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Malaysia's "kopitiam" revival serves up competition for Starbucks
Move over Starbucks. Traditional Malaysian "kopitiam" are making a comeback, serving cups of local-style brew and traditional fare as Malaysians discover a taste for nostalgia.

Kopitiam -- the word means "coffee shop" in the Hokkien dialect of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia -- were originally found in shophouses in villages and towns across the country, serving up coffee and breakfast.

Usually crowded, noisy and rather grimy, they were popular places to grab a quick drink and cheap street food.
Modern kopitiams have retained the old-fashioned marble-topped tables, wooden chairs and chunky crockery, but now they are to be found in the cavernous air-conditioned shopping malls of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

And with their thick brewed "kopi," they are holding their own against the cappuccinos and macchiatos offered by foreign coffee chains that exploded onto the Malaysian scene in the late nineties.

City-dwellers are rediscovering kopitiam fare such as soft-boiled eggs eaten with soya sauce and a dash of pepper, and bread toasted over a charcoal fire and slathered with salted butter and kaya, a rich coconut and egg jam.