Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Splurge

Two of us decided to celebrate my friend's birthday at this popular penthouse bar and eatery on top of the Wolo Bukit Bintang Hotel on a Friday evening. 

We ordered one Gin & Tonic at MYR42++ (10% service charge and 6% GST making it MYR 48.95 nett) to try. My friends took some sips and I finished the rest. It is served in a Takeaway Box and is made with Opihr gin. There are pink peppercorns with pieces of guava in the drink. It is a refreshing and not strong drink. Plain drinking water is provided foc.

My friend prefers hot tea so she ordered a pot of Oolong tea at MYR 12++ (MYR 14 nett) with free flow of refillable hot water unlike some tea specialty house which do not refill the hot water. My friend laughingly observed that everyone else except her in this place was having alcoholic drinks.

The birthday friend chose a glass of red wine Cabernet Sauvignon at MYR44++ per glass (MYR 51.30 nett). 

We did not plan to have any items from the pickle board but when the waiter presented us with 6 small plates of pickled items and asked us to choose 3 for MYR 5++ (MYR 5.85 nett), my friend could not make up her mind, she said that all the choices look good so each of us make 1 selection. 

I took the "spicy pickled pumpkin and chestnut" while my birthday friend selected the "starfruit, papaya, konbu vinegar and mint leaves". My friend who could not decide chose the "cloud ear fungus pickled with shao xing wine, star anise, cinnamon and brown sugar". Very appetising. We should have taken all 6 for MYR 10++.

The place at night has a very nice warm soothing ambiance which is great for relaxing and winding down after a long week at work but the photos did not turn out good due to the dim lighting. 

The spring rolls at MYR 26++ (MYR 30.30 nett) above are filled with crisp fried barramundi with Thai basil. The chilli lime fish sauce dip is sourish. Since there are 3 of us, we ate one roll each.

Tiger prawn dumplings with water chestnuts in a curry vinaigrette at MYR 32++ (MYR 37.30 nett). My friend ate 3 dumplings because she does not eat beef which is the next dish. The birthday friend and I ate 1 each.

This is my favourite dish - braised wagyu beef cheek rolls with century eggs and pickled vegetable in Szechuan sauce at MYR 48++ (MYR 55.95 nett). I ate 3 rolls and my birthday friend ate 2 rolls. I like the taste of the beef and century eggs but find the sauce to be a bit overpowering.

Both my friends wanted this dish - Fried Chicken Ribs at MYR 28++ (MYR 32.65 nett). They like it but could not finish it and left 3 pieces so I had to help them. Chicken Ribs turned out to be chicken wings shaped into ribs, very crispy with juicy fatty skins so I could only eat 1 and a half and left another 1 and a half to be removed from our table.

Then all 3 of us shared two main dishes - Pan seared barramundi with spicy tamarind chilli sauce with coconut milk with a pineapple, avocado salsa at MYR 75++ (MYR 87.45 nett). The fish skin is very crispy and the fish meat is fresh. The sauce tastes to me like Assam Laksa broth. The avocado tastes like young unripe sourish mango due to being with the pineapple. We tried our best to finish this fish and we succeeded.

The special fried rice at MYR 25++ (MYR 29.15 nett) is recommended by many online reviews so we ordered it. We thought the portion will be small but we were wrong. We only managed to eat half of it.

Another look at the fish.

The two of us chose this Dessert Tacos at MYR 35++ (MYR 40.80 nett) for our birthday friend. I did not eat any of the tacos because both of them refused to eat the Banana Burrito dessert below so I had to finish it all by myself leaving no space for these tacos. They told me that the dessert tacos are delicious.

Banana Burrito at MYR 35++ (MYR 40.80 nett). I had to finish this all by myself.  I could not taste the Tonka bean ice cream (supposed to have a great unique taste) in the fillings because the deep fried banana and coconut taste is very strong and sweet.

A Coaster

Total bill for 3 pax: MYR 474.50 nett so it was about MYR 158.16 nett each. Two of us gave our birthday friend a treat.

MYR 158.16 for each is about the lower end of the price for a hotel buffet lunch or dinner. Please click on the above to view a larger image of the price of the Lemon Garden buffet lunch or dinner at Shangrila hotel, KL which ranges from MYR 155 nett to MYR 218 nett.

The seats boxed in green is where the 3 of us sat that evening. I would recommend to only eat at this place in the evening for its ambiance. During daytime (as in the photo above), the warm soothing ambiance is lacking due to the bright daylight.

There are two dinner sessions: 
1. 6 pm to 8.30 pm 
2. 8.30 pm onwards
and we took the later session so that we do not have to vacate our seats if we ate too slowly.

16 comments:

  1. Great food and nice ambiance, i like to dine in such cozy places which made dining even more enjoyable

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  2. Almost RM50 for a glass of gin and tonic? Wowwwwww!!!! Don't remember drinks being so expensive during my time. I sure am glad I've stopped drinking, so very expensive these days.

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    1. All the new hidden bars in Petaling Street charge this range of prices for their drinks. Drinking is expensive. :)

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  3. Gin & Tonic in a takeaway box. Funny.

    Eyeing the fish.

    Lovely birthday treat for your friend.

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    1. That is supposed to be the highlight! lolx!

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  4. This is so interesting and everything is new to me including this Wolo Hotel. I like their idea for drinks and the food presentation. Looks nice. I won't mind paying the price when the service and ambiance is excellent.

    Bookmarked!

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  5. the gin&tonic served in a takeaway box is something irregular...Can't they have proper glass/mug for that? LOL

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    1. LOLx! This item is the uniqueness of this place that sets it apart from others that serve it in a glass/mug, hahahaha. I am sure when you order this drink you can make a special request to have it in a glass/mug and they will be the ones who lolx! :D

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  6. Whoa! That is a real makan besar! Very interesting the way they serve the drinks here. The small bites are quite enticing too. That was a very grand birthday treat for your friend.

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    1. They don't serve all drinks this way, just this Gin and Tonic. We did not order the popular small bites because my friend does not eat raw fish.

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  7. Great place and good food with nice presentation to celebrate your friend's birthday!

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    1. Food is quite ok because I think the focus is on the drinks.

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  8. The drinks are so pricey. By the time it came to food I was comparing with the drinks so food seems reasonable.

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    1. I have seen the price list of drinks in those new bars in Petaling Street and they are all about this price range. I think that is the standard.

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