KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — There's always excitement when a new eatery opens in the neighbourhood. After all, it opens up different possibilities, jazzing up everyone's daily routine when it comes to food choices.

It's no exception for Cozo Cafe.

In Taman Alam Jaya, casual neighbourhood eateries with air conditioning aren't common. Instead, this area which is on the way to the popular hikers spot Ah Pek Hill is peppered with coffee shops.

I only came here as my friend was raving about their chicken rice.

Opened for about two weeks, it's been attracting curious residents. The cafe is part of the Cozo group with its pre-school, child care centre and teacher academy.

You know they're extremely serious about their chicken rice when half a page in the menu is dedicated to it.

Select between the Magic Chicken or the Special Kampung Chicken. The Magic Chicken is essentially the smooth poached chicken, while the Special Kampung Chicken refers to the slightly tougher free range chicken.

Next, depending on who's eating, you can order a whole chicken, half or quarter portion to share. An add-on of RM3 is required for a bowl of rice.

Solo eaters can opt for the set meal with their favourite part of the chicken, a choice of thigh, drumstick, breast or the wing portion. It starts from RM8.90 for the Magic Chicken set meal with either chicken breast or the wing portion.

I went for the Special Kampung Chicken Drumstick Set (RM18.90). On my tray were four sauces for my yellow skin chicken and rice. Talk about being spoiled for choice.

The chicken lives up to its roaming life with tougher meat and yellow tinged skin. My friend prefers the Magic Chicken instead, as it gives better value with a larger portion plus a softer texture for the meat.

Again, it's personal preference, so select what you like.

The rice here isn't the generic one with a pale yellow hue. Instead the grains are pale brown and fragrant, since it's been stir fried with aromatics to drive flavour into each individual grain.

You will notice that the chicken is served without the usual drizzling sauce. Here that is served on the side, allowing you to customise how much you want to add to your protein.

That's the fun here. The combination of sauces lets you explore different permutations of flavour.

Add a dash of the drizzling sauce that is like a very light flavoured soy sauce with sliced red chillies that impart just a touch of spiciness.

Or eat your chicken with that fragrant, chunky ginger paste with spring onions. If ginger isn't your thing, there's also a milder sliced shallots dip.

And of course, a must is the chilli sauce. This one has a kick, with a spicy zing and tanginess.

So what's there to eat if you're not into chicken rice? Well, there's always the perennial favourite of chicken chop.

I admit I often dread eating chicken chop. Most places prefer to settle for the frozen, generic type with bread crumbs. It's also thin and sometimes, it doesn't even taste like chicken!

We decided to take a chance and ordered the Chicken Chop (RM20.90). It comes with a salad and thin cut fries that are golden brown and crunchy. There's also an option to have it with rice

Here, they are brave enough to serve their chicken sans brown sauce. Honestly, it doesn't need any enhancement, as it tastes like juicy grilled chicken with a lightly charred skin.

It's also a thicker piece, making it a substantial bite.

And with any new place, one needs to spy on others to see what's popular. It looks like the Fish & Chips (RM21.90) is also a crowd favourite, where two pieces of battered fish are on the plate. That's definitely on the next visit's order.

The menu omits pork, settling instead for chicken, fish and vegetarian substitutes. Apparently from what I understand, their long term goal is to apply for halal certification.

Other dishes to consider include nasi lemak, homemade chicken burger and hor fun chicken noodles.

I didn't try out the Hor Fun Chicken Noodles but my friend was not impressed after sampling it on an earlier visit. Instead, we opted for their vegetarian Wantan Mee Char Siew (RM12.90).

It's a tasty, fragrant dish with springy noodles. However it veers to the sweeter side, which I am personally not a fan of. The vegetarian char siew is nice though with its layers of beancurd skin.

Other meat-free options include a mushroom burger and spaghetti with vegetarian garlic. There's also loh mai kai listed too but so far, it's not yet available.

The coffee is good too. Select from local coffee or cups of latte, espresso and even mocha. The Iced Cham (RM6.90) is fragrant and not too sweet.

Cozo Cafe, 22, Jalan Alam Jaya 15, Taman Alam Jaya, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 8am to 4pm. Closed on Sunday. Tel:03-90815505. Facebook: @CozoCafeMalaysia Instagram: @cozocafe_my

*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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