After over 40 years of the famous Restoran Gembira, the all-new Hakka Legend coffee shop in Taman Megah has taken over this nostalgic location in 2023. And in September, I had the pleasure of visiting and trying this new coffee shop here.
Before you continue, I’m not a hard-core foodie like many out there, but I grew up in the 80s trying some of the Klang Valley’s best coffee shops from those days. So, this article is to share my personal experience here.
Hakka Legend Coffee Shop in Taman Megah
For me, coffee shops should be simple and easy, but since the pandemic, much has changed, and many of you will have noticed the steep increases in food prices nowadays, including drinks. But somehow, the Kedai Kopi culture is hard to shake off, especially when I grew up with that.
In May of 2023, news of Restoran Gembira closing was being shared on social media as the article came out in the Malay Mail, and many PJ folks were quite sad that an iconic place was being closed. Apparently, someone else had offered the landlord a better offer, hence, Hakka Legend.
Now to the review – I walked in one Saturday morning in September, and the Hakka Legend was a full house. There was literally no space, so I just wanted to see what are the hawkers here. I walked towards the back, and an empty 2-seater table was available to my luck.
I ordered a hot black coffee (RM2.80) and steamed bread with cold butter (RM4.50), which was fairly decent if you ask me. But when I looked at the rest of the menu, I was surprised that the premium drinks like Nescafe and Milo were almost cafe-like prices at RM5.00 for iced versions.
Looking around, I started to observe the hawkers, and to my surprise, a couple of the old Gembira hawkers were still there. The rest were all new hawkers, and the food selection was impressive. I am not sure about the taste because I would need to order several dishes over time.
And, for those who suspected something, yes, you are correct – Hakka Legend is under the ownership of Kaw Kaw Pak Kopi, which is why you see a few familiar faces here. And to confirm this, I spoke to one of them, who was formerly from the SS2 branch. He casually replied, “Yah, same owner“. So, enjoy the photos below.
Hawker Stalls at Hakka Legend
At the time of writing this, in September 2023, the list of hawkers is as follows;
- Bukit Mertajam Chicken Rice
- Ipoh Horhee Fishball Noodles and Lum Mee
- Wan Tan Mee
- Seremban Beef Noodles by Cow Brother
- Penang White Curry
- Chee Cheong Fun and Yong Tau Foo
- Penang Fried Kuay Teow
- Fish Head Noodle by Yong Kee
- Pork Noodle by E&Y 12
- Melaka Popia
Photos of Hakka Legend
Below are random photos taken with my Galaxy S22 Ultra, as that’s my current choice for review photography.
Hakka Legend Coffee Shop in Taman Megah Address
- Address: 39, Jln SS 24/8, Taman Megah, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
- Business Hours: 6.30 AM to 9.00 PM
Take note that this coffee shop can get crowded on weekends, and parking is also quite tricky, so one needs to be patient when visiting this place. Remember to breathe in and out when the traffic is at a standstill.
Conclusion
As many will say, ‘willing buyer, willing seller’, so the price of the drinks and food is slightly higher than your regular coffee shop, but it seems like some of the crowd doesn’t mind paying. For me, I will probably drop during the less crowded periods.
And for the record, Restoran Gembira is now located at Taman Mayang, at the corner behind the old Lim Kok Weng College. Most of the old hawkers have moved there. But in this evolving landscape of coffee shops, it’s not easy to find good ones nowadays, especially with foreign workers operating the stalls.
I hope you enjoyed my Hakka Legend Coffee Shop in Taman Megah review and hope you have an enjoyable experience there. Make sure you go early on weekends; otherwise, it will be crowded, and there is no ticket or waiting system. It’s a free and easy style.
If you want to attempt on reviewing food, I think you should also mentioned why this place is call hakka legend but there’s no hakka food available? 😉 and probably you should try at least one hawker stall first since you are already there. I haven’t try but I doubt any of the hawkers here can beat the legendary Gembirans. Anyhow, shall give them a try b4 judging too much.
Hello Sam, thanks for your honest opinion. I’ll do that the next time, get more detailed information. 🙂
I think this place has closed shop already? Went there twice also closed shop with no notice. Not even half a year? Anyway, the food are so so, price expensive. Only good thing is it opens early, if you are out and about at 7:30am. Also very suprising…what Hakka Legend? There is nothing Hakka in this place. You might as well call it Italian Legend.
Haha, Italian Legend! Good one. I think they are closed every Tuesday. So, did you go on that day? Or maybe they closed for renovations. I’ll swing by one of these days to check and see. Yes, the food is quite pricey, and also, many other coffee shops nowadays also started to charge premium. RM8-9 for small portion! Thanks for informing.
This restaurant had a really nice curry noodle and most rubbish chicken rice stall possible in 100 km radius. They forcefully charges extra Rm 2.5/pack for “chinese new year”. Hello, today is 7th Jan of Chinese calendar already, and they want to charge CNY preparation timeframe of money, let along they are foreigners, not even the CHINESE in that restaurant do charges. It’s not like cannot, but why not inform in advance? Literally, the price is full stated at the front of the stall, you could make a temporary changes to inform so client can choose whether or not to buy, NOT TO SCAM AT THE LAST MOMENT. This is literally police-reportable.
Thanks for the info and wah! Still got people charge like that? Not good leh…. but appreciate the feedback and hopefully shop owner see this.