Second Sunday at Damansara Jaya: Restaurant Review

A new day has dawned in Damansara Jaya: Second Sunday could become the first choice for denizens who desire a distinctive destination with fun flourishes & colourful cooking by familiar faces formerly from The Front Door in Chinatown.

Second Sunday’s recipes showcase character & complexity, charm & cheer, striking a tone that suits the cafe’s setting. Brunch fare emerges with enjoyable enhancements; fried eggs come frilled with crispy cheddar cheese, flecked with seaweed & sesame seeds, satisfyingly teamed with sauteed herbed mushrooms, smoked salmon & sliced avocado on rye toast. RM24.

Sweet and Savoury

The kitchen specialises in sweet-&-savoury playfulness, combining flavours & textures in styles that sometimes triumph & sometimes need tweaking. These fluffy-warm pancakes prove a pleasure, stacked with beef bacon (very tasty, for a change) & parmesan cheese, showered with strawberry basil sauce that supplies a mellow sort of sweetness. RM19.

Stuffed Tortillas

Stuffed tortillas seem like a tantalising touch, but the flatbread may feel dry & doughy, filled with crunchy green apple slices that provide a pickled tartness (try a little tenderness instead, sugary & succulent?), melted cheddar cheese that’s sticky but superficial (an alternative cheese could work wonders), salted caramel, biscuit crumbles & vanilla ice cream. RM15. This is named Number Six on the menu, a nod to an open sandwich with similar but more successful components at The Front Door.

Frozen Yoghurt with Granola

Second Sunday’s frozen yoghurt with granola could be polarising too – the fro-yo, chopped up in a couple of mixed varieties that include berries, is rather icy & might not completely complement its companions on this shallow plate. Warm syrup & cold milk make for a muddle, but we still appreciate how Second Sunday is striving to offer its customers something special. RM14.

Pankek

We like this one, called ‘Pankek’ – pandan pancakes, crowned with juicy caramelised bananas, fragrant with toasted dessicated coconut flakes, paired with Gula Melaka syrup, for a combo with nice Malaysian kuih-muih nuances. RM16.

Also easy to enjoy: Durian milkshakes (RM13), respectably creamy & relatively natural-tasting, alongside all the coffee that customers need (flat whites, lattes & cappuccinos each chime in at RM10). There’s still one more mystery to solve though: What’s the meaning of the cafe’s name? According to co-owner Basil, there’s no real reason for it – so feel free to speculate.