Jac’s on the 8th which was named after the owner, Jaclyn Ting has recently opened its door earlier this year, taking over the premise from Good Friends Cafe (which has since moved to SS15 Subang Jaya). Jaclyn, or Jac for short has an affinity for the number ‘eight’. “My birthday is on 8th August and I got married on the 8th June. We made the decision to buy the business when we saw the lot number”, referring to the current address for Jac’s on the 8th. There was certainly nothing pretentious about the cafe, as the environment was simple with minimal decorations. “I tried to avoid the industrial look which is the trend for most cafe nowadays since the customers here are basically looking for a more casual place to chill out.
Although her cafe’s range single origin coffee beans hog the limelight, the food served at Jac’s on the 8th were equally noteworthy. “We do not use preservatives, colourings or MSG as we want our customers to eat healthy and nutritious food”, she added. With the burger craze that has taken over the whole Klang Valley by storm in the recent months, Jac’s on the 8th has seemingly joined the fray as well.
The Tofu Chicken Burger (RM 14.90) which came with a homemade chicken and tofu patty was certainly tasty. “We minced the chicken meat together with organic tofu at our kitchen. The reason why we chose organic tofu is because the taste is so much more different that the conventional ones”, she explained.
Sticking to her belief in offering fresh food, the caramelised onions were freshly made too. “We used to caramelise it beforehand but we realised that the onions will turn bad too quickly”, she added. Using brioche buns was also a good choice too as they were light and has a tender crumb.
The abundance of mussels in the Fresh Blue Mussel Pasta (RM 24.90) was certainly a tell tale sign of how good the taste was. Using fresh chilean blue mussels, the pasta was cooked together with rum which added some character to the otherwise ordinary dish.
“Initially, our customers felt that the pasta was a little bit pricey but once they saw the generous amount of mussels that we put in, they were very happy”, she smiled.
Chicken Teriyaki (RM 16.90) hit off with the right note using delightfully sweet sauce that graced the pan-fried chicken. The accompanied soba has a nice crunchiness that gave the entire dish an interesting mix of texture too.
“It is a yummy combination. We mix the sauce ourselves using imported Japanese ingredients. Even the soba is imported as well”, Jacyln said. Adding that she doesn’t pre-prepare the soba, the dish came with warmly served noodles. She also mentioned that the use of boneless chicken thigh instead of breast meat was to ensure that the taste gets penetrated into much easier.
According to Jaclyn, the Brunch on the 8th (RM 16.90) is a popular item among her customers on the weekend. The platter came with a choice of scrambled or sunny side up egg, a homemade chipolata sausage, baked beans, homemade hash browns, wholemeal toast, jam and salad.
My favourite item has to be the pineapple & passion fruit jam which has a nice natural sweetness that goes well with not only the toast but the rest of the elements on the platter as well. Jaclyn said that she has plans to sell her homemade jam in jars too. “Even the hash browns are made at our kitchen too”, she said.
“We try to make everything from scratch as we advocate food that are free from preservatives, colourings, and MSG. Why put food in your body which contains ingredients which you can barely read?”, she asked. Jaclyn also feels a tremendous amount of satisfaction when her customers are happy with her food. “It is all about developing good relationships with everyone”, she smiled.
Jac’s On The 8th
No. G-G-8, Jalan PJU 1A/20A
Dataran Ara Damansara
47301 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-7734-3638
Business Hours:
8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Tuesday – till Friday)
8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Saturday & Sunday)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacsonthe8th