ONO Specialty Coffee & Matcha — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Overall it's quite okay. Just considering a 30 minute wait on a late afternoon of a weekday before we get seated is rather unpleasant. I understand the experience of the space is quite important for a cafe. But close to half of the space were occupied by these barista counters which only leaves another half for customer seating.

While waiting, it seems like only one staff is doing most of the running around between front of house and managing the queue outdoors. He's trying his best but the guy looks pretty overwhelmed and exhausted even as he has to go through the long queue explaining to customers. Does not make a pleasant impression (but don't get me wrong, it's not the staff's fault).

Seating space is okay. Kinda cosy but mostly stool seats so definitely not a space to stay for long.

Really liked the seasonal figs sando. But for the price, I just feel maybe the bread could be better (at least not dry). Correct me if I'm wrong, I always had an impression that sando breads are meant to be soft and fluffy. But the goodness of the fig made it all worth it.

Then there was the ONO toast. Bearing the name of the cafe, we had quite a bit of expectations. Kombu butter and if I remember correctly it stated truffle or something in the menu? Honestly, aside from a mild hint of umami to the butter, it's hard to really justify the price once again. It's a good toast. But it's just a pretty ordinarily good toast.

So the Matcha. I... am not an expert at Matcha. Can remotely tell the difference between grades. But I had ordered the mid grade ceremonial Matcha. And honestly, being uneducated in Matcha, I was quite surprised at how lukewarm the tea was. It was almost room temperature. But I did Google things up later and guess that it might have been brewed at 60 degrees? Could use some explanation or warning for how lukewarm it was going to be 😂 I found it difficult to enjoy because at that temperature, I just couldn't really sniff much of a fragrance of the Matcha. And we're not quite at a serene and undistracted place so it made it even harder to pick up any distinctive flavours. It's definitely not a bad cup of Matcha but hmmm...

As for the Matcha + Ethiopia brew, this was also rather confusing because I am a coffee drinker. Given a price higher than RM15 and usually high grade of both Matcha and coffee, it felt like it was just destroying each other 🤣 But okay, it looks aesthetic though 🤷‍♀️

I might return for the fig sando 🤔 But they are also constantly out of many items...

Always packed with crowds finally I get the chance to try it as well. Expect long queue and waiting time of 20-30mins. The cafe gives off good cozy vibes but the loud chatty customers kills the ambience making conversation hard without having to semi shout. The cafe furnishing rather minimalist so the sound bounce around even more from the hard surface. The staff were busy and trying to be as helpful as possible already with explaining what beans they have and recommendations. Here’s what we tried:

Crispy Ebi Katsu Taru Taru Sando Rm 30 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My friend has been singing praises this dish to me when know I’m coming over to try. I’m not fond of Tartar Sauce all the time but decided to give it a try. I’m glad I ordered this dish. It is delicious!! ✨The crispy springy shrimp patty goes really really well with their yummy own made tartar sauce. It’s a dish I would like to have it again when I visit.

Chicken Parmigiana Sando Rm 26 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ It is delicious as well however not for me since I don’t like chicken skin so I had manually operate the chicken skin away before could enjoy it.

ONO’s Signature Chicken Bites Rm 16 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Super crunchy texture with their thick batter, well marinated and juicy meat inside not dry at all. The Citrus Aioli sauce that comes with it makes this dish less heavy and easier to finish it.

Mozzarella Garden Gnocchi Rm 36 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The homemade tomato sauce is delicious with basil oil drizzle the dish making this dish feel so healthy!

Signature Matcha & Coffee Tiramisu Rm 20 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This. This dish alone worth queuing for 30mins. 😂 A perfect balance of matcha & coffee in this perfect tiramisu! ✨ The presentation is also aesthetically pleasing.

Tsubaki Medium Roast Houjicha Cold Rm 15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Strong aromatic Houjicha taste is notable with smooth thick milk.

Hot White Coffee Rm 15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I choose this Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Iwariti Idido G1 as they mentioned they can make espresso with this beans. 🫘 It is low in acidic, smooth and yet still strong in aroma.

Iced Coffee Rm 42 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s Ecuador Finca La Soledad “The Champion’s Reserve’ in ice. Used the 50% voucher to try this out of curiosity. Indeed can taste really amazing and they did a good job extracting them out. ✨ Worth to try for...

Food: Two worlds collide : 5 stars Okay this is the drink, if you can’t decide between coffee and matcha just get this. Defo gonna be the only drink I drink here from now onwards. (Cause I’m basic and boring)

Hojicha: 4 stars It’s a nice hojicha but mediocre. I mean if you don’t compare it to two worlds collide it can get 5 stars on a good day / on a good mood.

Katsu Chicken Sando: According to my friend it’s too saucy for her liking but the bread is nice and soft. If you are a big eater (like me!) portion wise is perfect. If you are not a big eater will suggest you to share it with a friend.

Tamago sando with wasabi mayo: 4 stars Only complain is that it is hard to eat, the egg kept sliding out cause it’s soft and quite messy to eat. If not 5 stars! But again, im basic and boring and I don’t mind single flavour profile and I love love love eggs. As a normal person, the texture gets boring after the first half and quite eggy when you start the second half. Will I eat it again, yes! But my friend would skip it.

Matcha French toast: 3.5 stars I was expecting the middle to be oozy like when you cut into it. But nope, just a basic matcha French toast. A bit dry for my liking but ok with ice cream and the syrup. I like the syrup but meh with the ice cream. My friend liked the ice cream but meh with the syrup. It’s above average as a combo but mediocre on its own (could get 4 stars but cause the price don’t really reflect the value hence 3.5)

Ambience: 4 stars I like the environment, but we got seated in the middle hence the chair was not very comfortable (cause you can’t lean on it).

Service: 5 stars The waiters were very polite and helped us along the queue. Not much menu recommendations. As for the queue, I was lucky to get a table within 15 mins but I went around 11ish am

Price: $$ Quite pricey for bread and coffee, but I’ll let it slide cause it’s not the everyday sandwich you can get anywhere else. Will defo come back if I feel bougie, but not on a reoccurring/...