Garage 51 @ Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya

The Night Riders, the Fast and the Furious, the Mustangs, the Drifters; if you are one of them you will definitely know what PJS 11, Bandar Sunway is famous for - a township filled with car tuning, maintenance, accessories, and performance motorsports workshops and garages. Saw lots of students walking around too? Yes Sunway University is just around the corner. Wait, you caught a scent of pleasant coffee aroma too? That's Garage 51! So if you are a part time night car racer - cum - Sunway University student, who is also a caffei-niac (you definitely need your coffee if you spend most of your night speeding off to God-knows-where instead of sleeping), this area would be heaven for you!

Fun fact: The name '51' is taken from the factory block unit number, No. 51. Interestingly, I did a Google search and found an actual vehicle workshop near Brisbane, Australia, named Garage 51 too (http://garage51.com.au/)!

Bought to you by the same guys from CoffeeSociété (which happens to own only a small red bicycle outside their cafe), this much larger cafe also has a red vehicle as their mascot, this time a red convertible Beetle!

Concept wise, I would rank Garage 51 as one of the coolest themed cafe around Klang Valley. The team has actually brought in a modified shipping container into the garage, utilizing it as a kitchen. A stairway has been installed beside the container leading to the dining area on top of the container. This concept actually reminds me of the Container Hotel in KL. And it saves cost too, compared to the efforts needed to renovate a kitchen room from scratch. Clever idea ain't it? :)

Shipping container modified to a kitchen.

From the top of the container, you could oversea the whole cafe, with all the yellow light bulbs similar to the ones in CoffeeSociété. That being said, you might not get the cozy feeling those yellow light bulbs bring during daytime as the huge glass windows allow ample sunlight to brighten the whole cafe.

Using oil tanks as tables for cakes, and converting some into sofas - another innovative and cost-saving idea (very hipster too) that could attract more youngsters from the nearby university.

If you are wondering how is the crowd like in this hipster cafe, let me share my experience the morning I took these shots. I arrived earlier in the morning before 11:00 am (Garage 51's opening time), hoping to get a few pictures before the crowd starts flooding in. The crew was kind enough to let me hang around, and sharp at 11, the waitress took my order. During the next 20 minutes I was busy browsing through my freshly taken photos so intensely that I was not aware of my surroundings, and when I came to, not a single table was left empty! :O (no joke, full house in 20 minutes from opening time!)

If you love the food in CoffeeSociété, Garage 51 basically has very similar menu (with some slight change of names). 

An interesting coffee to try is the Mochatella, customers interaction is involved in the preparation of this beverage. It is served in a wooden serving board with in two separate components: a glass with few scoops of Nutella spreads at the bottom, topped with coffee freezed into ice cubes; and a jar of milk. You are then suppose to pour the milk into the Nutella-filled glass (amount depending on how diluted you want the Mochatella to be) and stir them up. The final result is, as what you are imagining right now, Nute-rrific ~

Hot cappuccino. The effect of water rationing - paper cups!

If dish names could influence your choice, then the 'Awesome Garage Breakfast' will definitely attract your attention. It is a dish nicely stacked with multiple layer of ingredients on top of a bagel. Pretty good presentation, and taste as good and filling as well :)

Awesome Garage Breakfast - Bagel with baked macaroni, smoked chicken, garage hash brown potato, free-range poached egg, and hollandaise.

Maria Parloa - Diced mushrooms, homemade hash potatoes, smoked cured salmon, free-range poached egg, and hollandaise.

FYI, note that Garage 51's kitchen is closed from 4pm to 6pm.

Turbo-charged coffee maker?

One of the most hipster-ish cafes in the Klang Valley, Garage 51 has definitely made in the list of must-visit-cafes around town to experience the unique garage-y concept. With eye catching menu such as the 'Awesome Garage Breakfast' and the 'Mochatella', you couldn't be more jealous of the Sunway University students or the racers / car experts who spend most of their hours around that area.

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