What is Kopitiam?

Whenever I talk about Malaysia it always comes back to food, I just can’t help myself. Before you know it I’m going on and on about mamak stalls and kopitiams. That’s usually when I notice the puzzling gaze of my audience, ‘What is Kopitiam?’.

I guess it must be kind of confusing if you’ve never been to Malaysia. Or to Singapore for that matter, because kopitiam might be even more popular in the lion city. For the record, Indonesia also has kopitiams. However, they rather go by the name ‘Kedai Kopi’ and often are more of a ramshackle version.

Kopitiam explained

I am not a Malay local, so to make sure I’m not spreading nonsense I had three different locals explain to me what is kopitiam in their own words. They gave me three different answers! Fortunately I did find a kind of common thread in their explanations, which is what I am giving to you…read more>>