Ah Gong House — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

This place is really interesting. The original design of this row of shops is already super interesting. The front facade consists of what appears to be a shuttered basement with a shaded balcony sitting above it. The shaded balcony is actually connected to what appears to be the ground floor of a single storey home and the entrance to the home actually faces the backlane of another row of shops. This odd design is actually due to the height difference between the front and back of the land it is on.

A really quaint little place tucked within an old neighbourhood in Cheras. On the front, this place is a roastery studio called Yiludou--the open shutters reveal this rustic little wooden facade overlaying the "basement". On the back, locates the entrance into Ah Gong House. No signages. Just looks like a regular gate going into a regular Cheras home. Except that the gate is in the backlane 🤣 Visitors to the cafe might be seated on rattan chairs outdoors--and they might look like just a regular family lounging in their family space 🤣 I actually stumbled upon a really confused new visitor standing at the gate while I was there. She was unsure whether she was about to intrude into a family home or visit a cafe and it was a pretty interesting sight.

Upon entering the "home", you will be required to remove your shoes before going indoors. You will pass by a space that appears to look like a workshop before seeing a bar counter filled with a dazzling array of brewing tools. Once you're in the cafe space, you can see tables spread across the main living area as well as the rooms in the "home".

The cafe is only open on the weekends from Friday to Sunday. Another odd quirk matching to its appearance. But I am all in for quirks.

Menu is written all over a fridge. There are only two persons managing the cafe space. One at the counter taking care of coffee orders. Another at the kitchen taking care of food orders. You should not have too high expectations on the service provided as they are a little understaffed. But they do try their best to provide concise instructions to the customers to take a seat first before they can start taking orders once they finish their task on hand.

No complex menus. Only simple foods with basic ingredients. Some cakes. And a long list of coffee items. They use beans roasted by Yiludou--the roastery studio at the "basement".

The rice dish was simple but the flavours were quite unusual. Some spicy pickled condiment, fried scallions, crushed nuts, cucumbers and chilli served with basmati rice and an egg. Very light dish. At RM11. I thought having a noodle and a basmati rice dish was good. It's like asking if you like a high GI or low GI carbs 🤣

I tried out their Ethiopia Saloma handbrew. It was a CoE bean. Very light. But definitely a great bean. Preferred its flavours when it has cooled off. Felt like they were a bit more pronounced than when it was hot. Will definitely want to try more of their beans. Their specialty coffee ranges from RM18-20. Considering arabica's rising cost and quality of the beans, still fairly reasonable but might not be everybody's order choice.

The Very Berry Cheesecake is really interesting. I am not sure if it is the rising cost of cheese or supply chain disruption, but I did notice a lot of cheesecakes served recently don't feel quite as cheesy as they did in the past. Some did it quite badly. But this Very Berry Cheesecake at Ah Gong House priced at RM12 and loaded with berries was quite good despite not being very cheesy. It felt more like it was a gelatinous cream or yoghurt laden with berries topped on quite a delicious biscuit base. Similar to the food and coffee, their cheesecake tasted really light. The sweetness level was very subdued. I actually enjoyed it that way.

The entire experience was contained in two words: unusual and subdued. But not in a bad way 🤣 I actually enjoyed the place. They also seem to run a lot of workshops and events so if that's your thing, you can head on to their IG for Ah Gong House and Yiludou to check out...

Lovely place, nice decor, in a house. But their attitude for customers was one of the worst after visited hundred cafes in entire Klang valley, no hospitality sprit. No good to treat customers like this below especially to those who are trying to support local business in this Covid era.

1. Gate was closed, not sure the cafe if opened. Staff appeared so asked if they open. Just said 'yes' only. Did not know how to open it as the lock part is not visible, still no help, just rudely said 'Just open it'...pushed gate but locked, we had to figure out how to unlock the gate... Surprised. And they kept insisting refreshing MySejahtera profile, which is fine but nowadays nowhere else asking this, the problem was phone signal was weak there so it takes long time to enter. If they are too worry, they should remain take away only, instead of being rude. No other cafes treat this badly to enter.

2. One aircon was broken, other aircon was not working well indoor, therefore very hot inside, sweated. Not the place to enjoy hot coffee as its too hot, not openair either.

3. There was a computer game in cafe dining area right next to tables, friend's daughter touched as it looked like demonstration. One staff scoled 'Inappropriate to touch private thing!' very rude way. There is a professional polite customer service way to say, such as 'Sorry mdm, this is actually private thing, we appreciate not touching it', something like that, then no problems and apologize, but they scolded to customers! Firstly, please place private stuff to PRIVATE AREA not right next to tables. It looked like game demonstration, and some other cafes have games to offer kids to play. Never thought private PC game is at next to tables.

To be fair, atmosphere was nice there, if you still want to go there. Only problems are staff's rude attitude and broken aircon, too hot to have coffee.

Real nice coffee always comes with warm hospitality and conversation - per my friend professional experienced barista. Rude means already not nice coffee.

There are much much better n outstanding customer service cafe nearby with most delicious topnotch taste cakes n coffee named 'Engi Patisserie', they treated us very welcoming, professionally both in attitude and taste, coffee is nicer n cheaper than here, highly recommend going there instead of this no hospitality rude place. At least aircon working there so no need to...

Reminds me of my teenage years studying overseas, where houses had built-in carparks. You’d drive into the garage, close the roller shutters (or not), and there’d be a door leading straight into the kitchen, then the rest of the house. Ah Gong’s house is similar but like most M’sian houses, it leads to the main entrance — they’ve cordoned off the staircase.

Interestingly, they run two concepts under one roof: Ah Gong House and Yilidou.

What’s the difference?

Ah Gong House is a no-frills dine-in spot with a weekly pop-up menu — dishes that have been tried and tested by the proprietor. Opens only on Saturday & Sunday. You never know what you’re getting until that week, which adds to the charm.

Yilidou, on the other hand, is all about filtered coffee. It gave me major purist vibes — no food, no desserts, no milk. Just 100% coffee, roasted on-site. Pure, unadulterated kopi. Your senses aren’t distracted by anything else — just coffee, and only coffee.

I tried today’s pop-up: Hakka Yellow Wine Chicken. My portion arrived without soy sauce or chili. I was tempted to ask why, but decided to go with how they intended me to experience it — and I’m glad I did. The flavors stood strong on their own, and I finished every bite. My only feedback? The fungus could’ve been a tad softer — just a personal preference.

Next week’s pop-up?...