It's a weekly meet-up between me and some ex-schoolmates, come to think of it, we never met this often when we were in school, in fact, I wasn't really that close to them but as we grew older, and have families of our own, things changed, there's a common topic to chat about (families and work and cars). Anyway, I digress, we decided to check out this month old cafe operated by Chef Poh Lin at Tropicana Avenue, facing the main road (if you're heading towards Tropicana), it has quite a cozy premise and there is also a mezzanine level if you're looking for a private space to hold gatherings and such.


Was later told by the Chef that she is the one that build the mezzanine level and it was not part of the original plan when she rented the lot. We even had a chance to talk to the chef for quite a bit about the place, why the number 13 (it's her birthday) and what made her choose what she choose and so on and so on.


She could entertain us quite a bit about the history of the cafe because we were the only customers there and we were quite appreciative of it. She also mentioned that despite the place being new, people start to know about the cafe and she does have a steady flow of customers from around the neighborhood, like my friends and I, that would patronized it.


After I got myself comfortable, I ordered a Long Black to start the afternoon off, according to the Chef, there's not much selection when it comes to coffee because the staffs are not baristas and not trained in the art of making the various types of coffee. So that is something she is working on improving as the business grows.
Verdict:



Next, the starter, we had the rice with Nyonya curry chicken. It isn't on the menu but it was to replace the house specialty, rice with Thai curry chicken which the Chef mentioned has been served for the past 1 month so she wanted to switch it around a bit and will switch back to the Thai curry once she's done with the Nyonya curry chicken. Portion wise, it's good enough for a single person, curry had just the right amount of heat (I'm using my own palate to judge and I'm still learning to eat spicy food). could make do with a bit more chicken and potatoes though. Also, careful with the sambal on the greens as my friends thought it was just salsa and had a good surprise when she wolfed it down and the chili hits.
Verdict:




The main dish I was looking forward to was the Grilled chilled Australian Black Angus Beef. Served with grilled potatoes and greens. At RM60, it's a tad pricey but the portion is quite big. I would have rated it 4/5 but the salt was not spread and melt off thoroughly and every now and then, I'd bite into chunks of salt which sends a shiver down my spine. Once the Chef got that part sorted out, I would say it's RM60 well spent for the dish. It was cooked to the temperature I wanted and the because it's chilled and not frozen, the meat remains tender and melts in the mouth.
Verdict:




Topping it all off at the end of the afternoon, we went for the Cappucino as the staff don't know how to make flat white. But like I mentioned above, they are pretty new and the staff isn't a trained Barista so we have to forgive them in that sense. After all, we enjoyed the afternoon there catching up on life and at the end of the day, it's not all about the food as having the right company plays a good part as well.
Verdict:


It's a Pork Free cafe, but it's not a Halal certified premise so you've been warned (that's if you can't differentiate pork free and non-halal/halal certification), definitely a nice place to meet up with friends as the place is quite cozy. Definitely one of the places to visit a bit more and hopefully, in the months to come, their range of coffee will improve and more dishes would be added on.

 

The 13 Cafe Tropicana Avenue

P-G-29, Tropicana Avenue, Tropicana,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +6012-278-7899
Hours: 10am – 10pm
Waze: https://waze.to/lr/hw281zfgk0
 

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