Kitakami @ Sri Petaling, Kalamazoo @ Aman Suria & Summer Lounge @ Kota Kemuning

Brief visits to a trio of eateries where comfort-food pastas, burgers & cakes reign supreme, starting with Kitakami ...

... the closest thing right now to a contemporary-minded cafe in Sri Petaling, right down to its everything-old-is-cool-again embrace of vintage artefacts like a used sewing machine & transistor radio ...

... plus put-away-those-iPads shelves of novels & record covers from when Travolta & Newton-John were pop culture titans.

Oven-baked pork bolognese spaghetti with cheese & sausages. Decent for a dish that's mainly built with processed food.

Blueberry & Oreo cheesecakes in the chiller, but maybe not this time.

Caffe Musetti Grand Cru Blend, 100 percent Arabica beans. RM8 for a latte.

Next up, Kalamazoo, a Petaling Jaya diner that reputedly pays fond tribute to its owners' time at Western Michigan University.

Burgers occupy a place of pride here: We opted to share the tempting-sounding KZoo Ultimatum, a physically towering creation with a pork patty, chicken patty, beef patty, plus a mixed lamb-&-beef patty.

Unfortunately, too much of this went unfinished. The patties proved disheartening _ overly processed in texture & poorly balanced in flavour. On the bright side, Kalamazoo is a pet-friendly cafe, so visitors might meet some cute puppies here.

Final destination: Summer Lounge, a Kota Kemuning cafe where the mood seems cheerfully sunny. Alas, this place has permanently closed sometime following this visit earlier this year. It's a brutal business.