Cafe Le Passione at Hartamas Shopping Centre may not be your everyday coffee joint but the local folks love this place.

Cafe Le Passione’s Caffe Mocha

Caffe Mocha was love at first sight with the beautiful coffee art but nevertheless, it was nothing extraordinary and somewhat a little pricey for a hot drink at MYR 10.50.

Verdict: Not a bad cafe at all, it’s pretty quiet. However, the location is not ideal and the place is situated on a desolated shopping mall.

Espressamente Illy is a popular Italian cafe worldwide.

Espressamente Illy’s Espresso Shakerato Freddo

Espressamente Illy’s Espresso Shakerato Freddo is a double illy espresso, chilled and shaken with ice & liquid sugar. It is quite strong and not for the fainthearted. Espresso Shakerato Freddo retails at MYR 10.50.

Espressamente Illy’s Greco All’Italiana

Greco All’Italiana is illy’s funky version of an iced cappuccino. No doubt it is better than your regular iced cappuccino as not only it is well-balanced between ice, milk and espresso, it has a little bonus of chocolate powder to top it all. Greco All’Italiana retails at MYR 13.

Espressamente Illy’s Spaghetti Carbonara

While the coffee are great, there are nothing to shout about for the food. Spaghetti Carbonara was not too bad, better than the average cafes that serve pasta but I expect it to be a whole lot better since Espressamente Illy ought to be Italian. Spaghetti Carbonara costs MYR 20.

Verdict: Amazing coffee. I’ll stick to my fave Neve Fondete the next time.

Mbuji Cafe has been expanding vastly since we last visited Mbuji Cafe in IOI Mall, Puchong including Tropicana City Mall.

However, Mbuji Cafe at Subang Carrefour is the same old place with very few customers.

Mbuji Cafe’s Irish Creme

Irish Creme was merely an ordinary coffee drink with tons of whip cream on top sprinkled with some chocolate powder. Bad Ass’ Jitter Juice would kick Mbuji’s ass anytime for Irish Creme (no pun intended).

Mbuji Cafe’s Caramello

Caramello, meanwhile was more decent with caramel topping as coffee art and not too sweet.

Verdict: Good coffee but knowing what you order would help you get the good drinks as not all flavors suit everyone.

After a few visits to Coffee Chemistry Cafe in Sunway Giza, I have to admit the service deteriorates each time we visited. When we first visited Coffee Chemistry Cafe, it was different as there weren’t many customers and therefore, the service wasn’t that bad.

Fine Blended Mocha

Fine Blended Mocha was somewhat disappointing, something I can easily do with a blender at home. The taste was mediocre, perhaps it was the amount of ice used.

Iced Cafe Mocha

The same goes for Iced Cafe Mocha where the actual taste of coffee diminished due to the amount of ice used.

Verdict: Great pasta. Mediocre coffee. Poor service. Certainly not a place for good coffee.

Opera is a little cafe next to Whisk in Empire Shopping Gallery.

Cappuccino

Iced Latte

Though the coffee are made from Segafredo Zanetti beans from Italy, the flavors were rather bland.

Banana Temptation

Fancy Cup Cake

Unlike the coffee, the cakes were rather pleasing. However, the cakes were a little pricey at MYR 11.50 for Banana Temptation and MYR 4.50 for the fancy cup cake.

Verdict: There are two ways to concoct a good cup of coffee — first, through very good quality coffee beans; second, through high-end espresso machine. Opera didn’t have either of those.

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On February 26, 2008, customers at 7,100 Starbucks stores in the US were asked to leave. For the next three hours every barista in every Starbucks was retrained in the art of making the perfect espresso. The act was unprecedented, but proof of just how dire things were becoming at a company that could once do no wrong.

Get Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul now!

Coffee Bean’s latest offering are Cookies & Cream, Extreme Cookies & Cream and Ultimate Cookies & Cream Ice-Blended drinks.

Coffee Bean’s Ultimate Cookies & Cream Ice-Blended

Ultimate Cookies & Cream Ice-Blended drink was splendid. If you are a fan of chocolate and Oreo cookies, you’ll love this!

Available at all Coffee Bean Malaysia outlets for a limited time.

Espressamente Illy originates from Italy and is actually a quite popular Italian cafe with 200 cafés in 34 countries worldwide. Despite that, its presence in Malaysia is still quite unknown.

Espressamente Illy @ Bangsar Village

Espressamente Illy is a nice place to chill out

Half & Half

Half & Half which consists of rich liquid chocolate blended with espresso, milk and ice was flavorful and chocolaty and slightly sweet. Retailing at MYR 14, Half & Half is nevertheless worth it.

Neve Fondete

Neve Fondete which translates to "deep snow" in Italian is an iced mocha with a twist. In short though, Neve Fondete is easily the best-ever iced mocha on the planet. It was truly enjoyable with somewhat the perfect amount of sweetness but yet pleasing to satiate. Neve Fondete retails at MYR 14 and that is easily cheaper than Starbucks and most cafes in town.

Verdict: Though Espressamente Illy at Bangsar Village doesn’t serve alcoholic coffee unlike its branch at Pavilion, it still has my vote for top-notch and delicious coffee, easily the best in the region. Espressamente Illy at Bangsar Village is the perfect place to chill out — it has a great ambiance, amazing coffee and great service. Most of all, it serves great coffee at a fraction of a price.

Angry Birds Coffee Art by 1 Caramel

The world has hit by the Angry Birds craze and nonetheless, 1 Caramel, a cafe, patisserie and atelier based in Singapore started to craft its macchiato with Angry Birds coffee art.

Via GQ British

Mbuji Cafe in IOI Mall, Puchong is another hotspot for a great cup of coffee.

Mbuji stands for Mountain Buji in Africa. The beans Mbuji Cafe use are from Tanzania, Africa. Unlike other cafes, Mbuji Cafe lets you choose your own beans for an extra MYR 2.00.

Vanilla Blueberry and Red Velvet Cupcakes

The cupcakes are both delicious and not too sweet either.

Affogato at Mbuji Cafe

Espresso served with ice cream

Affogato is exceptional and tastes amazing. To drink an Affogato, one must pour the espresso drink onto the ice cream while the espresso is still hot.

Tantalizing Chocolate Mint

Tantalizing Chocolate Mint which consists of blend chocolate mint coffee and milk also contains chocolate mint and mint leaves. Perhaps, the mint leaves should be filtered out or the drink should be drank with a straw. Otherwise, it is an amazing coffee drink with chocolate mint flavor.

Meatball Pasta

The meatball pasta was not as tantalizing as the coffee but it was alright. The staff at Mbuji Cafe was attentive enough to replace our plate of pasta when we complaint the meatball has some sort of plastic particle in it. Perhaps, it was the meatball supplier to be blamed.

Mbuji Cafe in IOI Mall, Puchong

When you order a cup of coffee at Mbuji Cafe, you’re contributing towards improving the lives of Tanzanian coffee growers

Overall, Mbuji Cafe is a fantastic place for coffee lovers. But the price could be a little steep at MYR 14.70 and MYR 14.90 for the Affogato and Tantalizing Chocolate Mint respectively. They have another branch in Carrefour Subang (moved from Sunway Giza) in which we will be visiting very soon.