You know right, after 2 food stops in Kluang we topped up our caffeine, pacified our tummies and emptied our bladders - it's time for higher order human needs. We need WiFi! 📶 So, we wandered into Lady T cafe which is just next door to Tangkak Beef Noodle in Kluang.
Maco invited me to visit his Maco Vintage cafe at Johor Bahru old town (between Jalan Tan Hiok Nee and Jalan Ibrahim).
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
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
Boon Lin, Manager at Moonlight Cake House invited me to try out their new food menu.
I jio (invited) the Ma Cherie group of JB bloggers to join me.
I am a newly addicted mille crepe cake junkie. Every time I think about it, I crave it - and it pops into my head at the most unexpected or inconvenient times. My love affair with mille crepe cake is a classic case of love at first bite.
Moonlight Cake House's "Berry Berry Milk Crepe" at RM8.80
That delightful first bite took me by surprise. I found the mouth feel of biting through the layers of tissue thin pancakes most addictive. It reminded me of the bite, and subtle snapping and recoil of al dente noodles, except that in this case, it is the multi-layers of crepe. Each thin pancake seemed to feebly resist the advance of our teeth, and then yielding, pushed apart leading to a minutely subtle pop as the tissue separates. Each successive layer receding as our teeth advances until our enamels meet. The gnashing of teeth, rewarded with this unique sensation until we swallow the warm mouthful of soft and sweet cake, cream, fruit or jam.
Moonlight Cake House "Cheese Mille Crepe" RM8.80
"Mille" is the French word meaning "thousand". So mille crepe cakes are layered cakes made with at least 20 layers of tissue thin French style pancakes. Though mille crepe cakes have French elements, it is actually invented in New York City at a cake shop known as Lady M Confections about 10 years ago.
Mille crepe cakes are quickly catching on in Johor Bahru with a few cake shops offering it. Moonlight Cake House is one of my favourite places to enjoy mille crepe cakes in Johor Bahru.
So, when I had the opportunity to visit Moonlight Cake House's central bakery in Taman Sutera Utama, I made sure that I dropped in at the mille crepe cake department. I was happy as a child because when I was small, my favourite pastime was to watch people at work. I always wanted to be a bulldozer driver when I was a child after watching wide eyed for hours, bulldozers in action from my 3-storey flat window.
Making a mille crepe cake is not easy! The paper thin crepes are so delicate. The mille crepe cakes at Moonlight Cake House are made with at least 20 layers of French pancakes. In this case, these are egg crepes.
The crepes are carefully stacked one on top of another, layer by layer. Here the skilful patissier is brushing in a thin coat of syrup.
Next she spreads on a layer of cream. Mille crepe cakes are very flexible, so there are many possible fillings between the layers. Other flavours include strawberry, blueberry, chocolate and even durian when in season.
The patissier spins the crepe cake on a spinning cradle to even out the thin layer of cream.
My idea of bliss is enjoying a mille crepe cake with a good coffee either alone with a good book, or having a tête-à-tête with family or good friends.
One good place where I can get all these in Johor Bahru is at Moonlight Cake House.
Restaurant name: Moonlight Cake House (6 branches)
Address: Head Office at 77B, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/3, Taman Sutera Utama, Skudai, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.515692,103.669569
Hours: 9:00am to 2:00am
No pork, no lard, Halal cert in process
