The Original Hainanese Tastes & Flavours

I did not plan this visit to this particular cafe, it was all last minute. After a lousy dinner, my family and I decided to head to this "kopitiam". My brother recommended it to me knowing my interest in coffee. It must be nuts going for coffee at such a late hour-- 11:00p.m.!

From the name- Hailam Kopitiam, you can pretty much is a Chinese Kopitiam. However, even though the interior is very much alike any other Kopitiam such as Old Town, GeorgeTown you name it, but the coffee here is much different.

It was fun having to sit by the corner of the shop, as I get to watch people come in and out. So anyways, more about the coffee. What attracted me while reading the menu was the history of this coffee. Little did I know that Hailam and Hainan are the same just pronounced differently. Their coffee originated from Kuala Pilah along with their first kopitiam there known as the Foh Heong Kopitiam. I was also told that this Foh Heong Kopitiam was very much favoured back in the colonial times.

Despite the many outlets that they have sprouted over time, the originality of their quality and taste were their pride of joy as they have been able to maintain them and have undergone very little change over the years. According to their website, they believe that patrons would be familiar with their authentic tastes.
I believe this is a good place to bring our parents and grandparents to have a taste of the good old days.

Looking through their menu, even for coffee itself they have a wide range of choices and to my dear vegetarian friends! Here's a place for you as they serve a variety of vegetarian dishes :)  Definitely not a place that you would be bored of after the first few visits.

I ordered the Hailam Special Roast Coffee Ice ( RM 3.20). The price is definitely an affordable one compared to other cafe these days as they are prices for a cup coffee are usually about RM 5.90. The special Roast Coffee (cold) was very rich in coffee, the typical Kopi-O feel with added milk. The coffee tastes well roasted and not too bitter to taste.

My brother ordered the Special Cham ( RM 3.20) , for those of you who may not have heard about "cham" , here's a brief explanation. Cham is actually a Cantonese word for mix. As for this drink, it is a mixutre of  coffee and tea. Do not think that this is a very simple drink where one can just purchase coffee and mix with tea. I have tried making this at home many many times. However, it always turns out to be either too much coffee or too much tea. This Special Cham had just the right amount of both, the best of both worlds. A good choice for those of you who do not fancy too much coffee taste.

Special Cham (RM 3.20)

My sister in law ordered a hot cup of Cappuccino (RM 4.00). The mixture of coffee and milk was very rich and the taste was as a competitive as the ones we get from the Western concept coffee stations. For a price of RM 4.00, you get a large mug of Cappuccino, which is really a very good deal in my opinion. 

Cappuccino (RM 4.00)

We also tried one of their finger foods in hope to lighten our moods after our horrible dinner. We ordered the Otak Otak Roll. The Otak Otak filling was wrapped with a thin layer of popiah skin (made out of rice) and is then deep fried till crispy. It was very crispy, however, I felt that the otak otak filling was too little.

Over all, I would say that this is a nice place for a family gathering.

For more information about this, do visit their website at http://www.hailam-kopitiam.com/

Yours truly,

Charmaine Jeeva 54562

Coffee by Austin Chase

Two weeks ago, I decided to have a little catch up with a lovely friend of mine, Cindy at Austin Chase Cafe in The Gardens. I learned of this place from the Groupon website. Since I missed out on the discount coupons for their coffee, I have decided to pay them a visit despite the fact that I will be paying the full amount without any discounts. Austin Chase is located next to Italiannies Restaurant in The Gardens. When we arrived, I was almost immediately pleased to see a comfortable setting. We were ushered to our seats and I spoke to the person in charge of my intentions to do a review.


I was quite disappointed when the waiter told me that they did not have any signature coffee. However, I am proud of myself for always doing my research beforehand! I shall elaborate further later.

After contemplating I decided on the Hazelnut Latte while my friend settled on their Signature Hot Chocolate. Upon waiting for our orders, I was pleased to have spot this:

Definitely a treat to all ice-cream lovers out there!

The cafe setting was very simple, with just several couches and little coffee tables. To be really honest, I found the tables and chairs to be a little too small and low for adult seating. I felt like I was squatting at a tea party! Oh however else, the chairs were really comfortable.

Not too long after a few snapshots, our drinks arrived. We were asked to try their muffins as it was 50% off that day, beaming from ear to ear we agreed!

But first, let us talk a little bit more about the drinks...

Hazelnut Latte

The Hazelnut Latte was  very creamy. I always love a good latte with enough milk and the faint of hazelnut was just nice to ease the bitterness of the coffee. Even though the waiter failed to introduce a signature coffee, this was definitely one of the best choices in the menu. Most importantly, it was served freshly brewed. The latte gave me a quick booster after a rough day at work. It has changed me :

Changed me from cranky to snappy!   :P

Signature Hot Chocolate

Cindy's Signature Hot Chocolate was by any chance one of the best hot chocolates I have ever drunk. The minute I took a sip of it, my eyes widened. The chocolate was not too sweet yet not too bitter. It was just semisweet giving the sufficient chocolate-y taste yet not over doing it. Drinking this makes me feel homely indeed. I loved the fact that they served it with some chocolate chips on it as well. Definitely a good choice for non coffee lovers.

Chocolate Chip Muffin

Blueberry Muffin

Unfortunately, the muffins did not live up to our expectation. Yes, in no doubt at first the muffins looked worth the price as they were pretty large and worth the price. However, the muffins were less flavourful yet a little on the dry side. I would say that the muffins did not match with my drinks, I even stopped at the first slice of my Chocolate Chip Muffin.

Despite the dissatisfaction over the muffins, I did not regret stepping into Austin Chase's Cafe. As I've briefly mentioned above that I have done my homework upon coming to this place, Austin Chase coffee beans are homegrown in Seattle, USA. Austin Chase offers premium coffee brewed from hand roasted coffee beans. According to my research, Austin Chase prefers to hand roast coffee beans by small batches to maintain the full bodied roast thus higher quality of coffee.

At Austin Chase, they too offer ice blended coffee and other set lunches. I would strongly suggest this place as a place to meet up for light meeting or just casual afternoon tea area. What really caught my eye was the allocated room for private meetings to take place.

Strawberry Frappe and Lunch sets!

Austin Chase's Egg-cellent Breakfast sets                                                                                    

Allocated room for private discussions

Overall, I would conclude that Austin Chase is a nice place.  To you readers, I would not recommend the muffins! However, don't miss out on this place because the latte and hot chocolate is really worth it. 

Hope you enjoyed readingt till then to my next visit. :)

Yours truly, 

Charmaine Jeeva

54562

The Coffee & Spice Company

Today my bestfriend and I ventured to The Coffee & Spice Company located at the newly renovated Old-Wing of One Utama. We have never heard of this place and was curious to find out more about the venue. 

Once we were seated, I asked the waiter to introduce me to their signature coffee. I was told that they do not have a signature coffee as all their coffees are from Ipoh, however the bestseller drinks are Hainan 'Cham', Mocha Coffee and Hazelnut Coffee.

While I was being told of the bestseller coffee, I spotted a coffee named 'Heritage Coffee' and thought that perhaps that may be their signature coffee. Thus I question the waiter again and she told me no that is not their signature coffee and it is just another three-in-one drink. So I placed an order for Hainan 'Cham' while Kelly ordered a Mocha Coffee.

After placing an order for our drinks, I asked the waiter to introduce me to some of the food which they are famous for. The waiter immediately introduced me to their Curry Puffs. I was puzzled why out of everything in the menu its the Curry Puffs? Then I was told, they have other puffs such as Sardine Puffs and another which is not listed in the menu, the Durian Puffs. 

Being a Durian-lover, I immediately said yes to the Durian Puffs. Then the waiter also told me that they are famous for their Roti Bakar with Butter & Kaya, seeing that the price was reasonable I agreed to order. A little later I placed an additional order for something which really caught my attention -- Nasi Lemak Biasa with Chicken Rendang costs only RM4.50. It seemed almost impossible to find Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang at that price inside a shopping mall, it really tempted my curiosity!

Mocha Coffee

Hainan 'Cham'

In less than five-minutes, our drinks was served. The Mocha Coffee did not taste like every other Mocha I have tasted in designer coffee shops, this one tasted more chocolaty and the coffee was not really strong. Despite its chocolaty texture, it seemed to be a balance blend of coffee and chocolate altogether.

The Hainan 'Cham' on the other hand, I was told that it is a blend of Coffee and Tea. Seeing the thick layer of condensed milk at the bottom of the cup, I was afraid that the drink would be too sweet. After stirring the milk until it dissolved, I took the first sip and the taste surprised me. It was very rich in coffee, I could still taste the bitterness with just that tiny amount of sweetness that melts away the bitterness. It is definitely worth the price and worth trying!

Then came the Durian Puff! Moment of truth. To all Durian-Lovers, there is now another location for you to venture your taste-buds. Kelly and I split open the Durian Puff in half and we could see the thick texture of the Durian inside the Puff's skin, the aroma of the Durian was just overwhelming! For a price of RM3.80, you can now easily satisfy your Durian cravings for a Puff at the size of your fist, maybe a little bigger if you're a girl.

The Roti Bakar with Kaya and Butter was served to us while we were still enjoying our Durian Puffs, so we left it aside forgetting that we're suppose to it the Roti Bakar the moment its served while its hot. But even after we left it to cool, the bread did not turn soft, it will still very crunchy and the butter especially was exceptional. Usually in other coffee shops, the portion of butter given are very small. However at Coffee & Spice, the bread and the butter was served in a very generous portion.

After we were done with our food, the waiter served us with our Nasi Lemak Biasa Chicken Rendang. I took the opportunity to inquire a little more information about the restaurant. I was told that this is their second outlet, their first outlet is in Suria KLCC which started last year in the month of June and they are thinking of expanding. The owner of this restaurant is a Malaysian Chinese guy.

I would say, I am amazed at the portion of their servings. It is all so generous and really worth the price. The Nasi Lemak however was a slight disappointment as the serving of the chicken was really miserable, the nuts and ikan bilis however was really good and there was obviously too much rice and I could barely even finish half of the rice given. 

Before I end this post I would really recommend this place for people who are tight on a budget but would like to still enjoy good Malaysian food. Adding on, the restaurant is tastefully decorated and definitely a comfortable place to chill with friends. Their staffs are all very friendly and I am sure I will be coming back for more Durian Puffs! It would be great if Free Wifi services were provided, perhaps then I would linger a little longer for another cup of coffee.

Cheers,

Cindy 53069.