Brewyard Coffee, SS15, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
42 (Ground Floor), 
Jalan SS15/4,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
12:00 pm - 12:00 am

Time Visited:
2:45pm, Saturday.

Attire worn:
Casual

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

Wanted to buy a new phone today and so as reluctant as I was to leave the comfort of my bed, I headed off to DirectD to see if they have the phone that I wanted and whether they offer 0% installment plan with my credit card.

Being my first time venturing into that unfamiliar territory, I finally arrived at the location. It was quite a shocker to me because despite it's huge space and building, there's not much to see nor do there. It's more of a go in, inquire or buy the stuff you want (especially in bulk), get it with the cheap price and get out. They did have the phone that I wanted but they don't offer 0% installment plan for it but instead charges an 8%. And so I decided to take my leave without buying it. If there's the 0% installment plan for it, I would've bought it in a heartbeat.

Oh well. Since that was the case, I decided to save my money instead. Due to yesterday's lunch which I had with my colleagues in Subang Jaya SS15, I decided to go back there and tried Brewyard Coffee since I'm saving up from not purchasing the phone I wanted.

Since it's a week away before Christmas, the songs of Christmas cheer glisten up the place with it's melodies but the staffs attitude seem to reflect otherwise. It's kind of a somber mood on all of it's staff which consists of all male as far as I can see. They seem to give me the impression of I'm-being-forced-by-my-mom-to-work feeling.

Brewyard Coffee cafe is a place that serves limited choices of main dishes but today I was there to try out their dessert which is called Little Lost Ship. Little Lost Ship are pancakes (3 pieces to be exact) that's bedazzled with bananas and drizzled with chocolate sauce and sprinkled with peanuts and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. On one side of it contains peanut butter and another side strawberry jam should you want to add some flavors to it by spreading it on top. The taste was not bad. Quite good I would say and I especially loved the pancake going with the peanut butter.

As for the latte, the ratio on the coffee and milk was superb. They surprised me with a star cookie as well. I guess this is applicable due to the Christmas season. The taste of the star cookie didn't validate much taste in it but the coffee was also not bad like the pancake dessert. It did incur a slight bitter aftertaste but the aroma was good.

All in all, I find the food and beverage quite satisfactory. I just felt that the staff needed more cheerfulness instilled into them because they seemed like they're being forced to run the cafe or something. During my presence there, I wasn't served water while another 2 ladies that came were served with it and there was one person who came in through the door, waited awhile at the counter and when no one came to acknowledge him, he left. A pity for any place to lose a customer this way but that's what happened there. I guess Time Out KL merely looked into their food and drinks instead of their service too. Wouldn't blame them since the owners would've known that they're coming and would've served them well being media staffs. That's one of the reasons why I go on my own instead of announcing my presence as a media personnel. That way, I would know how the general public may be treated by remaining anonymous.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM28.60. RM16 for the pancakes and RM11 for the coffee. There's 6% GST and an awesome Internet WiFi.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Would like to give them more but it's a shame I wouldn't because I just felt that they need to improve way lot more in their customer service. Perhaps they should take a tip from The Culture Pot or the excellent service from the boss of MiniMe Cafe

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LOKL Coffee Co. (Company), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
30, Jalan Tun H S Lee, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tues–Sun
8:00 AM–8:00 PM

Time Visited:
Around 4:30pm, public holiday Wednesday.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Fluffy Pancake, Madagascar Brownie and Coffee Bon Bon

After a short nap at home from brunch, I was awoken by the sound of a thunderstorm happening. Got out of bed and decided to go to KL to eat. At first, I wanted to go to Colonial Bar and Restaurant located at where Central Market is but after a lookaround at the surroundings, I decided to head elsewhere to have a meal. Colonial Bar overlooks the big drain that many people mistaken as a river and is next to a building that's under construction. They're located right above a mamak restaurant that's at the back of Central Market which looks like a back alley. Hence, I decided to take my business elsewhere. I started hunting around and walked up and down the street that I used to work at which floods me with many nostalgic memories. The place around there has changed a lot to make it more touristy. The walkway beside Central Market is now called Festival Walk and is a covered walkway with fans to cool you down and many wayside stalls selling things. The mamak restaurant that I frequent last time is still having great business there and so is the Chinese restaurant that has a hawker stall that sells great Beef Ball Noodles. Bangkok Bank still had many homeless people sleeping and sitting on it's ground area where they call it home. Over at the street where Popular and Reggae Bar still stands, there's oddly also a cafe that opened up there called Lucy in the Sky cafe. But I refrain from entering that one as I seek out LOKL Coffee Co. instead.

I soon realized that it's at the other end of the street and started my journey towards it. Once I reached my destination, the street over at that side looks just as deserted as the other end of the street. However, the cafe inside is bustling with people. It consisted of mostly travelers and probably those that put up at the Backhome Hostel beside. The staff of the cafe to me seemed to make up of mostly expats or international students. There's only about 2 individuals that I spotted who may be local that's working at the back where the kitchen is. As I approached near the counter, a staff walked towards me to attend to me and that's when I realized that this is not a self-service cafe and sat myself down at one of the tables near the counter. The big sign with LOKL Coffee Co. on top of the counter looks like a spectacle that belongs in Hollywood and Broadway. A one-page menu that consists of beverages on one side and food on the other is carefully and neatly laid out on all vacant tables.

After placing my orders, I noticed a sign at the side of the table promising 3 things or else your next meal will be free and that is:
1) Your food will not arrive later than 20 minutes
2) Your waiter will always look at you in the eye and smiles
3) Your food should always taste the same.
I can see that they take their promise really seriously because they fulfilled all of these promises to me. Their staff despite consisting of mostly non-locals, they weren't those that do not know how to communicate in English. In fact, all their staff are well-versed in the English language which is not the norm that I see when it comes to foreign workers. Hence my conclusion of them being more of expats and international students.

The ambiance of the place is a nice cozy place to be in. The warm sunlight rays do penetrate through at the counter area since they have a courtyard seating over at the side. The evening light brings about a nice calming effect to me and puts me at ease.

Before I know it, my Coffee Bon Bon has arrived. The Coffee Bon Bon is a double shot espresso served local style. Meaning to say that it has condensed milk in it. Initially I couldn't see it but after looking much closely at the glass, I saw the condensed milk concentrated at the bottom. Luckily I spot it before drinking else it'll kill me. LOL. I took a spoon and stir it and to my delight, it was just the right amount of condensed milk. A gulp of the double shot espresso was an eye opener for me. Although the condensed milk sweeten the coffee enough, it's not too much and just the right amount. It didn't take over the taste of the coffee and you can still taste the rich characteristic of the coffee over the sweetened taste. In fact, I would say it had opened up a new taste to it instead. The coffee tasted fruity and very acidic but with the condensed milk in it, it complemented it very well.

Next came the brownie. It's called the Madagascar Brownie but it's really just the regular brownie with nuts in it and some drawings of chocolate syrup on it. The brownie is sweet but bearable. I find that the brownie is nothing much to shout about. Just your plain ordinary brownie but reasonably priced.

Finally, the fluffy pancake. This is good stuff. It really is fluffy and contains buttery goodness in it's taste. It's served with Gula Melaka syrup and whipped cream on top with coconut shavings. I did prefer the pancakes without the syrup but poured in some to liven it up a bit. The cream enriches the taste more and the coconut shavings on top provided some crunch to it. Quite good. But a bit pricey to me.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM39.40. There are 10% service charge and 6% GST being charged here.

Final Verdict:
7/10. This place is a great place to just chill and relax. It's like a totally different world from the horrid KL sights outside. Staff are polite and friendly. They really do make you feel welcome and am attentive to you. The cafe also has a lot of emphasis on it's merchandise such as mugs and t-shirts. But that don't ruin the great ambiance. WiFi is excellent too. Very fast. The only downside would most likely be it's pricing. It's a little steep to me.

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