ScrappyDough Lao Gan Ma Bagel

The Menu

The Pocket occupies a repurposed old building at 139 Jalan Sungai Besi, where the raw concrete, exposed surfaces and deliberately unfinished character have been retained rather than polished away. It has evolved into a creative hub housing food, drinks, art and other small businesses.

ScrappyDough was one of the earlier food tenants here, specialising in sourdough bagels and focaccia with distinctly Asian flavour combinations.

What I Ordered at ScrappyDough

The Kam Heong Chicken Sandwich takes a flavour most Malaysians would immediately recognise and puts it between a sourdough bagel. There was plenty of chicken packed inside, and the Kam Heong seasoning gave it the savoury, aromatic character. It works surprisingly naturally as a sandwich filling rather than feeling like a Malaysian flavour forced into a Western format.

The more intriguing order, however, was the Lao Gan Ma Bagel.

It arrives looking rather formidable, its surface darkened by chilli crisp and scattered heavily with sesame seeds. There is that familiar savoury, chilli-rich character associated with Lao Gan Ma, and it turns what could have been a fairly straightforward bagel into something much more interesting.

Adding the Truffle Butter was a particularly good decision. The richness of the butter and truffle rounded out the chilli and savoury flavours of the bagel beautifully. At RM12, the spread actually costs more than the bagel, but the combination worked well enough that I would order them together again.

How the Bagels Ate

There is one qualification. These are bagels of the fluffier variety. ScrappyDough describes its bakes around sourdough, but if you like the dense, substantial chew of a more traditional bagel, you may find these softer than expected. That softer texture has also been noted in previous coverage of its Kam Heong Chicken Bagel.

Personally, I would have liked considerably more chew.

On the other hand, the softer bagel makes sense with some of ScrappyDough's more assertive fillings. Neither the Kam Heong nor Lao Gan Ma has to fight against a particularly dense bread, so the flavours come through immediately.

Why ScrappyDough Is Worth Visiting in Sungai Besi

What makes ScrappyDough interesting isn't simply that it sells sourdough bagels. It's what they are doing with them.

Kam Heong, Lao Gan Ma, sambal and other Asian flavours give the menu an identity beyond being another KL bagel shop. And being inside The Pocket adds considerably to the experience. The shared spaces are airy, raw and quite unlike a conventional café, with different food and creative businesses occupying different parts of the old building.

Come for breakfast and there is a bit of wandering around to do afterwards. However, I didn't particular appreciate the smell of the rubbish along the street parking.

Pricing

Kam Heong Chicken Sandwich – RM17
Lao Gan Ma Bagel – RM11
Truffle Butter – RM12

Food total: RM40