Coffee 5 Cups @ Plaza Damas 3, Sri Hartamas

Coffee & cakes with a view: Coffee 5 Cups is the latest entry to Plaza Damas 3, blessed with an unparalleled vantage point for surveying the national palace.

More importantly, this cafe is operated with integrity by people who are passionately involved in social activism. Their coffee's freshly brewed with hand-picked organic Balinese beans, ensuring fair trade that benefits the coffee farming communities.

Full meals will be served post-elections, starting May 11. Expect everything from open-face sandwiches to sushi & noodles (one of the owners hails from Hokkaido).

For now, house-made cakes like sour cream cinnamon ones (RM6.50) are a true treat here.

Pumpkin syrup cake, moist & lightly sweet, beautiful with a scoop of ice cream.

Coffee's reasonably robust; cold caffe latte (RM9.50) hits the spot on a hot afternoon.

Plunger coffee, French press coffee, cafetiere coffee. What's in a name; that which we call coffee by any other name would taste as tantalizing.

Roasted barley tea, or "mugicha" in Japanese, is one cooling, caffeine-free choice here.

Translated from an Arabic poem (really!): O Coffee! Thou dost dispel all cares, thou art the object of desire to the scholar, this is the beverage of the friends of God.

And a Turkish proverb: Coffee should be as black as hell, as strong as death & as sweet as love.

Coffee 5 Cups' current business hours are 11am-6pm, but probably not on Sundays; operations will be extended through dinnertime & confirmed later. 

Coffee 5 Cups is in the same building as the Top Brew Coffee & Brew Culture cafes.

Coffee 5 Cups,

Plaza Damas 3, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-6206-5451

Malaqa Nyonya House @ SS15 Subang

A taste of Malacca's Nyonya traditions has come to Subang this month, courtesy of this cafe that's a spin-off from my southern hometown's Ta Chi Nyonya House.

Nasi lemak, "bunga telang" blue (RM5.50 before taxes), makes for the best breakfast. 

Chicken pongteh. RM6.50 for drumstick & thigh combined, a suburb-suitable rate.

Otak-otak, seafood belacan fried noodles, laksa lemak, asam pedas fish, sambal petai prawns & chap chai are among the remaining attractions. Food's fairly flavorful.

Making coffee at Malaqa Nyonya House this week: Malacca's "Coffee Prince" Vincent Yong.

Peranakan Coffee, creamy with caramel & santan (!).

Illy frozen coffee specialty, like a cross between a milkshake & ice-blended beverage.

Caffe latte, smooth & medium-bodied. All in all, a decent entry to Subang's SS15 area.

Malaqa Nyonya House,

84, Jalan SS15/4, Subang Jaya.

Tel: 03-5612-3618

Open daily, 9am-10pm

Click here for online reservations.

This restaurant is available for bookings under TABLEAPP, which enables customers to make instant reservations at Malaysia's top restaurants, while saving time and money in the process. Reserve your table at this restaurant by clicking here.

Tokyo Kitchen @ Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara

Salmon sushi seizes the orange-hued spotlight for this Omega-3 extravaganza.

Looks deceive: this might look like run-of-the-mill fish-topped rice, but the salmon is rubbed with sea salt (RM4.30+ per piece) for a savory, nearly smoky flavor.

Other variations include salmon sushi with peanut sauce & spring onions ...

... with mayo & green soybeans ...

... with Japanese jelly ...

... & roasted with cucumber & chili powder.

Carb-phobic? Fresh, fleshy salmon fins, with no rice, are also available.

Tokyo Kitchen has two branches, one in Kota Damansara's Sunway Giza & another in Puchong's Setiawalk.

The ambiance here is attractive, with fun flourishes that both catch & please the eye.

Tokyo Kitchen

Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara.

Panorama @ Crowne Plaza Bangkok

Lunch buffets at Panorama, the all-day-dining restaurant of Bangkok's Crowne Plaza Hotel, are worth gorging on, even without the promise of a siesta after a heavy meal.

Pile your plate with pork _ there's plenty of cured meat to go around, from prosciutto to mortadella. Garnish with cheese & rocket leaves to make everything look more presentable.

Grilled to order: hog the cooking counter with more pork, in the form of skewers, sausages & chops. Delivered to the table with savory & spicy sauces.

Seafood too: fish, mussels & prawns, tasting as fresh as they should.

Macarons: not magnificent, not marvelous _ merely mediocre. A bit too biscuit-like.

Other desserts fare better: creamy, aromatic tiramisu & crumbly apple crumble.

And all these calories would be well-expended while sight-seeing.

The Reclining Buddha, with an Adam Levine lookalike.

Crossing the Chao Phraya.

Climbing the Wat Arun (only halfway though, before chickening out).

Panorama @ Crowne Plaza Hotel Bangkok,

Lumpini Park, Bangkok, Thailand.

Taiko Sushi Bar @ Mont Kiara

Taiko Sushi & Salad Bar is the recently born sister outlet of Ramen Taiko, both nestled inside the Mont Kiara Shoplex & both with self-explanatory names.

Clear differences separate the two: the ramen outlet serves pork, but not the sushi bar; the former feels warmly inviting, while the latter is brightly lit but sterile.

Entry on Ramen Taiko: January 30, 2012.

Offerings here should satisfy fans of fresh, leafy fare. The kanpachi carpaccio salad comprises as much lettuce, tomatoes & alfalfa sprouts as yellowtail.

Carb-fearers can choose a no-rice soft-shell crab maki, filled with eel & cucumber among others.

Lobster salad, a relative bargain for RM25. Not top-notch crustacean meat, but more than edible.

Rewarding ourselves with sea salt ice cream, pleasantly flavorsome.

Wasabi ice cream, packing a real punch. House-made? Not sure about that.

All in all, an OK addition to Mont Kiara's ocean of Japanese eateries.

Taiko Sushi & Salad Bar,

Mont Kiara Shoplex, Kuala Lumpur.