Cafeography
Bakeri · Kuala Lumpur

Bakery cafés in Kuala Lumpur

Charcoal-oven egg tarts, RM2 kaya puffs, and newer sourdough and bagel bakeries.

Photo: Jimmy Liao, Pexels License

Baking in Kuala Lumpur runs on two lines. The older one is Chinese. Bunn Choon was a teahouse on Petaling Street in 1893, and the owner's grandfather later turned it into a dim sum shop and bakery with charcoal ovens.1 Chiap Tong, near Masjid Jamek, was founded in 1942 and in 2016 still made lemon creams and coconut melts by the kilo.2

The newer line is sourdough, pastry and bagels, often in converted houses and old industrial buildings. Mont Kiara has the most bakery cafés, ahead of Sentul, Bukit Bintang and Old Klang Road, where Charlie's Cafe & Bakery, Palmier Patisserie and Superfluous Bakery share Jalan Bukit Desa 5; Bangsar and Chinatown come next, and the rest are spread one to an area, from Bukit Damansara to Kepong and Petaling Jaya.

Local tip: Go early for traditional baking: the kaya pushcart off Jalan Yap Ah Loy opens at 07:00, closes at 13:00, skips Sundays and takes cash only.3

Where these cafés are: Mont Kiara & Sri Hartamas (4), Sentul & Titiwangsa (3), Old Klang Road & Taman Desa (3), Bukit Bintang (3), Chinatown & Merdeka Square (2), Bangsar (2), Kepong & Sungai Penchala (1), Taman Tun Dr Ismail (1), Jalan TAR & Chow Kit (1), Petaling Jaya (1), KLCC (1), Bukit Damansara (1).

At a glance

23Cafés listed
9With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
00:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Chef Kecik Boulangerie, from 08:00 (Daily 08:00–22:00).
  • Closes latest: The Ice Cream Bar, until 00:00 (Mon–Thu 13:00–23:00 · Fri–Sat 12:30–00:00 · Sun 13:00–23:00).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (22%), outdoor seating (9%), smoke-free indoors (9%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Kuala Lumpur.

Egg tarts and kaya puffs

Bunn Choon's egg tarts have a crust made with pork lard, and the fourth-generation owner, Wong Kok Tong, added charcoal black sesame and green tea versions.1 In 2016 Time Out's round of Petaling Street bakers found kaya rolls, durian tarts, wife biscuits and charcoal-toasted egg cakes.2

Kaya, a coconut and egg jam, also comes from a pushcart off Jalan Yap Ah Loy. Wong Pek Yoke, 84, and her late husband started the cart in 1974; her son now does the baking. As of October 2026, a kaya kok (kaya puff) cost RM2 and a slice of kaya Swiss roll RM2.50, cash only, from 07:00 to 13:00, Monday to Saturday.3

Sourdough from Bukit Tunku

Kenny Hills Bakers takes its name from the old name of Bukit Tunku. The filmmaker Au Tai Hon opened it in January 2015 with the recipes and head baker of Craft Bakers in Solaris Dutamas, which had closed two months earlier, and its first loaves were sourdough, ciabatta and baguettes made with stone-ground organic flour.4

The original began in a half-lot in Taman Tunku, off Langgak Tunku. By 2023 there were at least five more branches, including Bangsar, Desa Park City, Jalan Ampang, TTDI and Putrajaya, selling croissants, cinnamon Danish pastries and gluten-free buns.5

Bagels in a railway workshop

Grumpy Bagels began as a pandemic project in Dubai by Claire Tan, a former Emirates flight attendant, and its first Kuala Lumpur café is a renovated, once-abandoned bungalow on Jalan Kamuning, off Jalan Imbi. On 1 February 2026 it opened a second outlet, Grumpy Bagels 1905, in the Diesel Room at Sentul Depot, with more than 13 kinds of bagel.6

The depot's name dates the building. The Federated Malay States Railways built the Sentul workshops from 1905, employing up to 5,000 workers; they were bombed during the Japanese occupation, operations moved to Batu Gajah in Perak in 2009, and YTL Land began restoring them in 2018.7

Where the bakery cafés are

In Sentul, Artisan Roast's D7 café doubles as a bakery, and No. 10 Cafe on Jalan Sentul and Tea Thambi on Lorong Sentul Kecil are nearby. In Bukit Bintang, Chef Kecik Boulangerie runs 08:00–22:00 daily and Grumpy Bagels 09:00–17:00. Moontree House, a vegan bakery-café at 6 Jalan Panggung in Chinatown, opens 10:00–20:00 and closes on Tuesdays.

Further out, Lisette's Café & Bakery at 8 Jalan Kemuja opens 08:00–20:00 every day, Smith Bakery & Cafe in Bukit Damansara 10:00–21:00, and Summer Bakes' at G-11 Jalan 5/62A in Kepong 11:00–21:00, closed Tuesdays. Charlie's Cafe & Bakery on Jalan Bukit Desa 5 keeps lunch hours only, 11:00–15:00.

Sources

  1. Bunn Choon, Time Out Kuala Lumpur (19 June 2015), accessed October 2026
  2. Traditional Chinese bakeries in KL, Time Out Kuala Lumpur (19 September 2016), accessed October 2026
  3. Old-school kaya treats in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, The Star via Asia News Network (Yan Yitong, 2 October 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. Kenny Hills Bakers, Bukit Tunku, EatDrinkKL (29 January 2015), accessed October 2026
  5. Kenny Hills Bakers, Time Out Kuala Lumpur (22 September 2023), accessed October 2026
  6. Grumpy Bagels Opens New Sentul Depot Outlet With Fairytale Charm, SAYS (Tamara Jayne, 30 January 2026), accessed October 2026
  7. Did You Know That The 110-Year-Old Sentul Depot Was Attacked In World War II?, SAYS (7 July 2020), accessed October 2026
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By area: Chinatown & Merdeka Square Jalan TAR & Chow Kit KLCC Bukit Bintang Bangsar Mont Kiara & Sri Hartamas

FAQ

Bakery cafés in Kuala Lumpur: questions

Where can you buy kaya puffs in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown?

From a pushcart off Jalan Yap Ah Loy, near Petaling Street, run by Wong Pek Yoke, 84, and her son, who does the baking. The cart dates from 1974. As of October 2026 a kaya kok (kaya puff) cost RM2 and kaya Swiss roll RM2.50, cash only, 07:00 to 13:00 from Monday to Saturday.

What is the history of Bunn Choon egg tarts in Kuala Lumpur?

Bunn Choon began as a Chinese teahouse on Petaling Street in 1893. A later generation turned it into a dim sum shop and bakery with charcoal ovens. Its egg tarts have a pastry made with pork lard, and Wong Kok Tong, the fourth-generation owner, added charcoal black sesame and green tea versions.

Where are the Grumpy Bagels bakery cafés in Kuala Lumpur?

The first Kuala Lumpur café is in a renovated bungalow on Jalan Kamuning, off Jalan Imbi in Bukit Bintang, open 09:00 to 17:00. A second outlet, Grumpy Bagels 1905, opened on 1 February 2026 in the Diesel Room at Sentul Depot, railway workshops built from 1905 and restored by YTL Land.

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