Whizz Cafe, Puncak Jalil

Hankering for hambagu? Whiz over to Puncak Jalil’s new Whizz Cafe, whipping up patty pleasure with an array of Asian flavours. 

Have your house-ground hamburg in a choice of thick and tender wagyu beef, chicken or pork, served with egg in the beloved Japanese style or with Szechuan mala spices, Thai crying tiger sauce, Korean kimchi or Malaysian sambal, cooked to order with comforting care. 

Welcomingly run by a mother-and-son team, Whizz also warms the heart with soul food of ochazuke, donburi, ramen and udon.

Rix Library Cafe, Taman Desa

Books, bakes and brews come together at Taman Desa’s new Rix Library Cafe, coupling cookie shortcakes and cappuccinos with a reader’s trove of non-fiction collections.

Pondok Boulangerie, Taman Melawati

Melawati’s new micro-bakery, Pondok Boulangerie promises comfort in carbs, warmly helmed by a husband-and-wife team with their partner. 

Waking before 4am to start baking, they’re ready by 7:30am with thoughtful treats - pillowy focaccia with garlic confit, tomatoes and herbs; French butter croissant toasts, nectarous with Melaleuca honey; and specials like pain au chocolat sliced sando-style, garnished with Valrhona chocolate ganache, sandwiched with Nutella cream cheese.

Also check out the Malaysian village-loving murals illustrated by young, talented local artists. 

Ah Gan, Seputeh

Seputeh’s Ah Gan is a new neighbourhood haven for hog hunters, serving comforting classics with a skilled chef’s prowess, from pork tendon ball noodles to roti babi with crab, roast pork mun fun to marble butter cake laced with pork lard.

For a soul-soothing, steaming-hot bowl of beauty, try the Homemade Pork Tendon Ball Noodles (RM10.90) - the tendon balls are terrifically tender with a light gingery lift, bolstered by a balanced mix of meehoon and yellow noodles in naturally rich, Penang-channelling broth of dark depth.

Roti Babi with Crab (RM15.90) is irresistibly crackly, deep-fried and baked to a confident crunch, encasing a juicy-fleshy centre of minced pork and hand-peeled crab, saucily seasoned with savoury tang.

For a nostalgic favourite, the Mun Fan (RM12.90) features wok wisdom with bold flavours, immersed in robustly familiar, slow-simmered gravy, thick in texture and memories, punctuated with char-speckled roast pork, smooth and succulent.

Not into pork? Check out the Sekinchan Prawn Paella (RM22.90), a one-pan, single-person’s pleasure of calrose rice steeped in crustacean stock and saffron, topped with market-fresh prawns, playfully circled with baby shrimp for socarrat-like caramelised-crust crisp.

The Marble Butter Cake (RM6) harbours a secret of pork lard melted with the butter, bringing decadent body to soft scrumptiousness for all generations.

Fun fact: Ah Gan refers to chef-founder Logan of Bangsar’s Wurst and Babi Kuah Hitam, the latter of which will move to Ah Gan next month.

Tingkap, Bangsar

Bangsar’s new Tingkap opens up a window into timeless local temptations - breakfast of nasi lemak bungkus and lovely lontong make for a marvellous morning.