I was asked many times “Which cafe serves good coffee?”
The problem is that sometimes when I say certain place is good, I’m being accused of being paid to say good things about them. So, instead of saying “Which cafe is good?”, I will tell you where I actually PAY to have my coffee, repeatedly (in Malaysia).
Not in any orders of quality, but rather…. chronologically.
Espressamente
The only place I know that serves drinkable illy.
Coffee Ritual
The place I go for Syphon-brewed Highlander’s singles origin coffee.
Cafe Departure Lounge
Serves coffee from Five Senses, one of my favourite roaster from Australia.
Whisk Espresso Bar
One of the coziest place to be. Small and homely.
Artisan Roast Cafe
Interesting place for Single Origin Espresso. Most refreshing cafe.
Real and Wholesome
Same beans as Artisan Roast. You can also buy your Aeropress there. I think they have the most expensive espresso machine in Malaysia.
‘F’ by Buffalo Kitchens
Serves coffee from Gabee, Taipei. Cappuccino was excellent.
Toast Cafe
I always complained having to drive far for good coffee. And If you are in Klang, driving down all the way to KL just for good coffee may not be the solution. Well, good coffee had come to Klang.
My Espresso Cafe
I have my coffee here more often 😀
(more will be added when merited)
* Kinda depressing actually looking at such a small list.
Coffee where passion is tempered with reality 
There’s cafe namely typica cafe, at Pudu, http://typicacafe.blogspot.com
They have hand roasted coffee bean with syphon.
Heard that Plan B serves coffee from Market Lane (a reputable cafe / roaster in Melbourne). Check it out and let me know! I have no plans on coming back this year (didn’t go back last year either) but we’ll see how it goes! Hope all is well!
Robin
Typica’s coffee is over-priced and below average from my point of view.
Chan, I agree that Typica is over-priced. I went to plan b in late Jan. Love the decor there, unfortunately dint get to taste the coffee yet.
nice list…i agreed with Espressemente, this is the best place to get a proper lattes and capuccino, i’m a regular there and they’re always consistent with the taste and texture of the coffee, as for plan b..i’ve been there twice tried the latte both time serves me hugely disappointing cuppa, pls dont waste your money try their hot choclate instead.
it is indeed depressing..that there’s not many place that serves good coffee here, the problem is the staff, most of malaysians baristas dont care much about serving a good cuppa to their customer to them it’s just another job and even worse when the company is stingy and like to avoid wastage of the beans so they dont really care of giving their staff a proper barista training which involving loads of tryouts and resources (beans and milk) just look at starbucks they even change their machine to auto ones so they can save on maintainance fee and unecessary resources wastage, their coffee now tasted alot worst that before, i have no idea why are they still calling their staff a barista (what a shame).
hope there’s more new coffee place like espressemente , atleast we dont need to waste our $$$ at starbucks anymore.
KF, have you try Antipodean in Bangsar,they serve Merdeka coffee from Indonesia?
Tried Antipodean once on their first week. Had a espresso and cappuccino. Mediocre.
Maybe staff not fully trained.
I suppose not fair to conclude based on one visit.
I’ll try again in future and see if got improvement.
try the strawberry fields cafe at pj new town…its is Illy’s too
check it out guys…its cheap and worth every penny of it
MONSTA CAFE IN JB
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monsta-Cafe/147869941902550
hmm…great coffee beans does not necessarily equal great coffee.
we regularly frequent market lane, but unfortunately, not only does plan B lack efficient customer service, their baristas needs a bit more training to bring out the full flavour of market lane’s coffee beans.
Yup, great coffee beans need to be expertly roast and correctly brewed.
Thanks KF really appreciate your comments. Nice to be called mediocre- especially as Merdeka Coffee being used in national barista championships just rolled second championship this calendar year. Still, I think its good everyone has an oppinion. Cheers
Well Alun,
Even if someone was using coffee used by the winner in World Barista Championship, they can still make a very poor cup of coffee.
Good beans brewed by good barista = Good Coffee
Good beans brewed by bad barista = Bad Coffee?
Fully agreed on RAW Coffee and Departure Lounge – they are passionate about serving great coffee and they serve coffee that is comparable to Australia’s better cafes.
I didn’t like Espressamente’s coffee when I visited them soon after their opening – it was disappointing to me despite the nice decor.
I am not really a fan of any other kind of coffee than espresso type drinks, so Coffee Ritual is not as much of a draw for me purely for that reason, but the cafe is worth going to for sure as the food is nice, the owners are very nice and friendly, and the ambience is good.
I wil have to check out Whisk Coffee – never heard of them until today.
I would have to disagree with KF about Antipodean Cafe though – I like their coffee a lot and the decor of their cafe is very nice.
Sorry to FFK on your Aeropress…but I do enjoy reading your post. Keep up the good work.
A great coffee trip today.
I went F’ buffalo kitchen, cafe depature lounge and whisk espesso bar. Very impressed by Rachel frm F and Mavin frm Whisk. They are so generous in sharing. Nice talking to them.
Lastly, bit disappointed by departure lounge….
Hi! I been to 2 cafes u mention in.
Whisk was nice as sit in a little corner wz my wife and looking at the pple doing their shopping while both of us njoying their nice coffee.
Espressamante was so so for me as my friends work in Illy coffee so I get to try their coffee from time to time. Should visit M’sia FHM ( NOT FHM magazine, it is Food and Hotel Malaysia expo) as a lot of coffee brands and barista to introduce different types of coffee and machines. The best part is free coffee!!! I drank untill my eyes turn big.
Beside that i did visit typica….sad to say that her coffee was so so and overpriced ( since said her pricing is due to she brew the coffee fresh…..duh) When I comment on her coffee and technique for syphon she was unable to accept my comment and was quite rude. I am really dissapointed wz her….
Bside that, I saw a coffee place at China Commercial Bank nxt to Avenue K…any1 been there?
Hi Wahma,
What was it about her syphon technique that you commented about?
My wife brother brought 10 different types of coffee beans from overseas. ( She is my wife ex colleague ) We were nice enough to share and taste the beans in her cafe. She told me off after I commented on her techniques that maybe she overcooked(过度萃取). She said no one commented on her technique previously as she blive she is pro enough to know the beans. She even dare to ask us to give her half of the coffee beans that we brought for free. After the session, she did not contact us anymore. 🙂
Update on espressamente – had a latte there recently that was very very nice. So I have tor evise my initial assessment of their coffee.
Hi KF,
i had heard about the AeroPress & intend to get one.
Any recomendation?
at the moment i am using a moka pot.
Thanks.
hi.. wonder if you’ve heard about cafe barbera in bangsar? appreciate your comments on their coffee. theirs looks fancy
The last time I was there was more than 1 year ago. Been there twice. Coffee not good but food was good. Don’t know if they had improved over the year.
new coffee place in damansara heights called ‘mollydooker’s coffee’. they get their beans from RAW 🙂 also recently went to haikara style cafe and bakery in subang e-kiara (near empire) and they do a siphon brew. but i can’t tell how good it is 😀 love the aeropress btw!
recommend My Liberica in JB tmn molek.
the owner has a liberica plantation in kulaijaya and is a real passionate barista.
The moment u begin a chat, it goes non-stop.
Haha. “Mollydooker” is Australian slang for left-handed. I just arrived in KL to live and work and haven’t yet had a good coffee, so I’m missing my Izzo Alex Duetto II big time 🙂 Any advice as to where I can go around Bangsar or in KLCC (where I’m currently staying) for good coffee would be greatly appreciated! I’ve noted the cafes discussed here, but all we have where I work is ‘White Town Coffee’ …or something like that (haven’t tried it but looking at the equipment and the way they grind and prepare I am not hopeful). I have a late on my desk as I type, from San Francisco Coffee.. and it’s terrible.
Sorry to reply to my own post, but I just had a good late’ (well, two actually) at Plan B in Bangsar Village. I’m happy, it was good coffee; much better than the junk Starbuck’s serve about 10 metres away. I’m also curious as to why people think Illy is good coffee? Anything which comes out of a can and has a ‘use by’ date is not good coffee. If it doesn’t have a ‘rosted on’ date which is within two weeks (maybe 4 if I am desperate) I won’t buy it…and I definately wouldn’t go to an Illy cafe by choice. FYI, there is a new cafe called ‘artisan coffee’ ? under construction at Bangsar Village.
Plan B should have decent coffee. Actually I don’t think Illy is really good. But under their circumstances, if anyone want to have the best Illy possible, Espressamente in Pavilion KL is the only place to go.
Artisan Roast should be a good place for coffee.
There’s a passionate cafe I just adore in Jalan Genting Klang, Wangsa Maju.
It’s called New Black Coffee Lab. Here’s their FB page
https://www.facebook.com/newblackcoffeelab
Friendly & experienced owners/baristas, chillax environment.. 🙂
Hai Kc,
Have u been to San Francisco Coffee? Their coffee good as well.
agree with KF, the other choice should be RAW cafe
Don’t forget to check out: My Espresso Cafe
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