Awakening Café by Iggo @ Klang

Modern Scandinavian-Style Café Serving Fusion Food

After its initial success with Iggo Café in Setia Alam, the owners are jazzing up Bukit Tinggi in Klang with their second F&B outlet, Awakening Café. Located in a bustling business area, Awakening Café tells the story of a modern Scandinavian-style café serving fusion dishes to cater to the adventurous.

We paid a visit one fine weekend for a cup of Joe and was pleasantly delighted at its offering. Opened since November 2016,he café is designed with minimalist, offering a bright and contemporary space for coffee lovers. Choose from the main air-conditioned dining space or the small alfresco area set cool with ceiling fans.

A long bar is placed on one side of the space where all the beverage action takes place. While some may think Awakening Café is a tad too bright, we admitted that we rather enjoyed the clean and neat as well as brightly lit space, echoing an air of freshness and vibrant ambiance. Set in shades of white and light beech wood with industrial flooring, the whole café is great for hangouts as well as space for some workings.

The menu is generously filled with lots of choices of food and beverages. Food here can be describe as classic Western injected with our very own local flavours. Coffee lovers are treated to a long list of creative coffee, tea, beers and other beverages.

One of Awakening Café’s signature touch is coffee of your choice served in chocolate cone. We opted for their Signature Chocolate Cone with Café Latte (RM10 + RM3). It even comes with coffee art! Since the latte is hot and lightly melted the chocolate, it has a very subtle chocolate note with the latte, making it quite delish. The best part? You get to eat your ‘cup’ too…

My Down Under Iced Coffee (RM16) was superb! Thick, creamy and luscious coffee that is made even better with generous scoops of vanilla ice creams, this one is definitely a must-order if you love your cold coffee strong and creamy.

The Half n Half Iced Shaken Coffee (RM12) was also good with a creamy smoothness and strong hit of coffee versus cream. It was just exceptionally velvety and cold, perfect like a Freddo.

If you’re not into coffee, the Iced Chocolate Cubes (RM15) is also very good. Iced chocolate cubes poured over chilled milk in a chocolate stained glass not only makes a lovely presentation but taste deliciously chocolatey and milky.

The hot version of Organic Hot Chocolate (RM13) also came with some art. We’re beginning to realize how these young owners take their beverage seriously!

Sparkling Yuzu (RM12), something fresh, citrusy and sparkling.

Tuck into a bowl of earthy and creamy Mushroom Soup (RM8) is certainly a great way to start the meal. Drizzled with truffle oil, the mushroom soup was thick and full of mushroom goodness. The crispy golden toast on the side goes so well with the soup that I wish they could give me another one.

I am always trying to eat salad and I would gladly do this more often is every salad is like the Scotch Egg Salad (RM13). Served with crisp greens, carrot, sprouts, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and sesame wasabi dressing, the ultimate highlight was the golden ball of Scotch egg. Cut into half to expose molten egg yolk center with a crust of minced meat with crispy crumbs, the Scotch egg alone is worthy of an order, sans salad or not. We also enjoyed the subtle tingling wasabi note in the aromatic sesame dressing.

Surprisingly, we also enjoyed the Roasted Pumpkin Salad (RM14). There’s not egg but the replacement of sweet and smoky wedges of soft pumpkin is rather pleasant and enjoyable.

From the snacks’ list, we tried the Mushroom Bruschetta (RM10) and Chicken Ham Bruschetta (RM12). Nothing extraordinary but pretty decent and tasty. I like the mushroom more as it was smoky and tasty. Makes great snacks to go with a drink in the middle of an afternoon if you’re feeling peckish…

We ordered the Spaghetti with Basil in Tomato Sauce (RM16) for the kids and they seemed to enjoy it. This one leaned towards a lighter and fresh tomato sauce and pasta was cooked well.

The adults or rather us, swooned over the Salted Egg Yolk Pasta (RM19) instead. The salted egg sauce that glazed the strands of pasta was sweet and savory with much moreish notes of light heat, making every strands of pasta slurping good. There’s plenty of prawns and squid, cooked well, to jazz up the pasta.

The Basil Pesto Pasta with Fried Calamari (RM18) fared well with our palates too. The pesto flavours showed heavier notes of herbs rather than garlic and cheese. I didn’t mind as I rather enjoyed the pungency of the basil and other herbs. The crispy squid rings is a great match with the pesto pasta so the dish turned out rather yummy for me.

We were told that risotto is their signature at Awakening Café and we opted for the Pork Stew Risotto (RM20). It’s a hearty dish that exudes beautiful comfort soothing flavours. The pork is cooked till soft and shredded into the risotto. It’s just saucy enough but the rice is not as al dente as I would normally like my risotto to be. I can relate to why this is as most locals here would deemed the rice to be uncooked if its serve al dente. So other than the rice not to my preference, the flavours are really delicious with copious amount of pork to fill every spoonful with yummy satisfaction.

I hardly see beef stew on the menu and I was happy to see the Classic Red Wine Beef Stew (RM20) served with creamy mashed potatoes and toast. They sure know now to make a mean beef stew. The flavours of the stew is exceptionally rich and luscious with deep notes of the right balance of ingredients stewed over long hours. The beef were not as tender as I would like it to be but rather has a bite. Other than that minor detail, I loved the stew sauce with the creamy mashed that I polished that off happily.

Chicken Parmigiana (RM20) is also worthy of its adversary in flavours. The dish already looked spot on delicious when it was served. Nicely crumbed and fried, the chicken was amazingly tender and moist before being topped with tomato sauce, ham and cheese to be grantinated. Served with fries and salad, the chicken makes a hearty meal that is easy to enjoy. Normally the dish is drenched in lots of tomato sauce but they kept this less saucy.

We were full but desserts sounded too good to be missed. Panna Cotta (RM10) won raved reviews from me. Set just right, the panna cotta was wobbly and beautifully creamy. Served with a generous layer of tangy and fruity berry coulis with fresh strawberries, I practically polished this whole dessert to myself.

The Affogato (RM9) turned out awesome too. It’s got all the check marks of strong coffee espresso over generous scoops of vanilla ice cream. Solid hit of coffee to end any meal…

Never a banana fan, maybe that’s why I wouldn’t pick the Signature Banana Crumble with Chocolate Ice Cream (RM13) as my favorite dessert of the lot. Nevertheless, the dessert is faultless with thick banana cooked till soft and layered with crunchy crumble and served with a large scoop of chocolate ice cream finished with caramel sauce.

I was more impressed with the French Toast with Bacon, Banana & Berries Compote (RM16). The eggy French toast is super yummy with a hidden filling of peanut butter and a good hit of cinnamon. These went so well with salty unctuous bacon, sweet and soft banana and maple syrup. There didn’t seemed to be much berries compote as the name but the dessert was good enough to warrant another order.

We love the overall experience of Awakening Café. Food was delicious with more highs than lows with desserts being solid. I also enjoyed their coffees a lot. The ambiance is comfortable enough for me to hangout. If only Awakening Café was nearer to my home, I would love to visit this place more often…

AWAKENING CAFÉ BY IGGO

No.36-0, Lorong Batu Nilam 21A,

Bandar Bukit Tinggi 2,

41200 Klang

Tel: +60 3-3319 9039

Facebook: www.facebook.com/awakeningbyiggo/

Business Hours:

Tues – Fri    12noon to 12midnight

Sat & Sun    10am to 12 midnight

Closed on Mondays

Angcle Peoh @ Bukit Tinggi, Klang

Delicious Penang Street Food

Whenever someone mentions Penang street food, I am always up for a taste. Growing up from the island, it’s only fair to be a bit bias when it comes to Penang food, especially street food. A few weeks back, when I first saw a plate of Char Kway Teow on a few foodies’ FB page, I was practically salivating. And the best part of this was that these foodies had it in Klang. It looked so good and it certainly had me yearning for it. At times I am quite a picky eater. I usually prefer Char Kway Teow from Penang as there is a different taste to the dish compared to the ones here in this city. So it’s hardly an order I would call for unless it says Penang Char Kway Teow.

So when I was told that Angcle Peoh is serving up Penang street food in his little café in Bukit Tinggi, Klang, some of us foodies snagged an invite to try out what Angcle Peoh has to offer in his humble café. With anything or anyone in life, there is always a story behind the existence. With Uncle Peoh, it was poverty that had him growing up helping his mom who makes a living to support his six siblings by selling homemade Fried Bee Hoon and Asam Laksa during 1950s. Starting from lugging a rattan basket with ingredients for her ware on a 4km journey each day to Ayer Itam in Penang, Uncle Peoh who was only seven years old then, help his mom on often because it is a truly hard and physical job.

While other kids grew up with education, Uncle Peoh decided to drop out of school at the age of 14 years old to assist his mom full time. The life-changing decision was hard but he has never regretted it as it was crucial for his family’s survival and also to lift his mom’s burden. Soon, business improved and Uncle Peoh and his family was able to purchase a bicycle which made the journey better and easier. Then later on, they could afford more and business took off when their Asam Laksa became one of the most popular Asam Laksa stall in Ayer Itam.

Fast forward to current, Uncle Peoh has decided to semi-retired now and lives in Klang with his daughter and son-in-law. Forever grateful to his mom for always striving to give him everything, he hopes to continue his family’s legacy of their Asam Laksa through the help of his daughter and son-in-law. Angcle Peoh was then born with the combination of the Ang family name and the word uncle. At Angcle Peoh, it is not just Asam Laksa one can savor but a list of other classic Penang street food.

That said, we visited Angcle Peoh one Sunday for lunch and looks like word sure got out fast as the crowd filled in the café real quick! The simple no-frill café was comfortable. Walls are plastered with Angcle Peoh’s history and menu. The dining room was spacious and set with tables made for small or big crowds. It was cool and comfortable for a quick bite of street food. There is an open kitchen in front of the café where the noodles are whipped up plus a small al fresco area for dining.

The menu is a large two-sided laminated card. It does seemed to have quite a good list of street food available together with drinks though I saw most diners came specifically for his Asam Laksa and Char Kway Teow. With our orders locked in and beverages served, service is brisk and courteous. Uncle Peoh together with his family is seen running around as fast as they can together with some helpers in serving up the dishes. Generally diners do not linger so just wait a few minutes and tables would be freed up pretty quick.

Our Hot Honey Lemon (RM3.80), Winter Melon with Sea Coconut Basil Seed (RM4.90) and Passion Fruit with Basil Seed Popping Jelly (RM4.90) was pretty decent and satisfying.

Lunch took off with a great start of Pork Noodle Soup (RM6.90). Though I ordered this for my little fella, hub and I enjoyed this so much, we had to reorder another bowl because we kept stealing bites of this from the little fella bowl! The Pork Noodle really evoked home cooked comfort. Good porky broth with simple yellow noodles and smooth kway teow noodles topped with tender sliced pork, homemade pork meatballs, pork liver and topped with fried garlic and spring onions. It’s a hearty bowl of soothing flavours!

I never expected to enjoy the Prawn Mee (RM6.90) since I thought it wasn’t their main signature but I did. It’s got decent prawn stock that is nicely flavoured. The other essentials were there as well such as the pork slice, egg, prawn, kangkung, fried shallots and the noodles. It’s a decent bowl with good prawn essence balancing up other spice flavours.

The Curry Mee (RM6.90) looked rich and red at sight but it is not as spicy as it looks. Penang style curry mee has a light sweet coconut stock with delicate hints of spice paste and it needs the heavy pungent chili sauce and oil to give it its signature curry mee style. This one was mediocre at best as it was not quite the same as the Penang style or the KL style here. I would say it’s somewhere in between Penang and KL style. That said, it’s good to try this yourself as you may enjoy the style of this curry mee at Angcle Peoh.

The Fried Kway Teow with Duck Egg (RM8.90) is as good as it looks. This is pretty near perfect to the Penang flavours. Good hit of breathe of wok in the kway teow. Nice spicy savory with hint of sweetness in flavours. Lots of crunchy beansprouts, chives, cockles and prawns in the noodles. We had this with duck egg which is more prominent in eggy flavour but you can also order the chicken egg version. Extra points goes to the banana leaf as it added a nice aroma to the dish. Faultless and pretty darn good!

Asam Laksa (RM6.90) is what we came for and sure enough, it is super yum and addictive! The laksa broth is sourish and moreish and filled with loads of fish flakes. It also has a good balance of herbs, spices and aromatics in the broth. Laksa rice noodles, shredded pineapple, onions, cucumber, mint leaves, torch ginger bud, chili and a heavy lashing of their special shrimp paste sauce (har koh) summed up the bowl. The har koh is a tad sweeter than I like but luckily the broth is so tangy and piquant that it balanced out the sweetness of the har koh.

The har koh is specially made to a secret recipe for Angcle Peoh so it explains the sweetness. Uncle Peoh is bent on making sure his mom’s recipe is just as before and this is how they have been serving up the flavours for years. I find myself polishing off this bowl happily. No laksa gravy was left… only pure satisfaction of a darn good bowl of Penang Asam Laksa!!

Make sure to order this and sharing is NOT recommended… hehehe!

Rojak (RM6.00) was the only dish that didn’t work for me. It went well with others but I found it a tad too watery in the har koh sauce and again here, it was a tad too sweet. I love the super pungent heavy har koh where it literally sticks to the cuts of fruits type. The rojak has good cuts of mango, cucumber, jicama, pineapple, crunchy fried dough and crushed peanuts.

Our lunch ended with Ais Kacang (RM5.00) and Cendol (RM5.00). Both were decent and good enough to cool us down after all that bowls of hot soupy noodles. I prefer the Cendol better than the Ais Kacang just as a matter of taste preference.

I wished Angcle Peoh was located nearer to my home. It’s going to be tough to get my regular fix of Asam Laksa and Char Kway Teow. Maybe one day they might open a branch near my place if I am lucky. Service is brisk and decent. Prices are very affordable and definitely good value for money. Visit Angcle Peoh for a delicious taste of Penang street food in KL… and yes, make sure to order their Asam Laksa and Char Kway Teow ok!

ANGCLE PEOH

42, Lorong Batu Nilam 21B,

Bandar Bukit Tinggi 2,

41200 Klang, Selangor D.E.

Tel: +6017 – 936 2223

Facebook: www.facebook.com/restoran.angclepeoh

Business Hour: Mon – Sun: 9.00 am to 9.00 pm