Best Cafe Snacks for Sharing — Perfect for Catch-Ups with Friends

You know that feeling when a plate hits the table and the conversation momentarily stops?

That silence is usually the best compliment a kitchen can receive.

Sharing food does more than just fill a gap in your stomach.

It turns a quick caffeine fix into a genuine social event where barriers break down.

At Soooka Cafe, we built our philosophy around this communal experience.

Guests will find that our snacks and sides menu is engineered for this exact purpose.

We focused on dishes that encourage interaction rather than isolation.

The Malaysian cafe scene is full of options, but navigating them requires a bit of strategy.

Here is how to curate the best spread for your next group outing.

The Golden Rule of Sharing Plates

A great sharing menu relies on one specific principle: contrast.

Most groups make the error of ordering items that are too similar in texture.

Ordering three fried dishes in a row leads to palate fatigue very quickly.

To keep the meal exciting, you need to hit four distinct quadrants.

We recommend balancing your table using this simple framework:

Category	Role on the Table	Example Profile
The Crunch	Provides texture and noise	Deep-fried, crispy skins
The Soother	Balances spice and salt	Creamy, soft, cooling
The Punch	Wakes up the taste buds	Spicy, acidic, savoury
The Fresh	Acts as a reset button	Raw vegetables, herbs

This balance ensures you can eat for a longer period without feeling heavy.

Every bite resets your palate for the next one.

The table becomes a landscape of complementary flavours rather than a monotonous spread.

Our Top Shareable Picks at Soooka

The Cakoi Platter

This dish serves as the perfect icebreaker.

Our signature cakoi platter reimagines the traditional Youtiao by pairing it with a spectrum of dips.

You get the classic savoury options alongside sweet variations like cinnamon sugar and our house-made kaya.

The porous texture of the cakoi is specifically designed to absorb sauces, making every bite flavourful.

Pro Tip: Start with the lighter flavours like plain butter before moving to the chilli prawn. The spicy notes will dominate your palate if you eat them first.

This platter works regardless of the time on the clock.

It fits just as well during a morning meeting as it does during a late afternoon debrief.

Yam Rolls

Shared settings are the ideal environment to introduce friends to yam rolls.

These golden cylinders offer a complex mouthfeel that combines a crispy outer net with a smooth, savoury yam paste filling.

Historically rooted in dim sum culture (Wu Gok), the roll format makes them cleaner to eat with fingers.

They disappear from plates at a rapid pace.

Yam rolls stand out because they do not require extra dipping sauces to be enjoyable.

The seasoning is contained within the filling itself.

This makes them a low-maintenance addition to a busy table where space is at a premium.

Nyonya Pie Tee

Pie tee offers a different kind of sharing experience.

These “top hats” are filled with savoury jicama (sengkuang) and prawn, offering a fresh crunch that contrasts with heavier fried items.

The structure of the shell dictates that you must eat it in one or two bites.

This eliminates the awkwardness of trying to cut a shareable portion with a knife and fork.

Presentation plays a huge role here.

A serving of these cups adds height and colour to your table arrangement.

We often see diners from other tables pointing at them and asking staff what they are.

Garlic Cakoi Bites

Garlic butter cakoi bites are our answer to the western garlic bread, but with a local twist.

We chop the dough into bite-sized pieces before tossing them in garlic butter and toasted sesame seeds.

The result is a snack that pairs exceptionally well with strong drinks like teh tarik or coffee.

They are dangerously easy to consume absent-mindedly while deep in conversation.

Building the Perfect Sharing Order

Getting the quantity right is often the hardest part of group dining.

Over-ordering leads to waste, while under-ordering kills the vibe.

We have developed a simple ratio based on group size to help you decide.

The Order Matrix

Group Size	Recommended Spread	Rationale
2 People	1 Platter + 1 Side	Allows variety without leftovers.
3-4 People	1 Platter + 2 Sides + 1 Sweet	Covers all texture bases comfortably.
5+ People	2 Platters + 3 Sides + 2 Sweets	Ensures everyone gets a taste of everything.

Start with the Pie Tee to open the appetite with something light.

Follow this with the Cakoi Platter as the main event.

Add Yam Rolls to provide that substantial savoury hit in the middle of the conversation.

Finish with a sweet variation of cakoi to signal the end of the savoury course.

Drink pairing should follow the same logic of variety.

A mix of milky coffees, refreshing sodas, and tea ensures that the beverage selection is as diverse as the food.

Why Sharing Culture Matters

Malaysian food heritage is built on the concept of Muhibbah and communal dining.

Eating has always been a social act here, from Nasi Kandar queues to family steamboat dinners.

Cafes are finally catching up to this by moving away from strictly individual western-style plating.

Soooka embraces this shift fully.

We see strangers become friends and colleagues turn into teams over these shared plates.

The physical act of reaching across a table breaks down formal social barriers.

It forces you to acknowledge the people you are with in a way that staring at your own isolated plate does not.

Research suggests that communal eating increases social bonding and cooperation.

That connection is the atmosphere we strive to cultivate every day.

Tips for Ordering as a Group

Managing a group order requires a bit of foresight.

Here are a few insider tips to ensure the meal flows smoothly:

• Stagger your order: Ask the kitchen to send out cold or ready items like Pie Tee first.
• Request extra saucers: You will need them for sharing dips and preventing cross-contamination.
• Monitor the pace: If a dish vanishes in under two minutes, reorder it immediately.
• Balance with substance: If the group is very hungry, add a main from our comfort bowls section to anchor the meal.

A bowl of braised duck noodles placed in the centre can turn a snack session into a full lunch.

Bring your friends to our Malaysian fusion cafe in Damansara Perdana to test this theory yourself.

We are open daily except Wednesdays, from 10am to 10pm (8am on weekends).

The best conversations happen over food that you have to fight for.

Come claim your piece.