THE first thing one notices when entering The Hungry Tapir is the rays of sunshine penetrating through a square skylight, illuminating the entire first floor. The light brightens up the long vegan cocktail bar, which offers various type of drinks, from cocktails to coffees.

The interior is filled with an eclectic collection of vintage furniture in diverse shapes and sizes, as well as colourful paintings.

Then, there is the Instagrammable open-terrace with a pink wall, at the back of the cafe, upon which rest elevated concrete steps, hand-painted with plant leaf designs.

The first floor bar, located above The Loong Cafe within a row of old shop houses has the charm of a heritage building found in Petaling Street.

The cafe and restaurant are owned by a mother-daughter duo – Cynthia Rodrigo and her daughter Makissa Sophia Smeeton, a graphic designer-cum-marketing and interior designer.

“We love Chinatown. It’s the last large cluster of heritage buildings,” said Smeeton, on why they zeroed in on this particular location.

They were part of a large group of buyers touring the site, but everyone else walked out after taking just one look at the once dingy, dark, and dirty room.

“Initially, it was a backpackers’ hotel, painted in orange, very dark, not well-maintained with a low ceiling. [But] we fell in love with it immediately,” said Smeeton.

The interior design was done entirely by them. “Our style is very black and white or monochrome. We wanted a splash of pink, yellow, and turquoise, and a lot of plants,” said Smeeton.

“We went to Sri Lanka in 2019 and took some samples from a textile factory. When we opened this place, we pulled the samples back and made the order.

“We upholstered everything. The tables are made from reclaimed wood. We found second-hand furniture and we did the upcycling ourselves.

“We wanted to be a very sustainable environment, and we used pre-loved or re-used items as much as possible to fit our vegan plant-based lifestyle. I believe in sustainable lifestyle and this is why I chose to become a vegan seven years.”

The two always wanted to open a cafe, but they never had the opportunity.

“We wanted a cocktail bar because we saw a gap in the market at that time,” said Smeeton.

They realised that in Malaysia, people usualy became vegetarian for religious or health purposes, but they wanted to approach it from a lifestyle aspect – they wanted to be a place where people could go out at night, have a drink and enjoy a vegan meal without any restrictions.

“We have plant-based cuisine with cocktails in the evening, and this can be enjoyed by everyone, whether vegan or non-vegan,” she said.

The menu at The Hungry Tapir includes both local and Western cuisines, as well as ‘East meets West’ fusion food to cater to the Malaysian palate as much as possible, with ulam, and local spices and herbs incorporated into the dishes.

At the same time, they also came up with their own vegan version of Malaysian food. Smeeton and the team, spent hours, sometimes days, coming up with innovative ideas.

“’Jackfruit Roti Jala’ is one of our biggest achievements,” she said, proudly.

Unlike any other roti jala, the vegan version is not made with dairy products like ghee, butter or eggs, nor does it come with chicken gravy (vegans don’t consume meat or animal-based products).

Instead, the yellow ‘net’ pancake comes with a spiced jackfruit curry and coconut raita.

“We made it with almond milk,” she revealed, adding that they have made Tapir’s own Roti Canai, a crispy flatbread with dhal and sambal tempeh.

Smeeton recalled a funny incident during one of their “research and development” processes.

She revealed that they tried to spin the vegan dough just like the roti canai experts in mamak restaurants, but it kept breaking apart and falling off on their heads.

But some tests paid off.

“We came up with our own special dishes, and we change our menu twice a year. Since we opened in 2020, we have updated our menu about four times. If we notice that some dishes are not ordered much, then we replace them with a new dish to keep it fresh and exciting for our customers,” she said.

Tastes as good as it looks

Their signature dish is Mama’s Satay. It looked like chicken meat satay, but when I took a bite, I was pleasantly surprised by the familiar texture.

It was then that Smeeton revealed that it was actually marinated hedgehog mushrooms on skewers. I would not have guessed that I was biting into a piece of mushroom if she had not told me.

The satay was served with nasi impit cubes, cut pieces of cucumber and onion with peanut gravy or sauce.

“Some customers would eat it, and they would not know that it was not chicken. It’s a success when they don’t realise that they are not eating meat.

“It’s not mock meat or soy meat, it’s just mushrooms. We use natural instead of fake meat. We use vegetables from local farmers’ and micro-food businesses.

“In fact, our hedgehog mushrooms are from Cameron Highlands, and we also get our burger patties from Phuture Food, which makes plant-based meat suppliers.”

Another signature menu item is the Pink Bombshell Burger.

“Everything is in pink – pink bun and pink patty. The burger patty is made from a mixture of beetroot, chickpea, mushroom, and others, topped with vegan cheese and caramelised onions,” she said.

Then, there is delicious Nasi Lemak, with the traditional taste of rice cooked in coconut rice, aromatic sambal, hedgehog mushroom rendang, tempeh, green vegetables, slices of cucumber, and crunchy peanuts.

The popular egg benedict also gets veganised into ‘eggcelent’ benedict consisting of “tofu turned into an egg like mixture”, and carrot bacon, a crispy slice of carrot with spinach, hollandaise sauce on fresh sourdough.

As for the beverages, Tapir is popular for its mocktails like Tembikai-rita, and cocktails such as the signature Jungle Tapir, Kombucha, smoothies with ‘super delicious super foods’ like Spirulina, Acai Berry, and coffees.

One of the smoothies, Berry-kissa was rich with ingredients and tasty.

There is something for everyone, even dogs! The smart chefs at Tapir have turned their signature dishes – Mama’s Satay and Rainbow Ulam Fried Rice – into the cutely named Mama’s Paw-Tay and Nasi Fur-ever Ulam, exclusively for the furry creatures.

Pets also have their own place to ‘party’ and enjoy their meals, at the pink-walled terrace right at the back.

For Smeeton, their intention is not about converting others to a whole new vegan lifestyle, instead, it’s about ‘opening up the mind’ to the taste of vegan food.

“We want to change their perception of vegan food. ‘Vegan’ is not a salad on the plate. It’s fun and delicious, contrary to popular belief. If you happen to eat a tasteless vegan dish, don’t blame the food, blame the chef,” she quipped.

“Our approach is to encourage others to consume fewer animal products and enjoy eating good food. In fact, 80% of our customers are not vegan or vegetarian, and this is a win for us,” she added.

Tel: +603-7784 6688      Fax: +603-7785 2624 / +603-7785 2625