned before, it's very well worth your money. I wonder if cafes around Ipoh is all this cheap in price. The coffee leans towards more of Italian coffee where it's bitter through and through and so I needed to sweeten up it's taste by adding the provided sugar sachets. Though I don't normally drink coffee with sugar, I just couldn't with this and needed the sugar.

After awhile of resting I departed from here to my next destination nearby.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM18. Just RM18 all in. This includes the 6% GST. A very much worth breakfast set for that price. Highly recommend if you're looking for something cheap that's a cafe.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, price-wise I would say is excellent but taste-wise will need to be better if you want it to be memorable for it's taste as well. Ambiance, not bad. Homely.

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TWT Cafe, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Address:
30, Jalan Medan Ipoh 1D, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Closed on Tuesdays
Other Days 12pm - 10pm

Time Visited:
12:30pm, on a Public Holiday Wednesday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chocolate Lava with Vanilla Gelato and Peppermint Tea

Straight off the bat from a hefty meal at Petit Mary Pattisserie, I don't think I would be able to eat another round so soon. Should've planned for some other things to do in between meals. LOL. But anyway, I headed to TWT Cafe straightaway. Although there were others I was planning on going in the beginning, seeing that it's a public holiday and most of it were closed, this was my next of choice after seeing the others closed.

TWT Cafe is just very near to Petit Mary Pattisserie, just 5 minutes drive away. Hell, in fact all the things that I ate at Ipoh on that day were so near to one another with just 5 minutes drive away. TWT stands for Tea Warmer Treats apparently. I decided upon dessert instead of another main course meal since the breakfast of Petit Mary Pattisserie was quite filling. So I ordered the Chocolate Lava with Vanilla Gelato. I was warned that it will take about 10-15 minutes to prepare so I would had to wait. I chuckled and gave them an okay sign. When I was there, there's not a customer in sight. I was the only customer there. Later on, there were trickles of customers that went in with the first one after me also just going for dessert while the rest were there to have their lunch on this fine public holiday.

True to their word, it did take about 10-15 minutes when I was shown this nicely plated dessert that looks very dark in it's color. Beside it was the contrasting yellow tinge of vanilla gelato. A poke on the lava cake revealed a spillage of chocolate sauce that didn't stop flowing and harden as it cooled till a very much later period. The gelato sits atop cornflakes while the plating shows more chocolate sauces upon it. This dessert to me is awfully sweet. Way too sweet for my taste. For those who have a sweet tooth, they may enjoy it. The chocolate part with the pastry part was sweet beyond means and the gelato didn't help much as it's also sweet on it's own though at a much milder level compared to the chocolate sauce. It was so sweet that it permeates upon the cornflakes as well and the only way that I manage to lower down the sweetness meter is to drink some tea with it. It accompanies fine with the tea. Taste-wise is okay. It's just that it's so darn sweet and not enough balance in the whole dish. I guess you're suppose to eat it and take a sip of your tea. LOL.

After the dessert here, I went to walkaround the area. The area here is filled with so many eateries. Whatever tickles your fancy, you'll sure find it around here. Kopitiam? There's some here. Fancy some posh foreign food? There's some Japanese restaurant and it looks like they tried to open some Korean restaurants here too but look like it's out of business. Cafe food aplenty as well. All in all, every type of food that covers I believe all of the general population. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
Strange. I think I lost the receipt. But dessert stands at RM15.50 according to the menu while the peppermint tea costs RM7.50.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, for a place that calls itself Tea Warmer Treats, I expected the dessert to be more appealing but generally, it's not bad lah.

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BreadFruits, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
No. 17, Jalan 26/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Wilayah Persekutuan, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
Sunday, 12:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette & Wild Honey Latte

After spending my time preparing for my upcoming Korea trip with my family, I head on over to BreadFruits in Sri Hartamas to try their food there. I have to say, at times like this if even such non-simple things that would literally delight anybody who has such things to look forward to is something I find kind of apathetic to and am just bored to my bones and still thinks that life is not worth living, why do I even bother continuing on? Why the stupid stipulated time I have set for myself?

Anyway, this place looks packed on the inside though I have to say, this place seems quite small. But there's still some places to sit and dine at. They have some fruits and stuff on display for purchase and can be made into juices for you there as well. However, I chose to sit outside instead of with the cool air-cond breeze on the inside. When I was there, I approached the counter and one of the staff said,"Yes?" I asked for the menu and she pointed to me where it is so I helped myself to it and start glancing through it. Mind you, this place is a full service restaurant so you can actually just sit yourself down or have them show you an available table and they will bring the menu to you. But with the amount of people there and how busy the staff looked like, I decided to not wait for service and helped myself to the menu instead. After deciding, I told one of the waiters my order and he pointed me to a vacant place inside but I told him I wanted to sit outside.

Surprisingly, outside was a lot more quieter than the inside. I guess the small place had the diners chatter bounced and echo off the walls. Over on the outside, it wasn't really that hot but there are construction nearby which you can hear low humming sounds of machinery and what they're doing and also the traffic from this busy area from a distance, but it was definitely much more quieter than the inside that day. This area here has always been known for it's lack of parking and so I parked a little further having seen a shady place at the main road.

It didn't really take long till my omelette arrives in all it's vibrant colors as I await for my latte to come along. About few minutes later it started to come and it's time to chow down. The Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette has bacon in it and mushrooms and of course cheese while at the side there, they put some rocket leaves and a toasted bread with some butter on top. To start off, the bread was good even by eating by itself and slathering the butter over it increases it's viability. Rocket leaves though weren't looking so great and a bit shabby yet tasted pleasing enough and on to the main star. The perfectly cooked omelette contains mostly the mushrooms being the most prominent among all the ingredients and the cheese provide some gooey gummy feeling. The bits of bacon were a clever and ingenious addition into the omelette as it provided some salty bits and as a person who loves bacon, it certainly went well with the omelette and cheese, The wild honey latte is exactly what you think the taste would be with the honey providing a peculiar sweetness to an already quite mild coffee. Nevertheless, it was enough to satisfy me and I left for my next course of action after enjoying the cup of coffee.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM38.15. RM13 for the latte and RM23 for the omelette. 6% GST is charged here.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Well, it has it's upside on it's dishes and some good enough beverages, but the ambient just left a little claustrophobic inside and that's where I preferred the outdoors.

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Dreamz Bakery, The Strand, Pusat Perdaganan Kota Damansara, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No 32-1, The Strand, Jalan PJU 5/20d, Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara., 47810 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Friday & Saturday: 12pm - 11pm
Sunday to Thursday: 12pm - 10pm

Time Visited:
2:50pm, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual (very)

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Latte (Hot) & Dark Secret Cake

My initial destination originally intended to be somewhere else but seeing that the place has closed down for good, I decided to give Dreamz Bakery a try.

Dreamz Bakery is a very Chinese-centric place seeing that they mostly speak in Mandarin and their English comes heavy accented that mostly comes from a person who speaks mainly Chinese and not much English. Anyway, that's not the point that should deter anybody other than Chinese to visit this cafe. It seems to be doing very well despite being at a location that has few footfall and tons of eateries and cafes around and what's more surprising is that it's located on the first floor. Despite all these elements working against this cafe, yet it garners a lot of visits from customers. When I was there, it was almost full house.

The entrance door is controlled by a magnetic lock for safety reasons seeing that it's on the first floor and that it opens till fairly late at night so you have to ring the bell before they will unlock it for you. On top of that, the really queer part is that you also need to take off your shoes to enter. I was slightly embarrass because I always has socks that has holes in it. LOL. Anyway, I survived the ordeal of entering without shoes and the floor felt slightly cold to me. Inside the cafe was a feminine kind of feel in it with pretty interiors and not to mentioned predominantly, their customers are female. In fact, there weren't any all guys table at all. All tables that are with guys were them bringing their family there or guys bringing their female companions. I was the only oddball. LOL.

Normally, you will seat yourself and they will bring you the menu to browse but I just did my browsing at the counter seeing that I merely wanted to eat some cake that day. I settled for the Dark Secret and a hot Latte. The person asked where was I sitting and I haven't decided where to sit. LOL. So I quickly peered around the vicinity and spotted a table way at the back and just said "a1" which was the table number. It took quite a while before my orders came but the cake came with a sauce decorated plate just like Jeq In the House. Dark Secret is mentioned as a cake that has Earl Grey Tea taste with chocolate but I didn't taste anything resembling of earl grey. I did however, had a whole mouthful of chocolate taste. The last layer of the cake provided a crispy portion like wafers. The cake feels very soft and fluffy as well and the outer layer of the cake that's covered in chocolate sometimes felt too sweet for me. But other times are okay. As for the latte, I felt that it is way too milky as I didn't taste much of coffee but it does have a bitter aftertaste that proves of the coffee's existence in it towards the end. LOL.

I can see the draw of the womenfolks to this cafe. Everything seems so pretty and cheery in there.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM24.15 altogether with the latte being just RM9.90 and the cake RM12.90. There is a charge of 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
7/10. I can see why the draw to this cafe. It's pretty, the cakes were good and the coffee was okay. Not sure if the food's good but I'm tempted to come back again to try.

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Artisan Coffee, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan 13/2, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am - Midnight

Time Visited:
2:30pm, Sunday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon and a Latte

Why haven't I heard of this place before??? It was such a rare gem of a find and it took me so long but finally, I had took a notice of this place and I'm glad I did.

Little did I know, I have visited their counterpart branch before which is the Artistry by Artisan Coffee at Atria but yet I never knew that their HQ was this delightful cafe hidden from the busy roads of Petaling Jaya. Going inwards in roads that leads to a very quiet area, Artisan Coffee is far from the busy road and caved in from the quiet streets where warehouses resides. It's housed in a former warehouse as well and I totally love the ambiance here. Since it's in such an inner road, the parking here are aplenty with nothing opened all around except for this bustling cafe. I parked right beneath a big tree which provided a very cool shade for my car since the weather outside turned from air-conditioning cool to scorching fiery hot since 10am.

Though outside may seem quiet but inside was filled with patrons all lazing around without any signs of them going off. Looks like everyone's in here for the long haul. The upstairs area overlooking downstairs is simply mesmerizing to me but I opted to sit outside and enjoy the heat a little. LOL. The toilets are separated into male and female but the male toilet is located upstairs while the female toilet is downstairs.

This place is actually fully self-service so after you've done your ordering and your payment, you're supposed to pick up your own drinks and food. The receipt will have your number and when your number comes up on the sign, you're to pick it up from the kitchen. As for the drinks, you're to pick it up at the end of the drinks bar. It's near where you can take some water as well.

The kind barista actually took my drink to me when I failed to notice that my drink was ready and awaiting for my pickup. Bless her soul. But I took my plate of Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon Pasta on my own. The coffee is on the lighter side and a latte would prove to be too milky. I should've ordered something less of a milk ratio. Perhaps a flat white would be better. But it's not to say the coffee's not good. Oh, no. It's quite fantastic just that my preference has leaned towards having a much bolder coffee taste.

As for the Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon, they weren't kidding when it says Creamy Tomato. It's very very creamy and rich in it's cheese taste. The tomato wasn't a dominant character in this plate but does provide it's significant flavor to it. All of it cast off a much balanced in taste that I very much like. But due to it's creaminess, I must say that anyone eating this would need to take precaution so as not to spurt any sauce onto your shirt.

After finishing my meal, I head on home to rest awhile before continuing on with work.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29.70. RM11 for the Latte and RM17 for the pasta. 6% GST is charged.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I'm loving this place. I just like how it's hideaway from the busy streets and how marvelously serene in such a warehouse and factory like surroundings. I'm told that there will be mosquitoes around and I can see why with some greeneries around hence outside, they had mosquito coils at the ready down at every table. I would love to visit this place once more but I'll need my GPS again to locate it since I'm a little confused on how I got in here. LOL.

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The Brew Culture, Plaza Damas 3, Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
B-01-06 Plaza Damas 3,
Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480
Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm (Close Tues)
Wed – Sun: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Time Visited:
Saturday, 11am

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Latte and Minced Lamb Baguette

I tried visiting this place the day before but they were close and so I took to just eating mamak the day before.

Venturing to new territories for the first time, I've never been to Plaza Damas before. Just to Hartamas Shopping Centre which was a very, very long time ago when I was still working at Plaza Mont Kiara. So being new to Plaza Damas, I didn't know that the area opposite of Hartamas Shopping Centre was called Plaza Damas 3 and unknowingly and unwittingly went into Plaza Damas instead. I've searched high and low for The Brew Culture but obviously it was nowhere to be seen since I'm at the wrong location. Hell, the block that it indicated don't even have that even number that I was searching for. So I was pretty baffled until I walked into Hartamas Shopping Centre and spotted a walkway bridge leading opposite where I saw The Brew Culture's signboard from afar. After being downstairs looking up that flight of stairs that leads to it, I saw that it was close for that day for some reason. With that, I turned away and settled to eating mamak instead and came back the next day.

Whenever it's opened, the door will be open and some paraphernalia will be displayed outside it's doors to indicate that they're open. As I walk into the kempt place, the two persons manning the cafe appeared really busy behind the counter. As I look around for signs of what they have to offer, I finally made my order for a Latte and their Minced Lamb Baguette.

I sat myself down and awaited for my order. Over there, there were 2 tables occupied with 2 different couples both seems to be familiar with the place and were there for the long haul doing some work and chilling. As for me, I'm just taking a break before I adjourn back to work which that day turned out to be a very adventurous day that left me moving far and wide for my work. Anyway, somehow, the cafe's service were slow that day for some reason especially the coffee. The barista seems to be calibrating the machine abit and took an awful long time before I'm finally served my cup of latte but not before my baguette arrived.

The Minced Lamb Baguette had a bit of a local taste with the tapioca chips that you usually get them from the kacang putih sellers. A very different chips that was served. This is the first time I encounter that as the chips served. The meal was quite savory and pleasing to the palate. I wanted to snap a photo of the food together with my coffee but the coffee took too long and I was getting way too hungry even though I snagged some chips to appease my tummy. Pretty soon, I gave up and took bites on the baguette filled with minced lamb. The taste was nice and not gamy. Tantalizing and some spunk to it. There's a dollop of cheese dip in the middle for the tapioca chips but it could do without since it didn't do much to the taste.

I left the place way later than I expected to but it's okay. It turned out to be a very productive working day anyway.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31. Don't know if they charge any extra since I didn't get a reeipt,

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. A nice place to hideaway from the norm. If you hate the crowds of people in shopping malls, you can hideaway here where there's loads less people around.

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The Safe Room, George Town, Pulau Pinang (Penang Island), Malaysia

Address:
42, Lebuh Campbell, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
12pm - 11pm on Tues, Wed & Thurs
12pm - 12am on Fri, Sat & Sun
Close on Mondays.

Time Visited:
8:30pm, Saturday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Dragon's Breath Popcorn and a Rose Latte

Just after my dinner from my moronic trip to Penang for no apparent reason, I decided to sober up from that one glass of wine and went for some stimulating coffee before I depart back my long trip to KL after a very, very long day.

I simply pick around and ended up with The Safe Room which is just down the road from where I was for dinner. Over there, I got a parking just in front of Hong Kee Wan Thun Mee which I now regret a bit for not taking the opportunity to try it after going to The Safe Room since it seems to be very popular and loads of people were there to savor it even after I've left. So then I walk across the street and The Safe Room was just right there. Initially, I didn't notice it since the sign was partially hidden by it's canopy but I still spotted it after a purposeful look around for it. It's directly opposite of Hong Kee Wan Thun Mee.

I immediately enter the cafe and the barista greeted me and seemed to be busy with something. She told me to have a seat and they'll bring the menu to me. So this cafe is not a self-service place. In fact they charge 10% service charge as well. But I just took the menu at the counter with me and sat at the nearest seat there. It didn't take me long to know what I'll be ordering and that was the Dragon's Breath Popcorn and the Rose Latte. Of late, there's been a recent craze on Dragon Breath snacks where it's made with liquid nitrogen and people immediately popping it into their mouth to have a smoking effect coming out of their mouth. It also seemed to have made into the newspaper once from some teenage kid buying some snacks like that from the pasar malam  (night market) and having burnt badly from it. Probably from the improper method they did it? But then again, he was the only one who suffered from the burns badly. LOL. Anyway, I'm just here to try it out.

As they served it over to me, it was still heavily covered with steam vapor coming out from the bowl of popcorn. After a short while later, the steam vapor had all dissipated from it and there were no more of that effect. I didn't pop it in immediately as I want to make sure that the liquid nitrogen on it has completely evaporated as ironically as a cynic like myself sounds. Anyway, it just tasted like your normal caramel popcorn. Just that it's a cold version. LOL.

The Rose Latte came a little later and the presentation was pretty much standard. A little disappointed on the very few sprinkles of rose onto it till I took a sip of it. The taste of rose on this was very strong. After being a little more alert from that tiring day. I started to notice that they put a lot of effort into beautifying the cafe. There's different interesting decors around from the popcorn machine cart to the games section telephone booth and the gigantic Lego character one on the wall scaling while the was next to a room door where that room I guess was solely for the purpose of photography. The toilet was strangely enough located on the first floor where you had to climb a flight of stairs to access it but the games section caught my eye and I started working on a faded off with some missing colors Rubik's cube. I finally got all the colors together after making a few mistakes (brain totally about to shut down from the tiredness) and that's when I'm off to journey back home when the night was getting late.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM27.30. As mentioned earlier, there's 10% service charge but no GST.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Nice place to chill and coffee is decent.

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Gridz Cafe, Plaza Danau 2, Taman Danau Desa, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
( 1st Floor), 31-1, Plaza Danau 2, Jalan 109f, Taman Danau Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily 11am - 10pm except Tuesdays

Time Visited:
New Year's Eve, Saturday, 4:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Porkie Pasta, Flower Tea (combination of 3 flowers which I chose Lavender, Globe Amaranth, and Peach Flower)

After working for some time, I decided to go for a break and head off to Gridz Cafe for a meal. As I arrive at the venue, the lunch crowd has just disperse from the place and I was the only one there. LOL. Being on the first floor of a place that seems a little quiet, they tend to lock their doors for safety so if no one notices you at the door, you'll have to ring the doorbell for them to open for you.

This place was still stuck in Christmas mode with decorations still in the Christmas spirits and delightful Christmas melodies filled the air. They run the business as a family and so you get that homely feel to it when you're there. It's always a pleasure to see older folks interacting with younglings as if you were in their home. They even converse and entertained me as a guest of a family instead of a customer. It's rather amusing having to receive a cookie to try as they try to promote it that they're gonna make and sell it soon for the Chinese New Year.

The food and drink items that I ordered materialized onto my table a little longer than I expected. However, the owner apologized to me when she refilled my teapot with hot water saying that the lunch crowd had just left and they were so busy just before I came. I felt as if I came to their house for a visit and that I'm a family friend of theirs. Haven't had such a homely vibe for such a long time, not since the Pig Out Cafe at Parklane Commercial Center, Kelana Jaya.

Anyway, the food was okay. The Porkie Pasta is obviously a porcine dish that consists of Minced Pork and Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage) which it is quite unique in itself since it fuses the Chinese elements into this western dish. As for the Flower Tea, that was a delight to me even though I just simply pick and choose 3 different main ingredients as my tea. I ended up staying longer than I wanted to due to the need to wait for the rain to stop. Once it did, I was off to continue my work that day till it started to rain and being lazy, I decided to go home to sleep instead.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM21. RM13 for the pasta, RM8 for the tea. Quite cheap and there's no service charge nor GST as well!

Final Verdict:
6/10. There's much room to be improve for this place ie the food could taste better and more memorable. The environment was lovely and the people were friendly and homely. But being just newly opened not too long ago, it's definitely a good start to improve on.

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The Glass House - Specialty Coffee, Metropolitan Square, Bandar Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Metropolitan Square, Lot C109, Center Wing, Jalan PJU 8/1, Bandar Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 9am - 7pm
Weekends: 10am - 5pm

Time Visited:
3:20pm, replacement public holiday for Christmas on Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Flat White, Chocolate and Sea Salt Cake

After a slow day of work and taken my late lunch, I started to depart to this place called The Glass House over at Metropolitan Square. I was here the day before on Christmas day to try it out but they were closed on that day and so I had to make the effort again to come over here to have a try.

Parking on that day was still free somehow even though there's the confusing part of needing to take a ticket but the machines aren't in working order so paying is not necessary that time. The Glass House is just a small cozy cafe that has very few sitting places with 2 on the outside and 2 on the downstairs inside. I think there's also only 2 upstairs but I'm not really sure since I didn't have a peek upstairs so this place has very, very limited place to enjoy your coffee. This is also a place where it doesn't serve food but they do serve cakes where you can have a look at their display case underneath the staircase. A really small place but managed well to maximize the minimum space.

The owner of the place which I presume is the Australian guy seems a little stuck up and I didn't see him smile at all. I think he's incapable of that. LOL. But as for the local Chinese staff there, he was friendly and welcoming enough to me. As I ordered my Flat White with the friendly guy, he asked me whether would I like any cakes to go with my Flat White. This piqued my interest and so I went over to see what cakes they have. The guy recommended that since I'm having a Flat White, it would go well with the Chocolate & Sea Salt Cake. But all I saw on the cake tray was an empty tray. But he said, oh, we had a new batch in today and so he took it out of the fridge and so I ordered 1. I paid for my order and sat on the outside awaiting my order.

It soon came after and looks promising. I like the Flat White, though it wasn't a strong blend of coffee, it's aromatic and I quite like the taste. The Chocolate & Sea Salt Cake wasn't too much of my fancy but what he recommended was right enough because it did go very well with the Flat White. Complemented each other fully and gave a very full bodied taste to both that enhances each other. On the top was merely the chocolate part but the base I guess is where the Sea Salt lies since there's a slight tinge of salty taste. But otherwise, it's quite a sweet cake and I was told that it's gluten free. Not that a person of my framework needed to lose any fat. LOL.

It was soon raining when I was about to leave and I got a little lazy to continue on with my work and so I headed home to do my laundry instead.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM25. RM10 for the Flat White and RM15 for the cake. No other additional charges mentioned so I guess there's none.

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. Nice place to chill and relax with a very good vibrant vibe to this cafe. Only thing is it's quite limited in it's space. But they do deliveries as well around the Metropolitan Square area with a minimum order of RM20.

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Doma Korean Restaurant, Mont Kiara Shoplex, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
21, New Wing @ Mont Kiara Shoplex, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
 Daily, 11am-12am

Time Visited:
Sunday afternoon, 3:30pm, when it started to get hot with the sun finally coming out.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Iced Latte and Bacon & Egg Burger

As I stopped for break from work for awhile, I went over to Doma at Mont Kiara. Haven't not eaten anything at all for the day, this was my first meal of the day though it's at around 3:30pm in the afternoon. LOL.

Hence explains the bacon and egg burger choice because I craved for some bacon and eggs which is always my choice for breakfast. Though this place may not be a self service cafe, I helped myself to everything because I was impatient of waiting for them and the only guy that's supposed to attend to customers seems to be busy with something behind the cashier. But he did greet me welcome as I entered the vicinity. I helped myself to a menu at the cashier there and took it to my seat nearby to browse through. After making my choice, I stepped over again at the cashier area to make my order.

It didn't take long for my drink and food to arrived. I'd say probably in less than 5 minutes! It's really a wonder how they churned out that burger in such a speedy time. But I have no complains. Though the latte wasn't to my fancy due to a still yet very bitter taste that lingers on the latte and the milk never really penetrated through to mix with the other players in the drink and seems to be as a standalone.

The burger though small was done in good taste although RM17 for that burger would leave me feeling the price to be a little steep for such a small burger. Anyway, it tasted good. After all, bacon and eggs can hardly go wrong. LOL. As for the fries, it was done very well. It was crispy throughout my entire meal even though I've finished with my burger. The fries still remain as crispy and was a delight to munch on. I guess their specialty is frying since I've heard they're great in their Korean Fried Chicken as well which I didn't try. LOL. Anyway, though the seasoning of the fries were inconsistent, it's forgivable with such a lovely crisp texture on the fries that stayed on for such a long period and never got soggy. Simply delightful.

As for the ambiance, it was really a place that seems to be hidden within nature though it's just next to the main road. The many greeneries around had made a blockade of barricade from it so it really is like a fusion of jungle meets city. As for the Korean part, well, I'm not sure what elements of Korean that it has since I saw none at all apart from the Korean that's playing in the background. I think maybe the owner is Korean since I saw a Korean like guy sitting at a corner which is the boss of the place. Yeah. I guess that might be it. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM28.60. 6% GST inclusive.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Not a bad place. Perhaps may garner another revisit from me again since I frequent this area. Other than that, I won't go out of the way just to go back again.

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Kotakotak Cafe, Accentra Glenmarie, Seksyen U1, Glenmarie, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
8 Jalan Presiden F U1/F Accentra Glenmarie, Seksyen U1, Glenmarie 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday, 8am-7pm.

Time Visited:
12:30pm, Tuesday afternoon

Attire worn:
Business.

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Grilled Chicken Burger and a Flat White

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was a colleague of mine from my department that was leaving and so some of us assembled and gathered here to have a farewell lunch for her.

This place was at an area where I passby everyday after work to get home but I've never gone inside this area in my life. There was once that I wanted to try Urban Delight having seen it from outside while passing by but they've since closed down and the place has turned into Jios Pizza now which I have no interest in trying. But as for Kotakotak Cafe, it's more towards the inner portion and so it's shaded away with the shrubs and bushes and therefore unseen by me as I passby from the main road.

The place had it's very squarish demeanor and quite a minimal appearance from the seating area but cluttered when it comes to the shelf and such. The walkway with tables from both sides make it look like narrow pathways which makes me a little claustrophobic. Other than that, the minimal appearance with white walls that bedeck the place presents itself at a more vibrant nature to me. With us being a big group of us, it's normal to assume that things that we ordered will be sent out to us at a much slower pace. But I did however received my Flat White above most people's order. Unfortunately, the server himself does not know what he's serving so I have to safely assume that it's a Flat White and it's mine. The coffee artwork is not one that's impressive and a little vague in how it looks. Blurrish features but do not let the looks fool you. It does taste quite good. It's satisfactory enough to be akin to my taste and to quell my caffeine fix demons.

After a long while of awaiting for my food, it appears to be one of the last items to be put out since it's a burger which took them longer to prepare and cook it out to us. The burger buns were of charcoal and instead of lettuce and the usual vegetable suspects in your normal burger, this contains coleslaw as the vegetable supplement which put me off a bit since I'm not a keen taster of coleslaw. The grilled chicken patty is wrapped in egg and it's both cooked nicely without much imperfection to find. The fries were just your normal regular ones and nothing fantastic about it. Just your usual ordinary fries. The burger was satisfactory also to me and nothing too out of the ordinary and a safe bet in taste.

All in all, it's quite okay for a lunch session but it wouldn't be a spot that I would like to just chill and hangout when I have the free time. Maybe I'm a little bias as the place reminds me of work when I'm around here. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
I'm not entirely sure of the total bill since I wasn't the one paying in the beginning but according to the menu, the Grilled Chicken Burger costs RM16.90 while the Flat White costs RM10.90. Unsure if they charge GST or service charge.

Final Verdict:
I'd give it a 6/10. Not a bad place for a drink and a quick lunch.

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Fest, Jaya One, Section 13, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor Malaysia

Address:
Jaya One, 72A, Jalan Universiti, Section 13, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am-11pm

Time Visited:
Sunday Afternoon, 1pm.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Tofufah Cheese Cake and Magic

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

On a Sunday morning, I awoke early to see a message from my colleague inviting me out to help him out with some quiz and registration for a job. I was delighted that he finally asked me out to help him out and so I gleefully replied to him on a positive tone and set to meet him at around 11am. Come 11am, we went for breakfast and I started to have a discussion with him. Once finished we headed on to Jaya One to finished off the task and by 1pm, I was already looking for a cafe to have some coffee. As I passed by Fest, I decided to go in to try it instead with my colleague joining me.

Inside, I decided to go for Magic which is basically a Flat White that has double shot of espresso. I was also feeling like wanting to eat cake for dessert and so I was recommended the Tofufah Cheese Cake. We continued chatting away the afternoon and I impart some knowledge to him on how to do the job. The Tofufah Cheese Cake is exactly what's it called, the silky smoothness of Tufufah on top but the layers below that is a cheese cake. Adding in the Gula Melaka tasted more wonderful but even without it, it is as delightful to be as it is. Of course the Gula Melaka may not be as good as Weng Kee's Ice Kacang Gula Melaka which highlights the Gula Melaka most perfectly with the Ice Kacang. This too for the Tofufah Cheese Cake is nicely complemented by the Gula Melaka as well.

Adding in to the great taste of the Magic, it all goes well with each other altogether. I seriously would recommend this cheese cake for sure.

After our long chatter towards the late afternoon at this place, we finally adjourned away and I head on home after dropping him off at his relatives place. It was a nice outing which I savored every moment of it hanging out with my colleague. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
Erm, actually I didn't pay and didn't take note of the price so I don't really know. *Shrugs shoulders*

Final Verdict:
7.5/10. Definitely a good place to hangout if the hustle and bustle of The School is too noisy. This place is at a much quieter place and cakes and coffee were a good eat.

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103 Coffee Workshop, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
103, Jalan Radin Bagus, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
12pm, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

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

I once wanted to step foot at 103 Coffee Workshop but then decided against it and went to 5.1 Cafe Gallery instead. But this time around, I made the effort to visit there.

Though outside from it's exterior it seemed awfully quiet but once I step into the place, I was taken aback by the sheer number of people there. They were very quick to notice people coming in and they will specially usher you to your table and your seat as soon as they've determined the number of people in your party. So it was easy for me to get a place because I'm shown to an available table. No hassle and they're plenty courteous, helpful and offer good service.

After going through the entire menu which is very thick and full of food items and beverages to choose from, I've decided and signaled for someone to take my order which is not difficult for they have wait staff from one end to the other end and they can easily see each other. I wanted to try their cold brew but they've ran out that day and so I settled for a usual latte. As for my meal, I've made the preference of Daimanzoku, which in Japanese means very satisfied.

The whole restaurant, as I can see, is very well run and has been efficiently optimize. Hence, even the food and drinks that were ordered were quite fast in arriving. The latte came first. No surprises there. Their coffee comes with a nice biscotti and as I recall, their coffee was not bad. Tasteful and a strong coffee taste. The thickness of the caffeine seem to be great in this cup of coffee but yet it's not too bitter.

Pretty soon, my Daimanzoku came. Daimanzoku is a breakfast that comes with Scrambled Eggs, Sauteed Mushrooms, Pork Bacon Wrapped with Cherry Tomato, Pork Sausage, a side of salad and my favorite among them all, a mixture of straight cut fries and sweet potato fries. I have to admit they serve great food here and their standard is way up there. Almost everything in there tasted great, the scrambled eggs, the pork bacon, incredible. The favorite thing of them all as I mentioned earlier, the fries. It was so addictive and very well seasoned to perfection. I savored every last inch of this dish and true to it's name, it really does leave you with a big satisfaction. On top of that, it left me feeling full as well.

I took my time soaking in the environment and they have a steady stream of customers coming in till at times, there's just no more space to accommodate anyone anymore. And yet with that, they also never once hurried me nor made me feel that I'm taking up their precious space. Instead, they were really excellent in their service and friendly. I went over to the counter to pay and started my day of work.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM42.80. 6% GST needed but get this, despite their very good service, they don't charge service charge. Excellent!

Final Verdict:
9/10. This is definitely a place worth visiting again. It has good food, good coffee, good ambiance, good service and they don't charge for service.

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Li Restaurant, SS22, Damansara Jaya (DJ), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
47, Jalan SS 22/23, Ss 22, Damansara Jaya (DJ) 47400 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Sundays: 10:30AM–5PM
Mondays: Closed
Tuesdays - Saturdays: 11:30AM–9:30PM

Time Visited:
7pm, Saturday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Pork Toast, Go All Out, Blistered French Beans and Earl Grey Tea and Soy Milk Panna Cotta for dessert. My friend drank the Lemongrass Water

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was the last day before my friend flies off to UK to further her studies. I very much wanted to spend one last time before she do so and with the great stroke of luck, she had this Saturday night free to meet up with me for a meal. :D

The decision that she made was to go to Li Restaurant to try and that's what we did. Being eager to see her, I arrived right on time at the stipulated time of meeting. Initially, I wanted to pick her up and go together but she was already out with friends that day and so we decided to just meet up with each other and I'll fetch her home. Around 15 minutes later she walked in and I was glad to see her. Though I had failed to rope in others to meet up with her that day, at least I found the satisfaction of me being able to see her.

The staff at this place was chirpy and very friendly. I can see that they're very dedicated with their job and their creation. Though it carries a Chinese connotation to it's restaurant, it's far from it and is actually a cafe. The design of the cafe is a modern meets antique items and reality meets fantasy with quirks like a sign indicating Narnia on it's store room door. Once the menu was passed to us, the overly enthusiastic waitress decided to explain the entire menu to us which we allowed her to do so. I can see her passion in it and she kept on explaining away on the items one after another with suggestions on what we should have. I see that it's a common practice for her and that's what she did throughout. Pretty soon, I decided to go with what she had recommended and that was Go All Out, a dish that's rice with Chicken and Pork Belly. My friend had earlier ate something and decided to go lighter and so she ordered the Pork Toast and some French Beans and we were to share everything.

With the many unique dishes that they've named up in their menu, I can see that they put some care into making the things because it took longer that I anticipated for their things to arrive. The Pork Toast came first and that's basically their homemade sourdough bread with Chili Mayo Sauce zig-zagged on top and some herbs (read: coriander leaves). Does it contain any pork? Mmm, I don't think so. Or maybe there is. But either way, I can't tell nor taste if there's any. The biggest taste among all would be the Chili Mayo which gives off some spice heat as you dig into the bread. The Coriander wasn't helpful in the taste department but overall, the pork toast mostly taste good with it's Chili Mayo. But does it have to be that expensive? RM9.50? Anyway, a good experience on eating that.

The French Beans tasted exactly how it should be and was seasoned fine. But other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. Moving on to the Go All Out, it is how it is described and that is Rice with Chicken and Pork Belly. The Pork Belly feels a little too fat for me to consume but the grilled chicken in it was nice. I like how they added a soft boiled egg into the mix which to me, anything with eggs make things greater because I love eggs. And putting in the soft boiled egg in there just makes it more wonderful. Me and my friend chatted the whole evening away with her very tired self showing on the occasional yawn. LOL. Sorry. But I just wanna make the most of this.

Later on, the waitress again appeared before us and asked if we would like to go for their dessert to which I obliged. I went with they Soy Milk Panna Cotta. It was okay. Sometimes I find it a bit too sweet due to the Gula Melaka but it does have it's tasty moment and I like the soft texture of the Panna Cotta. We later on adjourned to somewhere else for a drink and after that, we were surprised when we saw the same waitress as we were walking back to my car, she smiled and spoke something to us. I didn't think much of that at that moment and thought that it was my friend's friend but when she said to me that she's friendly, isn't she that's when it hit me that it was the waitress at Li Restaurant. A very friendly person indeed. I just wish I can always have an ounce of that happiness in me like her.

Total Wallet Damage:
All amounted to RM75.15. RM10 for the French Beans and so was the Panna Cotta, RM9.50 for the Pork Toast, Earl Grey Tea costs RM8 while my friend's Lemongrass drink costs RM5.90. Go All Out is the dearest in the list amounting to RM24.90 and there's a 10% service charge involved.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Nice friendly staff and good environment. Bright and cheery even though it's night time. Food is kind of so-so only to me though but above average.

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