A Whimsical SOULed Out Christmas

A Fabulous Christmas Party, The SOULed Out Way…

Festive holidays are always made better with awesome company and great food! The recent Christmas Eve, I had a smashing whimsical time at SOULed Out at their newly renovated quarters in Sri Hartamas. If there is a group who knows how to throw awesome parties, I can tell you it’s definitely the fun elves from SOULed OUT group. These elves just know how to have a great time and are always creative when it comes to all the functions they carry out at all their outlets whether it’s SOULed Out, WIP, Tujo and Hubba Hubba.

We round up some foodies and met up at SOULed OUT at Sri Hartamas on Christmas Eve and celebrated Christmas countdown with a big bang. The newly renovated SOULed Out is now modern and contemporary with a fun chic element. This is one restaurant that I don’t mind enjoying their alfresco area as there are plenty of fans to keep the ambience cool and windy. It is also spacious with two levels of dining space. The ceiling of artistically decorated petal motifs and the whole ambience is gorgeously lighted with flirty neon lights. Lots of white fills the ambience through walls and furniture, allowing pops of colors through other decorative elements and lightings.

The party kicked off early in the evening and many diners were already seen filling up tables while there were also many waiting in line for tables as well. There was a live band, Colin & Friends crooning out Christmas songs as well as other music. The whole place was decorated with lots of holiday merriments. It was certainly a great place to ring the joyous Christmas with all the efforts put in by the SOULed Out team. This year’s theme, A Whimsical Christmas was perfect for SOULed Out. Every element was injected with lots of whimsical notes and quirky elements.

In theme with the holidays, SOULed Out chefs has also whipped up a festive menu for Christmas Eve. The menu is filled with sharing appetizer platter to mains, dessert and drinks. There is even a Carving station of Roasted Turkey with the full trimmings. Of course it won’t be a party with some giggle juices and SOULed Out is famous for their cocktails, especially mojitos.

My giggle juices of the evening were Lychee Mojito and Pina Colada while the partner has Dragonfly and Guinness. Little one had his usual favorite Fresh Apple Juice. The Lychee Mojito was resfreshing and bursting with rum, lychee, lime and mint. Polishing off that tall glass was easy and utterly satisfying! The Pina Colada was good too with its hit of strong rum, creamy coconut and tangy pineapple.

Our appetizers for the night took off with a big round of Nachos, Calamari, Crispy Shrimp, Chicken & Beef Satay and Summertime Salad. This round alone is already a bountiful feast!

Crispy corn Nachos piled beneath a blanket of melted cheese, salsa, jalapeno, lettuce and sour cream is the perfect snack anytime for me.

SOULed Out Satay is delectable as these skewers are plump chunks of meat beautifully seasoned with lots of spices and nicely grilled. The tender juicy meat has just the right balance of savory with sweetness. Dip these into thick chunky peanut sauce for extra yumminess!

For golden fried appetizers, the crispy Calamari and Crispy Shrimp are the perfect snack for beers or cocktails. What’s not to like when the Calamari is crispy outside and tender inside served with tangy spicy chili sauce or glorious golden Crispy Prawns served with two sauces? The prawns was quite large and was really so yummy that I believed that I had three of these crustaceans.

The Summertime Salad is well studded with chargrilled seafood on a bed of green, orange segments and tangy capsicum vinaigrette. At least we had some greens that evening pumped up with grilled prawns, calamari and fish…

Hailing from the Carving station, we also got to try the Roasted Turkey with stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce with some roasted potatoes. It’s a good roast as it has enough moistness in the meat and the gravy and stuffing balanced everything nicely.

Mains from the Christmas menu were Kris Kringle Beef Tenderloin, Yuletide Seabass and Smoked Herbed Crusted Premium Roast Beef. I had the Kris Kringle Beef Tenderloin while my other half had the Yuletide Seabass.

The Kris Kringle Beef Tenderloin has a large piece of premium Australian beef tenderloin nicely chargrilled to medium. The tenderloin is served with sun dried tomato mashed potato, sautéed watercress and mushrooms in a white wine jus. There were also some caramelized onions crowning the beef. The overall combination worked out deliciously. The beef was very tender and juicy with a good dose of smokiness and the sweet onion added more bonus flavours. The sides worked really well with the beef so to me, this dish was really satisfying.

The dish that rocked my boat that evening had to be the Yuletide Seabass. One taste of the baked seabass with a magnificent parmesan crust and I am totally sold on the dish. I loved the new take on the fish & chip idea. Serving the fish with sundried tomato mashed potato, fava beans with sage and caper sauce really elevated the whole dish to a new level. I kept stealing bites from my other half’s plate. If you do see this in their specials or regular menu, make sure to order this!

Off the Christmas menu, we also tried Sake San Pizza and Sang Har Mein. Sake San Pizza is a signature at SOULed Out. Its pizza topped with smoked salmon, fish roes, greens, tomatoes, mozzarella and mayonnaise with a wasabi note. The pizza has a fresh flavour note from all the fresh greens and salmon.

Their Sang Har Mein has crispy wantan mee topped with fresh water prawn and thick egg gravy. This is also a signature dish that is loved by many at the restaurant.

My little one had their Baked Macaroni & Cheese… creamy with lots of ham and cheesy flavours.

Desserts were Tiramisu Crepe and Tropical Pavlova. Both desserts are very different from each other. The Tiramisu Crepe is chocolaty and yet light enough to be enjoyed. It also has a good strong note of coffee. The Tropical Pavlova is crispy and chewy meringue topped with various tropical fruits and coconut cream. Though the pavlova is really sweet, I still enjoyed it as the textures are very interesting while the coconut cream is delish.

As the evening moved on, there was a Best Dressed competition for kids and ladies. It was without a doubt on who were the winners as the crowd gets to decide by their loudest cheer for the winners.

We also played Christmas Bingo and there was also a Limbo Rock competition. Then we had Santa’s SOULed Out elves perform some dance entertainment for us too.

Just few minutes before the countdown, we moved to their opposite lot where we were surprised with Santa high up in the air waving to all of us, a balloon drop and a candlelight ceremony. My little one squealed in delight as this was the first time he finally have an interest in Santa and he also got to meet him plus the balloon drop was the cake topper for him.

SOULed Out Christmas Tree held precious ornaments representing precious moments made through time in the SOULed Out journey.

Indeed my Christmas Eve was truly memorable. Great company of friends, cool and fun ambience, scrumptious food and cocktails plus lots of entertainment makes the festive season a precious memory. The next time you think of parties, you should definitely head over to SOULed Out, Tujo, WIP and Hubba Hubba for a smashing good time!

SOULed OUT

Sri Hartamas

No. 20, Jalan 30/70A,

Desa Sri Hartamas,

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 2300 1955 / 012 200 1955

Website: www.soulsociety.com.my/so

Facebook: www.facebook.com/souledoutkl

Hubba Hubba, Invito Hotel Suites at Bukit Ceylon: A Really Cool Gastrobar!

Rocking to a Hubba Hubba Night!

Walking back into Hubba Hubba a week after The Global Party event was a welcoming sight. I was already in love with the ambience back then and now, Hubba Hubba, The Party Hub feels even better. The funky vibe and décor makes a great play on jiving up the fun and happy mood. The feeling that you know you’re in for a great time with some great company.

After a taste back at the previous event, this round we are hungry for their regular menu. We arrived pretty early and settled in with a round of their awesome cocktails and other happy juices. The music was already slowly jazzing up and the crowd started trickling in. Lots of people gathered at the bar and the al fresco seating to catch the sight of the bustling street. Me, I was just happy in the cool and comfy ambience of spacious seating and cold air-conditioning.

Drinks have always been a forte of every Soul Society restaurants including Souled Out, WIP and Tujo. At Hubba Hubba, the drink list is equally awesome as expected. The seven of us lost count of our drinks, probably because the drinks, especially the cocktails were so awesome.

Here are some of our drinks in no particular order. My awesome cocktail was a vibrantly tangy Passion Lychee Margarita. The flavours of tequila, lychee, passion fruit and lime rocks. You get a bold kick of tangy fruit sweetness with hits of tequila at one sip. This one calls for a reorder.

Since I love cider, I was introduced the Magner Berry Irish Cider. It’s totally delicious and refreshing. I adored the punches of berries with the light sparkling sensation. My third drink, I started to calm down and ordered the Kirk’s Fruit Punch, a mocktail made with orange juice, passion fruit, green apple and ginger ale. I couldn’t be any happier with all the drinks at Hubba Hubba, thanks to their resident mixologist, Ant whom they lovingly called Mr. Mix & Muddle.

Other foodies had pretty sexy cocktails too. A very pretty in pink Cosmopolitan and Lychee Martini for the sexy foodies, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc and Connor’s Stout for the manly foodies. I am pretty sure there was more drinks but who’s keeping track? Not me for sure… wink!

Hubba Hubba’s menu has fun filled sections from Spoons & Forks, Sticks & Skewers, Fingers & Forks, Plates & Napkins to Drool & Grin. There are lots to please and some of them are pretty creative. Cleverly taking local and international and marrying them turns out well in most of the dishes. Bending all kitchen rules is Chef Kamarul, the chef behind the menu for Hubba Hubba.

No further delay, we dived into the Spoons & Forks dishes of Abriosa Salad and Prawn Cracker Salad.

Abriosa Salad is truly interesting, a funky partnership of crisp greens, briny seaweed, succulent Pacific clams, fresh orange slices and tomatoes all dressed in citron miso dressing. It may sound wacky but trust me, this is a gorgeous salad, especially if you love Pacific clams like I do. The balance of sweet, sour and savory works beautifully.

The Prawn Cracker Salad isn’t too bad with its combo of prawn cracker, pear and mizuna. I think this one lost to the Abriosa salad in terms of heartiness. The prawn cracker was really good though and we all fought hard for the crispy golden prawn cracker happily.

Hubba Hubba sure offers large selections of their Stick & Skewers list. We sampled Chicken with Tare Glaze, Bass with Lime Bakar, Lamb with Lime Chipotle and Eringi Mushroom Jerk.

These were also decent and my favorite would have to be the Lamb with Lime Chipotle and Eringi Mushroom Jerk. Each flavour is bold and moreish. Each order comes in two skewers and is priced from RM7 to RM18.

Feeling adventurous? Go for Prawn Sambal, Prawn Bacon, Beef Rib Asian BBQ, Tripe Chili Soy, Chicken Gizzard with Serrano Tomato and more. Hey, there are even sweet ones like Pineapple Marsala, Banana Rum and Marshmallow!

When Karuma Prawns arrived, I knew it was going to be superb. Looking at the sexy and sultry crustaceans baked with egg emulsion, sauced with balsamic and topped with fish roes on a bed of asparagus, it’s definitely an irresistible sight. The aroma is heavenly too, a sweet oceanic taste with a creamy sauce works like a charm every time. The large tiger prawn was literally cooked to perfection and remained juicy. Did I mention that the crustaceans were served on thin prawn cracker? A drool-worthy dish…

We ordered the Spaghetti Meatball for my little one but guess what, this dish ended up in all our plates! Beautifully cooked, al dente pasta, rich well stewed tomato sauce with hints of heat and moist brown meatballs is best describe in this dish. Comfort food prepared well…

I didn’t expect this but the gastrobar also has Beef Rice Noodle aka Ginger Scallion Beef Hor Fun. The dish is decent with egg gravy and smooth tender pieces of beef. Another comfort food to the list…

From the Fingers and Forks section, we had Prawn Savory Pancake and Tomyam Crab. Neither was what we expected but they were certainly yummy. Crispy and moist fritters with prawns, cabbage, carrot and onion make great bites, especially with beer and cocktail.

Same goes for the Tomyam Crab, pieces of golden fried crispy battered soft shell crab seasoned with the familiar flavours of tomyam ingredients like lemongrass, kaffir leaves and spices. It’s crunchy with a tender inside though I wanted more obvious sourness and heat in flavours. Simply addictive stuff… I’d like to see anyone stop at one piece!

We had two chicken dishes next from the Plates & Napkins list. Jerk Out Chicken and Kashmiri Chicken might come from different continents but it goes to show how versatile Hubba Hubba’s Chef Kamarul repertoire is.

Jerk Out Chicken takes on the flavours of pumped up teriyaki sauce laced with spices. Cleverly using thigh, the dark meat is moist and the skin is delectably caramelized with a tinge of sweetness. I love a good mash and this one was creamy and smooth, going well with the chicken and sauce. There were also some micro herbs to make the dish look pretty too.

The flavours of the Kashmiri Chicken are spot on with its blend of spices, ginger and raisins. The chicken was a tad too cooked for my liking but I like the sauce a lot together with the bread, cucumber and onion raita and a the side salad.

My favorite dish of the night had to be the Lamb Shank Pie. And I am not a lamb shank girl but this dish is marvelous. The pastry was superbly golden, buttery and flaky. Tearing open the pastry, it was a pool of rich brown gravy with melt-in-the-mouth lamb shank meat pieces. The deep earthy and robust gravy is so good, especially with the pastry. Each mop of pastry and gravy with bits of meat is pure bliss of comfort. The dish alone warrants a revisit to Hubba Hubba!

The evening ended on a high note with desserts. Pick your choice of Chocolate Ball or Bailey’s Chendol. Both are creatively delicious. Chocolate Ball is disguise in wantan and fried to golden balls. A bit hard to eat but if you can manage that ball in one bite, you get a super chocolaty layers of cacao sensation with crispiness.

Hubba Hubba does nothing ordinary. So don’t expect their desserts to be ordinary. Chendol is interpreted with coconut ice cream, red bean, cendol, palm sugar syrup and served with a side shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream. Pour on the Bailey and let it take your senses to an oblivion of luscious flavours!

Once again, the Soul Society manages to inject charm and creativity to Hubba Hubba. The hangout gastrobar is indeed really cool and groovy while the food and drinks are pretty much creative and delicious. More hits than misses, Hubba by Ceylon certainly have some really good stuff that makes your heart go Hubba Hubba!

HUBBA HUBBA

Invito Hotel Suites

No.1 Lorong Ceylon

50200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 017-7867611

Website: www.soulsociety.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HubbaCeylon

Business Hours: 7.00am till late