Note: This café is now closed.
Despite heavy human traffic in the surrounding streets of Chinatown, this first-floor café remains relatively peaceful, probably due to its 'speakeasy' nature – even for the highly observant, the single red-windowed door next to Sinn Optical can be easily overlooked. There is no other signage, aside from the menu stuck on the adjacent wall to the entrance. A bonus hint if you’ve been to Coffee Amo: it's located on the same block.
Once the name ‘Café Einstein’ scrawled on the glass assures you of its existence, head up the checkered stairway to emerge upon a rustic space decorated in early 20th century German-inspired interior. It's an artful blend of bright colours and monochromatic designs; one wall even features crudely torn up pieces of German newspaper clippings. The patchy paintjob, uneven plasterwork and rickety-looking but sturdy wooden tables handcrafted by a friend of owner Omega Tan, complete the prewar vibe the café seems to be going for.
The menu concept is E=mc2. No, this doesn't refer to the mass-energy equivalence formula, but a simpler explanation: Einstein = Meal x Coffee x Cake. Inspired by the dietary practice of the famed German theoretical physicist, the cuisine served here is vegetarian, offering dishes such as assam fish rice (RM9.90), which plates up slices of mock seaweed fish and lady fingers in assam sauce, and Four Season Pizza (RM14.80), which is topped with mock meat, capsicum, black olives, mushrooms and cheese. Dessert is a small selection of mille crepes; flavours include lemon cheese, green tea red bean, tiramisu and mango (all priced at RM12).
In addition to food and drink, Einstein Café will also be providing maths tuition classes in January 2015 based on the Chinese secondary school syllabus. Conducted by Mr Omega in the two back rooms behind the coffee counter, each session can accommodate up to 15 students.
Sure, a café may sound like a strange place for a maths lesson, but considering the fact that you'll get to order a cuppa to help you crunch those numbers, why not?