Kopimeo at Shah Alam: Restaurant Review

Where do they find the energy? Power couple Meor & Leena might be expecting their third child within a matter of weeks, but they’ve already delivered one very healthy labour of love this month – a visually beguiling new cafe with bespoke chevron-patterned tables by Lain Furniture, open-terrarium plants & a children’s play corner, stowed on a serene street in Shah Alam.

Meatless, Moroccan-inflected Baked Eggs

Kopimeo’s home run in terms of architectural flourishes isn’t a surprise – the art & science of design are in Meor & Leena’s wheelhouse. But Kopimeo also throws a few curveballs for its food – these meatless, Moroccan-inflected baked eggs prove an interesting choice, with a beautiful base of chickpeas & tomato stew that shuns cut-rate sausages & watery veggies. RM16.

Lempeng with Sambal Bilis

Kopimeo is part of the Klang Valley’s rising wave of contemporary cafes that stem the tide of Melbourne-beloved breakfasts with a current of Malaysian-cherished recipes. Sure, you can order cornflakes-crusted French toasts here, but it’s possible to take a break from that & try the lempeng instead, the local response to crepes, served with sambal bilis. RM10.

Pasta

As many Malaysian chefs know, fusion pasta’s the simple solution for everyone who wants to introduce East to West. But while we’re rarely enamoured of rendang fettuccine & masala penne, we were intrigued by this salted fish spaghetti with squid, bird’s eye chillies, olive oil, herbs, capers, breadcrumbs & parmesan. RM15; brunching in Shah Alam is a budgetary boon.

Churros

Churros are becoming as inescapable for cafe enthusiasts in 2015 as Eggs Benedict were in 2013 & waffles were last year; Kopimeo rolls out a respectable rendition with a chocolate dip (RM8). It helps that the food here tastes conscientiously made, underscoring how Kopimeo’s founders do seem to care about their customers – certainly not a virtue to be taken for granted.

With beans by Roast & Grind in PJ’s Section 16, Meor & Leena’s cafe tries to be a credit to the ‘kopi’ component of its name.

Stella Nutella Hand-crafted Moist Chocolate Cake

It took nearly unbearable effort to resist this beauty: The Stella Nutella hand-crafted moist chocolate cake, supplied by Cake Jalan Tiung. Thank heaven this wasn’t the Peanut Butter & Jelly chocolate cake – we’d surely have succumbed to that one.

Speaking of Cake Jalan Tiung, the husband-&-wife purveyors of lemon cakes, chia seed puddings & cranberry blondies are also poised for a landmark year; after many months of offering their treacherously tempting treats at numerous notable nooks, Cake Jalan Tiung will soon have its own outlet, occupying a first-floor hideout that’s only a two-minute drive from Kopimeo.

Even on a Sunday, construction workers are scraping, drilling & hammering furiously to ensure Cake Jalan Tiung in Shah Alam launches before mid-2015. With natural sunlight flooding through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the centrepiece of this cavernous space might be a lengthy cake counter that’ll stretch the limits of both the imagination & the waistline, plus tables hypnotically topped with three-dimensional cube patterns, as well as shelves that heave with baking products, according to Cake Jalan Tiung’s secrets-spilling husband Hidzad. Could become a hive of activity, with cake-making classes in the pipeline.