There are people who skip breakfast all their lives, and then there are those of us who know the secret to breakfast. One, that is it the key to keeping your weight at a decent level so that you can continue to enjoy food and secondly, that breakfast is simply a continuation of whatever food dream you had the night before (or an opportunity to realise the gluttony of the day before).
I adore breakfast and my greatest challenge is finding new fresh and interesting places to go for breakfast in KL and PJ. The problem is that Malaysians are very much breakfast people but as much as I enjoy tosai and roti canai or even mee goreng/maggi goreng in the morning with a nice cup of milo ais kosong, I'm also a HUGE fan of Western breakfasts, especially sweet options. My criteria is also quite exacting because it requires not only that the breakfast place have a good set of choices (savoury and sweet), but that the coffee also be up to scratch. The coffee part is a real issue because NOTHING ruins a good breakfast like a so-so cup of coffee.
In no order of preference (and this list will be updated as I go along) here are some of my favourite breakfast haunts, and preferred items:
Here are some of my favourite breakfast places:
Alexis Bangsar/BSC
Breakfast is only available on weekends but the menu is generally well thought out although short in my view on sweet options. My favs:
Uncle Lims, IKANO
By far in my view the best toast bread around and I like the wholemeal version. This is real butter and proper not overly sweet kaya. The coffee is pretty good too (just don't order the white coffee which obviously comes out of a packet). I like going there on weekdays since the crowd is kind of crazy on weekends and that's when your 3/4 eggs end up coming out runny.Oh, their curry puffs are pretty good too (oddly, Ikea-esque).
Toastbox - Midvalley or Pavillion
I don't tend to order the kaya toast here because I'm not a big fan of that Singaporean methodology of putting a whole thin slice of butter into the bread and I reckon their kaya is too sugary. My preferred poison here - eggs, the peanut thick toast (they use a combination of Skippy and some local peanut butter - smart) and the coffee (although standards have declined at MV since they changed the team there sometime in 2011).
PapaRich (various locations around Klang Valley)
No introduction needed and the expansive menu will cater to just about every Malaysian breakfast craving. Rumour has it that only certain outlets have decent control over the quality of the food, namely, Bangsar, Damansara Utama and Old Klang Road so gastronomic mileage varies. I love the steamed bread with kaya personally and the roti bakar susu - so evil.
Nirwana Maju, Bangsar
I love their tosai, especially the masala tosai. Roti is not too bad, the roti bom is heart-stopping and their maggi goreng generally holds its standard. Beware the early morning retiree crowd, who invariably consume all the fabulously fluffy apam before 930am.
Illy Espressamente @ BSV
This is a great place for a morning start that is slow and languid and Internet connection means you won't feel totally lazy as you stuff down their fabulous maple syrup and peanut butter sauce laced pancakes with a great cup of Illy java. The pastries are pretty good (although the pain au chocolate loses to that of Heistland Bakery downstairs in the Village Grocer) and they have a nice breakfast meal combo. Juices are made fresh in case you feel like abstaining from coffee and must confess a weakness for the cheese-turkey ham Cornetto. The Pavillion outlet is pretty good as well but it always feels like it's been hit by a bomb if you turn up at say 10ish although the management is quite cool about people buying pastries from The Loaf next door.
The Loaf @ BSV
Whilst they don't have as wide a selection of pastries as the Pavillion outlet, the BSV outlet offers a respectable selection for breakfast. The coffee is pretty good and comes in a nice solid mug that makes you feel like wrapping your hands around it and just chilling as you ease into the start of the day. Lots of people do meetings here and I personally quite like meeting clients here for breakfast or lunch. For brekkie, pick something from the counter selection (the toast bread with kaya is not too bad but hardly stunning and stay away from the toast bread with peanut butter - the photos are deceiving). Stick with the pastries instead and you'll be fine.
I adore breakfast and my greatest challenge is finding new fresh and interesting places to go for breakfast in KL and PJ. The problem is that Malaysians are very much breakfast people but as much as I enjoy tosai and roti canai or even mee goreng/maggi goreng in the morning with a nice cup of milo ais kosong, I'm also a HUGE fan of Western breakfasts, especially sweet options. My criteria is also quite exacting because it requires not only that the breakfast place have a good set of choices (savoury and sweet), but that the coffee also be up to scratch. The coffee part is a real issue because NOTHING ruins a good breakfast like a so-so cup of coffee.
In no order of preference (and this list will be updated as I go along) here are some of my favourite breakfast haunts, and preferred items:
Here are some of my favourite breakfast places:
Alexis Bangsar/BSC
Breakfast is only available on weekends but the menu is generally well thought out although short in my view on sweet options. My favs:
- The corned beef hash (okay, so we don't know what goes INTO corned beef but Alexis does a pretty good one)
- The pancakes (size has shrunk of late but still good - great to order to share if you want to avoid the temptation of the cakes)
- The Hearty Breakfast - value for money since they throw in juice and a coffee and they have great baked beans - only minus point - no oink.
- Salmon scrambled eggs - worth it for the fabulous dill butter they smack on top of the fluffy omelette.
- Swiss rosti - you might end up in a carb coma after but...it's great with a side of baked beans.
Uncle Lims, IKANO
By far in my view the best toast bread around and I like the wholemeal version. This is real butter and proper not overly sweet kaya. The coffee is pretty good too (just don't order the white coffee which obviously comes out of a packet). I like going there on weekdays since the crowd is kind of crazy on weekends and that's when your 3/4 eggs end up coming out runny.Oh, their curry puffs are pretty good too (oddly, Ikea-esque).
Toastbox - Midvalley or Pavillion
I don't tend to order the kaya toast here because I'm not a big fan of that Singaporean methodology of putting a whole thin slice of butter into the bread and I reckon their kaya is too sugary. My preferred poison here - eggs, the peanut thick toast (they use a combination of Skippy and some local peanut butter - smart) and the coffee (although standards have declined at MV since they changed the team there sometime in 2011).
PapaRich (various locations around Klang Valley)
No introduction needed and the expansive menu will cater to just about every Malaysian breakfast craving. Rumour has it that only certain outlets have decent control over the quality of the food, namely, Bangsar, Damansara Utama and Old Klang Road so gastronomic mileage varies. I love the steamed bread with kaya personally and the roti bakar susu - so evil.
Nirwana Maju, Bangsar
I love their tosai, especially the masala tosai. Roti is not too bad, the roti bom is heart-stopping and their maggi goreng generally holds its standard. Beware the early morning retiree crowd, who invariably consume all the fabulously fluffy apam before 930am.
Illy Espressamente @ BSV
This is a great place for a morning start that is slow and languid and Internet connection means you won't feel totally lazy as you stuff down their fabulous maple syrup and peanut butter sauce laced pancakes with a great cup of Illy java. The pastries are pretty good (although the pain au chocolate loses to that of Heistland Bakery downstairs in the Village Grocer) and they have a nice breakfast meal combo. Juices are made fresh in case you feel like abstaining from coffee and must confess a weakness for the cheese-turkey ham Cornetto. The Pavillion outlet is pretty good as well but it always feels like it's been hit by a bomb if you turn up at say 10ish although the management is quite cool about people buying pastries from The Loaf next door.
The Loaf @ BSV
Whilst they don't have as wide a selection of pastries as the Pavillion outlet, the BSV outlet offers a respectable selection for breakfast. The coffee is pretty good and comes in a nice solid mug that makes you feel like wrapping your hands around it and just chilling as you ease into the start of the day. Lots of people do meetings here and I personally quite like meeting clients here for breakfast or lunch. For brekkie, pick something from the counter selection (the toast bread with kaya is not too bad but hardly stunning and stay away from the toast bread with peanut butter - the photos are deceiving). Stick with the pastries instead and you'll be fine.
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