February 12, 2020

Coffee and pasta with the Littlepeople

Since I had to pick up something from Old Klang Road area, Littlepeople Cafe popped up on the list of cafes to visit. Waze got a little confused and took us on a detour. But finally, found it on the ground floor of a residential apartment block.

Surprisingly expansive when we stepped in, the cafe was anything but little, rather it was invitingly spacious and bright. As you enter, the hexagon-shaped open coffee counter is the first thing that catches the eye as well as the large glass window right at the opposite end, revealing the kitchen. If you’re worried what goes into your food, the chefs have no qualms about you checking out what they put inside.

No. 3 said that it looked like it was like a page from Ikea’s brochures as quite a bit of furniture and utensils are from there. At least Little People doesn’t come off as another one of those cookie cutter bare industrial-style cafes.

Come here all the way, of course, must try the coffee. I found the long black somewhat on the acidic side but the coffee connoisseur, No. 1, said it was actually fruity and very good. Ok-lor. Surprisingly, I preferred the latte more, even though usually I don’t like the milkiness. But generally, coffee here is above average with different coffee beans on promotion so that’s good to know.

The main star of the menu seemed to be the handmade pasta, so we ordered that for what was supposed to be late tea but turned into an early dinner. For its price, given how it’s made from scratch, I’d say it’s worth the buck, as other cafes charge just as much for commercial pasta anyway.

Out of three – Pasta Beef Ragu Alla Bolognese, Pasta Seafood Arabiata, Pasta Alla Carbonara – two were quite commendable. All three was with tagliatelle pasta, firm, cooked al dente and had a good bite to it. Prices averaged about RM26 to RM28 per dish, other variations may be cheaper.

The minced beef ragu had a sufficient dose of cheese, and the flavour, a good balance of salty, creamy, cheesy, comfort, all in one mouthful.

This was my favourite while the cabonara was satistfying too, not overtly rich. Though I wish they had prepared it how the Italians make a proper cabonara, using an egg rather than cream and cheese to provide the creaminess, as that would have gone perfectly with the handmade pasta.

Two impressively huge prawns and some calamari topped the seafood arabiata, but my beef was the sauce which was slightly on the watery side and too tomato-ey sweet for my liking.

The thin crust pizza was more like a tortilla rather than crust, and served on a plate. Maybe if it was on a pizza plate, then the crust could have been more crisp. For RM15 though, it was surprisingly very filling. The topping was generous and cheesy, though a bit heavy handed on the onions. Not quite pizza as I imagined but still pretty tasty. It’s the only pizza on the menu anyway.

A popular dessert here is the Popiah ice cream, which we didn’t get to try. I hear the Avocado toast and House Salad with couscous are highly recommended as well. Next round maybe.

Tried the soft serve which had the oddest flavour – kuih bangkit – which reminded me of coconut ice cream. It seemed a bit much for a soft serve at RM15 but I guess it’s considered cafe pricing?