Eat Drink KL: Summer at 17°C Cafe @ Connaught Avenue, Cheras

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Summer at 17°C Cafe @ Connaught Avenue, Cheras

Summer at 17°C is as cheery & charming as it name suggests; springing up in Cheras' Connaught Avenue, this is a bright suburban cafe that boasts a cool vibe & smart, fun ideas on how to entice & engage customers. No winter of discontent here.

The cafe's team, with a kitchen led by chefs Brandon & Ming, has come up with a creative selection that strives to exuberantly showcase something for every palate. For balanced, hearty meals that pair poultry with baked pastries, potato wedges & salads, check out Mr Quacker, loaded with savoury slices of smoked duck well complemented by a fruit-&-nut dressing (RM19), or the Summer Asian Chick, which features a satisfyingly succulent chicken chop in an Oriental sweet-sour sauce (RM19; this would work better though without the unnecessary cheese). Thumbs up for Summer's very reasonable prices.

Pastas are also worthwhile here - we sampled two Asian-inflected seafood spaghettis, both of which proved encouragingly tasty. Pan-fried prawns come soaked in a salted egg yolk sauce that's rich & flavoursome (RM18; we happily devoured every bite of this addictive preparation), while the squid surfaces with kam heong paste in a sufficiently competent recipe (RM17).

 For folks seeking full-fledged restaurant fare, there are some dishes of solid ambition. We'll endorse the beef stew, with plenty of tender, robust-tasting chunks of meat rounded out with creamy mashed potatoes & fresh mixed veggies (RM19). But the pan-seared dory fish with baked portobello & salsa, surrounded by a moat of pumpkin sauce, requires further tweaking, since the flavours fall short of successfully complementing each other (RM22).

Desserts are a highlight for youthful patrons & the young-at-heart: Top temptations comprise Hong Kong-inspired egg waffles with various Asian twists. The waffles emerge warm & dense, crowned with possibilities galore, such as aromatic matcha ice cream, red bean paste & white chocolate flakes (RM18; a mellow medley that'll suit fans of Japanese dessert nuances) or luscious gula melaka ice cream, almonds & coconut flakes (RM18; we prefer this combo for its punchier tropical dynamics).

Beverages also preserve a sense of playful themes; the cafe takes pride in refreshingly chilled sweet drinks like the Cooling Breeze Soda (RM12; apple, cucumber & lemon juice), Summer Lilikoi Tea (RM11; passion fruit, lime, mixed tea) & Go Bananas (RM12; essentially a textured, banana-laced ice latte). Coffee & hot chocolate are available too, most notably a floral concoction that seems certain to captivate the camera. Many thanks to the Summer at 17°C team for warmly having us here.

Summer at 17°C Cafe
A-G-1, Connaught Avenue, Jalan 9, Taman Bukit Cheras (Opposite Econsave Len Sen), Kuala Lumpur.
Tues-Sun, 11am-7pm. Tel: 03-9107-2833

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