FewLab Coffee is a Muslim-owned establishment, first opened in 2023 as a nondescript café serving both food and coffee. Just last year, they relocated to Kampung Bahru in JB with a new direction and aesthetic. Tucked away in a quieter corner of Johor Bahru (still relatively accessible with just a 15min Grab ride from JB Sentral), the café is housed in a 2-storey ex-residential home with a wide front yard for alfresco dining.
Through the bungalow’s main gate then the house’s door, I entered the café to find myself in a minimally designed space which felt like an interior designer’s living room. All the elements weaved together seamlessly: the orange corner couch, wooden bookshelf, arching lamp, old school floor tiles. The vibe was retro with a touch of modern.
There was a relaxed, almost jazzy ambience, and the overall atmosphere leans towards calm and relaxing.
The food menu offers All Day Breakfast (big breakfast, pancakes, waffles), Asian dishes (wok fried rice, smoky lemak chili padi with white rice), a Main dish (cajun roast chicken), Toasts, Snacks, Pastas and Desserts. Unfortunately, most of the items were not available when I visited, so I made do with the limited choices.
I had the Grilled Chicken Aglio Olio (RM14, SGD4.5) which was pleasantly garlicky with both chicken and spaghetti not overly salted or oily. The dish was not fancy like one you can find in an Italian restaurant, it was more like a comfort homecooked pasta.
The drinks menu has a range of coffees such as espresso, filter, signature coffee drinks, and non-coffee drinks such as soda and matcha. Some of the aesthetic drinks you might want to try are their Matcha Strawberry (RM14) with salty strawberry cream and Matcha Earl Grey (RM15, SGD4.8) with earl grey and salty white cream.
As for me, I stuck with my usuals, i.e. the Hot White (RM11, SGD3.5) and Hot Matcha Latte (RM12, SGD3.8).
The White I had were brewed by Louvre Brewer in JB, using beans from Yunnan’s Lan Chang Tian Hao. It had a flavour profile of raisin, winey chocolate, and orange peel. Meanwhile, the matcha was whisked with Midori matcha powder. Both drinks were alright, though they had a slightly heavier mouthfeel than my preference.
Thanks to the simple yet unpretentious fare and cosy atmosphere, I felt like I was comfortably lounging in a friend’s living room and dining room, idling the afternoon away.
15a, Jalan Mariamah 9, Kampung Bahru, 80100 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia
Mon – Thu 12pm to 8pm
Fri – Sun 4pm – 12am
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 