TRiPLE ELEVeN, Kuchai Lama

Brews and views come into focus at Kuchai Lama’s beautiful new TRiPLE ELEVeN, with a slow-living coffee bar inside an eyewear store, pairing pour-over filters with polished frames.

Come for caffeine, stay for clarity: A labour of love by a husband-and-wife team, TRiPLE ELEVeN reflects thoughtful care and character, from its vintage furnishing and leafy plants to its selection of soulful spectacles such as artisanal buffalo horn glasses.

Speciality beverages are sharply hand-crafted with vision and vibrance: Try the nuanced Noir Nocturne (cold brew coffee with TRiPLE ELEVeN’s own-aged white grape vinegar, white peach, lemon and torched thyme) and perky Poppy Bloom (cold brew with elderflower, milk and watermelon popping jelly).

Tai Tai Cafe, The Campus Ampang

Ladies who lunch might linger at Tai Tai Cafe, where crowd-pleasing cafe fare has a playful edge at The Campus Ampang.

For pasta with a Southeast Asian spark, savour the Coriander Pesto Spaghettini, lusciously herbaceous, tangled with fried ikan bilis, white clams, tiger prawns, calamari and cherry tomatoes.

Tai Tai’s desserts carry cheeky twists. Tiramisu trades Italian savoiardi ladyfingers for richly spongy Malaysian kuih bahulu, while Pulut & Mango pairs steamed pandan pulut with bruleed mango and pomegranates, lavished with coconut cream for a tropical treat.

Sipper Fly, Seri Kembangan

Cappuccinos and cookies with Cookie: Check out this new home-based cafe for brews, bakes and a two-year-old beaming beagle named Cookie. Hojicha lattes and yuzu fizz sodas make for pleasant sipping, while almond chocolate chip cookies prove perfect for snacking in Seri Kembangan.

Grains Artisan Bakery, Bukit Jalil

Bukit Jalil's new Grains Artisan Bakery offers a fast, fuss-free stop for family-friendly bakes like buttery-soft shio pan (RM3) and tender tuna-stuffed, seaweed-studded buns (RM3.90).

Hide-Chan Ramen, Lot 10

From Hakata, Hong Kong and Hell's Kitchen NYC to KL: After a series of restaurants in Asia and America, Hide-Chan Ramen has launched a six-month pop-up in Lot 10, harnessing three decades of tonkotsu ramen mastery. 

Try the Aburitate Toroniku, with thin, toothsome noodles in light-textured, luscious-tasting pork bone broth, topped with pork jowl cha-shu, succulent-smooth with layered fattiness.

Maple Bagel & Coffee, Bandar Botanic Klang

Maple Bagel & Coffee is Bandar Botanic’s charming new bagel playground: Choose your bagel flavour pairing with cream cheese (the seeded Everything Bagel with Cili Udang cream cheese is a spicy-briny barn-burner) or select a signature like Pistachio Kunafa Cocoa, a chocolate bagel with pistachio kunafa and chocolate walnut cream cheese.