Peekaboo Café: Totoro-Themed Café In Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur

While Peekaboo Café might not exactly be a hidden coffee place per se, we did drive past it the first time.

Unaware that it’s located on the 2nd floor of the Jalan Jalil Perkasa 13 shophouses, we missed it.

But if you were to look closely, a Totoro will greet you, albeit a slightly puzzled-looking one.

Take the steps up to the 2nd floor and you would find a large Totoro mural.

Cosy up right next to it and snap a picture here as this is one of the more iconic places to take a selfie at in Peekaboo, whether you’re about to leave or enter.

Located right next to a park, this Bukit Jalil café has a friendly neighbourhood vibe and parking shouldn’t be a problem, especially on weeknights.

And upon entering, you would find a whole collection of Totoro figurines and plush toys adorning every corner of the space. Some might find it to be a little too much but true Totoro fans will feel right at home.

Amongst the plush toys of every shape and size, we found our favourite in a Totoro-shaped pillow of the grey character munching away on a slice of watermelon.

During our recent review at Peekaboo, we were joined by readers, Jymix and Shi Yuan.

The siblings are students majoring in Accounting & Finance and Advertising respectively and the younger of the pair, Shi Yuan, was coincidentally back for the week.

Shi Yuan is currently out of state and pursuing her studies elsewhere. When asked if catchup sessions are rare among the 24 and 22-year-old, they laughed and nodded yes.

In fact, it has been a while since the pair had hung out at a café together and today was the perfect opportunity to do so, what more since they live within the Bukit Jalil area.

Tucking into our first meal of the evening, both sisters gave the dish a thumbs up.

The Smoked Salmon Croissant (RM25) is a freshly-baked croissant paired with smoked salmon, green coral lettuce, tomatoes, thousand island sauce, wedges and an herbs salad.

We enjoyed how the croissant bread wasn’t too buttery or rich as the dish is a carb-heavy one. As for the wedges, they were soft and mushy but not at all oily. Also, the fact that they are smaller than typical large wedges made eating the bite-sized pieces a lot easier. There isn’t much to fault with the Smoked Salmon Croissant and although it is a simple dish, it’s done well.

Next came Peekaboo’s house specialty: the Three Cup Chicken Pasta (RM25).

Comprising of a marinated chicken thigh, garlic, chilli, shemeji mushrooms, cooking wine, herbs and the chef’s special 3 cup sauce, this is an aromatic platter.

It’s easy to tell why the Three Cup Chicken Pasta is the restaurant’s bestseller just from the scent wafting from the plate alone.

Steeped in fragrant cooking wine, the noodles are al dente and the chicken, tender. Shi Yuan noted that older folks who are not quite accustomed to having Western dishes as a meal, could then opt for this dish as although it’s a pasta, it’s very much an Asian recipe—basically, Western yee mee.

The Grilled Chicken Chop (RM28) is a marinated chicken thigh cooked in the chef’s secret recipe, cooking wine, steamed egg, an herbs salad and french fries.

This was a bit of a letdown, especially as we did enjoy the previous 2 platters.

Jymix pointed out that the egg and chicken does not gel as well together and though we had high hopes for the grilled chicken chop, the fact that it was slightly bland and lacked of sauce was a bit disappointing.

We moved on to the desserts next and had the Matcha Coffee Latte Waffle which came with a side of matcha and cream sauces.

Do pour this sparingly as the sauce is of the runny sort and just a little would do the trick. The waffle has a soft, slightly cake-y texture and Shi Yuan shared that it tasted more like a waffle kuih, rather than a crispy dessert.

If you enjoy your waffles soft, you would like this. As both Shi Yuan and Jymix preferred crispy waffles, this was a bit of a letdown for ’em but personally for me, I found the taste to be unique and sponge-y.

Our final dessert was the Earl Grey Latte Waffles. While paired with the same soft waffles, the sorbet-like Earl Grey Latte ice cream was refreshing, especially as mint is added into the dessert. This helped to cut through the richness of the thick cream that the waffles is served with.

Shi Yuan gave this platter a thumbs up as she particularly enjoyed the thick cream. She laughed as she shared that she once downed a whole tub of cream and it didn’t come as a surprise that she finished every last bit of it on the plate.