Imbi market, situated a mere stone’s throw from Bukit Bintang, is a gourmet’s paradise. Me and my colleagues often find ourselves here on a Friday morning that it almost become a ritual, all for the love of a cup of thick and frothy Hainanese coffee. We even have the tea stall owner aka 海南仔 hai nan zai’s number. He will reserve a long stretch of table with a “VIP” seating sign placed on top after we ring and inform him that we are coming.
Glorious Hainanese coffee (RM1.60) with thick frothy foam that sits on top of the coffee. It is said that Hainanese coffee is actually cham with more tea than coffee as a composition. The coffee is aromatic and thick enough to keep me awake for a few hours.
For the toast, one can opt for the flat bread or the round bun and have the kaya and butter served separately. However, I like mine all nicely slathered with butter and kaya before they served it to you. The ultra thin toast that was slightly browned just hit the spot. It was so light and crispy that the crumbs kept falling from my mouth. I am a messy eater, heh!
The round bun too, was great. The exterior was crispy while the inside was all soft and fluffy. They are really generous with the fillings, as you can see from the thick slabs of butter.
Another stall not to be missed is the Sisters’ Crispy Popiah (RM1.80). The popiah stall can be spotted in major shopping malls and there’s even a Sisters’ Cafe in Menara Hap Seng. However, the original stall remains in Imbi Market.
The popiah is really good, and the quality is consistent because we come here often enough to justify that. Apart from the usual ingredients like shredded yambean, carrots, cucumber, egg and ground peanuts, some crispy bits are added in for some good crunch.
The chee cheong fun stall located next to Sisters’ has got some really nice fried fu zuk (bean curd) filled with minced pork. I always ask for 混酱 (mixed sauce – curry, sweet sauce, soy sauce) for my chee cheong fun and they always turn out good! My colleagues love the wantan noodles here too. At only RM4.00, the portion was generous with shredded chicken, char siew and wantans. Of course, there are various other stalls selling porridge, char kuey teow, chinese crullers, pastries, nasi lemak, etc under the (zinc) roof. I’m sure it’s enough to tempt you to make a trip here this weekend!
love to come here during my uni days esp during the holidays when i m back from australia, only thing to get me to wake up early!
.-= lotsofcravings´s last blog ..Ben & Jerry’s @ Dempsey Hill, Singapore =-.
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VIPKYL Reply:
December 17th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Visited the coffee shop this morning. The coffee & buns are nice but very BAD & RUDE service by the so-called waiter. I was tried to order another bun for my junior when the old waiter serving us the coffee & buns. Somehow, scolded by him saying that why we are not ordered everything in one. Is that only place for good coffee in Kuala Lumpur? We are not ordering our drinks & foods for FREE. Really rude! Crappy service!
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It has been a long time since I dropped by that area. The Hainanese Coffee looked good. I can always have two in one go. <— coffee addict here.
The popiah looked gorgeous as well. I was wondering if those crunchy bits were fried shallots or sole fish bits just like the one I had in Ipoh. Gonna give it a try soon when I'm down that area. 
.-= Criz Lai´s last blog ..GOING GAGA OVER A NYONYA =-.
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been here once but didn’t try any food here, just went there look look see see
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Yes, MORE than enough to tempt me …… problem is, whenever I go on a Sunday morning, the place is packed like mad. And then you’ll see the groans, shouts and sour faces come to play.
And no, I’m not talking about the customers.
.-= J2Kfm´s last blog ..Siamese Laksa @ Family Cafe, Ipoh =-.
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yummy looking toast~ i really wish to have the toast with the Hainanese coffee right now. It is high tea time!
.-= wyyv´s last blog ..One Chef @ Jaya One =-.
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I love the toast with buns instead of bread slices. It sure brings back memories. A lot of places in Sarawak serves the ones in the buns – it’s softer than the bread toast.
.-= Huai Bin´s last blog ..Baking pizza at Linda’s place =-.
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i have to agree the hainanese tea and round bun is good. used to be a regular with family members but stopped going coz the owner has attitude problem too action!!! i intro frenz b4 and the remarks same embarass me DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous Reply:
April 7th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Agree BETTER THINK TWICE coz the owner attitude problem as i’m one of the customer get scolded.
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It’s a great place to hang out on weekend but have to be there real early to get a seat. I think with my baby along, it’s kind of difficult task now. Hmm…maybe I can drop by tomorrow morning for breakfast…
.-= JD´s last blog ..An Early Father’s Day Celebration @ Xenri D’Garden Terrace, Menara Hap Seng =-.
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ahhh, just went to this stall 2 weeks back, after reading so many post regarding on it~
don mind to go again~
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Oh. Imbi market. Last week I thought I heard Pudu market lol. Okay, will go have have a try if I got the time.
.-= Simon Seow´s last blog ..My Mind is the Scene of the Crime =-.
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I like to eat popiah~~ Gonna try it out with my university friends next time.
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Wow. The coffee really looks good. Really would like to try it someday. The popiah has the same owner with the one in Lot10 hutong food court also right?
.-= Kok Hsien´s last blog ..England’s second round match =-.
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kampungboycitygal Reply:
June 24th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
hi yeah the coffee’s good. no they are of different stalls
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No doubt the coffee & bun are decilious but the service from the so-called waiter is damn BAD. The customer will be get scolded by the waiter if order is taken more than one time. Please think carefully when making the order. Horrible! Terrible! Bad experience.
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are they open very early in the mornings?
like what time ?
thanks for sharing
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does it open at night? until what time?
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kampungboycitygal Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
hi qi hua, they r opened from early morning till noon only.
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