Review: Jam & Kaya Cafe at PJ Palms Sports Center

Jam & Kaya brings the Klang Valley’s best year yet for independent cafes to a triumphant close; visiting this winsome venue is a potent reminder to value the people who pour their hearts into creating these places. Dismissing these cafes without knowing their stories is blatant disrespect.

Jam & Kaya represents the friendship of Janice and Karen, who studied in Melbourne this past decade and left with the dream of running the kind of cafe they cherished there. Janice’s subsequent stint learning the art of pastry-making at Le Cordon Bleu Paris supplied the culinary foundation for the two to open Jam & Kaya this month by the pool of PJ Palms Sports Center.

Brunch

Brunches are a treat here; the Eggs Royale (RM21) feature irresistibly delicious poached eggs, resting atop thick slices of smoked salmon and crisp leaves in a croissant.

Available through 5pm, so late risers like us can mercifully still have breakfast for lunch.

The menu remains a work in progress, but it’s excellent to see these baked eggs that borrow inspiration from the Tunisian-origin recipe of ‘shakshouka’ …

… creamy with a thick, tomato-rich base that conceals soft chunks of eggplant. RM18.90.

Pancakes are a pleasure here: try the one with salted caramel and macadamia nuts (RM16.50). Other varieties come with caramelized bananas and yes, even jam & kaya.

Dinner

Dinner specials include chicken ballotine, beef stew with potatoes and salmon with couscous.

Coffee and Dessert

Save space for dessert; these babies are a star attraction in their own right.

Praline cheesecake, very rich, sumptuously smooth. Gotta try the tarts next time.

Coffee’s constructed with Colombian beans; not a bad latte, definitely.

Love the hot chocolate here, mixed with tiny, crispy chocolate balls for extra enjoyment.

One of Jam & Kaya’s charms: It isn’t trying to be cool. Its musical selection of Peabo Bryson and All-4-One might send hipsters screaming out the exit.

All in all, Jam & Kaya has the potential to become a firm favorite, surmounting its relatively hidden location & avoidance of advance publicity. It’s our top cafe recommendation for December (followed extremely closely by Damansara Uptown’s Ecole P).