Metal Box Cafe @ Empire Damansara PJ

The cafe scene in Malaysia are mostly built based on hype, where social media plays a vital role especially when it comes to catering for the target age group of under 35's.

In an overcrowded market in town, it's not all about brewing that one amazing cup of latte anymore. It has to have at least one-thing, that distinguish itself apart from the rest. Be it a pretty dish - one that looks sensational on instagram but secondary taste wise; or a seriously delicious dish - one that may be typical, like spaghetti bolognese, but taste fantastic (not many will succeed). Concept plays a huge role among the younger crowd too.

But its not everyday in the cafe scene that we hear a swarm of avid cafe hoppers, following a Chef from a well-known cafe, to a newly opened one. It may be an American-thing but not so a Malaysian-thing. Did Metal Box lived up to its hype?

Metal Box

Empire Damansara. A place where independent restaurants thrived. I have always been attracted to places which are a little less commercialized and I'm glad that Empire Damansara is so near home. The food is almost always never the same as going to popular franchised ones.

With all the hearsay going around, I was somewhat expecting to wait for a table when I got there at peak lunch hour on a Sunday afternoon. I was lucky I guess - we were ushered in almost immediately upon arrival. A queue soon ensued just 5 minutes after that.

Chef Ryan heads the Metal Box. Cleverly churning out a tasteful combination of Western dishes, tagged with some pretty trendy names and also one of the most descriptive menu I've seen in awhile.

Carrot Juice (Rm8.90). Watermelon Juice (Rm8.90).

Metal Box Baked Eggs. Rm18.90.

This dish have amazing textures - not too mushy from the soft baked eggs and tomato coulis, balanced by the firmness of chicken meat, sausage, potato and eggplant. It had a very nice savory and sour twang this one, topped with freshly grated gruyere cheese. It was delicious and almost hearty to me, but not quite there yet. Maybe because there was no rain - food like these normally taste better when it rains.

Specialty Fresh Toast. Rm15.90.

To me, this felt perfect. The French toast had the perfect balance of fluffiness inside and crispness outside, from the nestum coating that was pan seared till golden brown. Served with mixed berries coulis and a shot of liquefied gula melaka. This could be a hint sour for some, but I would definitely recommend it.

Salted Caramel Apple Crumble. Rm14.90.

The combination of apple and crumble was sinfully delectable. The vanilla ice cream was not something I'd see everyday - it had crumbles inside! What a clever idea. The only tweak - unsweetened the sweet baked apple slices beneath please.

Before I end, some pictures me and my eating-partner for today.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10. This may very well be one of my last few write ups for 2014. I'm glad I came today. The menu here seemed very well thought of, with an added touch of creativity that eventually made it memorable. Let me give you an example - the Signature French Toast - the nestum coating worked it. Without it - it may very well be like any other French Toast in town. Nevertheless, I subconsciously felt that The Red Bean Bag flair on some of the dishes I had today. He did, after all, successfully tagged along some of RBB's die hard foodies, to this Metal Box.

Metal Box is located at:

Address: G12 Empire Damansara Jalan PJU 8/8, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Phone: +60377319560

Opening Hours: Daily 10:00am - 4pm & 6pm - 10pm. Closed Monday.