Maco Vintage is a comfortable contemporary cafe nestled in the old JB town historic area.
Maco is a graduate of SHATEC (Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre). Upon graduation, Maco worked for nearly 10 years in Singapore at Humble House, Raffles Hotel and Fullerton Hotel as a pastry chef.
Returning to Johor Bahru, Maco initially sold his signature mille crepe cakes online via his Facebook Page Sugar & Flour. Market response was good enough for Maco to open his first brick and mortar shop Maco Cafe & Bakery in Sutera Utama (near Sutera Mall) two years later. Another year later, Maco Vintage opened in the historic JB old town, which I visited today.
Maco Vintage offers a full cafe menu from appetisers, mains, desserts to hot and cold beverages.
We started with a Mixed Fruit Salad with roasted sesame dressing (RM15++).
Simple cut fresh fruits with some lettuce doused with a house made roasted sesame sauce. Tart, sweet, juicy, crunchy with nutty and aromatic sesame.
Actually, I am not a fruity salad person but still I love this appetising starter.
Maco's Chicken Chop (RM20++) rekindled my love of good old chicken chops.
No kidding.
Made with a large slab of chilled chicken thigh, baked and then lightly pan seared to give it a slight char. The tender chicken was juicy and sweet inside, with a smokey caramelised crisp outside.
The thick piece of chicken chop was bathed with a savoury sweet, peppery brown sauce made with fresh mushrooms and peppercorn. The lovely brown sauce was smooth and complemented the juicy chicken chop perfectly.
After the main course, it was time for Maco's famed mille crepe cakes. Maco's mille crepe retails at RM8.50 per slice.
Maco's mille crepe cakes have a nice layered tender texture with a gentle bite. The layered cakes come in many innovative styles and flavours which Maco constantly creates. The chilled cakes have a fresh cream flavour and are not overly sweet. The chilled fresh cream have an ice cream-like mouth feel.
I tried a few of Maco's signature mille crepe cakes and enjoyed them all.
The Rainbow Mille Crepe made with all natural food colouring. Topped with chocolate rice.
Musang Mille Crepe made with real mao shan wang 猫山王 durian. The durian taste and smell wasn't overpowering as it was balanced by fresh cream. It's good initiation and "training" for durian noobs ;-p
Trio Chocolate Mille Crepe topped with fine white chocolate shavings.
Yam and Red Bean Mille Crepe, part of Maco's creations for Chinese New Year.
Maco's Original Cafe Brulee sealed at the top with caramelised sugar (RM12++).
Made with a blend of beans, the coffee was aromatic and sweet with nutty notes.
Cheryl's hot chocolate drink. I like that Chinese New Year latte art ;-D
Customers like to come into Maco Vintage and take away Maco's signature mille crepe cakes.
Maco Vintage packs the cakes in small boxes with dry ice satchels which can keep the cakes chilled for more than an hour. We can also buy Maco's cooler carrier bags (RM8).
Once home, we put the cakes into the freezer. When we want to enjoy the cakes, we just thaw the cakes for 30 minutes before eating.
Maco Vintage is located just beside (on the right of) Hiap Joo bakery, famous for it's banana cakes and old wood fired oven.
Parking is available just beside Maco Vintage, though it can be full during peak hours and the roads around it are narrow.
Restaurant name: Maco Vintage
Address: 18, Jalan Ibrahim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Map: http://bit.ly/MacoVintage
Hours: Monday to Friday 12:30-11:00 (10:30 Last Order) | Saturday 11:00-12:30 (12:00 Last Order) | Sunday 11:00-11:00 (10:30 Last Order)
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
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I went to maco vintage and to correct you, their sesame dressing is NOT house made. They use a popular brand called kewpie since day 1. Even a trained monkey can make his own Mixed Fruit Salad with Roasted Sesame Dressing using a Kewpie dressing.
ReplyDeleteWent to visit Maco Vintage yesterday, and found that it is now Big Bites Cafe. Understand from new operator that their mille crepe comes from same supplier.
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