Malaya Garden

Whenever I am in Kuala Lumpur, I travel down to Chinatown ( Petaling Street) to get a dose of the delicious soybean milk and traditional Chinese biscuits from Fung Wong. This is actually the first time I had time to walk beyond the covered walkway to explore the entire area which is actually full of small interesting cafes

Right next to the extremely popular Ah Kow Hainan Kopitiam was a building which stood out amongst the rest of the buildings with its exotic design

From the exterior, the building looks like a tropical rainforest with palm trees and much greenery decorating the main entrance, 2nd level as well as the rooftop

The cafe occupies up to 3 stories of the building and on the first floor is the main cashier and bakery counter where you can see the daily available bakes. There are also small singular tables for smaller groups who do not want to climb the steep stairs to the upper floors. The design of the first floor is quite eclectic with a mix of Malayan rainforest vibes combined with, industrial contemporary chic elements like the blue tiled counter and golden logo frame

To reach the 2nd and 3rd floor, you must take these steep and circular stairs retained from the old shop house with new reinforcements and maintenance. It was a little scary at first to climb the stairs but there are hand railings at the side for assistance for those afraid of heights and they are quite safe as well

The interior design was more concrete-styled compared to the exterior and the Malayan jungle concept is only kept at the floor-to-ceiling windows and not uniform throughout the cafe

In terms of the menu, they do have quite an extensive variety of snacks, hot meals, desserts and drinks. Most of their menu items consist of Asian cuisine with a majority of Malaysian favourites like Nasi Lemak. As we only dropped by for drinks, we only ordered a hot and iced coffee and an iced lime drink which were all pretty decent but slightly on the sweet side for me

Overall, I cannot comment on the food quality but the dishes served to the neighbouring tables do look pretty good and enticing. The drinks were decent and the atmosphere and service were quite enjoyable

Address: 1A, Jalan Balai Polis, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Operating hours: 8 am to 8 pm