Best Cafes (for coffee) in Klang Valley

Yeah, the featured image is from Phnom Penh. So sue me

Last update: 25 July 2022

Tier 1

• Cream / Neutrals – Used to be tgt before they closed that and opened Neutrals! Somewhat arbitrary to pick between the two since the coffee is essentially the same, but so far all experiences here have been very good, coffee-wise. Gorgeous filters, espresso-based, you name it. Both cafes are unfortunately very far away from Foodgazer HQ. Expect a packed situation on weekends but that’s the new normal. There’s a new The Roast Things branch at Jln Raja Chulan, but…it ain’t open on weekends.
• Ebony & Ivory – no WIFI, which does make sense since it’s small and always bustling and you’re unlikely to hang around and work here, but on the upside the coffee is great. Whether filter or espresso-based, you’re unlikely to go wrong. Food is great too – remember when we put it in the list of best rice bowls in town? And yes it’s in our list of best cafes for food
• Dissolved Solids – good place to work too (or used to be, before they got really popular). Plus you can bring outside food from Universal Bakehouse or Bakerry La or whatever. WIFI can be spotty at times though, and they open relatively later in the day (12pm on weekends?). Cocktails etc have been a bit more hit-and-miss, but all the coffee I’ve tried has been solid. Espresso-based stuff is generally good but I particularly enjoy the handbrew cups here. And they have a lot of neat popup events, which is great.
• Breathing Space – have been back repeatedly, and the coffee is consistently good. Tasty cakes too
• Smith Breads – previously said: “only tried an espresso once but that was great. Might move positions once I try more times“. Have since tried several more times, and damn they do some tasty cups. Better to stick to the espresso or magic etc though, and avoid the Dirty – that one is just espresso in cold milk, which is a far cry from the delicious rendition at Atelier. Could be one of my fave espressos around though. The caraway sourdough is also my fave sourdough in town, as you’d know from our sourdough list (blog post upcoming)
• 28 Fireplace – strangely underrated. Doppio and the piccolo / magic were both excellent the last time we tried it. But also…pricey.
• The Hub @ Zurich – wow what a gorgeous place inside. Affordable handbrews, delicious espresso-based stuff, noice evaporated milk. Can’t go wrong here. Impressive, impressive place with coffee to match it. Though recent visits have shown some consistency issues. There’s also another one at DC Mall.
• Ground Coffee @ Uptown – needs a bit more revisits but so far so good!
• Three little birds @ Sentul – despite the stupidly heavy chairs and the fact that it’s always bloody hot inside all the time, because this is purely about the coffee. Granted, we haven’t been back for quite some time, but the coffee was always spot-on when we did. There was also a shortlived 3 little birds at Isetan Lot 10 before the renovation. RIP.
• Stellar @ Rex – gotta love them! I’d personally go with handbrews over espresso-based here, or at least stick to espressos etc rather than the lattes, especially since they tend to go for darker roasts. But they have lots of other options too. Think funky kombucha brews, cocktails from Botak sometimes, some natural wine etc. And their cold brews are nice as well!
• Maven Coffee – formerly known as Blaq. I like the layout inside. Good filters last time, good filters now. Haven’t had the espresso-based stuff since they changed to Maven, but that one filter was good. Looks like they have a decent weekend crowd from around the Cheras area too, happy for them!
• Hide n Seek coffee – solid. Nice secluded spot. Coffees are good. The place itself is gorgeous – great before the move, and still interesting now after the shift to Paramount
• Page 2 @ BSC – colour me surprised. Had some damn fine coffee here. Only two visits though, so not a big sample size.
• Lonely Crowd – granted I only managed to try them twice (hey, similar sample size as Page 2) while they were popping up at the sneaker store in Mid Valley, but the filters from Nylon were great and I’ll always stan anything Nylon-related anyway.
• Draftsroom – long black is served too hot (consistently) but tastes pretty damn good once it loses some of that heat. Shame that they seem to be closing (for now?)
• Soul Sacrifice – I don’t know if it’s a case of repeated exposure but I’ve grown to like their espresso-based stuff more and more. Tasty batch brews too. Also, great food. Up there for best cafe food together with Ebony & Ivory
• One Half x Ilaika – RIP One Half Uptown. Granted, that place was super noisy and packed on weekends anyway so we never went. Although, of course, you have to expect crowds at this spot too. Generally solid coffee here, for the most part, it depends quite a bit on the barista. Quality a bit more up-and-down of late – as of 2022, it’s been a lot more down the last couple of visits
• Transparent Coffee – And…they’re back. Like One Half, quality swings up and down. Last 5 visits, took espresso-based stuff and they ranged from meh to good. In the earlier (pre-Dou Dou) days, they generally had very good filters and good espresso-stuff. Have had more consistently good cups at One Half though.
• Littlepeople – good but the WIFI is always randomly intermittent and iffy here. Purely based on the coffee, this should probably be higher. But I do also like their food and other stuff anyway.
• Artisan TTDI – good. Seating area kind of reminds me of Seniman (or vice versa).
• Kissa X Coffee – yeah, it’s good, and the place is gorgeous inside (surely one of the nicest interiors around in KL? It’s plucked right out of Japan), but the water charge is annoying.
• Kita Coffee – Good but for some reason doesn’t quite hit the spot the way Artelier used to. Only 3-4 visits here so far, will need to go back for more. They also give an option for iced filter coffee with ice directly into the carafe so, as you can imagine, end result is a pretty watered down drink. Nice that they have the option though. Very value-for-money prices for the filters as well.
• Awan – only had filters. Good.

Tier 2

So you’re probably wondering, what makes a place tier 1 instead of 2 or 3 etc? Frankly, we don’t have a clue. Food rankings and ratings are often arbitrary. Go with the flow, fam.

• Thirty Seconds – good coffee
• Patina by Three – really tasty espresso but no filters (I think)
• Cottle Coffee – love the espresso-based stuff but no filters available. Only been to the one at Masjid Jamek area.
• Analog Cafe – yes coffee is good but this place is so uncomfortably hot every single time I go without fail
• Hetam – tried once, pretty decent long black. Like the pop-up setup
• Artisan PJ – always hot and stuffy, so it detracts a bit from the experience eh
• Ting Coffee Roastery fka 103 Coffee Roastery – for some reason, coffee is better here than at the original 103 across the road. WIFI used to be very intermittent but I think it’s fixed now. Expensive for espresso-based stuff. RM 11 for an espresso, RM 18 for an ice latte etc. Steep prices! Handbrew starts at around RM 21 I think, so might as well stump up for that. Not the cheapest of places, but the best coffee in Sri Petaling at the moment.
• Sunday Coffee – pretty good filters. Nice cheesecake.
• Kopenhagen @ Mont Kiara- decent coffee. Gorgeous place! But prices sure are high. Note: tried a RM 13.15 ice long black at KL Eco City and it was HORRID
• Optimist Coffee @ Ampang Park LRT – not too shabby

Tier 3

• Artelier – used to be great but quality has really plummeted for the filters. Apparently, poor for white and cold brew now too. Dirty doesn’t taste the way I remembered it either.
• Aitch – micro-roastery. Nice place. Still open?
• Peep Coffee @ Vernakular – if you’ve nowhere else to go in Telawi area
• Alta – heard the sourdough quality has slipped – hope not! Probably due for a revisit specifically for food and coffee, have really only been going for the events. Coffee was good initially then eventually decent.
• Room 203 – ridiculously cheap, quite acidic in current iteration though. White is fine and probably cheapest decent white in town. Cheap beans close to expiry probably?
• Pulp – you used to be alright, what happened
• Urban Daybreak – only had it twice, unlikely to return a third time because food was very underwhelming but the coffees were decent. Drinkable.
• Rage – kinda hard to rank since there are so many outlets but generally decent coffee, lots of choices, great concept. Good place to go for non-dairy milk, they have a wide selection
• Flying Duck Coffee – decent choice if you’re in the area, especially for milk-based. Makes sense if you work nearby and get the packages etc, super convenient.
• Kohi Yatta – decent
• VCR – if you’ve nowhere else to go. Used to be very good back when they first opened at their first spot. Don’t expect much now. Haven’t been back in quite some time, after I tried the “can’t-fuck-it-up fried chicken” which uh they fucked up. To be fair, the coffee is probably better than I can remember but I can’t quite bring myself to return. Anyway, it’s always packed

What does it all mean?

Tier 3:

Better than Starbucks etc on any given day. Generally decent coffee that you wouldn’t complain too much about if they were your daily cuppa

Tier 2:

A step above tier 3, where you’d expect to find good third wave coffee. In less-developed markets, you’d expect to see the bulk of places being tier 3, with some in tier 2, and only a couple in tier 1 – usually a more-recent specialty coffee joint with its own roastery.

Tier 1:

Luckily Malaysia has quite a robust scene with numerous tier 1 cafes. They’re another step above tier 2, although quality amidst these cafes (and individual cups of coffee) tends to increase logarithmically