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It was a birthday celebration. An acquaintance had turned 27 and I was there to join the festivities. This time around, the venue was Wings Music Cafe, located behind Berjaya Time Square. Its kinda hard to notice since it doesn’t have a large sign up front proclaiming its location. Look out for Cafe 69. Its right next door to it.

We were scheduled to gather at 8.00pm with the option to come at 9.00pm. That’s when the live band begins their performance. Slowly, the attendees appeared, alone, in pairs, and groups of threes. By the time WL and I arrived, the star for the night was already seated at the “comfort zone”. The zone consisted of two long sofas located in a corner of the cafe right next to the bar. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable spot in the cafe. In fact, it became rather uncomfortable after sitting on the low couches for two straight hours and trying to hold a conversation with the ones seated across the coffee table.

Side note: If you want to try out the comfort zone for the sake of being special (there’s only one set of sofas in the cafe), you’ll have to get there early or call ahead to book the seats.

The place got crowded in a hurry as more people arrived, to the point that we had to request for chairs. I got one of those, thankfully, as the soft sofas were killing me. The low seats and cramped space didn’t give me much room to stretch out my legs, so I was grateful for the change in posture. 5 extra seats later and we had effectively barricaded the bar exit. The poor guys manning the bar had to squeeze by our noisy group to get in and out. I found myself wedged into a corner next to four crates of Carlsberg. Too bad I’m not a beer fan.

Since WL and I had our dinners prior to attending the birthday bash, we didn’t bother ordering. The rest each had something to eat. Food is a mix of western and oriental, spaghettis, chops, steaks, chinese style fried dishes, so on so forth. Prices start from RM2.50 onwards (cheapest being finger foods such as chips). Judging by the food that were ordered when it arrived, its actually not too bad. The western stuff looks good enough to warrant the standard price tag of RM8.00+.

Drinks are consistent with what you’ve come to expect of music cafes, brewed teas, coffees, and bubble teas. These range in price from RM4.50 for a glass of soft drink to RM12.00+ for the more elaborate mixes. The place also serves alcohol beverages (both hard liquor mixes and beer) at RM12.00 per pop. Happy hour is from noon to 8.00pm where the drinks come in pairs for the same price. At some point during the night, a bucket of Carlsberg (RM43.00) appeared along with a bottle of Hoegaarden White.

I had rose tea that comes served in a pot for RM6.90. WL had a Yogurt Yogurt which costs the same. I have no idea what’s the difference between Yogurt flavoured Yogurt as opposed to standard Yogurt, so don’t even ask. I suppose they call it so to differentiate between the other flavoured yogurts (lime, lemon, etc…) that they have on the menu.

I like my tea as it was fragrant and soothing. The scent of roses was just right, not so strong that it threatened to steal your breath, and not so weak that it was non-existant. The good thing about ordering tea is that hot water refills are free and you can keep drinking as long as the tea leaves continue to produce something other than plain water when steeped (actually, you can continue drinking plain hot water if you like). For a three hour long gathering, that’s a whole lot more economical than ordering several rounds of lattes.

On a side note, there’s a minimum order of RM3.50 per person excluding plain water (which costs RM1.00 per glass).

The live band started playing on schedule at 9.00pm. That’s when the environment changed for the worst. Prior to that, we could hold a normal conversation without resorting to shouting into each other’s ears. Now, we had to contend with a guitar strumming in the background and the augmented voice of the singers coming over the speakers. But that’s not to say that they band was lousy. On the contrary.

It was a group of three performing that night; two guys and a girl. One guy was on the guitar providing the background. While all three sang, the girl and the guy-sans-guitar stood out. Their voices were better than most that I’ve heard in music cafes thus far. The guy was particularly good, especially when he held the higher notes. At one point, an acquaintance of mine asked whether it was two girls and a guy. They took requests and our table went crazy, bombarding them with songs that we wanted sung. They don’t sing everything, just the ones that they are familiar with.

We had our laughs, listened to music, and just relaxed. WL and I left after the cake cutting at 11.30pm which was accompanied by a Happy Birthday song from the band. Overall, I think it turned out better than expected. Except for the uncomfortable seats and several occasions during the night when the environment got a little stuffy, Wings Music Cafe is actually quite the fun place to hang out at. However, if you’re out for chit chat and catching up, then this might not be the best place to do it. The only real time for conversation once the live music starts is during their breaks after every hour.

Two thumbs up for the great tea and cool environment, two thumbs up for the nice live performances and music, two thumbs up for the band who sang Happy Birthday and shouted out their wishes to the birthday girl.

Wings Music Cafe
Kuala Lumpur.
The street behind Berjaya Times Square.