888 Cafe @ Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara

First of all, thanks to Tim from Three Meals of Goodness for organizing this wonderful food tasting night on da 6th of September 2007 in 888 Cafe. A big thanks to Mr. Alvin Ang, da Director of 888 Cafe for hosting us and not to forget da very warm and kind service provided by da staffs as well. Upon hearing da name of this Cafe, a typical Chinese like me believe that number '8' play an extremely important role and when da number 8 appears three times, I would just love to imagine da luckiness and auspiciousness that am going to receive when having meals in Cafe 888. Located at Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, Cafe 888 is not about to bring more luck to da Cafe but amazingly, more to a history of da origin trademark of 888 Coffee and Tea which can be traced back to 1942 during da World War II. It was da late Mr. Ang Thong Guan that started up da humble manufacturing business and there after, Coffee and Tea businesses form a part of Thong Guan Industries Berhad and today, da descendants of Mr. Ang continue to expand it businesses and leads to da opening of 888 Cafe.

Da history and story of 888 can be found inside Cafe 888, it's placed nicely against da wall...

There is such a nostalgic attraction and feeling just by looking at this picture :)

We first sampled their Appetizers.....

Inchi Kabin

Sounds cute right? If you are curious to know what is this, I shall let you know now. They are actually crispy Fried Chicken, not da usual one though. Da Chicken, marinated in curry power and fragrant spices turned out to be quite tasty but I didn't quite like da texture of it cause I find it dry and hard. However, my fiance has a different point of view. He thinks that these Chickens were quite similar to da one he usually had from da Malay food stalls and it tastes just as good as those :)

Otak-otak

By right, Malaysians should know what is Otak-otak and if you are still unaware what's Otak-otak, no, it's not a Brain but Fish Mousse grilled on a Banana Leaf. What you get in Cafe 888 is not da typical range of Otak-otak which used only Fish paste but a rather different one, they used Seafood paste to get it done. Truly spicy and fragrant!

Shrimp Toasties

Apparently, we were having difficulties identifying these Toasts as it tastes like Tuna but no, it's Shrimp that we savoured. Da fried bread were light, fluffy and crispy, not too bad!

To da Main Course, we had.....

Penang Fried Keow Teow

There's not much to rave over this plate of "Char Keow Teow" (CKT), very normal indeed except for da 2 big Prawns lying on top.

Nasi Lemak

Seriously, I don't remember when was da last time I actually had a plate of Nasi Lemak and I thought a basic Nasi Lemak would have condiments like Squid Sambal, fried "Ikan Bilis", Peanuts and such but this was different. No Squid Sambal but we savoured Sambal Fried Fish and very unsually, there were Beef Rendang, on top of that, da Nasi Lemak also served with braised Kangkung. I find da Anchovies pretty crispy and I liked da way they fried it, flat and huge, definitely not da normal "Ikan Bilis".

Nyonya Plate

I didn't know what's Nyonya Plate all about until that night. Steamed Rice served with dishes like Prawn Sambal, Fried Chicken, Nyonya Salad and Lemongrass Squid. Oh, not to forget there were Poppadom as well :D

Peranakan Plate

I thought it's quite da same as da Nasi Lemak we had earlier, da differences we spotted, additional of Prawns, Poppadom and we tasted a hint of Laksa on da Kangkung.

Nyonya Curry Laksa

This was da superstar of da night, very fragrant and everybody loved it so much! Huge serving with Cockles, Prawns and such, trust me.... you will never ever go wrong ordering this delicious bowl of noodles :)

Moving from da Malaysian Cuisine to Sizzling Platters we tried....

Sizzling Lamb Chop

Served with Vegetables like Carrot, Broccoli and Cauliflower, I was rather surprised that Fries were not included. Nevertheless, da texture of da Lambie was good and tender but just so unfortunately that we had it much later, couldn't really handle da supa hot sizzling plate and some of da items were already half burnt!

Sizzling Chicken Chop

Thigh meat was served and it tasted quite okay although some parts were merely burn due to da fact that we had it too late.

Next came Pasta...

Spaghetti Bolognaise

I was told by my other half those are minced Beef so I didn't try it. Served with Tomato and Herb sauce, Kampungboy and my fiance gave a thumb up for this plate of Pasta.

Aglio Olio

Smelt so good when it first arrived to our table. First bite was yummy, da more I had it.. da more I find it over-spicy for my taste buds. Nevertheless, da amount of Herbs and Garlic truly amazed me.

Kaya Toasts

Dessert from 888 Cafe, Kaya Toasts. I feel that da Toasts were slightly thicker compare to da Toasts I had before somewhere else and to be truthful, I prefer da thin and skinny ones :)

We wash down our food with a cup of warm 888 Tea. Wow..... very sweet! Infact, too sweet for me..... must add more hot water to my cup of Tea.

No, that's not da end. Fatboybakes from Have Your Cake and Eat It Too brought a Durian Cheesecake for us. I heard it was for Jackson's belated Birthday. Oh man, he's really lucky! Da Durian Cheesecake was awesome. My first time to have such an "exotic" piece of cake. So cheesy and creamy, helluva yummy! Thanks, FBB! :)

For your information, 888 Cafe opened its door on da 26th August 2007, less than a month from today's date and I strongly believe that there's still room for improvement in terms of food. Place wise, it has great ambience and da staffs here are very attentive, bonus points for their good service! I am very much convinced that they can be better hence do not hesitate to drop by this place and give them a try, especially da Nyonya Curry Laksa, it's really something that you won't be able to try outside. Take my words and go for it! :)

888 Cafe
1-1, Jalan PJU 5/10
Dataran Sunway
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-61416560

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