Coffee Ritual – Great Coffee, Delicious Crepes @ Section 14, PJ
But since the contest is dead now, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. Besides, I spent a lot of time and effort writing this piece, and Coffee Ritual is really a nice cafe with great food so I am not going to let this go to waste. Enjoy!
For coffee enthusiasts who want to try something different with their favorite beverage, Coffee Ritual is not to be missed. Located at Section 14 Petaling Jaya, Coffee Ritual is one of the very few places where Single-Origin Coffee is available.
Being a coffee lover myself, I simply had to try it myself and also see how Coffee Ritual sets itself apart from the big players in the market like Starbucks.
Upon arriving we were greeted by the owner, Chin and his wife, the management duo of the restaurant. After being seated, I picked up the menu and started to browse through the listed items. While scanning the menu, I was amazed at how spacious the restaurant was.
Adorned with simple and appealing designs, a few hand-painted drawings of coffee workers were strategically placed on the walls. The interior decorations were complemented with a display of various time-honored coffee makers. To occupy the customers while their orders are being served, an array of magazines for various reading pleasure can be found readily available.
Despite being a simple looking restaurant, Coffee Ritual has more than 40 types of coffee and over 60 potpouri of starters, main courses and desserts to choose from. For those looking for a complete meal, you would be pleased to know that set dinners comprising of soup, beverage, a choice of main course and desserts, are available at a lower than the normal price.
For any set dinner, you may opt to have specialty coffee like Cafe Latte, Cappuccino or Single-Origin Coffee for an additional RM2 – a sort of upgrade from the normal drinks offered. The same rule applies for combo meals, where an additional RM2 will grant you an upgrade to gourmet coffee.
For those looking for a less elaborate meal, they can choose from the combo sets instead, which come with a main course and beverage. Famished and totally spoiled with the choices presented, I had the dinner set while SL had the combo set. I felt it was a choice, since both of us get to sample the soup and desserts later.
For soup, I chose the highly recommended Cream of Fresh Mushroom. It was wonderfully flavorful, what a great opening dish! Bits of diced mushroom gave the soup a body and consistency, resulting in a desired creamy texture.
For any set dinner, you may opt to have specialty coffee like Café Latte, Cappuccino or Single-Origin Coffee for an additional RM2 – a sort of upgrade from the normal drinks offered. Shown here are three Siphon Coffee Makers, or also known as Vacuum Coffee Maker used to prepare the Single-Origin Coffee.
They are able to produce coffee which is clean, rich and smooth compared to other brewing methods. Invented in the 1830s, this coffee making device has been used in many countries. It has recently found popularity in Japan and Taiwan.
The design and composition of a vacuum coffee maker typically consists of a bottom container where the water sits; a top container to house the coffee grounds; a tube to connect the two containers; a filter in between and a heat source.
The vacuum brewer works by applying heat to the bottom container, which can contain pre-boiled water to quicken the entire process. As the heat builds up, the water is pushed up the siphon tube.
As soon as the water reaches the coffee grounds, a 50-second timer is set as the brewing duration. This is to prevent the coffee grounds from being overly-brewed, which can result in bitter tasting coffee. After the designated countdown, the heat source is immediately removed resulting in an immediate cooling of the bottom container.
With the absence of a heat source, a partial vacuum is created and the coffee is sucked back to the bottom container, creating a pot of coffee brewed at an ideal temperature. It was a new and exciting experience for me to see how the vacuum brewer works. Of course it would not be as informative had Chin not provide the necessary explanation.
The coffee brewed by the vacuum coffee maker earlier was the Colombian Special, a recommended coffee in the Single-Origin Gourmet Coffee. It was deliciously fragrant. Thanks to the ideal brewing method, there was not a hint of bitterness. We were also advised to have a taste of the coffee first without adding any sugar or milk to experience its flavor at its purest.
After adding milk and sugar, I find it a truly satisfying cuppa. Coffee Ritual imports the coffee beans and had them roasted in a local coffee roaster called Hoca. According to Chin, each packet of coffee ground has to be consumed within a month to ensure the best possible coffee will be brewed.
The same rule applies for combo meals, where an additional RM2 will grant you an upgrade to a gourmet coffee. SL had the Segafredo's Cappuccino that sported one of the best looking milk foam.
My main course was 'Café de Paris' Grilled Lamb, a popular dish in Coffee Ritual served with a choice of butter rice or baked potato and stir-fried vegetables. The dish uses New Zealand lamb, the finest quality lamb. The perfectly cooked lamb was tender, slightly pinkish in the center hence still retaining the juicy and flavorful aspects. Best of all, it only has a whiff of the signature lamb smell, a really rare encounter!
The brown sauce complimented the lamb very well. With a dollop of herbal butter melting on top giving it a buttery taste. The butter rice was surprisingly tasty as well. Cooked with raisins, it was bursting with flavor and was not oily.
Besides coffee, Coffee Ritual also specializes in crepes – a French pancake that can be served either on its own, or with a variety of fillings. The Coffee Ritual's chef, who is none other than Chin's sister, previously worked in the Marche Restaurant at Singapore. She is responsible for designing the menu and cooking them.
The Mushroom and Turkey Toast Crepe was a relatively new item on the menu, introduced after getting numerous feedbacks from customers. It is simply a combination of Coffee Ritual's two most popular crepes – Mushroom and Turkey Toast.
The crepe's filling consisted of sautéed mushrooms, shredded turkey toast, mozzarella cheese and was topped with cream sauce. Although it was my first time tasting a crepe, the combination tasted great and I felt it was even more enjoyable than the lamb chop.
No wonder the crepes' menu are displayed even before the main course. Anyway, don't be deceived by the portion size. Deceptively small, it can certainly satisfy any big eater easily. Who says size matters?
For dessert, we were allowed to choose from a scoop of Berkeley Farms' Vanilla ice cream, a plain crepe or a combination of both for an extra RM5. Since the crepe was great, we gladly forked out the extra to experience it as a dessert with ice cream.
If you do not know, Berkeley Farms' ice cream is imported from America. It's taste is defintely not inferior to and perhaps surpasses that of Haagen Dazs'. Generous amount of irresistible Hershey's chocolate syrup was drizzled on the custard-filled crepe, giving it a heavenly chocolaty taste.
I simply did not expect desserts to be be so satisfying. It is also a good choice for weight watchers, as it is a dessert that you do not have to feel bad about.
Our wonderful dinner costs a little more than RM50, which I felt was very reasonable, considering the amount and quality of food we had. The savory crepes alone guarantees future visits!
Because the restaurant is surrounded by glasses, I could only imagine the how it would look during the day. Sipping coffee and watching the hustle of the city in the day is akin to finding an oasis in the desert!
Dining here is like walking down memory lane, experiencing the centuries-old culture of coffee brewing. Any customer who would like to learn more about the history of coffee brewing can always engage Chin, who is always enthusiastic for a discussion.
All of us know that finding a parking at Petaling Jaya is a nightmare, especially during meal times. This is why Coffee Ritual is offering one hour free car park at the multi-level parking if you spend RM30 and above in a single receipt. Isn't that great?
Coffee Ritual
No. 35, Jalan 14/20
Section 14,
46100 Petaling Jaya
Malaysia.
Tel: +6 03 7956 1080
GPS Coordinates: N3 06.624 E101 38.141 (malfreemaps)Business Hour
Monday to Saturday:
10.00am to 11.00pm
Sunday and Public Holiday:
9.00am to 10.00pm
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