Review: Chawan @ Bangsar

Gosh, I must be the last to blog about this place but what the heck...

My first encounter with Chawan was when Chow Food Court opens at The Weld. It's actually a coffee corner with simple snacks offered. If patrons wish to sit at this section, patrons could bring in other food served at the food court provided they order their drinks from Chawan. What's unique here is Chawan is the old Malay spelling for cup, hence they serve all sorts of Malaysian coffee from all over Malaysia. I can't really comment on the coffee since I can't drink coffee and I don't remember Capt'n Hook order any either cos most times we drank tea.

Chawan then opened their full fledge shop in the middle of 2008 at the corner of Jalan Telawi 3 when the famous Devi's Corner relocated to another corner at Jalan Telawi 5. It's just across from Bangsar Village (Starbuck's/The Daily Grinds side).

The prices are of course on the high side as this is Bangsar we're talking about but the food portion is huge and the drinks, well they really give you your value as I can taste the strong ginger, honey and lemon in their tea!

What we liked here and kept ordering is their Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (coconut milk rice with fried chicken)! The ayam goreng berempah (deep fried chicken) is very very addictive. I think I'm not alone on this :p Our BoiBoi loved this too and is learning to take bits of the sambal with his rice and chicken. I can't recall the actual price but it's really pricey for nasi lemak, just that they serve the whole thigh piping hot, I think it's rather forgiving. The shop a stone throw away charges more expensive than this! How to beat biting into crispy skin marinade with aromatic ginger, turmeric etc whist the inside remained juicy?



There were other times we have Nasi Lemak Rendang Ayam or Beef. Again I have to emphasise the meat portion is huge. Many times I can't finish and they oblige by just packing up half the portion of the meat for me :p



This time round, I decided to give their noodles a go and spotted Lontong and opted it to serve with beef rendang, something I regretted cos the portion again is huge. Should have asked for plain lontong. Lontong is essentially nasi himpit (compressed rice) cut into cubes served with sayur lodeh (vegetables cooked in light coconut milk). Chawan's sayur lodeh has loads of ingredients in it like cabbage, tofu slices, deep fried beancurd skin, glass noodles etc. In my bowl, it has half piece of hard boiled egg and bergedil!



Many people complained of high prices and inconsistent standard in their coffee but yet Chawan still pack in the crowd. There must be a formula here that works eh?


Chawan
69-G Jalan Telawi 3
Bangsar Baru
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2287 5507
Business hours:
8.00am - 1.00am (Mon-Thurs, Sun)
8.00am - 2.00am (Fri, Sat & Eve of Public Holidays)
GPS Coordinates: N3.130051 E101.671071