Zest Pâtisserie, Connaught

Now that I am working from home, I get to have more time in exploring cafes and restaurants. I went to this quaint little cafe called Zest Pâtisserie in Connaught after hearing and seeing good reviews from others.

The cafe only uses the finest ingredients from France and you can find desserts made with chocolate and fruits. They serve coffees (hot and iced), Harney & Sons teas, several types of waffles, cakes and such.

You can order by grabbing a menu board from the counter, pick your choice and pay at the counter.

I ordered their Strawberry Shortcake and Iced Matcha Latte. I liked the cake a lot as I can taste the hint of strawberry with every bite I took.  

After finishing my cake and Matcha Latte, I still need more time to finish some work so I ordered their Harney & Sons Rooibos Chai tea. It was my first time trying out Harney's as I am very picky and loyal (I only drink T2 teas) when it comes to tea. I like Chai Latte that is why I decided to try this tea out. It was indeed my cup of tea. Geddit? haha

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Beam Specialty, Sri Damansara

A rather odd place to find a cafe but boy it was a worthy visit. Tucked inside an industrial area in Sri Damansara, Beam Specialty used to only provide coffee beans to cafe but now has decided to turn their place into a cafe. You could easily miss it as there is no clear sign of it being a cafe. 

T's Mocha. It was a disappointment as it was too milky.

Their most ordered cake, When Tea Meets Coffee. A very light and fluffy cake infused with tea and paired up with coffee toffee. I'd return for this cake, definitely. 

Their Pulut Tai Tai is to die for as well. Dense, soft and fragrant. The kaya alongside it was perfect too.

I chose to have their cup of hand brewed coffee as I want something non-milky that day

My awesome cup of coffee. A mixture of Mandheling and Congo.

They have bottles and bottles of different coffee beans with labels. Feel free to ask the barista more about the beans and its taste.

Their Japanese Salad is equally good. Fresh salmon and prawns paired up with lots cabbage and lettuce. I don't remember clearly but the sauce should be Japanese Sesame sauce.

Beef Panini. Very generous with the cheese, salad and beef. Though I find the beef chewy.

Overall, it was a very good experience as food was good and service was excellent. Expect large crowd during brunch and lunch hours.

Whimsical Gelateria & Cafe, Publika Solaris Dutamas

Desserts are the saviour for stressful people. When under stress, a scoop or two of ice cream will make up for it. I have always loved Cielo Dolci ice creams after having tasted their Lavender Honey and Matcha ones in Paradigm Mall. Now that its available in Mont Kiara, I don't have to drive to PJ to get their creative and yummy ice creams.  

Their ice cream menu is affixed on the wall. How unique!

 My friend and I ordered Pulut Hitam and Salted Caramel with Waffles. The portion is big enough to be a main meal! Well, having something sweet for lunch or dinner isn't a bad thing.

 Apart from waffles and ice creams, cakes and brownies are available too.

Their menu is comparatively more limited at night so be sure to visit them during the afternoon for a more extensive choices. They serve coffees too.

Brewmen, Solaris Mont Kiara

I was on Foursquare looking for a quiet place to work and found Brewmen. A coffee lover like me is always open to more caffeine intake.  The cafe is cozy with good lighting. You can get all the basic coffee orders as well as savoury cakes.

 My sandwich. Nothing spectacular but the bread is dense and crunchy.

I took home a cake and found it overly sweet to my liking.

Unique wall designs with cup holders hanging on the wall.


Do take note that their wifi only works for the tables near the entrance. I was setting up my laptop there and the staff saw me but I wasn't informed even after me getting their wifi password. It was until after I asked why couldn't connect then only they told me so I had to shut down my laptop and move. Quite disappointing as it was my first time here. Service was not up to par as 2 of the staff did not even smile even after I greeted them with a smile. Nop, not even a thank you or smile after I finished my meal and decided to grab a cake home. Would I return? No. I have since passed there 6 times but still can't make myself to go in.

Europe Highlights: France

I admit that I'm not the most hardworking blogger but I try okay, I try. I'm going to blog about my trip to Europe this time. Firstly, I'd like to thank my mom for being the best travel mate one could ever wished for. We took care of each other and both are always snapping pictures. There were almost a thousand pictures in total but I'll just upload those I like the most.

First up, Paris, France. Everywhere is just so beautiful and dreamy. It's like your're walking in heaven. Paris is suitable for people who are there mainly to relax or shop. In terms of tourist attractions, I find it not as exciting as I expected it to be. Thank goodness the weather is excellent during our whole journey.

Road signs right outside Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).

 I always thought Asia's traffic is the worst in the world but Paris proved otherwise. People will not budge for you and will stick as near as the car in front of them as possible. Cars could be turning left, right, u-turn anywhere. Quite chaotic.

When you walk, remember that you should be on your right. I made that mistake and the locals were staring at me.

When I was there, the Arc de Triomphe was under maintenance but they did leave a part of it for photographing purposes I guess. I really like how Europeans preserve their historic monuments or buildings instead of demolishing them. It's something the Malaysian government should learn from.

Of course the Eiffel Tower deserve a shot or two at least. Well, I took tons but this is the best shot. It was taken when I was on a cruise along River Seine. The structure is really beautiful if you look up from the bottom of the tower.

It wasn't a very relaxing tour this time so I could only manage to buy some Macarons from Pierre Herme Galleries Lafayette Haussman. The BEST flavour is definitely the ROSE macaron and Chocolate Praline macaron. I'm still craving for it so so much after coming back here. I regretted not buying more when I went to London afterwards.

In Paris, eat all the Escargots you can! The escargot I tried was cooked and soaked in herbs. It was the bomb guys! After you've finished it, make sure to dip your complimentary baguette with its leftover herbs in olive oil. Escargot à la Bourguignone, 7,60€. I had this dish in Le Panorama.
Walking on a quiet street. Their air is generally good and temperature was excellent! I love it when it's cooling especially when we have blazing sun all year long. The breeze was just so comfortable.

Next up, the view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower. So breathtaking! The wind is very chilly up here so prepare to "equip" yourself before going up. A first timer like me will uncontrollably keep staring and not move even a bit for minutes.

The river you see on the picture below is the famed River Seine.

Below are some of the buildings we saw during the hour of River Seine cruise.

LewisGene, Solaris Mont Kiara

I frequent Publika, Solaris Dutamas like a lot I'm not even kidding. I used to go there every 2-3 days but lately it's been once a week. Oddly, I've been to even several cafes in Sri Hartamas but never really set my foot in Solaris Mont Kiara / SohoKL. I was at a meeting on Sunday and decided to visit the LewisGene because I was curious with all the hype.

The food that we ordered. They have an extensive list of waffles they serve. You'll probably get spoiled of choices like us. The 2 things they specialize in? Waffles and coffee. Oh, the waffles you see in the picture are two different flavours. 

The entrance with a chandelier hanging above. The design of the cafe is slightly crowded but rest assured that their seats are comfortable enough for you to have long talks. Most of the staff are Filipinos and are friendly.

The menu board reminds me of my primary school times. Though it's quite a common sight in most of the cafes. The waffle menu is exactly on top of where I sat. You can't see it from here so you might have to sit on the left section upon entering or you could just stand and read like us. There are so many waffles, from fruit to coffee.

My Cappuccino comes in a cute cow cup and 2 almond biscottis. Everything spells fun here from its decoration, design to their cups. My cup of Cap was great! The temperature was just right plus the milk and coffee balanced each other well. It's so full that I almost spilled it when I took my first sip.

My friend ordered their Mocha. It comes in their signature design / coffee art. The cup of Mocha comes with 2 soft heart-shaped marshmallow.
We wanted to picture the marshmallow sitting elegantly on top of the coffee but alas it was a failure. I present to you the sinking marshmallow.

Mocha + Cappuccino.

Our snack time became meal time. We didn't expect the portion of their waffles to be so big. We ordered Chocolate Chip Waffle and Mocha Waffle. Do you see the difference? We definitely didn't. We didn't care and just ate it. I loved the texture of the waffle. They are dense, warm and crispy. They came with 2 sticks of wafer, 2 scoops of ice cream, a piece of chocolate chip cookie and drizzle of chocolate sauce.

There are many ad stands and chalk boards along the way up to their cafe.

Parking is a headache here so if you don't mind paying a few extra RM, head over to SohoKL for underground parking.

Direction: LewisGene
Facebook: LewisGene