Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery @ SS16, Subang Jaya

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery is a homey, cosy cafe operated by a Japanese couple in Subang Jaya. It has quite a following for its baked goods as well as home-cooked Japanese dishes. It is also a good place to chill and have a cuppa.

     

Logo

   

Shop Front

   
The shop is located at the ground floor of the apartment complex adjacent to Carrefour which makes it quite easy to spot. However, if you're not familiar with Subang Jaya, do take care not to miss the turning and end up on the elevated highway to Federal Highway instead =P
     

Array of bread loaves

    
There are always freshly made bread, cookies and cakes available and the popular ones get sold out quickly.

     

Mushroom Cup Soup and Butter Roll (RM 4.50)

     
Quite affordable, don't you think? The butter roll came fresh from the oven and was too hot to handle with hands. Once it cooled down, it was soft and spongy and had a nice crust to it. The mushroom soup here is very watery, not the thick kind that is served in most restaurants. I think you can literally drink the soup from the cup itself. The soup had a milky taste flavoured lightly with herbs and there were also slices of button mushrooms for added texture.

      

Rokomoko Don (RM 18.90)

    
The Rokomoko Don is one of the more popular choices with a beef patty slathered in a sweet, tangy Rokomoko sauce and topped with a perfectly fried sunny side-up. As this is a donburi, rice is provided within a ring of fresh lettuce and shredded cabbage. The plate is decorated prettily with alternating cucumber slices and cherry tomato halves.
   
The beef patty is typical Japanese hanbaagu which is very moist and not as firm as Western style patties. The sauce is actually quite salty and tangy but it tastes better once you pair it with the unseasoned vegetables. This is comfort food at its best so do give it a try if you're feeling a little down =P

    

See the huge patty?

    

Croquette (RM 9.90)

      
I insisted we order a side of Croquette as I have not tried them before. The ones at Haikara are mixed with minced chicken and onions and drizzled with Haikara sauce which tasted somewhat like Brown sauce. The Croquettes were deep fried to a crisp texture and were quite good. I felt there was something a little off about its taste...probably the addition of minced chicken? Or it could be because I had conjured a taste of how fried mashed potatoes are supposed to taste like and this didn't taste like it =.= Anyway it's just odd me and I assure you the Croquettes are actually quite nice =) JS liked them so you can trust his unbiased and unfussy judgement.

     

Chicken Katsu Sandwich (RM 13.90)

     
The Chicken Katsu Sandwich didn't look like much from the picture in the menu but trust me, it's huge. The chicken katsu is sandwiched between two thick slabs of toasted homemade white bread and covered with a mixture of mayonnaise and mustard - you can opt for mayonnaise, mustard or a combination of the two. The sandwich is served with a side salad, a dollop of mayonnaise and a couple of wedges.
      
The chicken katsu here is lovely - moist and crispy. The mixture of mayo and mustard gives quite a kick and enhances the overall taste. I find it a little hard to stuff the sandwich into my mouth though due to the thick bread slices. I also noted that the bottom of the sandwich is rather oily but the sandwich is really good and comes highly recommended. JS agreed but he preferred Aoi Tei - I think both are equally good, just that Haikara's has a homemade feel to it whereas Aoi Tei has a more professional look to it.
    
The side salad was rather bland as it is not seasoned but I guess it is intended to balance the katsu sandwich. The wedges were surprisingly good due to the spiced seasoning - pity there were only 3.

      

See the katsu slab?

On an earlier visit, JS had the Chicken Vegetable Spicy Pasta (RM 18.90). It was quite light with a healthy vegetable broth-turned-gravy coating the pasta.
    
JS and I really like Haikara for its cosy ambience and we are already planning for the next visit back to sample the other dishes that caught our eyes. Oh another thing I noticed was that the proprietress - a slim, tall Japanese lady - looks very much like one Japanese actress called Natsuki Mari =P

     

PawPoints: 4 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

   
http://haikara.com.my/index.php

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery

E-Tiara Ground Floor
Jalan Kemajuan SS 16/1
Subang Jaya
Tel: 03 5630 0743
Tue - Thur: 11am - 11pm
Fri - Sat: 10am - 11pm
Sun: 10am - 6.30pm