A family-run cafe, full of love, light and leaves: Since launching in September this year in Sungai Besi's Lake Fields, Kon Kon has fast become a favourite for its warm, welcoming space and beautiful bakes and brews with imaginative sparks.
Steered by two Malaysian sisters and one of their husbands, it's no surprise that Kon Kon is confident about its fruit-fuelled creations, from delightful watermelon cakes to decadent Earl Grey apple cheese tarts and delectable guava coffee and herbal smoked plum soda.
The family formerly ran the independent baking business Rinzbakes for six years. One of them is a professional baker, while her sister enjoys conversing with customers and her husband loves experimenting with beverages. Even their mother is intimately involved, harnessing her gardening hobby to bring lush life to Kon Kon.
With a calm, cosy and comforting setting, Kon Kon is passionate about bringing people together to savour desserts and drinks with light, bright Asian inspirations. Some ingredients are sourced directly from the sisters' uncle's fruit farm in Ipoh.
Kon Kon exhibits a creative sense of playfulness.
Its name is a nod to the Japanese word for a fox's bark - you'll find fun foxy figurines and illustrations scattered throughout the cafe. Its odd-looking opening hours - 10:03am to 5:57pm - are also a cool talking point for first-time visitors.
Ultimately, Kon Kon also aims to be a community space with plenty of collaborations, especially with F&B purveyors who'd like to showcase their hot food at pop-ups and kitchen takeovers here. Feel free to contact Kon Kon if you'd like to platform your work here.
Other creative talents are welcome too. Kon Kon is keen to curate a selection of artistic merchandise that it loves, channelling the spirit of an independent select store where patrons can purchase keepsakes. For Christmas, the cafe will showcase and sell efforts by Lulu Pottery House, author-illustrator Oh Beatrice and Dainty Co for personalised leather goods.
We love Kon Kon's blend of fuss-free wood-toned furnishing with gorgeous greenery, borrowed from the sisters' mother's garden. The cafe also sells potted hydroponic plants, nurtured in the cafe's natural sunshine, that can conveniently be brought home.
In the meantime, Kon Kon strives to supply a soothing, stress-free neighbourhood environment, with mellow music on the speakers while customers choose a slice of cake.
Longtime Rinzbakes loyalists will fondly recall the Strawberry Watermelon Cake (RM22), now a Kon Kon signature too.
The family - among the earliest in Malaysia to sell the watermelon cake popularised by Australia's Black Star Pastry - has put its own stamp on this speciality.
Kon Kon's version features a full slab of watermelon, lusciously layered with hazelnut dacquoise, rose-infused chantilly cream, strawberries, grapes, blueberries and pistachios.
This is fabulously fresh and juicy - the watermelon is ripe with a moist crunch, harmoniously contrasted with the hazelnut dacquoise that lends a nutty chew. It instantly revives the palate and is pleasurable to the final bite without ever becoming boring.
Another Rinzcake staple, the Apple Crumble Cake (RM20) is a brilliant balance of sweet and sour, courtesy of apple compote cooked with green apples, red apples and lemon juice, bolstered by vanilla chiffon, salted caramel and a crumble of cinnamon, cereal and almonds for full-bodied crispness. The perfect breakfast temptation for dessert devotees!
Kon Kon promises a rotating roster of flagship bakes as well as new concoctions that consistently evolve.
The Earl Grey Apple Cheese Tart (RM22) deserves to be on Kon Kon's permanent lineup, aromatic with Earl Grey chantilly cream, nectarous apples and softly savoury cheesecake, crowned with cinnamon-scented crumble on a shortcrust pastry base. If you're seeking one of KL's most terrific tarts, bookmark this immediately.
Chocolate enthusiasts will adore Kon Kon's Chocolate Passion (RM18), lined with chocolate chiffon, passionfruit jelly, chocolate cream and passionfruit chocolate ganache.
The chocolate is creamy and dreamy, but the star might be the passionfruit, delivered fresh from the family's Ipoh farm, transformed into a silky-smooth, bouncy jelly that's elevated with an authentically pure, concentrated passionfruit richness, without any artificial flavourings.
The Salted Cream Cheese Carrot Cake (RM18) isn't a conventional carrot cake. Instead of walnuts and raisins, Kon Kon relies on carrots and cranberries to bring a lighter, airier bite for a distinctively surprising texture, blanketed with Kon Kon's own cream cheese with a gentle garnish of salt and an ever-changing choice of premium nuts, such as pecans or pistachios.
The Vanilla Salted Caramel Dacquiouse (RM8) evokes macarons, made with egg white and a relatively higher proportion of almond flour, resulting in a crisp shell with a pleasantly chewy sensation in each bite, enhanced with fragrant notes of vanilla and salted caramel.
The Vanilla Bean Caramel Pudding (RM12; add on meringue for RM3) is a picture-perfect masterwork, slick and wobbly below, crusty and crackly on top, ideal for the young at heart.
Kon Kon also serves large, flaky-fluffy Croissants (RM9) and Pain Au Chocolat (RM10) with that impeccable honeycomb structure, sourced from a trusted external baker. Also gloriously golden is Kon Kon's own Orange Butter Cake (RM10), jazzed up with the zing of orange zest.
Kon Kon's beverages are equally enticing. For its caffeine coolers, the cafe uses Artisan Roastery's blend of Brazilian and Indonesian beans, easy-drinking with chocolaty nuances that complement Kon Kon's cakes with hints of black raisins, toffee candy and mixed fruit granola.
The Guava Coffee (RM18) is Kon Kon's deservedly famous drink, channelling espresso with the cafe's own-pressed guava juice and slices of Ipoh-cultivated guava. Kon Kon is certainly the first in KL to serve guava coffee, blessed with its own constant supply of the fruit, with a pear-like, attractively acidic kick that marries the sweet and the savoury with the coffee.
Sunrise (RM17) is a perky potion of espresso with 100% slow-pressed orange juice and dried orange slices, a crowd-pleaser that's perfect for hot, humid afternoons, deliciously done.
The Osmanthus Latte (RM15) also displays how Kon Kon masterfully infuses its coffee with just the right touch of elegance, splashed with osmanthus syrup and sprinkled with dried osmanthus flowers for floral loveliness. Oat milk options are available at an additional RM3.
For takeout orders, Kon Kon's paper cup boasts a mischievous twist: If you hold it in a certain way, the fox mascot looks like it's hanging on to your finger.
For a one-of-a-kind cooler, check out Kon Kon's Herbal Smoked Plum Soda (RM14), uplifted with roselle, two types of tangerine peels, and other Chinese herbs. Kon Kon uses smoked dark plum to elevate the smokiness of this enchanting drink.
Finally, Kon Kon's Kombucha of the Day (RM12) is also memorably noteworthy, a recent addition to the cafe's menu. This house-made kombucha is well-fermented with a fizzy punch - the kombucha flavour changes regularly, so there's a fruity surprise each time!
Kon Kon
16-1, Jalan Tasik Utama 7, Lake Fields, Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur.
Above Klinik Mano Dan Surgeri.
Open Thursday-Monday, 10:03am-5:57pm.
Open Thursday-Monday, 10:03am-5:57pm.
Tel: 012-983-2912
