J & D Espresso

All day breakfast joints are apparently quite in vogue. This is my 5th western breakfast features after Antipodean, Mr & Ms, Three Little Pigs, and Nutmeg. Last weekend, we were at the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya. As we parked our car in the open air parking lots, I noticed this cafe Jibby & Co., which was packed with a breakfast crowd with people queueing outside to go in. Are people really that crazy about western brekkies? Apparently I am. With 5 brekkie features, I have to be.

J & D Espresso is located in the Oasis Business Centre (not to be mistaken with Oasis Square in Ara Damansara), at the T-junction of Lebuh Bandar Utama and Persiaran Tropicana, in Bandar Utama, PJ. The business centre was initially meant to be a food court. They had a big signboard to that effect. However, they apparently did not have enough food vendors. So they took down the signboard and converted it into a business centre.

The place was very quiet and listless. There were a few stores selling I-don't-know-what. Hardly any patrons. The J & D Espresso was the only makan place. It added some life into the otherwise near-dead business centre and put some cars into the car park. Like I mentioned many times, when there is food there is life.

As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by a large coffee bar. The sweet young thing there was rather shy to have her picture taken. A couple of baristas were busy with their chores

The dining area was rather small. Every single table was taken up. That bespoke the popularity of western brekkies. Besides all day breakfasts, they served all day lunches, pastas and pizzas.

We started our day with some beverages. The usual latte for my wife.

And the usual long black for me.

Health conscious Crystal stuck to her earl grey without sugar and cream.

This was the French omelette. It was 3 eggs stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, served with salad and herb croutons. You can imagine a 3 eggs omelette would be rather big. It was. A real full breakfast.

The pancake stack was 3 fluffy pancakes, with mixed berries and Anzac crumbs, topped with a fruit compote and salted butter. I have never fancied pancakes for breakfast, But Crystal seemed to like it.

The big Aussie brekkie was a real treat. It was choice of 2 eggs (I opted for sunny side) on toast, a big garlic sausage, pork bacon, baked beans, grilled cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and a crispy croquetas. It was good. In all the brekkie places that I had been to, I had ordered their big breakfasts. This was one of the better ones. I particularly like the sausage and bacon - genuine porky stuffs.

Next stop has to be Jibby & Co in the Empire Shopping Gallery.

Nutmeg in Bangsar

Fancy another western brekkie place? Like the others, Crystal brought us here. The Nutmeg is located on the upper ground floor of the Bangsar Village II shopping complex along Jalan Telawi in Bangsar, KL. We were there around 10.00am on a Saturday morning. The shopping complex was still almost devoid of people, but the cafe was well patronised. 

We had a table near the entrance. From our table, this was the shot of the inside of the restaurant.

The crowd was mostly young people. I was rather shy to take photo-shots of the place. An old man moving around to photograph the place would look rather weird in the midst of the many young people. So I sent Crystal in. These were some of the shots she took.

Breakfasts occupied a large part of the menu. They also offered lunches and dinners. Most of the other offerings were pastas. 

Soon after we selected our breakfasts, our coffees started to arrive. Mine was the usual long black. The brewed coffee was strong and aromatic. It was my first beverage of the day and a great boost to the appetite.

My wife had a more pretty latte.

There was a big miscommunication when Crystal ordered her omelet. She asked for a truffled mushroom omelet and then added that she wanted egg white. The waiter mistook her order and brought a normal omelet and an egg white omelet. When the error was pointed out, the waiter quickly took back the normal omelet - no fuss at all.

She supplemented her omelet with a serving of lamb sausage. There were 2 sausages in the serving. This lamb sausage was one of the reasons she brought us to this place. I have to say that it was quite delicious - not bad at all. Only, they did not taste like sausage. They were more like kebabs.

My wife had this baked egg. It was quite an unusual and innovative preparation. It was 2 eggs baked with cheese and tomato, served with toasts. She enjoyed the dish.

My order was the Nutmeg big breakfast. It comprised 2 eggs of choice (mine was scrambled), a lamb sausage, hash potato, baked beans, sautéed mushrooms, roasted tomato and a choice of salmon or salt beef (I chose the beef). I did not like the scrambled egg and I immediately regretted my choice when the dish arrived at our table. The egg was far too mushy for my liking. The salt beef was quite tasteless in spite of its name. The hash potato was not what I had expected. I had wanted hash browns, but they turned out to be normal deep fried potato. And the baked beans tasted a little sourish.

Before we arrived at the Nutmeg, I already knew that I would go for the big breakfast. The reason was simple. I wanted to compare this place to the other places - the Antipodean, Mr & Ms, and Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf where I had their big breakfasts. I have to say although Nutmeg's big breakfast had a good variety, the quality and flavour was at the bottom of the list. And once again, I missed the real (pork) bacon.

My brekkie adventure will not end here. There is at least one other place that I have yet to visit. It will be soon. We pass by this place often and my wife keeps reminding me. And when I do, I will definitely write about it.

Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf

Sounds like a fairy tale. The name is just too long. I have to use the acronym - TLPATBBW. How does that relate to food? Restaurants give themselves fanciful names nowadays to attract attention. What will they think of next?

TLPATBBW is located on the ground floor of the Tropicana City Mall in SS2, Petaling Jaya. They apparently have another branch in Bangsar - exactly where, I have no idea. Crystal brought us here one weekend morning. She said this place was known for its awesome brekkies.

It was pretty quiet when we got there. It wasn't too early, but there was no breakfast crowd.

Service was prompt. A bottle of water was on our table before our seats were warm.

The menu was somewhat limited. I think this place specialises in breakfasts. Their choices of brekkies were many and varied. Beside them, they offer a variety of pastas, some sandwiches and a very limited Asian selection. Looking at the morning crowd, I wondered how they survive serving mainly breakfasts.

We started with our morning beverages. Crystal has been very health conscious these days. She had a pot of sugarless plain earl grey.

I asked for my usual long black. I think I got a small cup of strong expresso instead.

My wife's choice was her favourite latte.

Soon our brekkies began to arrive. This was the pork bacon and scrambled egg croissant. It was served with some salad. The bacon was crispy and and well done. The egg looked moist and appetising. The combination was basic but delightfully delicious.

Healthy Crystal had this salmon scrambled egg with toast. Again, the egg looked very nicely done. I actually have never tried salmon in egg of any kind. Looked delicious. Gave me an idea. Perhaps I should try preparing salmon omelet one day.

My option was this "I'm so hungry I could eat a wolf". In places with no such fanciful name, it would probably be known as the big breakfast. On my plate was a pork sausage, pork bacon, 2 eggs (I opted for scrambled), a nice crispy hashbrown, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomato, baked beans and a couple of toasts with butter. It was a wholesome large breakfast. Everything on the plate was nicely done. I could not find any reason to complain.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This certainly lasted me the whole day until dinner. It was breakfasts in the superlatives. We definitely cannot afford to eat like this too often. We would risk the hazard of turning into, not little, but three big pigs.