Us Klang Valley-ians love a good food hunt, be it a hawker stall or a cafe for brunch. Luckily for you, May has a good line-up of new culinary delights: salt-baked pastries, Japanese-Italian fusion, Korean beef bowls, and artisanal coffee to wash it down. Here are five new restaurants to expand your gastronomic senses (and maybe to curry favour with Mum or your ex-teachers):
1 KOJI
Diners get to experience the best of both cuisine powerhouses, Japanese and Italian, in their dishes, akaebi nori taco, finished with a wasabi mascarpone; the signature kamameshi claypot rice with unagi, and twice-cooked Angus short rib, served with salsa crudo di pomodoro and tempura shishito.
Address: 125, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: Wednesday to Monday – 6pm to 11.30 pm
Contact: +6017 304 7851
2 Junghee
If Korean is more your style, look no further with Junghee at The Campus Ampang. A KL branch of a wildly popular food chain from Seoul which has over 20 outlets, Junghee serves warm and hearty modern Korean dishes. Customers are already raving about their Wagyu Beef Kimchi Fried Hot-pot Rice, the meat shaped like a cow resting on top of a bowl of kimchi fried rice and spring onions with a raw egg to add. Vongole hand-pulled noodles adds an Asian twist to the popular pasta dish, while the Bracken Fern Cream noodles is a modern take on sujebi: Korean dough flakes in a cream-based sauce topped with seaweed and a runny egg yolk.
Address: G-33, The Campus Ampang, Jalan Kolam Air Lama, Mukim, Hulu Kelang, 68000 Ampang
Opening hours: Daily – 10am to 10pm
Contact: +6012 928 4808
3 Nito Coffee Bar
Nito Coffee Bar is a vinyl cafe, serving coffees and craft beers while you listen to your favourite artists. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon, the cafe offers coziness and warmth when you walk in.
Address: Floor 3A, 12, Jalan PJU 8/3, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday – 8am to 4pm | Saturday – 10am to 4pm
4 Salt Bake
If you’ve seen Japanese shiopan on your feed, then Salt Bake can sate your curiosity. Freshly made salt breads and bagels make up their menu, with Bario Highland salt, produced in Sarawak’s Kelabit Highlands by its local Orang Asli communities. Sustainable, ethical, and delicious, the salt provides a mild-tasting finish without overloading the senses. They offer seaweed, gochujang, but also local flavours like ube taro and appam balik.
Address: 16, Mezzanine Floor, Jalan SS2/61, SS2, 47300 Petaling Jaya
Opening hours: Wednesday to Monday – 9am to 7pm | closed on Tuesday
5 Tangerain
We close with yet another cafe in Ara Damansara. Tangerain brings crowd-pleasing meals such as poke bowls, pastas, sourdough sandwiches, fish and chips, and ice-cream croissant. It’s also pet-friendly, which means that Fido too can enjoy the cafe sights and sounds.
Address: 22, Jalan PJU 1A/42, Ara Permata, 47301 Petaling Jaya
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday – 12pm to 1am
