Boxes Cafe @ Sunway Velocity

Even though I don't particularly dig this mall, I can't deny one overwhelming factor in its favour and that's the convenience of it located less than 10 minutes from where we stay.  After our maiden visit and first "makan" (eating) stop at Bentoya, we were back here again, this time for a very late dinner.

We wanted to try Boxes Cafe @ Sunway Velocity as I read about this pop-up container cafe when they were in Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC), a cafe amidst the EcoWorld gallery.  I liked what I saw then, so I thought it would a safe choice to eat here.  Now relocated to Sunway Velocity, they have kept with the 'container-style' decor.

It was close to 9pm by the time we got to Boxes Cafe.  A quick glance at the menu showed that they offer some breakfast options, soups, salads, burgers, pasta, chicken wings and waffles.  In fact, the various pasta dishes make up half of their menu with styles like tom yum, carbonara, salted egg and aglio olio...and you don't get a choice on the type of pasta.  I assume there's only one type available since they didn't ask us what we'd like! >_<

We went for pasta obviously, their Soft Shell Crab Salted Egg Pasta @ RM18.90 served with deep-fried soft shell crab (obviously) and linguine tossed in their homemade salted egg sauce topped with a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese (that looked like parmesan to me) and dried parsley.

First of all, the salted egg sauce looked yellowish instead of orangy.  Perhaps it's because they used the whole salted egg and not just the yolk?  That's why they called it salted egg sauce and not salted egg yolk sauce?  I don't know how to describe this salted egg sauce...all I can tell you is that you won't want more mouthfuls of it.  It had this dry yet sticky mouthfeel to it.  It feels like the sauce was made way ahead of time and left to the 'elements' for far too long.  Suffice to say that this dish was left unfinished.  The only saving grace was the edible soft shell crab.

The other pasta dish we tried was the Tomyam Seafood Pasta also @ RM18.90 that came with mussels, prawns and squid rings tossed in their homemade tomyam sauce.  This one was (at least) better than the salted egg sauce.  It had the makings of a tomyam sauce that was quite spicy.

The seafood of mussels and prawns were alright, just not super fresh.  Unfortunately, the first prawn I dug into wasn't cooked all the way through...yikes!  Since the prawns weren't particularly fresh, I decided to send it back to the kitchen.  I don't know why it took so long (it took them a good 5 - 10 minutes) to return with the dish as we were the only table still being served (there was just one other table occupied besides us).  Both the prawns came back neatly arranged (with one mussel as I ate one already before the dish was sent back), so I thought they fired up a new prawn for me.  But when I dug in with my knife and fork, I found the prawn head detached (which was my doing earlier on when I tried to eat the prawn), so I suspect I got back the same prawn! :O  I guess that's why it took so long for the dish to come back....they were trying to re-assemble the prawn!  Double yikes!! >:(

We also ordered a Mushroom Soup @ RM6.90.

As for the drinks, their Cone Coffee @ RM9.90 attracted my curiosity...and from the name, I assume it's coffee in a cone...and that was exactly what it was.  Except you get a waffle cone covered with a layer of melted (but frozen) chocolate on the inside of the cone filled with coffee.  The tiny amount of coffee in the cone (probably as much as an espresso cup) wasn't any good...and, worst still, the coffee was barely lukewarm.  I wasn't expecting the coffee to be hot coz, if it was, it would melt the chocolate inside very quickly...but I was hoping that it would be at least a bit warm.

The Cone Coffee came with a stand to hold the cone in case you need to put it down when you're eating. Unfortunately, they failed to take into account what would happen when you try to put the cone back in its stand once part of it has been drunk and eaten.  It became increasingly difficult to put in and take out the cone from the stand as the cone got shorter and shorter! :P

In the end, it's not worth the money for such a small portion of coffee.  A coffee in a cone may look pretty or instagrammable but neither practical nor tasty! >.<  In fact, the coffee was so difficult to drink that I welcomed the overly sweet melted chocolate to counter the bitterness and acidity.

The Summer Smash Smoothie @ RM11.90 is made up of a sweet concoction of pineapple and orange with some canned pineapple chunks.

And guess what?  When it was time to pay, they got our bills mixed up.  How?  I don't know.....there were only TWO tables of customers!!  I actually paid the other table's bill before realising the mix-up myself...and they subsequently refunded me the difference! >:(

My Personal Opinion

The two pastas dishes that we tried were the very two recommended pastas on their menu.  If their two 'must try' pastas already taste like this, I doubt I'll be bothered to try their other pastas.  Their coffee in a cone is also listed as a 'must try'....well, you know my verdict on that.

Perhaps, their other menu offerings fare better.....but I won't be back to find out! :(

P/S: If this Boxes Cafe is still run by the same people as the one from BBCC, they must have revamped the menu as the dishes (reviewed previously) are very different from the ones here (even similar dishes seem to have been given different names).

Boxes Cafe

4-08 Sunway Velocity Mall

Lingkaran SV

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9202 6586