Malaysia Trippin'
JB has become one of the places we go quite regularly now. It's cheap, so convenient and offers a great day trip out. It's almost like a short holiday and a respite from the crazy stresses of the work week.
We did a trip to JB just over a week ago and we went out and about looking for a good place for some Chinese (or would you call Malaysian) street eats.
After trying out a couple of places near Jalan Dhoby / JB Sentral customs area, we both unanimously decided that we found our favourite coffee/ tea place. Just as a forenote, we noted that it was pretty difficult to find a consistent kopi / teh chain in JB (apart from Old Town - which really isn't that good in my opinion). But what JB does have are the little kopitiams that can easily substitute for their lack of Kopi chains (like Yakun / Toast Box).
And so now, let's get down to business!
Our absolute favourite is actually a surprise find. It was a battle of coffee shops on Jalan Trus (between Kin Wah and Toast&Coffee), both of which were situated opposite Hiap Joo.
Kin Wah was alright (I don't know any other word I could use to describe it). It offered all the right ambience of a traditional coffee shop with lots of community vibe. We saw this group of men (around 10 of them who were all working in different jobs in JB) coming together to have breakfast. At the first glance, I thought they were part of a lion dance troop as they were all wearing red / pink Tshirts. Only to realise shortly after the words that were printed on their Tshirts. One was working in the curry fish head shop nearby, the other had the logo of some other company. (Moral of the story, don't assume too quickly).
See what I mean by the lion dance troop now? I loved the rusticness of the coffee shop. It was unpretentious and looked like it stood the test of time since some 30 years ago. And the Chinese calligraphed signboard. Lovin' all the vibes.
Foodwise, we had a pretty standard kopi/teh and toast type of combination for breakfast. We are both quite a stereotypical kopi/teh and toast type of people so that is our go to our breakfast each time we need to think of what to eat in the morning.
Also wanted to clarify that I always get to review both kopi and teh because he drinks Teh only and I like to start off my days with Kopi. (It's actually a thing right? Who here agrees.)
The Kopi was alright. It did not have that robust flavour I got at the coffee shop at Sixth Avenue or that of YaKun, or even the standard of the 头手 (tao-chiu in dialect) downstairs my house. It was alright - like it would make you be like that was not a bad cup of coffee, but it would not make you feel ecstatic.
The toast was nice as it was served hot. You cannot really screw up the making of a kaya toast. Then again, we waited pretty long for it as they forgot our orders. Which was a total bummer. The guy who forgot about our orders was pretty apologetic about it though.
The next day, we headed to Hiap Joo to get ourselves some legit banana cakes which deserves a post of its own. But it was from our chance encounter at Hiap Joo that we found the best kopi/teh for our trip.
After buying a couple of banana cakes, we spoke to the man sitting outside Hiap Joo shop. He seemed like the boss, eating banana cake with a cup of kopi and just chatting with people who came along. He told us that banana cakes go best with kopi. In my mind, I had already categorised the man to be someone who knew his food pairings (and yes, banana cake and banana bread go super well with kopi). I had confidence in him that if he knew his food pairings so well, he should probably know where to get the best kopi. So the follow up question to him was, "哪里可以买咖啡?" In a heartbeat, he responded, “有两种。一个是传统的，另外一个就比较新潮一点咯” He referred to the two coffee shops opposite Hiap Joo that were Kin Wah and Toast&Coffee.
I was determined to hunt down the best kopi, so I asked him another more pointed question, while pointing to his cup “那你的咖啡是哪一摊的？” He pointed to Toast&Coffee. I knew that we had to head there immediately.
My usual inclination is always towards somewhere more traditional and old school. I have always liked old school places as they evoke feelings of past familiarity and a slice of culture more so than you know, a new establishment. So while we did pass by Toast&Coffee the previous day, we did not even bother to look more closely at what it sold simply because it was not what I was looking out for.
But given the banana man's reccomendation, we settled at Toast&Coffee in a heartbeat and this was what we ordered.
The menu was pretty extensive and impressive. They offered Western, Chinese and a lot of other types of cuisines even at breakfast. We had a dry Mee Siam and French toast with peanut butter sandwiched within and a plate of You Tiao only rojak.
The place was bustling with a lot of locals from all races, Malays and Chinese both, as opposed to Kin Wah which served mostly Chinese customers. The place was self service so you'd find ordering chit on the table where you write your orders and pay at the counter. The food all arrived pretty quickly - we barely had to wait!
The kopi and tea were thick ("Gao") and very aromatic. It had a robust flavour and depth to it - the type that would make you feel ecstatic after drinking (haha).
In fact, this video would show you what we mean.
If you watched till the end of the video, you would realise that we ordered 4 drinks in total, that's two cups each for one meal.
I had wanted to order another cup but was a bit paiseh to do so, so when he asked, "I want to get another cup, do you want to get another drink?" I jumped at the opportunity and ended up with another kopi o kosong. Needless to say, both of our tummies were very happy.
Onto the food. We had a dry mee siam which was really good. I have always liked dry Mee Siam as opposed to a wet Mee Siam cuz it paired better with sambal chilli.
I mean, look at that chilli! He does not eat chilli so I did us both a favour to polish it clean.
I regretted a little for not ordering the Mee Siam for myself. I had the French Toast with peanut butter which got a little gelat after a while. In fact, it was over doused with a big block of butter (which I did not expect). It got a little too oily so I had to ask for another plate after a few bites. Definitely a dish for sharing. It was yummy but I would have preferred it without the butter swimming on top of the bread.
We also ordered a Rojak with only dough fritters. It was nice that they acceded to our request. I usually like Rojak for the veges and fruits but he wanted one solely with you char kway, so we ordered that instead. Until the day we have vegan / non processed food day, I will still allow him to order this.
It was a glorious plate of Rojak. The fritters were crispy and served warm. The sauce was not overly cloying, and had a nice peanuty shrimp paste taste that coated the dish evenly. But beware it is very filling. We had this in the morning and he was full for the entire day till at night. I forgot if he even ate dinner.
We spent about 26 RM in total for 4 drinks, 2 mains and a side. So affordable!
2 Teh - 2 RM x2;
Mee Siam Egg - 4RM;
Peanut French Toast - 6.50RM;
Kopi C - 2.20 RM;
Rojak - 6.90 RM;
Kopi O - 1.80 RM
We even got a 2 RM return voucher for the next visit which I am excited to use.
Really glad that we found Toast&Coffee in the end. It's a pretty under the radar type of coffee shop. I think the blogs that I read all focused on the traditional coffee shops like Kin Wah and Hua Mui. When in fact those turned out to be quite overhyped and not even close in terms of standard.
So that sums up the battle of Coffee Shops in JB! Looking forward to finding another place with good Kopi and Teh the next time we visit. This is also a not-very-subtle message that I cannot wait to head back in soon.