food

Best cafes in Ampang

BY HUNGRYGOWHERE
October 15, 2015

Lai liu kai… This butter chicken is heavenly – it’s no wonder it’s a crowd favourite. – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.A raft of amazing cafes have been popping up all over the city of Kuala Lumpur, and Ampang is no exception to this trend! We’ve scouted the most happening area of town for the best late night and early morning cafes, close to home and in the city so you can have your cake (or coffee) and eat it.

Neighbours

Nestled between the old shop houses of Taman Bukit Indah, only those from this end of Ampang will know of this fairly new cafe. Neighbours has classic red brick walls and simple wooden furniture; their interior is adorned with vintage comic/movie posters and several cheeky canvas paintings.

The staff are quite friendly, and the cafe mainly caters to the surrounding Malay population. Their coffee and dishes are decent, but the affordability is one of the main reasons you should pay Neighbours a visit!

This is one of the only places we know of that has pink guava juice (RM4.50), while their other drinks include yummy yogurt smoothies (RM10.50) and plenty of coffees, with prices ranging from RM5 (espresso) to RM11.50 (ice blended caramel mocha). We suggest giving the teas a skip (they have a strange aftertaste), what with so many other drinks to choose from.

Neighbours has a wide variety of snacks and mains to choose from: begin with chicken wings (RM13.90) or a Munchy Platter (RM10) of deep-fried vegetable spring rolls and money bags, then move on to a dish of pasta, rice, or chicken/beef/lamb chops.

Neighbours cafe is a tribute to old school familiarity. – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.Their butter chicken with fragrant Thai rice (RM14) is a house recommendation and for very good reason indeed. The sauce is thick and creamy, much like the butter sauce usually paired with prawns. This is by far our favourite dish in Neighbours, though their signature lamb chops (RM27) and seafood aglio olio (RM19) are popular with diners as well.

Sweetree

For a cosy place to relax with your friends and some good drinks, we recommend Sweetree! Located on the same row as Nasi Lemak Royale Kedah, Sweetree has a unique rainforest-themed cafe interior, and is the only halal cafe in Koreatown!

Starbucks, who? – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.Their menu boasts several cuisines, serving everything from chicken chops to udang sambal (sambal prawns), aside from the regular Korean dishes.

The cafe is mostly famous for their decadent drinks: the ice blended Oreo cappuccino (RM8.50) and green tea latte (RM7.90) were thick and creamy, with just enough chocolate cookie and matcha flavours to satisfy your cravings. Their hot coffee was a good brew as well, not too bitter so that its taste was lost.

Fall for the colours of this bibimbap; it tastes just as good as it looks. – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.When in doubt, the spicy chicken bibimbap (RM18) will not disappoint. This dish is a colourful mixture of red and green cabbage, fresh lettuce, and spicy sesame coated chicken. The spice took a surprising punch to our taste buds, but we would definitely go back for more.

Whether upstairs or on the ground floor, you’ll always feel comfortable in Sweetree. – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.Sweetree also doubles as a Korean culture centre for language and cooking classes, so feel free to drop by for more than coffee at this cafe.

Typica Cafe No. 2

Unlike the Typica in Pudu, Typica Cafe No. 2 in Ampang is a house-turned-cafe in the neighbourhood behind Spectrum. It can be hard to find so make sure you take down the address for it!

Tips to note: bring cash and possibly someone who speaks Mandarin/Cantonese, as the owners converse mostly in those languages so it would be helpful to have someone who understands the language if you don’t.

Just from the look of this apparatus, you can tell how serious they are about their coffee here. – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.The interior of Typica is minimalistic, with wooden tables and a “kitchen” area lined with ceiling-high coffee apparatus. They have several desserts sitting on display in the cooler by the door, and we happened to see a grape champagne cheesecake (RM13) inside, but desserts change daily; only the coffee is constant.

The couple who run this cafe are informative and passionate about their coffee, patiently guiding visitors through the different beans, coaxing them into using all five senses as they experience tasting a freshly brewed champagne flute of whole coffee beans.

Keep a lookout for Typica’s sign as a small green licence plate – call the number if the door’s locked! – HungryGoWhere pic, October 15, 2015.Highly recommended is the syphon-style Ethiopian coffee (RM30) which has a complex, woody, and whole-bodied flavour, changing in taste as its temperature drops steadily.

We spotted ten to twelve kids gathered around a long table sorting out coffee beans and making their own blends, learning about beans from across the world – a very hands on experience that we haven’t seen anywhere else, so if you’re interested in learning more about coffee, Typica would be a good place to start!

Ampang cafe-hopping is the best – we found ten cafes in total! Also great for hidden gem hunting and date spots, though everyone knows that it’s best known for its Ampang Yong Tau Foo. – October 15, 2015.

What else does Ampang have to offer? See where and what others are eating, download our new HungryGoWhere app which shows you what places are around your current location up to a radius of 5km! Or you can just look up any location, and see what's popular among fellow foodies. Disliked your service? Leave a quick and easy review so the owner can fix it or warn other diners too! Now available on iTunes and Google Play.