Leaf & co. Cafe at Jalan Sultan KL (One street next to Petaling Street) joins the spirits of recreating the old world charm of local kopitiam with modern take, giving credits to one of the most important gathering spaces in Malaysia since decades ago.
The cafe, which shares the same premise with Mingle Hostel, is located at one of the corner shop houses in Kuala Lumpur down town. Next to BB Inn Home Stay, diagonally opposite to Cafe Amo. Dilapidated looking from the outside, with details that brings back the reminiscent of days where grandpa and grandma, neighbourhood folks sitting together, chit-chat over a cup of kopi prepared using coffee beans roasted with butter, the first wave coffee scene.
Quartz stone slabs floor tiles, torn wall paints, ceiling wood planks, vintage shade lamps – most of the elements in this lot are remained untouched, further completed with marble tables, kopitiam round chairs, restructured sewing machine, Chinese armchairs and so forth for deeper retro style. At the same time creatively blend in cutting-edge look with a mini courtyard and a little lush greenery.
Despite the kopitiam interior, Leaf & co. Cafe doesn’t put kaya & butter toast, soft boiled egg, cham and kopi-peng into their menu list currently, but a diverse selections that takes pride on Malaysian flavours with Western twist. Salad, pasta, rice, sandwich and other main dishes are priced within RM25, reasonable considered the generous portion given.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Rice RM23
Go to the rice dishes if you loved a carb meal packed with plenty of herbs & spices. Each choice of Rendang Chicken (RM21), Buttermilk Fried Chicken (RM23), Chicken Satay (RM22), Creamy Pesto Chicken (RM21), Crispy Chicken Wings (RM19), Lemongrass Chicken (RM25), Australian Rendang Beef (RM23), Traditional Beef Stew (RM23) and Ayam Masak Merah (RM23) is served with a side of rempah rice and Thai Salad.
Our Buttermilk Fried Chicken smelt so nice when it was sent to our table! Glad that it didn’t disappoint. Crispy outer layer, chicken meat locked with juiciness. Rempah rice is rempah as it is named, with medium spiciness began kicking in after few spoonful. Had it together with the fiery hot sambal and we went into tongue burning experience. So spicy that we asked for two glasses of iced water to tone down the spiciness. Hahaha.
Malaysian Spaghetti RM20
Malaysian Spaghetti surpassed our expectation. Spaghetti tossed in flavourful gravy, non-spicy. What we loved most are the huge chunks of chicken topping over the noodles. Looks dry but not, tender in each bite with moisture from fat, helmed with flavours of tumeric and lemongrass (correct us if we were wrong). Akin to our satay, but definitely better. Recommended!
Portion was quite big and Summergirl managed to finish only half. Thanks to Leaf & co. friendly staff who helped to pack the leftover for us. Went home to find that the packaging came with cutleries and tissue too. So nice of them.
Coffee varieties here spans from the classic white and black to flavour infused latte including Toffee Nut Latte, Salted Caramel Machiato, Rose Latte, Caoconut Latte, Roasted Hazelnut Latte. Gourmet Tea such as Lavander Green Tea, Japanese Genmaicha, Pineapple Fruit Tea, Peppermint Tea are available too. Opt for honey milk, fresh milk, organic soy milk, tea latte and matcha latte if you were not into coffee.
In short, a worth return cafe. Their sambal is a must! Tourists who stay within Chinatown area should try out Leaf & co. too! Service is friendly, food price are reasonable. Just, parking can be difficult here. We spent an hour plus here, ended up paying RM10.60 for the parking space opposite the road.
Photographer: Summerkid
Write-up: Summergirl
Address:
Leaf & co. Cafe (Opposite Cafe Amo, Beside BB Inn)
Mingle Hostel,
53, Jalan Sultan,
50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (11AM – 9.30PM)
Contact no: 03 – 6261 2228
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leafandcocafe/
