Food Review: Cafe Hopping Around Chinatown

Chinatown is a backpacker haven and now also a hipster haven, what with the development of various unique cafes scattered around Chinatown, which is filled with British colonial style architecture; the perfect blend of rustic and modern – no wonder these cafes in Kuala Lumpur are thriving! This review details my experience hopping from cafe to cafe in one convenient post, while also summarizing the:

Overall Flavours: Good

Staff Efficiency: Good – the staff at every cafe were surprisingly attentive

Ambiance: Excellent – each unique in style yet similar in execution and ambiance delivered; expect minimalist interiors with lotsa open space and natural light!

Pricing: Cheap (RM 0 – RM 25) to Mid Range (RM 25 – RM 60)

Tips: If you’re not opting to use the LRT for convenience then expect to pay an overpriced sum for parking. Besides that, I also suggest checking the opening hours of the restaurants!

Brunch: The Toast Co.

My friend Esther and I shared the platter “Three Way Toast” as we heeded the advise of the manager. It included a pulled beef toast, creamy mushroom toast, and berry coulis with cream cheese toast; the set arrived with two passion-fruit juices, two salads, and a hearty portion of hand-cut wedges. The toasts were unexpectedly filling but delicious to devour except that, as a cream cheese lover, I couldn’t quite taste the cream cheese on the dessert toast as the berries were overpowering.

Dessert: Leaf & Co.

We continued onto Leaf & Co as the location is down the road (literally) from The Toast Co. We were tempted by the almond tiramisu but opted for the Belgium chocolate instead and were pleasantly surprised as the mille feuille crepe was filled with small balls of chewy chocolate.

Tea: Merchant’s Lane and Cho Cha Food Store

As we had overeaten, we decided to just have drinks at the next two locations, which are along the same row. I would have loved to try a slice of cake from Merchant’s Lane but we had chrysanthemum tea instead, which I felt tasted somewhat like ketchup from McDonald’s (strange, I know). We had tea again at Cho Cha Food Store even though the menu was enticing – the pot of tea is bottomless, depending on how long the tea leaves last for. Above Cho Cha Food Store is the recently opened Ray Bar, which I will definitely visit in the future.