Relocate…

For reasons unknown, the people at this very nice western/Italian fusion restaurant here chose to close down the place and relocate to another part of town under a different name…

…and with a somewhat different concept as well, if I am not wrong.

There are tables outside…

…for those who would like a breath of fresh air and dine al fresco or you may choose to go through this green door…

…to sit inside in air-conditioned comfort.

I like the decor inside – it had a kind of western setting but I get put off everytime I see fake flowers like these…

…that they had on every table – if they are not going to use fresh flowers even simple flowers like the ones here, then they might as well not have anything at all. I have a term for this – NCAA (no class at all).

They have an open kitchen concept…

…or at least you can see through the glass panel what they are doing inside without having to feel the heat and put up with the fumes, the noise and commotion, if at all, but actually, I thought the place, as a whole, was quite noisy that day but then again, it was a full house – lots of people, some of them celebrating their birthdays. Mercifully, the level was quite bearable unlike some places that can get so noisy owing to the poor acoustics (or the type of customers around) so much so that you would feel like making a run for it.

We were told that they had a system whereby we would have to go and order at the counter and pay first before making our way to our table, with the number given in hand, and they would serve us when our orders were ready….so there we went, joining the queue at the end of the line and pretty soon, my patience ran out! The lady took so very long asking about this and that and the young boy had to explain everything to her…

…so I had a word with the guy, somebody who seemed to be the floor manager, making sure that everything was going smoothly.

I told him in no uncertain terms that their system sucked big time and they would need to come out with something more workable…or set up a lot more counters, not just one. The guy in front of me in the queue overheard me and chipped in saying that they had so many things on their menu so when someone like the lady in front started asking about everything, it would take forever! (Later I saw him walking around outside – perhaps he gave up in the end and left and went some place else!)

The manager was very nice though – he apologised and said that they had just started, still very new at it…and he even offered to take my orders and I could just go to our table and wait there. Later he came with a chit to confirm that he had got our orders correct and after a while, he came again to collect the payment. Now, I must declare that this kind of service is indeed top class and based on this alone, all was instantly forgiven!

I had their Big Breakfast (RM22.00)…

…which came with a complimentary drink from a choice of four, and I chose the black coffee…

…which was very fragrant and nice…and sugar-free.

I enjoyed everything on the platter…

…except the sausage which I thought tasted like it had a bit too much ginger in it. I used to enjoy their sausages before at the old place those few times when we went there.

My missus had their claypot chicken rice (RM16.00)…

…which looked good and tasted good too and had all the ingredients but it was kind of disappointing considering that it did not taste like the “real thing”. In our opinion, if one is looking for that authentic hawker stall claypot rice taste, one should go here instead – they sure do a very good job at replicating that coveted taste of the dish there.

We brought our own gluten-free spaghetti and my girl wanted their carbonara and yes, they did have fusilli carbonara on their menu so I asked the manager if we could substitute their pasta with our own instead. He was somewhat unsure and said that he would have to ask first but I told him that they could charge accordingly, just that my girl could not eat regular pasta and had to have her own and upon hearing that, he said there should not be a problem…and true enough, there wasn’t.

In the end, my girl got to enjoy her spaghetti carbonara (RM22.00)…

…which was done really well, al dente and all, with a generous amount of bacon in the dish…

I was somewhat dismayed though that for a place that is so very new like this one, I spotted a chip by the side of the plate – they really should tell their employees to handle the lovely crockery with a lot more care.

All things considered, we certainly would not mind coming back again to try the other things that they have on their menu.

CAFFEINE CAFE is located on the ground floor of Wisma Liberty, Block 3, Lorong Pedada 7, off Jalan Pedada – on your left, past the Jalan Ulu Oya Road traffic lights if you are coming from town, just a few doors away from Nica Gelateria (2.302620, 111.842988), to the left at the end of that same block.