January 2014
If you’re coming from Love Lane, keep walking along the narrow Stewart Lane right up to almost where Kuan Yin temple and the little stalls selling Chinese prayer paraphernalia, look right and notice a little building with ‘Kedai Gaharu Keat Seang’ (what was once a Chinese paraphernalia shop) within which The Alley café is located.
Serving good coffees, mainly desserts and simple food, this café is fairly new but no less popular among locals as well as tourists wandering around the area. Its cosy interior is made up of mainly wooden furniture with an outdoor sitting area out front and by its side.
What to order here is their creamy affogato, any of their freshly brewed coffees, iced chocolate from RM6 and of course, their churros. Freshly made, the churros are either RM6 for four (small) or RM9 for six (big) and it comes with a choice of five dips – chocolate, Nutella, caramel, salted caramel and sugar ‘n cinnamon. Yes, one more sinful than the other. The small serving has one dip while the big one comes with two dip choices.
We'd recommend their salted caramel for that balance of yin and yang with its mere whispers of saltiness amid the sticky sweetness. However, utter decadence can be had with either the hazelnut-proned Nutella or the pure chocolate. Believe me, either one of these can take you to levels of ecstasy seldom found on Earth.
Another one to try here is the cronut at RM8 each and if it’s an especially hot day, you may want to try out their cool frappe drinks or iced blended coffees from RM9. The best time to be here is around teatime or late morning, it’s a good place to simply people-watch. Su Aziz