Core cafe – a quaint repository of life in an otherwise quiet section of the bustling city. At first glance, the minimalistic and rustic design of the cafe is sure to catch your eye. With its impressive arrangement and juxtaposition of geometric shapes, it is a prime site for your next aesthetic Instagram post! Walking into the cafe, you’ll smell the comforting scent of freshly ground coffee and hear the constant hum of Miss Taylor Swift’s album in the background. With the soft glow of aesthetic lights and cool air-conditioned temperature, you won’t even realize you’ve spent your whole afternoon there!

After a short delay, we were presented with an array of delicacies. Starting with their refreshing coolers, we were served house specialty mocktails like Oolong Yuzu, Pineapple oolong, and Bluepea Lemonade. The Oolong Yuzu had a slight bitterness from crushed lemons, with slight tartness and earthy undertones from the rich oolong base, it’s the perfect drink for the summer! You will surely love it if you love fragrant and refreshing tea drinks! Next up is the pineapple oolong mojito. Consisting of fresh pineapple chunks and crushed mint leaves, it’s sure to quench your thirst in this hot Malaysian weather. Both drinks were refreshing and fruity with just a slight sweetness to tie them all together. Contrastingly, the blue pea lemonade was much sweeter and had a show to boot! Starting with a beautiful azure elixir from butterfly pea flowers, our barista gradually poured in a shot of lemon juice and we watched as the elixir gradually turned violet. Added with some soda, this drink was a sweet, aromatic, and fizzy experience.

Now, on to the mains! Starting off with something light, we were served two sourdough sandwiches – kimchi and chicken pesto. Their house specialty, the chicken pesto sourdough sandwich blew us away. Biting into it will bring you through a journey in a lush summer forest, where the soft sunrays warm your skin, and the scent of earth and herby plants fill your nose. Truly, the pesto was a perfect balance of aromatic green herbs, acidic lemon juice, and savoury parmesan enveloping moist, perfectly cooked chicken chunks. Paired with their in-house sourdough bread toasted to perfection – crispy crust and a soft center – added on with some spread butter for richness, it’s no wonder that this is their best-seller. However, their kimchi counterpart paled in comparison. By no means was it distasteful, it just couldn’t compare to the house specialty. Picking up the kimchi after the chicken pesto was like putting down gold to pick up bronze. It still had its own strengths, with its iconic kimchi taste – a tart sourness with a hint of spice – combined with melted mozzarella cheese, it proved to be quite enjoyable too. To those with a taste for Western-Asian fusion, the kimchi sourdough sandwich would prove to be the perfect choice.

Next, I dived into their selection of dons; hearty, filling Japanese-inspired rice bowls. Their tamago don was a delectable bed of scrambled eggs resting on a rice base, slathered with sweet and creamy mentaiko sauce, topped with smoked duck breasts, and finished with sprinkled crispy potato and nori (seaweed) strips. Conversely, their salmon don was a scrumptious pan-fried salmon sitting on a bed of rice, drizzled with a sweet teriyaki-esque glaze, topped with a smidge of tobiko (fish roe), and finished with sprinkled crispy potato and nori. Both were a joy to eat and sent us to a food coma from sheer satisfaction.

But! Of course we have a second stomach to sample their succulent desserts! After all, what’s a cafe trip without sampling their cakes and coffee? I dug into the waffle ice cream first. The waffle was drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkles of granola, fresh blueberries, and dried strawberries, topped with several generous scoops of chocolate ice cream. Their chocolate ice cream was rich and velvety smooth; a pleasant surprise indeed! Next, I took a bite out of their almond tiramisu; and oh, it was divine! The sweet and crunchy almond praline crust offered a perfectly contrasting texture to the soft creamy texture of the cake. The cake itself was remarkably rich and moist, with an exceptionally pronounced coffee taste and cream cheese undertones. You really had to get a little of the crust with every bite to balance sweet with savoury cream to enjoy the cake fully. We washed all of these down with their signature latte to end our meal.

All in all, our jaunt at Core Cafe was an overwhelmingly positive experience. The ambiance was perfectly comfortable to sit and hang out with your friends. The service was swift and pleasant, and the food was decadent. All products were fairly priced and I would definitely recommend stopping by if you need a brief escape from the asphyxiating hustle and bustle of city life. Settle in, have a coffee, and unwind in the comforts of Core Cafe.

Atmosphere: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Drinks: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Decorations/interior: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️

Appearance on the outside vs inside: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️

Article by Jason

Photos by Aaron