Ever since having espresso-based coffee became a trend in Malaysia, I have enjoyed going to cafes with comfortable atmosphere, and order a nicely decorated coffee to go with a piece of cake. However, after realising the cruelty of milk industry, my enjoyment of cafe drops dramatically - no more Vienna coffee (coffee with cream), no more affogato (coffee with ice cream), no more Vietnamese coffee (coffee with sweetened condense milk), no more cappuccino or latte or whatever coffee with milk. That means I can only order the black and mundane americano, so black and bitter that I have to use lots of brown sugar to make it easier for me to take the caffeine.
Soy milk is one of the cheapest alternative for cow's milk but unless it's a franchised cafe like Starbucks or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, normal cafes do not serve this option as there is not many such request, or maybe none at all. Small Matter Cafe is one of the limited coffee places in my hometown Nibong Tebal where I have visited since it first started the business (cafe is really a fancy thing in this small town, hahaha). I have seen the development of their menu (from handwritten cardboard to nicely printed; from simple snacks to proper meals) and followed their Facebook page, knowing that the cafe owner, Xiao Xiao has a soft spot for animals. So I suggested her to serve soy milk option for coffee some time ago, without expecting her to actually implement my suggestion since I have tried and failed at other indie cafes before. To my surprised, when I commented casually on their Facebook photo about the soy milk option, they actually tried it and are willing to cater to my request!
I was so grateful that Xiao Xiao provides soy milk option when probably I am the only customer who will request it while she is really busy tending to the cafe all by herself (it's difficult to hire helpers these days, so if you need a part time job, PM them! *wink*). Besides the wonderfully made soy milk cappuccino doused with dark chocolate sauce, the aglio olio that I ordered was without cheese, not upon request but she remembered that I am a vegan. It really made my day to have such a proper vegan meal in this little cozy cafe hidden in this small town when other people might hardly think it is important to cater for minorities. So if you are a vegan like me, or a lacto-intolerant person, this cafe is on my highly recommendation list, and I will surely come back here whenever I am in my hometown. Thanks Xiao Xiao for your kindness, every small matter counts!
P/S: This is not a sponsored post.