BeanMart, Kuchai Lama

Coffee buffs, be at BeanMart, which takes its caffeine seriously. Try the Costa Rican honey-processed coffee, elegantly served like Chinese tea, accompanied by its original beans for customers to sample both the beverage and the beans (RM18). BeanMart's barista will patiently explain that serving it in this style encourages patrons to sip more slowly and savour the subtleties of the coffee as it cools, bringing it up from the rounded notes that evoke black tea to a brighter, plummy acidity.

Still, BeanMart knows how to have fun with coffee too. Rose Amore (RM28) blends cold-drip coffee with roselle-infused rice wine for the intrigue of floral-fruity fermentation, layered with honey to mellow out the chilled concoction with its nectarous sweetness, served with a side of translucent lime jelly for a refreshing tang. Relish it while browsing BeanMart's mini library.

The kitchen is equally and enticingly playful with its cooking. Seafood baked rice, laden with mussels and more beneath a thick blanket of rich, stretchy cheese centred with a runny egg yolk, is served steaming-hot, comfort fare completed with vegetables and fruits for a very addictive, verifiably balanced lunch (RM25).

If you like more experimental concoctions, check out the tortilla-wrapped triumvirate of otak-otak, omelette and youtiao crullers, punched up with dried sambal shrimp for a real kick (an attractively reasonable RM14).

BeanMart is run by the folks behind this neighbourhood's Papasan Canteen fusion Japanese joint; it certainly deserves to become as popular as Papasan.

Beanmart

No.17-G, Jalan 1/114, off Jalan Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur. Open Thursday-Tuesday, 9am-6pm. Tel: 012-580-2587

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com