IU Cafe @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

IU Cafe is located in Taman Intan Setia, Tanjung Malim. This is one of those Chinese owned cafe's in town which serve both Chinese and Western fare and the restaurant is Halal certified. Besides this, the Chef had also won a number of awards and these are at display inside the restaurant. This establishment has been around for a number of years now but somehow, I never visited them till tonight.Perhaps, I am hardly at this side of town which is along the old trunk road heading towards Ipoh. Even tonight, I came here deliberately to try out the food here, not an area that I pass often.

Outdoor Seating

Halal Certification Visible

Indoors

Simple Interior

Family Owned Enterprise

Tonight, the place was not too crowded, nevertheless it still had an encouraging number of customers. The place has both indoor and outdoor seating areas. The indoors were air conditioned and the outdoor area was well ventilated with ceiling fans. Not much of a decor but the place was simple and clean. Seems very much like a family owned business as everyone, right from the kids to adults were seen helping out with the orders and serving. Service was prompt. The moment I walked in, I occupied a table close to the entrance and one of the lady's there handed me the menu. Not much of an interaction seen from her but I was okay with it. After all, I came here for dinner and not to strike a conversation with her.

Chinese Dishes

Western Dishes

Set Meals

Chef's Recommendations

More Dishes

Drink Varieties

Halal Certification & Address

The menu was a double sided, laminated piece of paper. They did have a wide range of dishes right from Chinese to Western and some Italian variety. It took me a while to go through the entire menu and since it was my very first trip here, I wanted to be sure that I had gone through all the listed items and make my decision based on what excites me. It took me a while though. Their Halal Certification is also printed on their menu card and that is an excellent move as it clears and doubts whatsoever. Prices seemed very reasonable to me and what attracted me was their Set Western Meals which seemed very reasonably priced. I finally called one of them and had a short chat. This was mainly to clarify some of the dishes as I wanted something grilled instead of the deep fried variety. Having received the necessary clarifications, I finally went on with my orders. I chose Set A which comes with some Mushroom Soup, Grilled Chicken Chop, Ice Cream and a drink for the price of RM 16.90 . A good deal I must say but once again, this could only be validated after I see the portion sizes. 

Cutlery

Pepsi

Pepsi

From my observation, only one person seems to be working in the kitchen and he is handling all the preparation himself. That was very evident. Initially a hunch, but it was confirmed later when I peeked into the kitchen on the way to the loo. That's why it took some time for every dish to be served as he had been preparing them all by himself. The clearing of the tables and serving was jointly done. But order taking was seen to be handled by one person only. Not sure if she is the bosses' wife. I assume that the boss must be the one preparing the food in the kitchen. Coming back to the drink, it was not a can of Pepsi but one from the 1.5L bottles. That was fine by me as I wasn't having very high expectations. Their cutlery seemed quite seasoned too. Ultimately, as long as it is functional, that's fine by me.

Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

The Mushroom Soup was definitely a product of Campbells and not one that was prepared from scratch in the kitchen. Of course, for this price range, I don't expect them to serve such kind of soup too. Anyway, this was the instant type which they had used as I could see some lumps sticking together and floating in the soup. Perhaps he had not thoroughly mixed them. Not a big deal though as I could do that on my end too. It would not be right for me to rate this as all credits should go to Campbells and not these guys and as such, I'll skip that here.

Set A @ RM 16.90

Grilled Chicken Chop Set

After a 20 minute wait, the main dish arrived. The Grilled Chicken was indeed quite huge and they gave a very lavish amount of Black Pepper Sauce in a bowl. On the sides, there were some Coleslaw, Cucumber and Fries. I'm impressed with the portions!

Grilled Chicken

Grilled Chicken

I must confess that the preparation was just awesome! The chicken cut was thick, large and it was grilled to perfection. The chicken was tender, just the way that it should be and the chef had also spent time marinating this and not solely relying on the Black Pepper Sauce for flavours. I tried a bite or two and it was already delicious on it's own. Impressed! Very impressed! I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Black Pepper Sauce

Black Pepper Sauce

The Black Pepper Sauce was another one that impressed me. It was thick, filled with bursting flavours and they gave a whole bowl load of it. Man, that was one heavenly Black Pepper Sauce that I truly loved! Excellent! I would say that it truly deserves a rating of 10/10 .

Coleslaw

Coleslaw

Generally, I don't quite like Coleslaw but this one was very good. I think I loved it simply because the greens were fresh. Moreover, the preparation was also excellent! I wound rate this at 9/10 .

Fries

The Fries were quite ordinary. Nothing great about it. The good thing was that it was not greasy and overly salted. Decent would be the word for this and I would rate it at 7/10 .

Vanilla Ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream

Finally, once dinner was done, I was served the above Vanilla Ice Cream which was part of the package. This was a let down. Definitely not Walls, it tasted a little bland and floury. Old stock? Not too sure but it definitely tasted odd and off. I would rate this at 3/10 .

With that, I walked up to the cashier and paid for my meal. They seemed too busy and it was hard to catch anyone's attention to come over to my table and present my the check. So, I decided to just walk over and get this sorted. Overall, I am very impressed with the Grilled Chicken Chop and their Black Pepper Sauce. I think that it's the best that I have tried in Tanjung Malim. Perhaps, I should solely stick to their Ala Carte grills the next time I am here instead of their Set Meals. Would love to try their Lamb Chop someday too!

Address: No. 75, Taman Intan Setia, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1200 - 1500 & 1730 - 2200 Daily

Telephone: +605 456 2100