Buka Puasa @ Link, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar

Starry Arabian Nights Dinner Buffet

This coming holy month of Ramadan, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar is proud to present this year’s spread of Buka Puasa feast themed Starry Arabian Nights at Link All Day Dining. From 21 June to 16 July 2015, Link culinary team lead by Executive Chef Johann Ong together invited Arabian Chef is set to tempt many with their feast of Arabian and Malay cuisine.

When one mentions of Arabian cuisine, one immediately thinks of the aroma and flavours of spices, herbs, nuts, dates and more. What is today regarded as Malay food is the results of centuries of outside influences where the Malay absorbed a tradition of Arabic dishes.

The Arabs also enjoy a lot of lamb in their cuisine so it is without any doubt that one of the highlights of the Buka Puasa feast is a whole Baby Lamb with Arabian marinade. Slowly grilled over hot charcoal, the lamb fat slowly drips onto the sizzling coals and let the heat steam gently cooked the lamb to keep it nicely moist. Slow cooked for hours, the lamb yields tender meat with aromatic spices.

Another highlight of Middle Eastern cuisine is Shish Tawook which is a traditional shish kebab. Here the chicken kebabs are well marinated and nicely grilled and served with flat bread, fresh vegetables and lemon.

There is also Lamb Kofta of minced lamb shaped into kebabs and grilled. These are juicy and nicely spiced up. Enjoy them with rice or bread and an array of dips and salads.

More meat dishes like Sharwarma, which is a Levantine Arab meat preparation where meat or chicken is marinated, piled on a large skewer and placed on a spit and slowly grilled as the skewer rotates. The meat is then shaved off on the cooked edges and serve stuffed into flat bread together with fresh shredded vegetables.

All these Middle Eastern dishes beckons with classic dips and salads of Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh, Fattoush, Beetroot Salad, Yoghurt with Cucumber and more. It was a treat of flavours and textures in Arabic cuisine.

More signatures of the buffet include Saffron Rice with Braised Lamb Shoulder, Couscous with Braised Arabian Lamb Shank, Spicy Marinated Sea Bass Fillet, Lamb Meatball Stew and more. The Saffron Rice with Braised Lamb Shoulder is delicious. Fluffy long grain rice nicely flavoured with stock and spices and served with tender lamb shoulder is a dish that is just so good on its own.

Save some room for the King of Fruits, the Durian! Enjoy treats of durian available at the al fresco area of the restaurant.

Besides all the above, there are definitely more dishes of international favorites at all the stylishly designed live cooking stations.

Desserts are going to give everyone a sweet ending! From kuih muih to cakes, puddings, cookies, ice cream and more, it’s going to be a tough choice choosing on the sweet treats. There will also be some Arabian sweets and dates as well.

Besides the feast, there will be live ‘Ghazal’ performance to add to the ambience and mood throughout the buffet dining experience.

The whole Starry Arabian Nights dinner buffet is priced at RM140 nett per person with 50% discount for children aged 6 to 12 years old. The buffet dinner is available from 21 June to 16 July 2015 from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. Enjoy the buffet with early bird discounted price at RM 110 nett per person if you purchase early bird voucher from 1 May to 12 June 2015. Offer valid for limited time period.

For reservations , call Link All Day Dining at +603 2298 1855 or check out their website for more information.

LINK RESTAURANT

Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar

No.1, Jalan Pantai Jaya, Tower 3,

59200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603 2298 1888

Email: info@pullmankualalumpur.com

Website: www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7962-pullman-kuala-lumpur-bangsar-/index.shtml

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Pullman-Kuala-Lumpur-Bangsar

Chili ESPRESSO @ Nexus Bangsar South

Urban Malaysian Cuisine

There’s always room for good food, and this round I had discovered it at Nexus Bangsar South with some foodies friends. Chili ESPRESSO, opened in May 2014, is the second outlet to open after its first successful outlet that started 8 years ago in Sooka Sentral. The owner, Robert hails from the Pearl of the Orient and is set on following his passion for the food industry in serving up great comfort food at affordable prices. Chili ESPRESSO serves local and Western dishes with a spicy twist of its own.

The restaurant at Nexus Bangsar South is beautifully bright, spacious and pretty at sight. Taking its inspiration from Penang’s heritage city, the restaurant has art murals hand painted by Drew Funk, an Australian based artist on its walls. Inspired by the old pre-war shop houses in Penang, the bright bold red walls had cute art renditions of children and nature in a cheerful mode enjoying a cup of coffee or slurping noodles. A beautiful frangipani tree stood out at one wall. The art is further emphasized by the addition of 3D fixtures all over. Lots of colors are further injected through the furniture all over the space. A long bar with rustic materials added more charm to the place. Choose your seating inside in the cool ambience or al fresco in the garden inspired décor.

The menu is themed urban Malaysian cuisine with a mix of Asian and Western dishes. Diners can enjoy Malaysian street food as well as salads, pastas, pizzas, burgers, fish & chips, sandwiches and even breakfast favorites. The beverage menu is also filled with lots of coffee, tea, fruit juices and more.

To start off the meal, we had Apple Juice (RM7.80), Cucumber, Apple & Mint (RM9.80) and Banana Yoghurt Honey (RM11.80). Beverages are sufficiently good and one can taste rich fruity notes. I really enjoyed my Cucumber, Apple & Mint as it is utterly refreshing to the palate.

While waiting for our mains to arrive, we snacked on French Fries (RM6.80) served with housemade tomato sauce. I love it when restaurants use fresh potatoes over those pre-frozen kind for their fries. The skin is even left on for added flavour. It goes to show how passionate the owner is to go all out even just for side dishes. There is even an added bonus of a housemade tomato sauce to go with the fries.

Mango, Chicken & Jicama Salad (RM9.80 Small RM14.80 Regular) is absolutely delicious! Even though I am not a fan of salads, I would gladly enjoy this happily. The salad has such vibrant flavours from its sweet ripe mangoes, grilled chicken, crunchy jicama batons, mixed greens with pea shoots, crispy tofu pok, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, aromatic sesame seeds and a sweet and tangy hoi sin sauce. The medley of flavours and textures is a pleasure to be devoured. Highly recommended, even for non-salad lovers!

We also savored another salad of Apple, Chicken and Rocket Salad (RM7.80 Small RM13.80 Regular). I must commend Chili ESPRESSO for serving up healthy and delish salads. This one had crunchy apples with grilled chicken, rocket leaves, mixed greens, Kalamata olives, walnuts and a citrus dressing. The zesty zing in the salad made it easy to enjoy and it guilt-free too! It comes in two sizes so one can enjoy this as a side or as a full meal.

Chili ESPRESSO has a nice decent list of pastas as well and we had one of their signatures of Double Cooked Duck Linguine (RM18.80). The duck is slow cooked with spices till tender before its sautéed with the pasta with oven dried cherry tomatoes in a lightly spicy sauce. I can taste the lovely garlicky notes as well as the hit of chilies. The intense tangy dried tomatoes added more oomph in flavours. The duck is on a salty note and gave the pasta a lovely moreish bite.

Mexicana Char-Grilled Aussie Beef Burger (RM17.80) was next, proving that Chili ESPRESSO does a mean burger as well as other dishes in their menu. Despite its large portion, I was happily savoring this burger. A good thick patty well-seasoned and grilled, it was moist and has a good bite in textures. I am glad they didn’t mince the beef too fine because I really enjoy the texture of the patty. Taking on the Mexicana classic flavours, tomato salsa was added to the usual pickles, red onion, mixed greens and coriander. It is also served with a side of French Fries. Simply a well-made burger made for hearty appetites…

One taste of Herbal Nasi Cina Kampong (Ulam Rice) (RM16.80) and I am literally raving over it that evening. Chili ESPRESSO does a mean rendition of Ulam Rice and together with the tangy tomato rempah sauce drenched over fried kunyit chicken, the combo is a platter of sumptuous flavours and textures. The rice is fluffy and creamy. When mixed with the finely shredded shallots, red chilies, bunga kantan, kaffir lime leaves, fragrant toasted coconut and fried shallot, it is bursting with a rainbow of flavours and aroma. I also enjoyed the authentic stuffed red chili with pickled green papaya as it gave the dish a punchy tangy kick. The turmeric marinated fried chicken is superb and is nicely perked up with a creamy tangy and lightly spicy nutty sauce. Another dish highly recommended in my books!

One can even have the Ulam rice with an option of Ikan Tenggiri with Tamarind Kaffir Lime Leave Sauce if chicken is not to your liking.

Penang Fried Mee Mamak (RM15.80) is also another signature of Chili ESPRESSO. Since I am from Penang, I can personally say that this one really tasted pretty authentic in flavours. It had a good wok of breathe and the savory sweet taste of the sauce really reminded me of the mee mamak that I had grown up with. This one was more lavish as it had lots of seafood of prawns and squid added together with cucur and boiled potatoes. A good sprinkling of peanuts and a squeeze of lime are the perfect sidekicks to the dish.

We finished the evening with house made Apple Banana Crumble (RM9.80). It may be a simple dessert and I would never thought to pair apple with banana but the dessert is decently satisfying with a toasty cinnamon note.

I had Café Latte (RM7.80) to round up the meal. I like the latte here as it is sufficiently good in coffee notes.

I was pretty much charmed by the dishes in Chili ESPRESSO. Lots of hits without any miss in this meal. The food here tastes humble and comforting. Plus points go to the effort for making everything from from scratch and prices are affordable and value for money. There are lots of other dishes that I would love to come back for such as Nasi Lemak, Thai Green Curry, Percik Ayam Siam, Char-grilled Portugese Piri Piri Chicken, Homemade Chicken Pie, Thai Basil Chicken & Pineapple Pizza and more.

There’s more…Win some cash vouchers to dine!

Do check out Chillin’ @ Nexus Bangsar South Campaign at their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BangsarSouth) where RM100 Nexus Gift Vouchers will be given to daily winners from 27th April 2015 until 19th June 2015!

CHILI ESPRESSO

G6, Ground Floor, Nexus Bangsar South

No 7, Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 603-2242 2632

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Chili-Espresso-Nexus

Website: www.isthmuskl.com

Business Hours:

Sun – Thurs & Public Holidays 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ; Fri – Sat 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Indonesia Food Festival @ Link, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar

Enak Banget! Indonesian Food Festival

Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar is proud to present the Indonesian Food Festival from 11 May to 29 May 2015 at LINK All Day Dining. The festival will provide guests, whether they are professional gastronomes or adventurous diners, to try out something new and exciting - a worthwhile experience not to be missed.

LINK, a beautifully spacious All Day Dining restaurant seats 360 and runs on the concept of interactive show kitchens where dishes are prepared as fresh as possible to your orders. For the month of May, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar has specially invited Sous Chef De Partie Untung Pardiona and Demi Chef De Partie M.Ramli from their sister property in Jakarta to immerse diners with unique culinary dishes and transport diners to Indonesia through this exciting culinary experience.

Members of the media and bloggers were invited to a sneak preview of the delicious Indonesian feast to come this month. We were tempted with lots of Indonesia classics from appetizers to mains and desserts.

Tauhu Telur, a simple and yet popular dish of fried bean curd and egg never fails to please many palates. It is savored with a piquant sambal and crunchy vegetables as a snack. There was the Beef Dabu Dabu Salad, a spicy beef salad punched up with lots of spicy bird eye chilies, shallot and fresh tomatoes in a citrusy dressing. It’s not overly heavy but sufficiently flavourful with a good hit of heat.

One of the highlights of Indonesia feast is the Kambing Guling. Tender and succulent lamb is nicely grilled with a lovely note of spices.

I highly recommend the Rendang Daging Padang as it was a melting pot of gorgeous creamy flavours with lots of spices. The beef was fork tender and well infused with the flavours of coconut milk and spices. It was rich and moreish, pairing well with rice or bread. There was also Tongseng Kambing, a braised lamb stew that originates from Surakata in Indonesia. The stew uses tough meat like goat, lamb or beef and is simmered till tender with lots of vegetables, spices and herbs. This one is creamy and tasted like a light curry.

Then there is the Ayam Penyet Plecing Kangkung, a dish from Lombok, Indonesia, which is chicken marinated and baked. This one is quite moreish and the chicken has a robust aroma of shrimp paste.

The Nasi Goreng Daun Mengkudu is delicious. Fluffy rice grains are fried with a special leave named Daun Mengkudu.

Sayur Labu Dengan Udang is also another dish perfect with rice. Its stewed pumpkin cooked with prawns. The flavours are more on the sweeter note with the pumpkin and a little tangy with the tamarind.

Do try the Soto Ayam Madura, a lovely and aromatic noodle soup in style of Madura, an island off the north-eastern cost of Java that is popular in Indonesia. The soup is spiced up with lots of cinnamon, star anise and other spices and laced with lots of fried shallot for its distinctive aroma.

Desserts are also a must so save some room for Kolak (or Kolek) which is a sweet broth of banana and pumpkin in sweet coconut milk and Singkong Goreng which is fried tapioca.

Other delectable Kuih Muih like Klepon, Ondeh Ondeh, Kuih Lapis Sagu, Dadar Enten and more are also available.

Of course there are plenty more of other international dishes at all the live interactive kitchens at LINK. The dessert bar alone is enough to keep me happily satiated!

In addition to presenting dozens of selected food, LINK also displays attractive decoration and fantastic costumes that incorporate Indonesian style to reflect the culture and gives guests the feeling of being in Indonesia. The famous wayang shadow-puppet, stone figures and Indonesian batik are among the decoration that will be seen at the outlet. What is also interesting about this year’s festival is that LINK invites Indonesia dancers to perform and introduce their traditional dance as a momentum to reflect their country diversity of ethnicities and culture throughout the dinner.

The whole Indonesian food experience is offered at an attractive price of RM120.00nett per person only (50% discount for children between 6-12 years old), commencing from 11th to 29^th May 2015 (6.30pm to 10.30pm). Reservations can be made by calling LINK All Day Dining at +603 2298 1855.The operating hours will be from 12.00pm to 3.00om (Lunch) and 6.30pm to 10.30pm (Dinner).

LINK RESTAURANT

Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar

No.1, Jalan Pantai Jaya, Tower 3,

59200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603 2298 1888

Email: info@pullmankualalumpur.com

Website: www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7962-pullman-kuala-lumpur-bangsar-/index.shtml

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Pullman-Kuala-Lumpur-Bangsar