The Much Talked About Cafe Cafe

When a restaurant is reviewed on two famous food blogs within the week, one does set the bar of expectation rather high, and I was delighted that I would have to wait no more, to try out this much touted place, Cafe Cafe. Located just at the corner of Jln Maharajalela, the minute you exit from Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka, you'd never have imagined such a location could host such a quaint little establishment. Honestly, I felt I was in another country.

It took me 15 minutes to locate the place, coz we parked at Mirama Hotel, and then was told it was after Mirama (actually she meant after Wisma Mirama), so we ended up walking down towards the Merdeka Roundabout (how many of you young fellas out there know that that area in front of the chinese chamber of commerce, where the fountain is, used to be a roundabout? My grandad used to bring me round and round to watch the fountain change color). A rather nasty accident involving 4 cars had occured just before and the wreckage was parked along the road. The Gen 2 Proton was hancai. (hancur dan berkecai) I digress.

Anyway, we unanimously agreed that we must try SET 149.... (ie the RM149 set), which afforded a choice of Foie Gras or Frogs Legs...(I must have strained a brain muscle trying to decide which....NOT!), Escargots or Pear Salad (again.... a no brainer for me), and mains of either Cod, Wagyu Beef Cheek or Lamb Cutlets. Hmmm, let me think.......

Oh, the occasion was for yhsmom's birthday and she played the gracious hostess with the mostest. Happy birthday again yhsmom, and thanks for a lovely feast.

Here it goes.

Pan Seared Foie Gras, done to perfection. The balsamic jus was also perfect, a slight tang, sweet all at the same time. The portions of the foie gras were a bit thin, if you ask me. I am not sure if the ala carte portions are the same size, (mine was part of the SET 149), but if I remember, it costs RM65. In which case, it seems a bit pricy, considering in Zipangu, its RM30 for the foie gras wintermelon. Oops, lets hope they don't wisen up.

The escargots in garlic. Very garlicky. I am not really a huge escargot fan, but heck, the choice was between that, and THIS!!! I try not to order stuff that I myself can put together without much effort. Anyway, wife doesn't like snails, so she opted for the greens. It's a nightmare for the non rocket lover, and conversely, a dream come true for those who do like aragula. I think it could be balanced out with a bit of other leaves, such as watercress. I love aunty sue's and KTT's Rocket, Watercress, Pear and Walnute salad.


Meanwhile Leon Lai had made his diva entrance as usual, looking VERY dapper in his dress shirt, apparently came from a wedding banquet at Hakka Restaurant. Who did he think he was? The groom? Dressed like that, outstaging the host. He ordered these yummmmmy garlic prawns for starter.


To wash the palate, lemon sorbet. Texture is perfect. Wonder if they used gelatine. I can't seem to achieve this kind of sorbet consistency. Meanwhile, I am getting sms-es from the flood blogger's updating me on their food crawl. While the company I was with was sterling, the food was taking an inordinate amount of time in coming. Didn't help that the restaurant was PACKED!!!!


Ahboy, the only person who didnt go for SET 149 (and Leon, coz he already had 2 courses at the wedding), ordered two mains instead, a marinara pasta of sorts, which was rather tasty. (I had a bite). But pasta is pasta.


At about 10.30, the mains started to arrive. Wife's cod fish, with enoki mushrooms. Actually, despite not being a cod lover (cod lover oil?) I thought it was rather good. The creamy sauce went well with the perfectly pan seared fish.


Duck confit.... looks divine. I had a bit of the skin, which was yummy, but it's rather fatty, and didn't get to sample the meat.

Now, at 10.50pm, I am the only one still waiting for my wagyu beef cheek, when the waiter comes and tells me, "sorry sir, we've run out of wagyu beef cheeks, as they took your order wrongly". ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The sound of shrieks that could shatter crystal mentally crossed my mind. They asked if they could replace it with the tenderloin in foie gras reduction. Did I hear foie gras??? That was enough to mollify me.

So, I got the that. Retailing for RM75 on the ala carte, I guess it wasn't a bad swap. Anyway, there was enough wagyu on the table for me to get a sampling. Wonder what the foie gras reduction was? Was it the leftover gravy from all the pan seared foie gras? Omigosh, I had better not do a cholesterol check anytime in the near future.

Dessert....now, although I know we had the birthday cake from that all too familiar logo,


dessert was actually part of the set as well. Being kiasu that I am, I always try to go for the MOSTTTT expensive ala carte item if the set has a carte blanche for you to choose from. (ie, "any dessert selection") I zeroed into the warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and TRUFFLE OIL infusion.
Eeeeeeeksssss.............. so good, just sooooooooooo good. Molten chocolatey choc sauce flowing forth, with a hint of truffle, (truffle truffle, not chocolate truffle)...which I didn't know how would taste....but it was deeevine. Meanwhile food bloggers crawl were raving about Bijan's Durian Cheesecake and Teh Tarik Ice Cream.

To complete the near death experience, we had Death By Chocolate, for the birthday cake.



What a wonderful feast!!!!! Dreamy gaze.