Pagi Place, Bangi

Pagi Place has recently relocated to a new home, a cosy neighbourhood hideout for honest, heartwarming bakes. Sourdough bread and bagels are tender but fragrant and full-bodied for classic comfort carbs. Crowd-pleasing cakes like red velvets are also offered at this off-the-beaten-track brunch place.

M Dining, Damansara Utama: A video feature

M Dining: Damansara Uptown's Thai restaurant transforms traditional temptations into modern triumphs!

Wake & Bake, Damansara Jaya

Damansara Jaya's new pizza stand tackles takeout pies with crusts that stay crunchy, built on a sourdough wholemeal base. A single slice of a 12-incher starts at RM5.50 for the classic Margherita, with crowd-pleasers like Beef Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken also available. 

Beanery, Taman Taynton View

Many months in the making, Taman Taynton View’s new Beanery is rawly weathered but roaringly well-crafted, its stark brutalism soothed by timber-toned notes of nature.

Beanery’s austere allure belies its welcoming warmth, buttressed by comfort fare of bakes and brews, from homemade matcha polo buns to genmaicha lattes.

Souls Out Sausage

Souls Out Sausage is a new roaming hot dog stand, possibly coming to a pasar malam near you, from SS2 to Seri Kembangan to Setia Alam, Kuchai Lama to Kepong, OUG to Taman Desa, featuring tender house-made pork sausages and buns, blanketed with mustard, mayo and nacho cheese sauce for the guiltiest indulgence. 

Moonkey Char Kuey Teow, Happy Garden

Happy Garden's latest CKT purveyor, Moonkey Char Kuey Teow serves simple old-school satisfaction, its strength resting in its smokiness for wok worshippers.

Moonkey's stallkeeper, Mr Moon, formerly fried up his noodles in PJ before moving to Happy Garden's Restoran Choy Kei kopitiam in June this year.

Chumm Chumm Boy, Bandar Sunway

Oh boy - Bandar Sunway’s new Chumm Chumm Boy offers an irresistible kopitiam treat: Silky chee cheong fun showered with plenty of pork lard, fresh and clean-tasting with a savoury crunch. Pair with a juicy omega-3 pork roll wrapped in fuchuk, fried to order. Yong tau foo is also available at this stall near Sunway University.

A:t 19 Store, Cheras

Watercolour brushes and watermelon mint tea come together at Cheras’ new art supply shop A:t 19 Store, which houses its own homely cafe - sip piccolos and snack on peanut waffles while shopping for painting tools, pairing hojicha lattes with matcha cream cheese bagels.

PakLoong Restaurant, Cheras

PakLoong Restaurant is Cheras’ new father-son kitchen for local favourites, specialising in family preparations for pork-free wonton noodles and nasi kandar.

Papa, now 77, retreated from retirement in 2011 to keep himself healthy and busy. A longtime lover of cooking, he spearheaded a kopitiam stall in Alam Damai for about a dozen years and fine-tuned his own recipes for wonton mee and kai see hor fun.

Now offered in its very own venue, PakLoong’s Signature Wonton Mee is served dry or in soup - the kolo version features chicken-and-mushroom-topped firm noodles, satisfyingly slick and savoury, complete with smooth prawn wontons in punchy chicken broth with prawn oil.

Beef noodles, chicken kuey teow soup and asam laksa are also available.

PakLoong’s Nasi Kandar relies on recipes from the son’s cousin, who runs a nasi kandar stall in Alam Damai, with favourites like mutton curry, chicken curry and black pepper mutton. The fried chicken leg is crisp-skinned and juicy-fleshed, enjoyably full-bodied, patiently prepared with quality ingredients throughout, from soothing curry to fresh vegetables.