Coffee, Curry & Character: KL’s Cafés with a Past

Chin Jian Wei | 1 July 2025

Past meets plate in this hidden gem, where heritage walls hold modern flavours and every corner tells a story. Step inside Timothy Cafe and discover more than just a meal. – Photos: Social Media

TAKE a walk through the older districts of Kuala Lumpur and you will find many charming heritage buildings, holdovers from our nation’s colonial past. These old buildings have found new life as restaurants and cafes, bustling with a new generation of Malaysians and tourists.

Ng Sin Leong, one of the proprietors of Timothy Café, Leaf & Co and Mingle, three such eateries, recounts, “In 2016, we were searching for a space for Mingle Hostel and Cafe. We first discovered the building at 53, Jalan Sultan and were immediately captivated by its aged walls and sense of untold stories. We felt this heritage building, brimming with history, was the perfect place to connect with travellers from around the world.

“The worn-out walls, traces of time, and stories embedded within a heritage building are irreplaceable. These unique qualities simply cannot be replicated by any new construction.”

If that heritage and aesthetic appeals to you, here are just some of the many such cafes you can find in our city.

Timothy Café

Starting the list with one of Ng’s establishments, this café specialises in homemade, fresh pasta and artisan coffee. You can even see the pasta being made right in front of you if you come early enough. This building is over 100 years old and looks the part with its exposed brick walls and vintage décor. The pasta itself is flavourful, with many dishes incorporating local touches such as masak lemak. The pesto is recommended by this writer!

Address: 24, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, City Centre, 50100 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 8am to 9pm on Mondays to Thursdays, 8am to 10pm on Fridays to Sundays

Follow Timothy here: @timothy_highstreet

Merchant’s Lane

This somewhat hidden café is located in Kuala Lumpur’s famous Chinatown, next to a convenience store, through an easily missed teal door, then up a flight of stairs. Its rustic and vintage interior are hints to its history as an 80-year-old building, formerly serving as a shophouse in colonial times. Merchant’s Lane serves a variety of fusion dishes such as Mala Kuah Kacang Ramen and Nasi Lemak Pancake.

Address: 150, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 11.30 am to 8pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, 11.30am to 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Follow Merchant’s Lane here: @merchantslane

LOKL Coffee Co

In the historic heart of the city, LOKL (pronounced as local) serves up delicious coffee and Melbourne-inspired café food. Expect cakes, pastries and pasta. Just like many of the other entries on this list, the interior really sells the fact that the café is located inside a colonial building with its exposed brick walls and simple, retro-industrial look.

Address: 30, Jalan Tun H S Lee, City Centre, 50100 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 8am to 5pm daily

Follow LOKL here: @loklcoffee

Chocha Foodstore

The Mah Lian Hotel was once among the many discreet establishments catering to transient visitors during the colonial era in Petaling Street. Abandoned, it found new life when it was reborn as Chocha Foodstore. With vintage tiling on the walls and floors, it still looks every part the colonial building. Unlike many of the other eateries on this list, Chocha specialises in classic Malaysian food with some modern updates, such as Ulam Lemang. Surprisingly, they even serve ambuyat, a dish made out of sago palm tree starch, not often seen outside of East Malaysia.

Address: 156, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 12 pm to 11 pm on Sundays to Tuesdays, 12 pm to 12 am on Thursdays to Saturdays

Follow Chocha here: @chochafoodstore

Light Capture Café

Another Chinatown hidden gem, this café is located among the old shophouses that make up the heart of Chinatown, serving up a mix of Western and local fare. This café was made by joining together two lots that were previously damaged by fire. The interior is spacious and well-lit, rays of sunlight coming in through the large windows to illuminate the brick walls and monochromatically retro floor tiles. Recently, they have also opened another branch in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, minus the heritage aesthetic of course.

Address: 81 & 83, Jalan Tun H S Lee, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 10am to 6pm on Mondays to Thursdays, 10am to 9pm on Fridays to Sundays

Follow Light Capture at: @lightcapturecafe

Leaf & Co Café

Located inside the old Chinatown Hostel, this rugged café retains its simple interior design with one eye-catching feature being a wall decorated with artfully placed concrete blocks. They serve a variety of food from both East and West, and some fusion dishes as well such as teriyaki beef spaghetti.

Address: 53, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 10am to 10pm daily

Follow Leaf & Co here: @leafandco_cafe

Concubine

Tucked in the heart of Chinatown, Concubine is a stylish bar with deep historical roots. Housed in a restored heritage building, this space once formed part of Kuala Lumpur’s colourful and complex past. Today, it has been thoughtfully reimagined as a lively hotspot for night owls, even clinching the title of Bar of the Year in 2022.
The bar’s interior is bold and eclectic, with murals inspired by vintage Chinese portraiture and contemporary street art. Its cocktail menu also takes a playful local twist, with creative names like duku langsat and minyak cap kapak, offering a uniquely local flavour to your night out.

Address: Lot 2, Jalan Panggong, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 5pm to 1am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 5pm to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Follow Concubine here: @concubine_kl

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