Breakfast Thieves @ Bangsar KL - A Beautiful Australian Brunch Affair.

As far as I remember, this was easily one of the earliest brunch sessions I've ever woken up to, on a Saturday morning that is. Saturday was my routine sleep-in day and I'd normally only do brunch (or lunch perhaps) after 12pm.

At 10am, Breakfast Thieves was buzzing with activity. There was a waiting list of 5-6 groups in front of me, with a waiting time of about 20-25 minutes. I was somewhat surprised with the early morning crowd, considering that stated opening hours was from 9am onwards - and I thought I was early.

This was, afterall, one of the trendiest cafe to hit town. So, was Breakfast Thieves worth waking up for?

Breakfast Thieves boosts an Australian inspired brunch menu, with a myriad of interesting flavors, bold combinations, and plenty of modern elements on a plate. The portions speaks otherwise however. 

This is the Magic (Rm11) - a double piccolo latte (correct me if I'm wrong). The coffee was smooth, mild, not at all acidic, medium-bodied perhaps, and served at just the right temperature. I also ordered a slow-juiced fresh Apple Juice (Rm13).

Every table had an order of Mr. Terry Benedict (Rm29). It came with glistening, tender chunks of 24-hours braised beef cheeks in green peppercorn and two poached eggs, on a yuzu-hollandaise sauce toasts. The smoked paprika charred cauliflower at the side was fantastic, but the dish probably needed a bit more honey apple compote. I really liked what I had, but I felt that the dish was missing an element - I couldn't tell which ingredient - but possibly a bit more sweetness to boost it's flavors.  

For a sweeter and sour finish, I'd recommend My French Lady (Rm26). The dish had a medley of colors, with slices of beautifully done french toast on a pool of strawberry and thyme sauce. Around it, 55% salted dark chocolate soil, lemon curd, purple raspberry cream and mixed sesame shards. For me, the dish was very interesting and everything went so well together. Having said that, the 3 small portion of french toast felt incredibly meagre.

If I had a choice to rewind my order, I'd pass on this Apple Cinammon Walnut Cake (Rm14.90).

Overall Rating: 7.5/10. Apart from the lovely glasshouse interior, that had plenty of natural sunlight sweeping through, what I really liked about the menu here, was the interesting use of ingredients, which sets a different mark compared to the rest of the conventional brunch offerings around. Tip: go early!

Breakfast Thieves is located at:

Address: Lot M, 29-5 Jalan Riong, Paper Plates, Art Printing Works APW Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. (Located right next to Pulp Bangsar)

Phone: 03-2788-3548

Opening Hours: 9am - 5pm Daily. Closed Monday. 

The flow of patrons continued when I left at 12.30pm. With an early start that morning, the day still felt very young. I dropped by DR.Inc at Bangsar, for coffee not far off from Breakfast Thieves after that. 

DR.Inc is a hipster-styled cafe. Mismatched and recycled traditional furnishings seemed to be the theme. With the sweltering heat outdoors, the cafe felt very stuffy while I was there, perhaps the air conditioning was not working that afternoon. 

I didn't order anything else apart from their signature Presso Bomb (Rm14), which came with an espresso shot and a bottle of ice cream soda - a mishmash that worked surprisingly well together.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10. I really liked the coffee but didn't quite enjoy having sticky foreheads and sweaty arms throughout my stay.  

DR.Inc is located at:

Address: 8 Jalan Kemuja, 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Phone: 03-2283 4698

Opening Hours: 9am - 7pm (Mon & Sun). 9am - 1am (Tue - Sat).