Mechanic Cafe, Cheras Traders Square: Minimalism, Effortlessly Aromatic

Mechanic Cafe at Dataran Perniagaan Cheras, Balakong (Opposite to Caps Patisserie & Coffee) – a new, Instagram-worthy cafe near C180 Cheras Selatan opened in November 2017. Came across this place when searching for our weekend cafe hopping spot, and immediately pin it to our must-visit cafe list.

Situated within Cheras Traders Square, one of the latest business districts in Cheras, Mechanic Cafe is currently “untraceable” on both Waze and Google map. We took about half an hour locating the cafe, but oh-soo-happy when we finally found it.

For clearer picture, The Mechanic Cafe is located opposite to Six Inch Cafe, but across Jalan Cheras Perdana main road, towards AEON mall. Look out for these shops – TK Bakery, 管家婆涮涮鍋Guan Jia Po Shabu Shabu Restaurant, and then 一粥二烤 Porridge Village Sdn Bhd at the corner. Mechanic Cafe is right opposite to  一粥二烤, on the 1st floor. If you really can’t find the exact location, just try make a call and ask – we did so thuh.

We have soft spot for cafes with minimalism interior, or anything associated with it. Says Wild Sheep Chase Cafe Taman Desa, Kopenhagen Coffee Mont Kiara, Cream The Roast Things PJ, The Stage Malaysia Cheras, Little People Old Klang Road, and some of the newer additions in town like The Other Half Cafe TTDI, Food by Fat Cat Sunway Avenue, Blaq Coffee Cheras, just to name a few.

The Mechanic Cafe too, definitely hits the right spot – plenty of natural light, lively atmosphere, modern decor in perfect cool grey, black and white shades, sleek in style with custom-made furnishing, elements that showcase strong profiles but blended into harmonious whole.

To us, the space is love at the first sight.

The Mechanic Cafe menu covers a simple list of brunch, mains, pasta and dessert selections. Choices aren’t ample but doesn’t disappoint on both taste and presentation. Price range is within RM22. Expect more food varieties in near future.

Personally felt that The Mechanic Cafe brunch section has the most interesting dishes. Like how they creatively put together different, unexpected ingredients to uplift the combination and flavours of a common dish. From Mechanic Big Breakfast -Scrambled egg, chicken fillet, sausage, croissant, tomato, salad, bacon, sauteed mushroom RM22; to French Breakfast  – Mashed pumpkin, pork bolognese with baguatte, banana, kiwi, bacon RM20 ; Salmon & Avocado Breakfast – Scrambled Egg, salad, toast, avocado, salmon RM20; Golden Bread Toast – Grilled chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, signature dressing, all worth a try.

Settled down with Salmon & Avocado Breakfast. Crispy at the edges, chewy soft at the centre bread toast towered up with scrambled egg, slightly sweetened guacamole, and torched salmon. Served with a side of salad with The Mechanic very-own dressing.

Glad to tuck into such excellent scrambled egg after few unpleasant brunch experience in other cafes. The Mechanic Cafe’s version is fluffy and soft, moist but not “watery”, further laced with buttery aroma. Soooo good! Those equally delicious torched salmon is a great surprise in taste too!

Aglio-olio is decently curated, tossing spaghetti with bacon, capsicum, garlic, mushroom, onion and chilli flakes. Other pasta options are carbonara, seafood, and pork bolognese. No rice available on current menu. Meat eaters can have chicken chop and pork chop. Yeap, you see it right. They have pork and bacon.

For beverage, Mechanic Cafe is good at filter coffee. Chemix, pour over, aeropress – pick your favourite. Cold brew, long black, cappuccino, flat white, flavoured latte and mocha are available too. Summerkid sticks to his favourite white – latte, while Summergirl goes for Hot Matcha at RM12. Non coffee lovers can enjoy Single Origin Chocolate, juices, iced tea, and soda.

Overall reviews: Highly recommended. Lovely place with friendly people. Nice food, excellent service. Like this place so much that we really feel like keeping this hidden gem to ourselves initially but at the same time, hoping to share this awesome place to all cafe hoppers, coffee lovers, and cafe photography enthusiasts. Oh well, we share in the end. Hope you will like The Mechanic Cafe too. =D

The Mechanic Cafe

Address:
(*opposite to 一粥二烤)
Jalan Dataran Cheras 8,
Dataran Perniagaan Cheras,
43200 Balakong, Cheras, Selangor.
Contact: 03-9544 2373
Opening Hours: 11AM – 10PM (Closed on Mondays)