Bukit Bintang

Not-your-average Indian dish, but these are very good (fluffy mantao!!). No regrets ordering them.

Don’t be fooled by it’s popular nightlife street address because blink and you’ll miss the entrance to this hidden Italian gem. Menu’s a bit pricey but worth it. For starters, the tiramisu here is to die for! Smooth and rich, with right amount of coffee and alcohol, it’s the dessert stuff we all dream about. For mains, the baked white cod with teriyaki sauce on top of a bed of pesto mashed potatoes is hearty and oh-so-satisfying! The cod, tender white with delicate flesh, paired superbly well with the sweet and creamy pesto mash. Definitely got me filled up to the very last bite. With a cosy, laid-back feel and waiters that are not intrusive, Fuzio’s a great escape plan from the crowd any night.

Al-Tanoor’s not a place for an atmospheric romantic meal, but simply a place for a quick middle-eastern meal. The menu’s not hard to navigate through with far less choices than your typical middle-eastern restaurants, featuring popular items like shawarmas and tanoors here. My order of shawarma is filled with sliced chicken and other fillers, with a side of french fries. Chicken was flavourless but the garlic sauce on the side was ace. My beef? For RM16, the price just doesn’t justify the portion. It's a little too pedestrian for a place like Pavilion.

twenty.one kitchen and bar is known for its tasty bites (so good they now offer catering service for people who just can’t get enough of their food), along with their too-good-to-be-true Happy Hour promotion available DAILY (12-8pm) - buy 1 free 1 drinks, anyone? Had my fill of the Tiger beer (normal price: RM20 per bottle) and a shared plate of Duck Spring Rolls (RM17) in soft tortilla wrap and hoisin sauce. Come here for a stylish nosh that is not french fries and wash them down with free cocktails (only for the ladies) every Thursday night!

Probably had the most epic prawn salsa tapas (RM18) here. The salsa brava and flash-fried prawns combo served on top of two crispy toasts were just unforgettable. Come here if you’re looking for something to keep you carb-happy while enjoying some solid live music performances every Weds, Fris and Sats. Happy hour ends at 8pm everyday, so be sure to come early to get your bucks worth on the drinks.

Sentidos Gastrobar, previously Sentidos Tapas, is a Spanish restaurant that’s part of Starhill Gallery’s Feast Village. Opened for quite some time now, their newly revamped menu features sharing plates perfect for nibbling such as the Prawn & Chicken fritters (RM15) as well as Mex-influenced tacos for a messier feed (Chilli Lime Prawn tacos, RM32). Yes, that’s a load of sour cream drizzled on the tacos. Is that even acceptable for a restaurant in a premium mall? I’m not sure. Maybe skip the tacos and try their Paella instead.
If you find it hard to choose from the menu, round up a group of friends and get here for their RM108 all-you-can-eat Spanish buffet with free flow alcohol, including Sentidos’ signature sangria, available every Saturday from 8-10pm. Groups of 4 get a discounted rate of RM100 per pax.

Let’s be straight up here, given all the seemingly positive crowd and beautiful interior in a premium shopping mall, this place serves some mediocre food at not-so-cheap prices, at best.
It’s a sad case of expectations-vs-reality especially because the food photos made all the food looked plump, fresh and good! Not only did they make me wait a staggering 30 minutes for my food, what i got was this sad-looking, bland-tasting, dry, char bee hoon with exactly 3 decorative slices of thingamajig on top for RM14.90. I have never felt cheated so badly. It also didn’t help that they forgot my order of a ready-made egg tart and took another God-knows-how-long to serve it to me.
I think it’s fair to say that one shouldn’t expect the best service at a cheap and easy hawker shop that serves char bihun in a fly, but when you go to a slightly upmarket local food restaurant, it’s reasonable to expect some level of good food and good service. Unfortunately, I got none of that.