JB Eat: Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店) @ KSL City Mall

Rick
Jul 29
2 min read

Updated: Aug 2

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店) is a Nanyang kopitiam located on the lower ground floor (basement) of KSL City Mall in Taman Century. The restaurant has a really unique name — "empurau" is a Malay word for a type of expensive river fish known as "tor tambroides" or "忘不了", meaning "unforgettable" in Chinese. However, Empurau Kopitiam serves only Nanyang cuisines, there is neither fish nor seafood.

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店) @ KSL City Mall

The restaurant is not very big and has a subtle oriental vibe to it. Hung on the walls are posters of its signature dishes which provide easy reference for first-time diners.

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店): Inside restaurant

Empurau Kopitiam serves both steamed and roasted chicken rice as one of their signature dishes among other signatures such as nasi lemak with fried chicken thigh, mee siam, curry mee, etc, using their homemade recipes. They also have fried kway teow, Kuala Lumpur-style Hokkien mee, kampung fried rice, etc. Typical of a Nanyang kopitiam, a list of traditional toasts and pastries are available too.

The Poached Chicken Bento (白鸡便当饭) is a steamed chicken rice set with breast quarter meat. The fragrant rice carries the flavour of chicken stock with a mild garlicky aroma and pairs well with the smooth, tender and non-fatty chicken. It is a nice dish to go for.

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店): Poached Chicken Bento (白鸡便当饭)

The Poached Chicken Drumstick Bento (白鸡腿便当饭) is another steamed chicken rice dish except the meat is replaced with a drumstick — when the restaurant runs out of poached chicken (with whitish skin), they may use free-range / kampong chicken (with yellowish skin) instead. The kampong chicken drumstick is tenderer and costs a little more, of course.

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店): Steamed chicken drumstick rice

The Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Mee (吉隆坡福建面) uses super-thick yellow noodle and fried in dark sauce that is neither too sweet nor too salty. The ingredients, such as fishcake slices, lean meat, prawns, squids and lettuce, are fried with the noodle in the same sauce. The finished noodle dish is topped with crispy fried pork lard and accompanied by a tasty sambal sauce. This is a nice dish to go for too.

Empurau Kopitiam (忘不了.南洋咖啡店): KL Hokkien mee

Empurau Kopitiam's Nanyang Kopi-O (南洋咖啡乌) is non-bitter, even without sugar, and quite thick. Their Curry Puff (咖喱卜), another hot seller, has beautiful layered skin with crispy crust. Its curry potato filling has distinct curry flavours and not spicy. It is great to accompany other dishes for breakfast or afternoon coffee.