BreadFruits @ Desa Sri Hartamas

When my friends and I met last, we had a later appointment than usual and met up during afternoon tea and (so) we had a 'desserts first' and 'dinner later' kind of day.  Yeah, I know....it's kinda weird but we're up for anything!

 

After our earlier desserts at Wild Sheep Chase, we decided to have dinner at BreadFruits @ Desa Sri Hartamas after reading mostly positive reviews about the place from food blogs, among them eatdrinkkl and The Yum List. 

 

Since Wild Sheep Chase is located in Taman Desa and BreadFruits also (recently) opened a new outlet at Taman Desa, this would have been an obvious choice but we decided to go to the original one at Desa Sri Hartamas coz, based on experience (though I'm not referring to this particular one), it's always the original one that seems to do it better.

 

Take note though that their dinner menu starts from 6pm and since we were there around five-ish, we had the liberty of ordering from both the lunch and dinner menus which was great.  To start us off, we could share two dishes from the lunch menu first and then have three more dishes from the dinner menu later.

 

The first dish (off the lunch menu) was the Brunch Pasta with 7-Minute Egg @ RM20.80 which was actually carbonara pasta with sautéed mushrooms, bacon, cherry tomatoes, rocket and a 7-minute egg, of course.

 

The 7-minute egg is just a fancy interpretation of the soft-boiled egg cooked to the perfect doneness (where the egg white remains partially liquid and the yolk just runny).  Note that they use free range eggs here and it's served with the top part of the shell peeled off...and the egg was perfectly done!

 

Tip the egg to pour out the luscious contents into your fettuccine that also acts as the sauce to coat each strand of your pasta.  I must say that I've never been a huge fan of carbonara because of the usually thick and creamy egg and cheese sauce but this version...I instantly loved!  This was one carbonara where they weren't overly heavy-handed with the sauce that usually makes them so cloying.  This one was so light...it was definitely the most satisfying carbonara I've had so far (I think I can finish two plates of this).

 

Even the salads are divided into two, the wholesome salads (before 6pm) and the dinner salads (from 6pm).  So, we had the Roasted Veggie with Pan Grilled Salmon @ RM26.80 from the wholesome salads section.

This hot salad featured roasted veggies of beetroot, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, rocket, "kai lan" (Chinese broccoli) and mushrooms topped with a piece of nicely done pan grilled salmon in a rosemary and honey dressing.

I enjoyed the crunchiness that the veggies provided (including the sprinkling of sunflower seeds) and the slight bitterness the rocket brought but found the beetroot a bit too hard.  I wouldn't quite categorise this a salad as you'd be sufficiently satisfied with this as a complete meal itself.

After polishing off the two dishes from the earlier lunch/all day menu, our first dish from the dinner menu was the Seafood Platter @ RM38.80 (for 2 - 3 persons sharing).  Components of this dish include fennel fried squid with a dipping sauce of wild honey cider cream, clams with basil, smoked salmon with dill and capers, steamed prawns with thai chilli sauce, a cherry tomato salad, fried potatoes, orange segments and three slices of bread with butter.

As soon as the wooden board hit the table, a wondrous aroma filled the air, especially the fragrant fennel fried squid with wild honey cider cream, which we were most eager to try and it didn't disappoint one bit.  The squid was perfectly executed, fragrant and tender with a fresh, bright taste from the crunchy fennel (which I mistook for celery initially because of the texture).  This turned out to be my favourite item of the entire board.

The clams with basil were neatly arranged in a circle.  It was light and fresh (minus the salty, briny, sourish capers that weren't supposed to be there).

The smoked salmon with dill and capers was clean tasting (though there weren't any capers).  I think the capers accidentally landed in the clams dish (heehee!).  The orange segments offered a refreshing dimension to this platter of awesomeness.

The steamed prawns with thai chilli sauce and the fried potatoes were the most ordinary items on the board.

The cherry tomato salad, with sliced onions and basil, again freshened up the board of food in between mouthfuls.

And all this came with a serving of 3 slices of bread with butter (although I wished they were lightly toasted)...now if that isn't a full-on meal, I don't know what is.  This platter, complete with the many different types of food, is ideal for sharing (more than enough for two) if you ask me.

Our next dish was the popular favourite Wild Honey Apple Pear Pork Chop @ RM32.80 which featured a nicely seared piece of pork chop with tender slices of pear and apple with roasted pumpkin.

The pork chop had a nice sear and the meat came off as fragrant.  However, the pork crackling on top was chewy and not quite crackling as it should be.  I also wasn't liking the sauce as much as I found it a tad on the sweet side with its infusion of wild honey.  This was an ok dish, it just wasn't my favourite dish.

Our final main from the dinner menu was the 12 Herbs & Spices Chermoula Grilled Snapper with Pineapple Salsa @ RM52.80 served with bread.  It was either this or the Sicilian Whole Snapper and the pineapple salsa swayed my decision.

Although I'm not a big fan chermoula, a herbs and spices mix inspired by the flavours of Morocco and Tunisia, as I can (sometimes) taste the raw spices, this one I liked as the spices had been cooked properly (akin to our "ikan bakar" or grilled fish). 

The flesh was firm, moist and mildly sweet.  It was great eaten with a squeeze of lime and a dip into the tangy, fresh chilli accompaniment.

Though the snapper was the main star, the side of bright and summery pineapple salad didn't take a back seat.  The thinly sliced, crunchy cucumber and onions, the fresh and juicy cherry tomatoes and the sweet, chargrilled pineapple chunks, with bits of red chillies and mint, offered an utterly refreshing bite.

Passion Honey @ RM10.90

Lemonade Passion Honey @ RM12.90

 

Wild Honey Latte @ RM11.50

Juicy Workout @ RM10.90 (a combo of guava, celery, apple and orange)

The drinks with their signature wild honey is definitely the right choice here, especially the Passion Honey with its sweet and sour flavours and a burst of tartness when you suck up the seeds....I love it!

My Personal Opinion

The prices here are reasonable (some may be a bit pricier) for a menu that's more unique and distinctive from the usual fare served elsewhere.

Everything must have been good and tasty coz the four of us (with 2 young kids in tow) managed to finish all five dishes (that could feed 7 persons)....or we must have been very hungry! ;)

Do I see myself returning?  Absolutely yes!  In fact, one of my friends loved the food so much, she came back the very next day...testimony to just how much we enjoyed the food.
 

BreadFruits Cafe
17 Jalan 26/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-6201 0090