Nyonya Colors @ The Gardens, MidValley

I have not heard of Nyonya Colors, until it opened at The Gardens, near the connecting bridge from Gardens to Mid Valley. But of course when one, googles Nyonya Colors, the results come back with a lot of Nyonya Colors 1 Utama hits, and links to very prominent floggers too.

It was just one of those evenings, you walk around Mid Valley, trying to decide what to eat. Nyonya Colors, as I saw it, gave me the impression of just another Kopitiam in an up market area like The Gardens. Anyways, we walked in one evening, and ordered this Pandan Nasi Lemak bungkus. I immediately loved the taste of this little packet of Pandan Nasi Lemak. The rice is aromatic, and doesn't stick to each other. Each packet is neatly wrapped in banana leaf and waxed paper, is served with ikan bilis, fried nuts and boiled egg. Their sambal was very nice, but believe me, they give you a different sambal when you order the Big Plate Nasi Lemak.

This yellow curry noodles, was what I really liked. It came with yellow curry, a little bit of sambal by the side, and the usual curry noodles ingredients, chicken, tofu pok, taugeh, etc. This one, I really recommend, very tasty bowl.

We also ordered Chendol, from Nyonya Colors. I believe this is how chendol is eaten in Melaka. Shaved ice, chendol, two tablespoons of gula melaka and two scoops of santan milk.

Gardens, Level LG Food court area.

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Masak Masak ( 1U)
KLppl KLFood ( 1U)
Kampungboycitygal ( 1U)

Tea at Ka Fei Tiam, NZX Ara Damansara

The first time I heard about Niu Ze Xui, I really thought someone was telling me that the bull was pulling my water. What bull bring water all ? My cousin was telling its a new place in Ara Damansara where you its great for shopping, jalan - jalan, flea market style shopping mall, and you can find lots of great food.
My friend brought me to this Ka Fei Tiam, always packed, and supposedly serves great food and coffee. So ok la, we sat down, and I ordered this Kopi Ais with Herbal Jelly... which actually was quite refreshing.

The waitress recommended me this Sambal Fried Rice. They put in a generous amount of ingredients, like chicken, dried shrimps and lots of sambal belacan. I found it to be ok la.... but definitely didn't make it to my, whoa so nice list....

I also ordered a Ka fei Tiam Curry with bun. I thought I actually enjoyed this item more than the fried rice. The curry was pretty thick, and had a nice aroma to it. Those buns, are just normal buns, the curry was great.

At the end of the day, I thought this coffee shop is just another kopi tiam with a nice interior. I still am clueless as to why, this place is packed all the time .... after all I find the food, rather just average, service was quite attentive, and the prices are all above average (Oldtown kopitiam type of prices).

Address:
Google niu ze xui (its one of the most blogged about shopping mall)

Haipeng Kopitiam @ Kemaman, Terengganu

I was on a business trip up to Kuantan, and while driving up to Kuantan, my colleague and I had 3 hourse to decide, stay in Kuantan town or Cherating ? After almost reaching Gambang, we impulsively decided, Cherating la.. cheaper seafood there... hohoho....

We reached Cherating after dark, and at night, we mostly drove around in dimly lit streets around Cherating Beach, looking for a nice place that serves Seefood, something that is appropriate for my diet, see food diet... and also bought a whole bunch of Ikan Satay and Keropok ikan and udang from those road side stalls along the highway, from Cherating to Chukai.

I must have been to the Kuantan branch before, but my colleague who was a bit blur blur, told me, in Chukai town got one Kopitiam very nice wan... so I asked, is it Hai Peng ? He said dunno wo... so we drove to Chukai town lo.... upon reaching Chukai town in the district of Kemaman, you can't miss this collosal sign that says, Kedai Kopi Hai Peng... and upon seeing that sign, I immediately recognize this building from Anneh's Blog , ah... this must be it, we have reached our destination..

As we walked in, I had to scout and see what other people are eating. Most people there look like they work around the area, and come here for their breakfast before punching in for work.

The most impressive item I ordered that morning was their toast. Its toast with majerine, and kaya , almost like any other toast served by any other kopitiams we can find in KL, except.... that their bread is not made of air..... its a piece of solid Hainanese bread the way it should be served...
I also had to try their Nasi Lemak which look absolutely delicious.. .....

Thats their Nasi Dagang, some sort of glutinous rice, served with Ikan Tongkol (really fresh ones), and a simple packet of fried bee hoon for breakfast. The Nasi Dagang was out of this world, because of the freshness of its fish, otherwise, its just a delicious packet of rice. Their beehoon was nothing to shout about, but still packs in a little oomph because of their special sambal used.


I really thought , this place is cool. It gives you a real old school kopitiam feel when you are sitting inside, its like reliving the good old Grandfather story days la.... Their coffee is like extra kau one, but taste wise, it can be very subjective. I brought back half a kilo of their coffee powder and found out that it stains my coffee plunger much more than the normal gourmet coffee and white coffee, and is less aromatic, slightly more oily than the normal AIk Cheong Kopi O, and definitely not very sourish....



Red Mummy
Food4Thot
Headsteadi
Masak-Masak

Oldtown Kopitiam

Everyone's got their own Kopitiam franchise nowadays. Oldtown, those fellas who commercialised Ipoh White Coffee has also jump onto the Kopitiam bandwagon. In my opinion they are doing very very well, and to my knowledge has got the most outlets opened and has a good presence in the Klang Valley.

The general public basically flock to these kopitiams. They serve simple food, in cantonese we call them "siu sik" , Small food to directly translate. The decor is simple, yet nice and warm. The coffee tables are made of marble tops, similar to those I used to find in my grandpa's house.




On their feature wall, they have a wallpaper backdrop of the first OldTown Ipoh Kopitiam street.


We were on our movie pilgrimage, since we couldn't get our tickets from our preffered cinemas, GSC 2Utama (New Wing) and Cineleisure, we headed down to 1Utama TGV to watch our movie. We walked into this Oldtown , right outside of TGV. There were lots of people in this small little kopitiam. Ok, maybe it serves some decent food.



Here's what we ordered.


Thick Toast
Prawn Mee
Lum Mee
and White Coffee and Hazelnut White Coffee.

The thick toast arrived first followed by our coffees respectively. The toast was a pleasant surprise. It comes in a 1 1/2 inch thick toast with a half spread of butter, and the half of Kaya. Then its got condensed milk laid on the toast just before it was served. Special.

The coffee was just standard White Coffee, which everyone simply loves. Their Hazelnut flavour makes their coffee much more aromatic than it already is. Definitely given a thumb's up for their coffee and toast.

So thats the end of the good stuff in Oldtown.

Oldtown Kopitiam serves lousy noodles.

Why did I say that ? My LUM MEE, Beehoon, came out in clear soup, and almost dry. So, when I first saw it I thought it was bloody weird. The first mouthful was then followed by utter dissapointment. I finished the rest of my noodles complaining that this stuff shouldn't be made like this or like that.

Sayang ordered her prawn mee. When it arrived , after taking one look at it, I said, aiyah, their recipe tak menjadi la. I mean to say, Penang flers out there , no matter how desperate you are, just don't bother eating their Prawn Mee. Its served with the correct ingredients, please refer to the picture below, but the soup is made out of the same Ching Tong (clear soup) added with Sambal.

Prawn MEE

Lum Mee Bee Hoon

Other reviews that sang lots of praises about their food. I was the unlucky one who have tried their lousy serves.

KampungBoy Citigal - Ipoh Food Guide
MalaysiaBest.Net
YummyCorner

I recommend you go for their Hazelnut WhiteCoffee. its definitely much better than any of your Dome's or Starbucks and it costs you about half the price. Their toasts are toasts la, I won't hoo haa over their toasts, but I wont'complain about Oldtowns choice of serving them.