Food Hunt – Jibby & Co at Empire Shopping Centre and Coffee Club at Subang Parade


[Food & Beverage]
The Coffee Club at Subang Parade

Shelyn wanted to try out the Coffee Club in Subang Parade so over we went with Yvonne and Charmaine to try out this new cafe. Now I must admit that I haven’t been to Subang Parade in like 20 years so I was rather curious to see how the mall has changed. When it first opened back in the early 90’s it was the longest mall in South East Asia but as newer malls came up, its popularity waned somewhat. However I was quite surprised that the parking lot was pretty full meaning that people still frequent this mall.
The Coffee Club originates from Brisbane, Australia and the one and only outlet in Malaysia is located in (or you could say outside) Subang Parade facing the SS15 mosque. With floor to ceiling glass panels enclosing the place, the sunlight streams in easily but good thing the aircons did a good job cooling the place. Can’t imagine their electricity bill though. There’s a little al-fresco dining area on the first floor for those who prefer some fresh air and as it was a very cloudy day, we decided to sit outside and enjoy the fumes from passing cars cool breeze.
 Long Latte – RM11.80++
The coffee was somewhat on the milder side. But fortunately the big glass somewhat justifies the RM11.80++ price tag. We ordered a couple of other drinks including the Cappuccino (RM10.80++), Mocha (RM12.80++) and Hot Chocolate (RM10.80++) to go along with our food. Not very outstanding but decent enough I guess.
 Caesar Salad – RM22.90++
The salad was topped with a poached egg, beef bacon, grated cheese and croutons. Not bad but the portion was not exactly very big. Perhaps meant for small eaters?
 Lifestyle Breakfast – RM22.90
Rather odd name for two (2) poached eggs atop a slice of toasted bread. Topped with some avocado and turkey ham slices. I thought that this really didn’t justify the price of RM22.90. Perhaps a salad or fries on the side would make it a little bit more worth ordering.
 Smoked Salmon Sandwich – RM24.90
OK my bad that the camera focused on the side salad instead of the sandwich itself. I was in quite the weekend mood and didn’t really check to see if it was in focus. As I was using the Superior Auto mode on the Sony Alpha 5100 and I had set the background defocus to maximum, the little side salad was in focus while the sandwich was not. Please pardon my bad photography skills!
Didn’t really taste much smoked salmon inside the sandwich. RM24.90 for this? Probably not…
 The Big Breakfast – RM29.90++
Good thing we ordered this as the portions of the other dishes were not exactly big. Actually I feel that this one didn’t really justify the price of RM29.90++ either. Sausages, toast, beef bacon, mushrooms, two  poached eggs, a hashbrown and half a tomato. I could get the same at La Bodega or Antipodean for a cheaper price.  The taste didn’t exactly wow me either although I don’t have any complaints.
 
I’ll probably not return unless I’m in Subang Parade which is rather unlikely with Empire Shopping Gallery just around the corner and Sunway Pyramid less than 10 minutes away. Nevertheless the cafe was pretty full so I guess there are customers willing to pay for their fare.
 
The Coffee Club is located at:
Lot No. LG 33 & G 32, Subang Parade, (outside the mall and facing the mosque)
No 5, Jalan SS 16/1,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.
 
 
Tel: 03 – 56128117
Website: http://www.thecoffeeclub.com.my/
 
Operating Hours:
Sunday – Thursday 8.30am – 11.00pm
Friday – Saturday 8.30am – 12.00am
 
 
Jibby & Co at Empire Shopping Gallery

A lot of people have been talking about this restaurant, making both good and bad comments. There’s also the perpetual queue especially on weeknights and weekends and it sparked my curiosity  therefore I decided to try it out one fine afternoon. Now the building itself is in the open air carpark of Empire Shopping Gallery so you need to exit the main entrance near Tous Le Jour and walk over to it. As there is no covered walkway linking it to the mall, I’ll bet it will be rather inconvenient on rainy days.
Fortunately we didn’t need to queue as we were there during an off-peak hour and we were seated at a table upstairs within five (5) minutes. Immediately I didn’t really have a good impression of the ambiance as the tables are spaced way too close to each other for comfort. What is this? A school canteen for communal eating? Good thing it was a rather cloudy day too as the restaurant’s green house design accomplished exactly what a green house is supposed to do and the air conditioning was simply not up to the task of cooling the place sufficiently especially with the restaurant full of patrons! Hmmm…the food better make up for the lack of comfort.
I’ve read some reviews where the author’s complained about poor service from the staff and I think it must have gotten the attention of the management as the staff were quite polite to us and service was generally pretty fast.
 Mocha – RM12.00++ (L) and Cafe Latte – RM11.00++ (R)
The drinks were alright but the sizes were rather small for them to be charging over RM10.00 for them.
 Jibby’s Ultimate Burger – RM35.00++
This was pretty good. I enjoyed the juicy patty which was topped with beef bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, tomato, with thick cut fries, tomato jam, and English mustard on the side. Nice but RM35.00++  for this? Hmmm…
 Three (3) Layer Lasagna – RM32.00++
Lasagna with beef, mushrooms, and Roma tomatoes encircled with a basil pesto sauce. Now this was actually quite hearty and the creamy pesto sauce balanced out the tangy flavours of the lasagna. Nice but yet again I wasn’t too convinced that it should be priced at RM32.00++.
 
So although the food is pretty delicious. I don’t think I’ll be frequenting this outlet a lot as it’s rather overpriced and the ambience is just not there as you’re seated uncomfortably close to other patrons. 
 
 
Jibby & Co is located at:
GK-11, Ground Floor, Empire Shopping Gallery (in the outdoor car park)
Jalan SS16/1, 
47500 Subang Jaya, 
Selangor Darul Ehsan, 
Malaysia.
 
Telephone: 03-56137070
 
I was trying out the background defocus function of the Sony a5100. The background defocus function really helps to give macro/ close up photos a bit more artistic feel. Previously, achieving high background defocus or bokeh shots were only achievable using large aperture lens, but I managed to achieve the effect with the Sony Alpha 5100’s kit lens with the max aperture of f3.5.
More info on the Sony a5100 at http://www.sony.com.my/product/ilce-5100l
 
 Sony Alpha 5100
 
 
MHB’s official photographer Andy Kho (www.andykho.com) shot with the Sony Alpha 5100 at the media launch in Bangsar recently – http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.750427075003762.1073741959.123911204322022&type=3