Right from the start, Mukha _ a winsome new cafe _ has nailed the formula for keeping customers content, with a thoughtfully crafted menu of well-executed fare, warm service and a spiffy setting.
The highlight is Middle Eastern-influenced food & beverages. Try the fava bean stew, addictively creamy & aromatically steeped in gentle spices. This might pair perfectly with some liver & a nice Chianti, but booze is verboten at Mukha.
Baked eggs with toast. Seems deceptively like a simple recipe, but takes 15 minutes to make. Scrape below the three yolks _ not runny but not too hard _ for hot, mushy layers of roasted tomatoes & shredded cheese that rescue the egg white from blandness.
Beef bamia with okra _ a thick, tangy Egyptian casserole. Everything feels freshly prepared, with surprisingly rich, multidimensional flavors.
Shahi Arab tea, infused with mint leaves.
Gahwa, Mukha's house-blend coffee, laced with cardamom & ginger.
A mocktail in lieu of something stronger: Virgin Mango Mojito.
Shisha is available as well for visitors who prefer to puff the night away.
Things appeared relatively quiet on this recent Friday evening; but we left early, before 7:30 p.m., so it's likely that everyone else only came in after that.
On the same street as Mukha, here's one outlet that's crowd-pleasing: Surisit, which brands itself a "Thai kopitiam."
Surisit's highlights include porky Thai fare: Moo Thod Kapi is the popular order _ moreish meat, fried to tender juiciness.
Hits & misses course through Surisit's selection of curries: This catfish red curry featured heaps of succulent chunks, but much of the flesh was undercooked.
Interesting options abound nevertheless, some of which are rarely seen at KL's other Thai restaurants, such as this pork & banana flower curry.
Mixed feelings about the pork massaman curry; it had plenty of peanuts but no potatoes (the restaurant ran out).
Mukha Cafe @ TTDI,
15, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
Tel: 03-7732-2248
Surisit Thai Kopitiam
17, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Tel: 03-7710-0173
17, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Tel: 03-7710-0173
