Shouka, Bukit Jelutong

Smash burgers for brunch: Beef and buns come out bright and early at Bukit Jelutong’s Shouka, with sizzlingly juicy burgers off the griddle beginning 10am.

Air Day Coffee, Taman Seputeh

Air Day Coffee is a beautiful new sanctuary for the soul, offering a breather in Bukit Seputeh beside the Syed Putra highway.

Friendly co-founder Lex and his team have lovingly crafted a space of soothing solace, largely lined with wood fittings, some hand-built, exuding a humane warmth with wide windows looking out on laid-back leafiness.

Analogue inspirations abound, from a manual-lever espresso machine to music cassette deck players, amid flourishing English ivy, begonias and rubber plants representing essential elements of life.

With T-Bone Walker singing the blues on the speakers, mornings are calm and cosy here, with fresh-baked apple crumble pies and fragrant coffee beckoning.

When We Meet Is the ideal introduction, bringing together the bittersweet Ethiopian Nano Chala G1 Washed filter with an Ethiopian Gedeb Lalisa Village Natural cold brew blended with pineapple juice, milk and Earl Grey lavender syrup, plus scrumptiously soft hojicha sponge cake with white chocolate and passion fruit cream.

If you admire cafes with a genuine personal character, check this out. Air Day Coffee roasts its own beans, available for sale along with home brewing equipment.

GF17, Jln Syed Putra, Bukit Seputeh, 50460 Kuala Lumpur.

Ora Dining turns one in TTDI with new dishes & desserts, from duck chorizo pasta to coconut parfait

Ora Dining turns one in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, celebrating its first birthday with new temptations on its modern European menu!

For the first time, Ora Dining has introduced duck dishes, relying on Ipoh-raised duck, dry-aged for five days in Ora's own kitchen, pleasurably seared for a protein powerhouse platter or tossed with farfalle and mussels for surf-and-turf pasta.

Ora's signature spring chicken recipe has been revamped too, now with a triumphant trifecta of Perigourdine sauce, carrot puree and vanilla foam for a surprising sojourn of flavours.

And finally, Chef Xing Yu and his team have unveiled new desserts that took months to perfect, breathing imaginative inspirations into the Mont Blanc Chocolate Cremeux with Oolong Ice Cream, Lychee Osmanthus Sorbet and Coconut Parfait with Mango Sauce.

Combined with cool cocktails and mocktails, Ora Dining is a confident choice for an enjoyable evening with family and friends, marching into its second year as one of the TTDI neighbourhood's most distinctive dining destinations.

Duck devotees, drop by for Ora's Dry-Aged Duck with Marsala Jus (RM110).

After five days of patient in-house dry-aging, the breast meat is lusciously smooth with a rich depth of penetrating flavour, impeccably juicy from its browned skin to pink flesh.

Accompaniments elevate Ora's creations further - the duck is paired not only with classically earthy marsala wine jus but salsa-like sauce vierge for tomato brightness and fig puree for nectarous sweetness, spiked with Mexican-style ancho and guajillo peppers for mild heat, rounded out with Cameron asparagus and eggplant with creme fraiche. The result: An exuberant pollination of international influences, coming together in harmonious balance.

Ora's Farfalle with Duck Chorizo and Mussels (RM85) is one of our current favourite pastas, a lip-smacking meet-up of meat and molluscs.

Silky bow-tie pasta surfaces with a bouncy pinch, punchily soaking in savoury, slow-cooked Calabrian leek sauce with a smoky char, sharpened with fresh tomatoes and gula Melaka for a gorgeous Malaysian embellishment, tossed with textured duck chorizo sourced from an honest butcher, firm New Zealand green mussels and flaky pecorino cheese.

Over the past year, one of Ora's most-ordered dishes has been chicken with mochi and beurre blanc - but the restaurant keeps reinventing and refining its recipes, launching a new rendition of its Koji Spring Chicken (half-chicken for RM88).

The chicken, fresh from the TTDI market, remains a crowd-pleaser, dry-aged for five days, marinated with shio koji fermented rice seasoning to accentuate the meat's natural taste and tenderness.

Vibrant new accompaniments transform this one-plate meal into a journey for the palate - cheerful carrot puree laced with sherry vinegar, contrasting with darkly aromatic truffled Perigourdine sauce, uplifted with lightly airy vanilla foam. Have them individually or together - miraculously, everything works.

If you adore original desserts, Ora Dining is worth a stop simply for sweet treats.

The Mont Blanc Chocolate Cremeux (RM42) is a scrumptious synergy of East and West - a base of Valrhona cremeux and chestnut puree is capped with soothing oolong tea ice cream, flanked with almond sables, beautifully bridging a Parisian patisserie and Taiwanese teahouse.

Cool vibes continue with the Lychee Osmanthus Sorbet (RM42), fragrantly floral and fruity, gently icy with Lillet Rosé granita, subtly enriched with caramelised white chocolate and cream cheese foam to evoke the layered inflections of milk tea. Delicate with elegant restraint.

For the young at heart of all generations, Coconut Parfait with Mango Sauce (RM36) furnishes a fine finish, infusing French foundations of technique with nostalgic Malaysian notes for melt-in-the-mouth spoonfuls of custardy coconut, succulently ripe mango, lychee cream and black sesame crumbs.

Ora Dining stays open till midnight, so feel free to linger after dinner or to pop by for late drinks, sipping on cocktails with tropical twists such as the Velvet Tropique (RM40; pandan-infused vodka with elderflower) and Dewdrop Martini (RM40; dry vermouth and vodka with honeydew and clarified mango juice).

Mocktails showcase a playful side that cafe-hoppers can relish, spanning the caffeinated kick of the Apple Pie (RM20; espresso, cinnamon, vanilla and apple) and Espress-O-range (RM20; espresso with orange sherbet).

Ora Dining

29, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.
Open Tuesday-Thursday, 4pm-12am; Friday-Sunday, 12pm-12am. 
Tel: 017-228-8471

Le Trou Au Mur, Marrakesh

Our favourite restaurant in Marrakesh, Le Trou Au Mur offers intriguing classic Moroccan recipes rarely seen elsewhere in the world - try the tride, a plate of shredded savoury pancakes crowned with chicken, egg and lentils in a saffron-and-herb sauce; the offal trifecta of lamb liver, kidney and heart; and mechoui, spit-roasted lamb leg, shoulder and saddle. Don't skip dessert (the ras el hanout ice cream is one-of-a-kind, gently flavoured with the country's most cherished spice mix) or drinks (Moroccan beer and wines are surprisingly satisfying). Bonus points for the friendliest service crew we encountered throughout Morocco, gliding efficiently across this comfortably elegant space in Marrakesh's medina.