SS15 is fast becoming a popular destination for those seeking good coffee

Ask anyone about SS15 Subang Jaya and you will get answers like, "it is a place for students", "parking is horrible", and "there are tonnes of cafes and restaurants".

On the flip side, SS15 is also a trend setting area, thanks to its wide population of students.

The coffee culture in the Klang Valley is fast booming with tonnes of cafes, both big and small, mushrooming in all areas.

SS15 was not spared from the current trend.

In the past two years, cafes in SS15 have become "the place" for students, young and hip.

It has also attracted young adults and families with high purchasing power.

I will not say that the mamak culture has died down, thanks to the coffee culture, but it is certainly undeniable that it is being overtaken by it.

The infectious culture has spread from one youngster to the next and onto social media, with them sharing different coffee art and snapping away at a new cafe they have discovered that serves a decent cup of coffee accompanied with a hearty meal.

At SS15, one will be spoilt for choice when choosing a place to have a cup of Joe.

You may choose mamak restaurants like Pelita or Darussalam, or coffee franchises like Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, or even newer coffee outlets such as Coffea Coffee or Cosans Coffee.

In recent years, more new independent cafes have come up in SS15, which not only soothes your coffee cravings but also provides an enjoyable meal.

At SS15, there are cafes that cater to different types of customers - the cafe-retail store, the counter-culture cafe, the pet lovers cafe, and the home and lifestyle cafe.

These cafes are all active until the wee hours of the morning, where the peak of their business is usually after 10pm.

Here are some of them.

The Retail-Cafe
Grafa

Grafa was first opened in 2010 as a fixed gear shop for bicycles and a design house by husband-and-wife team, Fadli Rosli and Haliza Halim.

As the fixed gear trend slowly dwindled, the couple, in August 2012, decided to turn Grafa into a cafe-cum-retail store.

Grafa now serves fusion meals and coffee.

On a daily basis, the cafe is visited by both youngsters and families.

Its manager, Ahmad Falique Najmudin, said families step in Grafa from 8pm to 10pm for dinner whereas more students and young adults visit Grafa after 10pm.

Its retail store, Pattern Store, sells local products that the couple curate. It also sees a wide range of international items, such as shades, key chains and shirts which are mainly from the US.

If you decide to visit Grafa, Ahmad Falique recommends the fried rice with soft-shell crab and paprika chicken pasta.

Grafe is located at 55, SS15/4B, Subang Jaya.

Home and lifestyle cafe
Good Friends Restaurant and Cafe

Run by friends, this restaurant and cafe may be new to the neighbourhood but was previously operating in Ara Damansara for one-and-a-half years.

Chef and co-owner K.C. Choong said the idea of a restaurant and cafe came up due to his love for food while his friends were very much into coffee.

Their cafe serves your everyday variety of coffee and also presents hand drip and syphon coffee.

"We don't just focus on coffee here as we also serve a range of fusion meals.

Speaking about the menu, he said it would soon be turned into an open menu where breakfast and lunch meals are also served for dinner.

Some of meals in the menu are home recipes and he ensures that everything cooked in the kitchen is healthy.

"No food preservatives and processed food are used. Everything from A-Z in the menu is homemade," said Choong.

Good Friends Restaurant and Cafe is also a place to organise events. They have welcomed weddings and birthday parties while open mics with local celebrities are held monthly.

The restaurant and cafe is frequented by both youngsters and families.

The lunch crowd during weekdays will see many customers from nearby offices.

Choong recommends that newcomers try the restaurant's breakfast dishes, curry chicken, teochew spaghetti and lemon green chicken.

Good Friends Organic Sdn Bhd is located at 15 and 17, Jalan SS15/8A, Subang Jaya.

Pet lovers cafe
Coffee Cottage

For those who love coffee and enjoy the company of cats, Coffee Cottage is the perfect place for you.

Coffee Cottage is a cat-friendly place that was introduced to SS15 folk two months ago.

"We at Coffee Cottage are a bunch of animal lovers who wanted to step into the food and beverage industry," said owner Warren Lim.

He said the idea came about as the coffee culture was brewing in Klang Valley and he decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Warren has pet stores in Taman Tun Dr Ismail called Puppy Cottage and Kitten Cottage.

As he would put it, Coffee Cottage is 80 per cent coffee and 20 per cent cats.

The cats in the Coffee Cottage are rescued street cats.

Don't be alarmed if you aren't a cat lover, these felines are separated from the main dining section of the cafe.

They have their own room, which is separated by a glass wall.

Visitors to the cafe can choose to sit with the cats while enjoying drinks and food or away from them.

Don't worry about cleanliness as the cats are trained and patrons who enter and leave the "cat room" are asked to sanitise their hands.

The room is also equipped with a UV light that fights off bacteria.

Warren said about 65 per cent of their customers are students.

Unlike some cafes, Coffee Cottage does not prepare food in the cafe as most of it is obtained from a supplier.

They serve a variety of cakes, pies and sandwiches to go along with a decent cup of coffee.

The best seller in Coffee Cottage is iced chocolate and cappuccino.

Coffee Cottage is located at 1-1 Jalan SS15/8A, Subang Jaya.

The cool and hip cafe
Tryst Cafe

According to Dictionary.com. tryst means 'an appointed place of meeting or an appointment to meet at a certain time and place especially one made somewhat secretly by lovers'.

This is exactly the aspiration of owners of Tryst Cafe. It is selected as "the" place to hang out.

Tryst Cafe is the hard work of Haikal Hashron Hashim and his brother-in-law and sister who decided to open up a cafe in SS15.

Why SS15?

It used to be a place where he would hang out with friends and knew that SS15 was a trendy place to set up a cafe.

The concept of their cafe is simple - it's a lifestyle cafe which attracts the "hip and cool people".

Walls in Tryst have graffitis, from detailing the type of people who would enjoy Tryst, to the owner's favourite movies and music.

Spotted on the wall is an image from the movie Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino.

When it comes to opening a cafe, Haikal believes that serving coffee alone would not sustain them.

As a group, they decided to team up with a sous chef from a hotel in Kuala Lumpur who came up with Tryst's interesting menu that had experimental food and drinks.

Customers who throng Tryst will spend their time completing assignments, playing board games or just hanging out while having a shisha.

Tryst is a place for foodies and coffee connoisseurs.

Those who enjoy coffee should try their cold drip coffee, which takes three days to complete and is chilled for a day before it is served. There is also the Cascara tea which is made from the fruit that surrounds the coffee bean. For juices, Haikal recommends trying their Tryst special soda which is made of strawberry, curacao and apple.

For experimental food, visitors should try their wide range of pancakes which take up about half their menu.

Among the pancakes they have is the steak pancake with gravy. Sounds interesting!

Tryst Cafe is located at 74, Jalan SS15/4C, Subang Jaya.