CLOSED - Kafe Imiki @Jalan Bukit

It opened its doors on 28th Oct. 2014 and this review could be a bit premature as they could be going through teething issues in the kitchen. The cafe was decked with loads of flowers from well wishes both inside and outside. Deco was simple but tastefully done, a partly wallpapered wall, 'unique looking plastic chairs' along with modern tables decked this cafe - first impression, a nice place in town to bring a date for a dinner and they have broadband WiFi! Yey!

My partner in crime (PIC) and I visited this place on 30th Oct., two days after opening to try out this new cafe in town. It is located next to the The Crystal Oriental hotel or behind AmBank along Jalan Bukit. The ex-market Old Man Restaurant is located just two doors away.

Jokbal Yam Rice

Menu was very well done, looked so impressive and gave me the impression that we were going to have some Japanese fusion food. My partner ordered what seems to look like a 'bento box' named 'Jokbal Yam Rice' and I went for some porky dry Japanese looking noodles - named Teppan Pork Rib Ramen, comes with vegetables and french fries. The Jokbal Yam Rice came in a nice looking Banto Box served with a fried egg, 'dry' cabbage and carrots and some 'chili sauce' and 2 small slices of watermelon which somehow tasted more like 'chap fan' serving. The Yam was cooked with some pork in soya sauce and was pretty much flat tasting. The flavour or texture of the yam was non existent.

Teppan Pork Rib Ramen

My Teppan Pork Rib Ramen (I asked for the dry one) came with an egg, sunny side up and french fries, the same cabbage-carrot 'dry vege' salad and two stingy pieces of fried pork (see pic). The description on the menu and what was served was far apart. My guess, they had a good photographer and copywriter. They forget the 'cooking department'. The noodles was so flat tasting, I had to 'steal' some of the gravy from the Jokbal Yam to add some flavour to the noodles. Mixing the egg with the noodles did not help either was there was 'no salt'. Disappointed, I moved to the side dish we ordered, Tempura Fish. From the colour, it looked like tempura coated fish strips, but it seriously tasted like fried 'kerpok lekor'. What gives?

Tempura Fish

For drinks, I decided to play safe and ordered a hot cup of coffee being a cold day outside, and this was exceptionally good - the saving grace. My PIC got herself a fusion drink - Apple & Cucumber called J6 and that went terribly wrong. It tasted more like a health drink one would make when on a liquid diet, to put it mildly. There was no sense of pride in mixing this fusion drinks. There was no colour/presentation to the drink either - blend, dump into glass, dump straw into it and served by a 8 year old kid on his playful mode.

To make matters worse, there were two kids 'working as waiters', my guess the mother owns the eatery with the father in the kitchen. One was aged about 8-9 yrs old (you heard me right!) and the other higher secondary - both of schooling age. The mother occasionally appears when a customer goes to the counter to pay. Service was non-existent. FYI. We wrote the order ourselves (pencil and order form given) and went to the counter to give it to the kid. The killer: we were charged 5% Service Tax! Adding all up, it certainly felt over-priced. I was not in the mood to kick a fuss, just paid and left. 

I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt for being only 2 days old when I dined there, so if you have a better experience then I did, do write to us, we want to hear from you.

PS. I do hope Imiki take my criticism as feedback and improve as I like their concept and the menu looked so inviting plus the lack of a fusion outlets in Kajang. Also, I would love to have a cosy hangout with reasonably good food in my neighbourhood. Please la....


Imiki Cafe
12 Jalan S10/3
43000 Kajang
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03 8740 2755

DISCLAIMER

This is a personal blog. All content is based on my opinions and experiences. This means that my posts are not factual, but rather subjective to my views, tastes and background. Though one should keep this subjectivity in mind, I hope that my posts will be informative and interesting for readers and perhaps, lead you to form your own opinions and preferences. Thank you for reading.