This popular dessert shop, which is more than 60 years old, adopts a modern approach for a new generation
Teng Wong, one of the owners of the popular Kwong Wah Ice Kacang café, is all smiles today. Not just because it’s a hot afternoon, a perfect time for shaved ice desserts. Today is also the first day that her restaurant will be allowing dine-in, after months of only deliveries and takeaways.
Sure enough, customers come trickling in. Teng greets them and makes small talk; some are regulars whom she addresses by name.
“That’s one of the most rewarding things about running this place. Your customers become your friends, and they bring their friends, who become your friends too. Our regulars have really helped us get through these times,” says Wong, a third-generation owner of the family-run shop.
Mention ice kacang and cendol, a beloved pair of traditional Malaysian desserts, and some still think of traditional settings. Open air coffeeshops with plastic chairs or roadside stalls under shady trees.
Kwong Wah Ice Kacang, however, has evolved beyond that. Step into its premises in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, and you’ll be greeted by a cosy, modern café-style atmosphere. It’s exterior sports a cheery mural of a vibrant outdoor scene, while its spacious interior boasts wide windows, letting in abundance of natural light.
In one corner, a cendol-bowl shaped neon sign glows brightly. The aroma of freshly-baked pastries dances in the air, the work of Mun, Teng’s sister and the café’s other owner.
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This look, Wong says, is part of Kwong Wah's strategy in keeping relevant. “You have to modernise. Now everything is on social media. You ask the younger generation to go hang out at an ice kacang place, they don’t think its cool. So we want to create a nice, comfortable environment where everyone can enjoy our desserts."
Kwong Wah may now look like a stylish, modern cafe, but the two sisters have not forgotten their roots. Old photographs, many in black and white, are displayed on the walls, chronicling the history of the family business since 1958.
It was founded by Wong’s grandfather, Chong Yok Hwa, at the Medan Selera food court in Old Town, Petaling Jaya. It began as a simple stall selling rojak, drinks and ice kacang. After business boomed, Chong opened another branch in Petaling Jaya’s Section 14.
Wong’s mother took over management of the Old Town branch when she was just 14 years old. She would run it for over 40 years, eventually retiring in 2015. The business would remain closed for a while before it was reopened by her daughters in Happy Mansion two years later. It was a tiny shop below the flats, almost inconspicuous.
Yet, its cendol and ice kacang kept growing in popularity, and in October 2020, the sisters moved to a bigger lot across the road from Happy Mansion. Mun, a skilled baker, also decided to expand the menu’s selections, adding anchovy buns, coconut buns and gula Melaka chiffon cakes.
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