Wondermilk in Damansara Uptown: Joining the Ranks of Quirk

What: Wondermilk Café, Damansara Uptown, KL, Malaysia

When: February 2013

Food: sandwiches, salads, burgers, cupcakes

Rating: 7/10

It was late, we were starving and dispirited, more interested in sleeping than eating, but bellies needed to be filled and the lights burned bright behind Wondermilk’s windows, promising reassuring café food and the standard does of quirkiness that new establishments in Malaysia seem lost without.

Embrace your inner child with a cupcake!

Wondermilk ticks all the boxes for the modern Malaysians’ trendy hangout: We had jumbled furniture, we had colourful cupcakes, we had strange and funky decorations, we had cute signs adorning the walls. Everything about the place was rather cute and conceptually cosy, complete with canoodling couples sharing milky drinks and gooey eyes, while families tucked into late night cupcakes, adults and children alike beaming at the multi-coloured promise of sugar.

Finally! A use for all those kangaroo bums...

This chain of cafes was started in 2000 by a team of arty people who correctly predicted the trajectory of the Malaysian café culture, and a large queue at 9.30pm on a Saturday night at the Damansara branch that I visited was all the proof I needed that WM was a hit.

Always a good sign - a Q on a Saturday night!

Be tempted...

We joined the back of the line leading to the counter, nodding respectfully to the pocket-sized cupcakes that shone in their innocence and squinting up at the menu which offered up the usual lunchtime offerings of salads, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, and hot and cold beverages with quirky names.

The milky drinks are something of a top choice – all manner of steamed, sweet concoctions to wash down your chosen cakey indulgence – but a hot evening steered us towards the Wonder Coolers, which were refreshing blends of bubbly sodas.

Wondercoolers are bubbly and sweet

Or so I expected. I put it down to my sleep deprived state that I even ordered one, as the two we tasted were sugary to the max, combining soda water with syrup of different flavours for a chilly, refreshing beverage that didn’t really earn its RM8.90 price tag.

A Minty Lime Chiller (fresh lime and mint leaves) had misplaced its tang, while the Pink Sakura (lychee and peach combo) was sweet and yet blandly bubbly. That said, my sweet tooth is somewhat dormant, and  I can appreciate that those with a taste for sugar would love these fizzy sips.

Dinner sorted!

We had cruised in to WM at the right moment for the El Presidente Dinner Menu, which paired burger and fries with a Wondercooler for RM22.90 (available 6pm-10pm). 

We had already picked our Wondercooler, so opted for a Super Cheese Burger (RM18.90 on a la carte) for eats.

The burger options extend to four and all promise freshly baked buns and less fatty patties, both of which were delivered in the tall edible edifice that came over to see us. 

Now that's how to cheese a burger!

Tasty, meaty patty

Arranged on a plastic tray, the lofty burger consisted of a deep, meaty, very tasty patty that was oozing with cheese but light on the promised black pepper sauce, onions, mushroom, and crisp turkey bacon. Nontheless, it was tasty, it was fresh, and it did the job, even if the thin fries that came alongside lacked a little something. I would say the portion size, compared to the mighty behemoths a similar price would get you at somewhere like Plan B, was not totally inspiring.

To keep the meaty mouthful company was an Asian Grilled Chicken Salad (RM14.90), which came quickly in another plastic piece of plate-age (do Wondermilk have no qualms about the environment?) and looked piled plentifully with lettuce, mandarin segments, sesame seeds, mint leaves, and chopped almond…but the chicken? 

Asian Grilled Chicken Salad....any spot the chicken?

Found it!

Fret not, it was located – the chicken was hiding at the very bottom (WM was very busy, so perhaps the chef slipped a bit on presentation) but, once encouraged out, it performed well. The meaty chicken was slightly charred and sticky sweet, while the whole combination of fresh light ingredients, once daubed in the tangy and sweet sesame dressing, was very pleasant and filling, if not the largest salad I've seen for that price....    

My gripes about plastic plates aside, Wondermilk is a cosy, quirky place that offers reliable food at a medium cost to the many who love the modern café culture, and I would certainly return for a cosy cuppa and a cake – it strikes me as the kind of place to head too when you feel a little low and need a milky, sugary hug and some sweet, silly signs on the walls to lift your spirits.

Wondermilk Café

41 Jalan SS21/1A

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya

03.7725 8930

Open: daily 9am-10pm (clised public holidays)

Other branches: Citta Mall, Publika

www.ilovewondermilk.com

Pork free