Fancy Breakfast Club, Bangsar Baru, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
6-1, Jalan Telawi 2
Bangsar Baru, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Tue-Fri:
8:00 am - 2:00 pm
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Sat-Sun:
11:00 am - 2:00 pm
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
Friday, about 1pm

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Well, my portion consists of Battle of the Waffle and a Latte (hot)

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It all began when my friend said whether I'm free on Friday for lunch. But being a normal salary man, I could not. But then, on that day, the branch office at TTDI had some trouble and I had to go over and resolve it. Though it took me quite fast to do so, I figured why not meet my friend for lunch anyway since now I'm able to do so if I'm here. And so, off I went headed off to Bangsar to this place Fancy Breakfast Club.

Though my friend said that they'll be there at 12pm, I became the first to arrive despite it being almost 1pm. LOL. And so, due to my shortage of time, I decided to start ordering over which my one of my friend arrived in the nick of time. I ordered the Battle of the Waffle and a Latte (hot) while my friend DIY the breakfast platter as well as have a latte too.

This place being on the first floor is hard to spot having their signage covered by the awnings of the shop downstairs and also it feels really hot inside here even though they have air conditioning units in the place with some fans blasting. My latte arrived and I took a sip of it. It's according to my taste but the milk is a bit runny and isn't frothed the way I like it. Other than that, my coffee tasted fine. However, my friend didn't like hers as she says it's way too bitter and can hardly taste the milk to cover it up. Oh well.

The waffle came after a considerable amount of waiting period and it's cut in four pieces and stacked on top of each other. At the topmost sits the ice cream while the whole dish is bombarded with chocolate sauce and down below, you can see the maple syrup is present as well. There's strawberries distributed throughout the dish but I don't see any blueberries as indicated in the menu. Due to the overwhelming amount of chocolate sauce and maple syrup, I find this dish way too sweet for my taste with the strawberry just balancing out with it's sourness a little. But unfortunately, the strawberries were small and few in numbers. The waffle texture isn't exactly what I like and it isn't exactly the crunchy material. So all in all, this dish just isn't something for me.

But true to it's name, their breakfast was quite nice but my preference still leans towards Coffee Sprex even though their items may be store bought ingredients. Other than Coffee Sprex, if I fancy an elegant breakfast like here, I also would prefer Battery Acid Club than here. Throughout the entire lunch period, there were just a group of girls and us. Nobody else came to visit this cafe but I guess their crowds are towards the weekends? Maybe. Anyway, this isn't a place I fancy going especially as a lone diner.

Total Wallet Damage:
Just my portion alone would amount to RM25 with RM8 being for the latte. There's no GST nor service charge.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Sorry to put it at an okay score but not only is this place too hot for me to stay, the waffles ain't the thing that I would like. Though their breakfast may be not bad, there's plenty of other places I prefer. Sorry again.

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Coffee Stain by Joseph, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
D4-G3-01, Solaris Dutamas,, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu:
9:30 am-11:00 pm
Fri-Sun:
9:30 am-12:00 am

Time Visited:
9:30pm, baffled on why it was on a Tuesday night and then I recalled that it was a public holiday the day after. No wonder I thought that it was a Friday.

Attire worn:
Business.

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

Before heading off to a party, I stopped by at Coffee Stain by Joseph for a quick dessert and coffee since I still have plenty of time. It was just after a fast food dinner at Mid Valley with some Carls Jr.. Mid Valley had changed so drastically, I got a little flustered trying to figure out what to try and was checking out the new outlets that were situated at the newly renovated sections but in the end decided to just go for fast food as none of it were appealing at all and I just got reminded of the time where I worked near KLCC.

During those times, I would almost always walked out of the hotel that I worked for and usually to KLCC to have a lookaround even though food were provided for. And at KLCC, the place would be so darn packed with people that I would lose my appetite just seeing at the crowd of people and would just head back to the hotel without having a meal at all. I can't remember the number of days that I worked there without actually eating any lunch because I just lose my appetite upon seeing the crowd of people. I just know, it's a lot of times.

So here I was at the party venue area and deciding on desserts to go for. I saw that Coffee Stain by Joseph has some unique coffee which is a creation of their own and many went with that ice cube coffee where you pour milk over it to dissolve it. They call it Cool Cube. Their cold brew also looks interesting to go for. But I'm not interested in those that day. All I did was went back to basics and that is the Latte. I also ordered their Strawberry Waffle to try. They put together the same ingredients for waffles as for pancakes so you choose between wanting a pancake to go with the toppings or a waffle.

Latte arrived and a sip I took. Good. Nice gourmet coffee. The moderate coffee taste satisfied my caffeine craving and the milk ratio is perfect. This is the kind of coffee taste that I've gotten used to loving all the time.

After some time later, the waffle arrives. Their plates, saucer and cup matched so perfectly that it looks beautiful. The plating of the waffle too is a work of art which I appreciated. The waffles were a bit too sweet for me with what I believe to be jam on top. Along with the sugar powder dusted all over, it pushed the sweetness over the top. I had to mellow it down with sips of coffee in between bites. As for the actual strawberries itself, they weren't that sweet but enough to consider as good enough to bite and not sour. With the many sweet taste going around, the strawberries were actually a good mix. This may not be the best waffle, but it is rather good.

As for the ambiance, it's a nice place to just unwind. Although there isn't much of a view, the cafe itself is pleasant enough in it's surrounding interior and the lighting sets a calm mood. An almost romantic setting.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29.95. RM11.95 for the latte and RM18 for the waffle including 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I quite love this place. The coffee and the dessert win me over. Inside looks great and is a total difference from the horrors of the outside. The staff are friendly and serves you with a warm smile. Also, it opens till late night which is great if I ever want to have a cup of coffee during the later part of the nights.

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Sevencups, Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya (PJ)

Address:
G-25, Empire Damansara, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
Around 6:45pm. Thursday night

Attire worn:
Business attire

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Single Origin Long Black and Blueberry Lavender Desert Waffle

I walked in suspiciously as if a criminal on the loose and am a wanted man. I approached the counter and sheepishly ask on what type of coffee beans they use to keep them occupy while I try to appease my fickle mind on what to order though the food menu and the drinks menu were less then 20 items on each of them. I finally decided on their single origin and made up my mind to take it as a Long Black instead of having the contamination of milk. I was informed that the beans are Ethiopian beans and as I continued my order with the waffle, I proceeded to pay the total amount and sat myself down near the back doorway of the establishment.

The Long Black arrived rather quickly and not surprising since the beans were already on the grinder and there's no coffee art to produce since it's without milk. A sip of it takes me back to remembering on how Ethiopian beans are supposed to be - acidic and fruity. Strong coffee flavors permeates throughout the entire drinking experience from the first sip all the way to the aftertaste.

Sevencups has a very bright looking interior decoration with minimal items cluttering the place. The wooden furnitures those long tables made it felt like a school settings. When night falls, the lightings were minimal except for the counter area and it gave off a very comfortable appeal but yet it doesn't tally up with wooden furnitures.

My Blueberry Lavender waffle came not long after I looked around and had settled myself in and it looks inviting to dig in. I first tried the waffle by itself and it tasted soft and fluffy. A nice texture that gives off a good feel as you consume it in your mouth. The Vanilla ice cream too is soft and melts the instance it meets my tongue. A combination that works very well and gives off a light feeling. The Blueberry compote is the ingredient that gives off sweetness the most. Due to it's scarcity on the dish, it's sweetness blended with the other 2 components wonderfully. It's quite the above average dessert to me. However, the pricing may be a little too much on the high side for this.

During my presence there, there's only one person on a laptop occupying a table. There was a party of 4 that came in after me but when I left, no one else were left. A lone diner friendly? I guess. Since not many people would walk in a cafe that doesn't serve mains during dinnertime. LOL

Total Wallet Damage:
RM23.90. RM15.90 for the waffle and RM8 for the long black. No service charge nor GST imposed. This is all at the top of my head so I hope it's accurate because I forgot to ask for the receipt. LOL

Final Verdict:
7/10. Like the coffee. Like the waffle and ambiance wasn't that bad. Just that due to my bad back, I wasn't very comfortable sitting there long even though the chair is not that uncomfortable.

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Chequers, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur

Address:
153, Jalan Aminuddin Baki,
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail 60000, Kuala Lumpur

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thurs: 10am-11pm 
Fri: 10am-12am
Sat: 9am-10am 
Sun: 9am-11pm

Time Visited:
7:30pm, Sunday evening.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Shroom Fiesta and a Flat White.

After being out the whole day eating and drinking away, I went home for awhile to rest up before heading out to dinner. Although this is a place where I may be going in the next couple of days and I can try it then, I chose to visit it tonight on a Sunday evening.

The weather started off to thunderstorm and it looks as if it's not letting up but I'm not gonna be deterred by the storm and so I started off from my place to head over to TTDI. As I approached my car and drove off my parking bay, the thunderstorm had receded to a normal rain. By the time I reached TTDI, the rain had subsided to drizzles.

I entered the facility and were surprised with the amount of people there to dine at Chequers. Oftentimes, during my work that brought me to TTDI, I would usually pass by Chequers but there just don't seem to be a lunch crowd at all. In fact, it usually looks pretty bare and I admittedly too am turned off from consuming my food there for lunch. Then again, I wouldn't blame the working crowd at TTDI for avoiding that place. After all, it's an office area where the salary is low and there's plenty of cheap and good food within the area such as the Wan Tan Mee at the hawker stall of Restoran OK. But for nighttime, it's a whole different ballgame because the hawker stalls aren't opened at night and it's only reduced to "dai chow" or those pubs and bistros.

So there I was at Chequers sitting way at the back corner where it's just in front of the kitchen door because it's either the outdoor area or occupy one of those tables meant for 4-6 people. I call it, the "Chef's table". LOL. Although not greeted a welcome, I was, however, greeted with a warmth smile from one of the wait staff. As I sat at the table I chose, the menu quickly appeared in front of me. It's amusing to see a title section called "I am Hungry" which features savory dishes in that section available from 11:30am-3pm and 6pm till late. I selected the first thing on the menu to go with the Flat White I ordered which is the Shroom Fiesta.

The Flat White didn't take long to come and one sip of it indicates to me a very strong bitter tone to it but somehow isn't really the kind of coffee that I like. The Barista is obviously skillful judging from the way he poured the coffee and milk onto the cup as I observed him from a distance (also from the looks of the coffee art). Unfortunately, they use Magnolia Full Cream milk instead of Farmhouse (understandable since Farmhouse Full Cream milk has increased their price tremendously) which I feel that it don't fit with the beans profile since Magnolia Full Cream milk although may be the next best to Farmhouse, it just isn't as rich and smooth as how Farmhouse milk can produce. Anyway, the coffee's good but I much prefer the coffee at Artisan Roast Coffee which is just a short walk away from here.

Next came the intriguing dish of a savory vegetarian waffle. It took some time to prepare and the chef prepared 3 of it at one go for the other patrons who ordered it too saving him the cooking time.

It's quite unusual for me to order a vegetarian dish since I'm very pro meat and I seldom take vegetables but this time I thought, "What the heck. Let's give it a try!"

The Shroom Fiesta is a spinach waffle with grilled portobello mushrooms, glazed cherry tomatoes, rocket leaves and shaved parmesan cheese on top with olive oil and balsamic vinegar at strategic places. The grilled portobello mushrooms were not surprisingly good but what's interesting was that it's taste intermingles well with the rest of the combination without being too overpowering. You taste it's very strong taste when you eat it on it's own but when you pick it up with other ingredients, surprisingly, the just blends into it and doesn't come on too strongly. The parmesan cheese somehow just clumps at the top and even though you pick up strands of it and combine with the rest, it leaves very little cheese taste to it. Hence, the purpose of the cheese being there didn't really do anything at all. They should've lightly melted it onto some of the rocket leaves to provide a gooey effect instead of just sitting on top doing nothing and exhibiting no taste. Surprisingly, I'm loving the rocket leaves which isn't bitter at all and the spinach waffle was sensational as well, leaving pockets of sweetness in between bites. The olive oil with balsamic vinegar were placed cleverly whereupon cutting up the waffle and grabbing some of the ingredients with it, you would somehow apply some of the salad dressing with it which enhances this creative harmony.
All in all, despite me being a very staunch meat eater and a person who seldom eats his vegetables somehow am transformed into loving this masterpiece. If there's ever a dish that converts me into loving vegetables, this would be it.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31.90. All ready for the GST with their GST number displayed. But there's still no 6% government tax being charged. There is however, their 10% service charge.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I like their coffee, I love their good service and I certainly enjoyed their vegetable waffle. I'm not sure whether they have the same team during the day. I highly doubt they do. So if that's the case, the coffee, food and service may differ during that period.

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