Convivencia Cafe, Bukit Tunku

If you love cafes off the beaten path, check out Bukit Tunku's Convivencia Cafe, tucked inside the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, open to the public.

This lush campus with Spanish Andalusian architectural influences is a beautiful backdrop for Convivencia, which specialises in Iranian cuisine.

Convivencia's cooking is comforting and confident, spanning Iran's national dish of ghormeh sabzi herb stew with kidney beans and dill rice (RM13); the classic diced mutton gheimeh with split peas and tomatoes, served with flatbread and fries (RM11); aromatic saffron cream cake (RM8.90); and Azerbaijan's Azercay black tea (RM6).

Fun fact: Convivencia is a Spanish term for coexistence, wonderfully representing the welcoming nature of this cafe, where every visitor is regarded like an honoured guest.

Convivencia Cafe

24, Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, Bukit Tunku, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Tan Cafe, Kajang

Explore playful teatime treats at Kajang's new Tan Cafe, both cold and hot - ice cream in Japanese tea flavours of genmaicha and hojicha, plus mini croissants stuffed with avocado cream and European-style pastries packed with a Malaysian curry puff's spiced potatoes.

Tan Cafe

MKH Boulevard II 1-10, Jalan Bukit, Taman Bukit Mewah, Kajang, Selangor.

House of Kendal, Kelana Jaya

Coffee enthusiasts can make themselves at home in House of Kendal, Kelana Jaya's hideout for a brand that boasts its own Liberica coffee micro-farms in Batu Pahat.

Linger at this PJ cafe-roastery for a distinctive diversity of Southeast Asian speciality-grade Liberica brews, such as pour-overs of Trang Bulan beans, coupled with beef dendeng croissant sandwiches.

House of Kendal

D-08-02, Level 2, Plaza Kelana Jaya, Jalan SS 7/13a, SS7, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

A taste of Dhaka: Darun brings flavourful family recipes from Bangladesh to the Klang Valley

Bangladesh's honest, hearty flavours come alive at Darun, where generations-old recipes fueled by green chillies and a spectrum of spices pay homage to a Dhaka family's household heritage. 

Darun is the Klang Valley's most convenient and comfortable choice for Bangladeshi cuisine, which has its own distinct identity compared to the Indian subcontinent's other fare, including the more familiar North and South Indian and Sri Lankan favorites.

Curries are slow-cooked for hours, chicken korma emerges with a lip-smacking nuttiness, salads are tossed in Bangladesh's quintessential mustard oil. 

Instead of conventional Indian biryani, try Darun's beef tehari fried rice. Also snack on Bangladesh's most beloved snacks, like the shami kebab, shingara and roti rolls.

The result is familiar but definitely different. Bangladeshi families rely on everyday ingredients, straightforward and never pretentious, for satisfyingly comforting nourishment.

Darun - which means 'great' in Bengali - stays authentically true to Bangladeshi traditions. 

The brand was conceived in collaboration between a Bangladeshi national and her Malaysian partner. Recipes come from its Bangladeshi founder's family, tracing their roots to her great-grandmother. Her mother, who lives in Bangladesh, frequently travels to KL to ensure Darun's cooking is up to her strict expectations.

Even the rice is genuinely Bangladeshi. Darun relies on Chinigura, an aromatic rice cultivated in Bangladesh, customarily reserved for celebrations and special occasions.

Formerly serving the student community in Taylor's University, Darun moved in mid-2023 to GLO Damansara's COOX culinary hub, strategically between Damansara Heights and Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

Catering services are available with just two days' notice; in the past month, Darun has delighted children's parties and home celebrations, among others. Contact them at 011-1611-1824 for details.

From grains to spices, Darun meticulously selects its produce, like a mother would for her family. Everything is cooked from scratch in the kitchen - dough is hand-rolled for Darun's shingara savoury pastries, while fresh sauces and gravies are sumptuously mixed in line with time-honoured Bangladeshi techniques for mouthwatering flavours.

The Chicken Curry (RM19.90 for a sharing portion; RM18.90 for a single set meal) is the crowd-pleaser, cooked with dry spices plus a fragrant paste of garlic and ginger, sweetened naturally with ripe tomatoes.

With no coconut milk, this Bangladeshi curry is light-textured and easygoing with relatively subtle spices, so it's suitable for the entire family. 

It's slowly simmered with the meat for at least two hours, so that each perfectly cut chunk soaks up the curry's flavours completely, true to how Bangladeshis love their chicken curries.

The outcome: This curry tastes beautifully homemade, familiar with chicken and potatoes, but with its own special, soul-warming Bangladeshi character.

The Chicken Korma (RM20.90 for a sharing portion; RM19.90 for set meal) is comparatively more luscious than the lighter curry, savoury with almonds and cashews, with a mellow finish of spices. It's creamy enough but not cloying, nuanced and not overpowering on the palate.

Try both the curry and the korma to see which one you prefer!

The set meals include pulao, a choice of mustard-tossed salad or shahi daal, and a choice of orange cooler or rose cooler.

The pulao is fluffy and puffy, cooked with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and green peas - if you adore rice, this could be your next addiction, delicious to eat even on its own!

The salad features vegetables with uplifting hints of mustard oil, a relatively pungent change from olive oil and other conventional dressings. The shahi daal is slow-cooked for four hours with two types of daal for a full-bodied balance of chew and creaminess.

The beverage choices comprise a gently fizzy orange cooler or a rose cooler, which contains Bangladesh's Rooh Afza, a concentrated squash, particularly popular for Iftar in Ramadan. 

For single-plate satisfaction, check out Darun's Beef Tehari Fried Rice (RM18.90), which packs a flavour-loaded punch with meaty morsels of two-hour slow-cooked spiced beef mingling with the rice, brilliantly tender with a mild, turmeric-forward heat, complete with a choice of fried egg, omelette or scrambled eggs.

For sharing and snacking, the Chicken Shami Kebab (RM19.90 for six pieces) is a moreish marvel - ground chicken patties infused with Darun's secret spice mix, enticingly earthy with daal flour instead of wheat flour, pan-fried to poultry perfection, tasting totally meaty for carnivorous cravings. This is also available as a single set meal at RM18.90 for three kebabs with rice, side dish and drink.

The hand-crafted, deep-fried Shingara (RM7.90) might be Bangladesh's closest equivalent to Malaysian curry puffs. 

Darun makes the thick short crust from scratch, lacing it with cumin seeds, stuffing the puffs with spiced potatoes, mustard seeds, turmeric and cumin for a rich, robust experience. Partner them with Darun's house-blended, spicy-sour chilli sauce for a fun treat in between meals.

For something to munch on the move, order the Roti Roll (RM9.90) – beef, chicken or egg, ideal to pick up and eat whenever you want. The roti is created purely with flour and salt, left to rise for at least an hour before being baked to order, plumply packed with spiced tehari beef or chicken for a roll to relish and remember. A wonderful wrap, Bangladesh-style!

Darun

COOX, G02-05, Glo Damansara, Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.

Daily, 11am-9pm. 

Tel: 011-1611-1824

COOX: 

store.coox.asia/outlets/coox-glo-damansara/DarunGLO 

Grab:

food.grab.com/my/en/restaurant/darun-coox-glo-damansara-delivery/1-C4DBVPEDBADYAN?

Foodpanda: 

foodpanda.my/ms/restaurant/mt1k/darun-coox-glo-damansara