Brotherhood's Kopitiam @ Pandan Indah

Brotherhood's Kopitiam @ Pandan Indah has been opened for about a year before I finally stepped in...and that's because there are at least two more such similar kopitiams (Thong Kee and Kafe Cahaya Bulan) here with nothing standing out really.

They are what we call modern kopitiams with individual food stalls (just like old-school coffee shops) except in a much more modern, comfortable and cleaner setting than dodgy, old-looking coffee shops.  Their coffees are pricier but not necessarily better tasting than those of traditional coffee shops.  Just add some froth on top (lol) and the youthful generation will buy into that.

First up, something from the kopitiam itself, an All Day Breakfast @ RM15.80 (even if it was just a kopitiam version).  It came with a croissant, sausage, ham, hash brown, baked beans and egg (of your choice, scrambled or sunny side-up).  The egg was obviously overcooked and the baked beans came out of a can.

Not much I can say about the sausage and ham either (they were of the processed variety) but the hash brown turned out to be a revelation (seeing that it's probably also the frozen, store-bought kind).  It was really well-fried as the exterior was so crispy (+ it tasted way better than those frozen hash browns I've bought in the past).  The croissant, not sure if they make it themselves (probably not), but they were decent...super flaky, crisp and light to the bite, perhaps could be more buttery.

Seeing that they did alright with the All Day Breakfast, I thought I'd give their Grilled Chicken Chop @ RM17.90 a go which comes with a choice of black pepper or mushroom sauce.  You can also have the chicken chop served with rice and egg or with a croissant.

Served with thick-cut fries (which I appreciated) that were well fried with a nice crisp and soft on the inside (not sure if they were the frozen/store-bought kind but they tasted much better), real-crispy hash brown (the same one as in the All Day Breakfast which I loved as if there weren't enough carbs already on the plate) and vegetables of sliced tomato and blanched-till-soft broccoli with my chosen black pepper sauce.  Overall, it was pleasant enough though the sauce could be a tad thicker and more peppery...and there wasn't quite enough of it for the large piece of chicken chop.

Another offering by the kopitiam was this Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang @ RM9.50 and the platter came filled with santan-infused rice, rendang ayam, curry sauce with potato cubes, sambal, fried ikan bilis and nuts, a whole hard-boiled egg and cucumber slices.  I was glad to find the rice served was still very warm when it landed on my table.

The rendang ayam had good flavours though but the sauce was too watery (other options include fried chicken or spiced fried chicken).  The curry sauce (with potatoes) were also a more watery rendition but still had decent flavours.  The sambal, on the other hand, was my least favourite as it had too sourish a profile and it was also very spicy.  The fried anchovies I didn't care for as they were of a poor quality with a hard bite and the nuts lacked that super fresh taste.

This Lala & Fish @ RM15 filled with fish chunks, lala, enoki and shimeji mushrooms, goji berries and a sprinkling of chopped spring onions is from one of the stalls in the coffee shop.  You can have a choice (or a combination) of minced pork, chicken, smoked duck, bitter gourd or egg as well as lala and fish in either clear soup or tom yam. 

I chose the clear soup.  The soup base is very subtle in flavour with no complexities, all I got was the taste of Chinese rice wine.  For someone who likes ching flavours, even this broth was too ching for me.

I thought the fish looked like dory but the lady boss told me it's not when I asked.  She mentioned the name of the fish in Chinese (which I didn't get/understand obviously).  She said it's sea fish coz she knows dory doesn't taste good.  I'll have to take her word for it although the fish pieces did taste very soft, not mushy, but the texture is a lot softer than some fish.  The lala was just acceptable, not super fresh (it tasted that way too) and, as you can obviously see, the shellfish meat wasn't all that plump either.  They look shrivelled up (perhaps overcooked).  Nope, it wasn't something I enjoyed though I saw quite a few tables ordering it....maybe because it's something different, not often seen in coffee shops.  Even if the tom yam soup tastes better, the seafood will still be a letdown for me.

I'm always on the lookout for a decent kai see hor fun in my neighbourhood (as there are none) and decided to give the Shredded Chicken Hor Fun @ RM8 here a try.  The bowl contained about 3 small to medium-sized prawns (that have been halved lengthwise) that were fresh and firm but not particularly sweet-tasting.

The hor fun (or kuey teow) was finely cut and soft (a bit softer than the usual kai see hor fun I've eaten, not sure if it's because of the texture of the hor fun itself or that it had been overcooked).  I did enjoy the broth as it was light tasting but it also had some sweetness and there was a noticeable orange hue from the drizzle of prawn oil.  Overall, it turned out to be a decent find of kai see hor fun in my taman but can't compete with the kai see hor fun specialists out there.  If I feel like having kai see hor fun in my neighbourhood, this is my best option yet.

Seeing that I enjoyed the kai see hor fun, I decided to try the Hor Fun with Poached Chicken @ RM9 which I spotted during my earlier visit.  But, for some reason, the hor fun soup tasted saltier this time (and missing the sweetness I first detected in my earlier bowl of kai see hor fun).

As for the poached chicken, it was acceptably decent.  What let it down was the sauce...it wasn't anywhere near good.  The soy wasn't the best of quality as it was too salty and the flavoured oil (be it onion or garlic) wasn't at its freshest unfortunately.

To subdue the taste of the sauce, your best bet is to dip it into the spicy fresh chilli sauce.  The other minor problem I faced eating the chicken was that the seller's chopping skills came into question as he didn't manage to chop through the chicken pieces cleanly, some of the bones were still joined at the bottom making it difficult to separate and eat.

After noticing the words "Ipoh" on the signboard of the chee cheong fun stall, I got this Ipoh-Style Chee Cheong Fun @ RM7.80 to try.  Most chee cheong fun is eaten with a sauce, whether it's curry or tim cheong (sweet sauce) but you'd find Ipoh-style chee cheong fun offered with plain soy and shallot oil.  I usually don't go for that coz the chee cheong fun has to be stellar to be able to stand up to just soy sauce + the soy will also have to be just as stellar in quality.

As soon as the dish arrived, I regretted my choice already.  First of all, I noticed that the fried shallots were pre-bought ones....without freshly fried shallots, where the heck will you have shallot oil?  The soy sauce was served separately in a bowl and it was obvious that it was of a low quality as it just tasted super salty.  It was very difficult to eat and I had to ask for some sweet sauce (the si tau poh didn't look very happy when I did) to counter the super salty soy.  True to Ipoh-style, the sweet sauce is reddish in colour but it wasn't great either.  I've to say this was probably the worst chee cheong fun I've had. >_<

My husband's Pork Noodles (Dry) @ RM9 (big) with his usual noodle of choice (yee mee) and just minced pork.  The dry yee mee turned out tasteless (even by my standards), so you can guess what my husband thought of it.  I commented that the minced pork looked plentiful, I didn't try but I did take a sip of the broth and it was nothing like what a pork noodle broth should taste like.  All I could taste was an overly (white) peppery taste and nothing else.  It was no way near decent.

Before I came for a dine-in, I first tried one of the stalls here (Jing Wei) through delivery (but didn't know then they were housed in Brotherhood's Kopitiam) and had the chicken, char siew and duck rice before. Nothing deserving compliments or criticism either though my husband remarked that the siu yuk he tried was a fail! >.<  Safer bets would be the char siew and roast chicken.  The only compliment I can give is that their delivery prices are considered quite low in comparison to others as you can still get a one pax portion for RM9.

Their Cold Hainan Tea @ RM3.40 (small) is a blend of coffee and tea with the taste of tea being more prominent.  I thought their Cold Black Coffee (Kopi-O) @ RM3 (small) was rather decent.  I ordered their Cold Signature BH Coffee @ RM5.50 (small) just because it's their signature drink and was told it's a mixture of coffee and cocoa (probably Milo) but it didn't endear me to it.  Lastly, I tried their Cold White Coffee @ RM5 (let's just say there are two better ones in my taman I'd rather have).  For future visits, I think I'll stick to black coffee with the occasional Hainan tea.

My Personal Opinion

Apart from the western food, nasi lemak, chee cheong fun, dim sum, toast and eggs and drinks that belong to Brotherhood's Kopitiam itself, the rest of the food is run by the individual stalls, so you'll have to pay for those separately/directly with the stall owners.

For me, the western food (All Day Breakfast & Grilled Chicken Chop, the standouts being their croissant & hash brown) and nasi lemak were alright, as should the toast & eggs from these type of modern kopitiams, just stay clear of their Ipoh chee cheong fun but don't know how their dim sum fare (not something I'd want to try since I wouldn't place high hopes on a non-dim sum specialist as the items are probably the shop-bought, frozen-kind).

As for the individual stalls selling la-la noodles, shredded chicken hor fun, pork noodles and chicken rice, only one stood out....the shredded chicken hor fun (not the poached chicken though) and it's something I'd return for.  It's my best bet for a somewhat pleasant shredded chicken hor fun in a neighbourhood that's sorely lacking in good kai see hor fun. >_<

In the end, Brotherhood is a clean and modern kopitiam offering a variety of choices for breakfast and lunch for a family of diners.  If you keep your expectations on the lower end, you should do alright here as there's bound to be something for everyone.

Update: Please note that all the individual stalls at this kopitiam have left.  Only the food made by the kopitiam is now available which includes their western food, nasi lemak, dim sum & chee cheong fun (and whatever food that's included in their new menu).

Brotherhood's Kopitiam

No 75G Jalan Pandan Indah 1/23

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur