SOULed OUT Ampang @ The Linc KL

I was very kwai (obedient) throughout Chinese New Year (as it was during the early days of my restrictive diet), refraining from all sweet stuff, cookies, crispy snacks (other than prawn/fish crackers :P), kuih kapit, bak kwa, pineapple tarts and the works, including Mandarin oranges.

So, on an invitation from my sister-in-law, I had my one and only (proper) cheat meal (during the last CNY) at restaurant + bar, SOULed OUT Ampang @ The Linc KL.  It was a beautiful evening, so we chose to dine al fresco taking in the breezy evening and scenic views outdoors in this modern and charming venue.  But as night fell, do note that it can get quite dark and maybe not so suitable for dining but certainly gives off that intimate charm for drinks, snacks and conversation but can also be a buzzing atmosphere from watching sports or music on the big screen.

SOULed OUT with branches in Desa Sri Hartamas, Nexus Bangsar South and Pavilion Bukit Jalil in KL (plus outlets in Genting Highlands and Kota Kinabalu) turns 27 this year (wow, since 1996!).  They serve an array of international cuisine and local classics which includes western (a bit of Spanish & Mexican too), Asian (with Japanese, Indonesian & Thai influences) and local favourites (of Indian, Malay & Chinese flavours).

We started our dinner, when the horizon was still bright, with a dish that's suited for our climate, a very refreshing Tropical Tango Salad @ RM28.  When the salad has such a colourful presentation, it's a win already.  This is a salad of pineapple, orange, dried cranberries, mango, avocado, beetroot, cherry tomatoes, red & green coral leaves and spinach leaves tossed in a honey & lime dressing.  I would say that the salad was more unique (in terms of ingredients like beetroot, avocado and cranberries) in an appetite-indusing light dressing (rather than the usual leaves overly tossed in a thick dressing).  I liked that they use a lot more fruits which I absolutely adore (something I've not be able to have due to my restrictive diet).

Next to arrive was the ultimate crowd pleaser pizza of Mushrooms All The Way @ RM28 filled with earthy and juicy portobello, button and shiitake mushrooms together with briny and delicate oysters (though I can't remember biting into one...hehe).  My brother-in-law mentioned that my choice of a mushroom pizza was the right call coz its familiar and comforting flavour is always a hit.

This was followed by another familiar dish of Seafood Aglio Olio @ RM46 which presented itself with al dente spaghetti cooked with garlic and chilli flakes (the heat was rather subtle though, wished there was more for a spicier effect) together with fair-sized juicy prawns, tender mussels, fresh squid rings served with a piece of crispy, garlicky baguette.  I thought the pasta was quite ordinary though the seafood was fresh.

From their local favourites, my sister-in-law ordered the Railway Mutton Curry @ RM38 which she had enjoyed before.  The mutton curry was slow cooked in a blend of spices, dried chillies, curry leaves and coconut milk till super tender and delicious.  It was served with sides of curried chickpeas, cauliflower, naan and crispy papadum.  Both my husband and I were in agreement that it was the best dish of the night (and that says a lot coming from me, someone who doesn't fancy mutton).  I thought they would be more capable with western dishes (from the name of the place) but it turns out they've got a very capable chef who can cook Indian cuisine rather well (which was a surprise).

We also got an extra order of Plain Naan @ RM6 (to mop up the mutton curry) though it was accompanied by a dip of dhall curry itself.

We completed our meal with the final dish of Chicken Pot Pie @ RM30 which had tender chunks of chicken along with mushrooms, garden fresh vegetables of carrots, peas and onions encased in a flaky, golden brown pastry.

Breaking into the flaky, crispy crust of the pie, I was greeted with a hot filling of tender chicken chunks and softened vegetables in a creamy sauce that mimicked the taste of a chunky mushroom soup.  Sorry for the not-so-clear photo as evening turned to night as we were tucking into this dish that arrived last at our table.

I got myself a fresh juice of Green Apple @ RM13 (the safest choice and my first juice since I went on a restrictive diet).  As night fell, the servers will come round to light the candles on your table.  That's why I say it gives off that intimate vibe ideal for couples on a date...hehe.  It's especially great for those who like to dine al fresco (that's why you see a fair bit of expatriates dining here).

My Personal Opinion

In the end, my cheat meal was well worth the calories (of carbs and probably a wee bit of sugar in the cooking) that I was ingesting...lol! ;)  I would single out the mutton curry as the standout dish of the evening.

Seeing that they have quite a lot of Indian dishes on their menu like Malabar fish curry, classic butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, achari grilled eggplant, prawn varuval, vegetable pakoras, mamak mee goreng and lamb shank biryani (this one is specially for a certain lamb lover who adores this dish) among others, I guess their expertise in cooking Indian cuisine is not a coincidence.

Their menu is quite extensive and their western menu is pretty impressive too with dishes like open-faced beef wellington, all sorts of steaks (from ribeye to chateaubriand to Angus tomahawk), naked burger (that's breadless...ooo, perfect for me!) and lamb shank again (take note lamb lovers!).

A dish that caught my eye from the Asian section was their fried beef noodles as it came with a 'so lip smacking!' symbol (which means highly recommended lah) for I love a good beef hor fun.  When I do revisit, I will surely want to explore some of these dishes further.

SOULed OUT Ampang

G-12-AF Ground Floor The Linc

360 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-655 7622

Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL

It has been a week since the Movement Control Order was enforced in an effort to stem out the deadly Covid-19 virus that has engulfed the world.  All of us are looking forward to the MCO being lifted so that we can get back some normalcy in our lives.  But as days pass without a significant drop in cases, the possibility of the MCO being lifted seems remote.  Chances are we'd probably see an extension of the dreaded MCO. Looks like I (and my family) have to endure more of my cooking!  I miss dining out...haiz! :'( 

So, let's reminisce what it felt like eating out...which seems like a distant past now.  We were at Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL...not recently (of course) but during the Christmas period with family members for a celebration of some sort.  I thought I wasn't going to write about this dining experience since I've already written a post on the place before...but the rather encouraging pageviews for the earlier post made me change my mind and convinced me otherwise.

When we were given the menu for our orders, we realised it wasn't their usual menu but a condensed one.  I guess the restaurant went with a condensed menu to limit the choices to allow the kitchen to focus on less dishes to better manage the crowd of diners expected over the super busy Christmas & New Year period. Some restaurants do that, so it's best to check before you head out to a restaurant during such periods...but it was too late for us, we came in three separate cars and we had already paid parking fees x 3...and were already seated at their signature 'bird cage' dining table by then. >_<

Since this was my sister-in-law's treat, I'm not exactly sure about the prices (as I also can't remember some of them) + some of the dishes on their condensed menu also showcased a different pricing for the festive period.  So, the prices you see here are taken off their menu in their Facebook which may not necessarily be the correct prices on that day.

Let's begin with the Truffle Fries @ RM22 (festive price was RM33 if I remembered correctly) with a light sprinkle of truffle shavings and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  This was one expensive fries just because of the truffle shavings (which looked like finely crushed seaweed!) but it was so scant you can hardly taste truffles at all.

The first time I was here I really wanted to try their signature roast chicken but it was sold out.  I wasn't going to miss out on their signature dish this time.  We ordered the Bo's Signature Rotisserie Roast Chicken @ RM75 (festive price was something like RM89 or RM98).  A whole chicken ideally can feed up to four smallish eaters but two with a ferrocious appetite can also devour it easily.

I suppose the increased pricing is warranted for this dish since it came with four sides instead of the usual two deli side salads.  There were thick-cut fries and an orecchiette (or sea shell-shaped) pasta with apples and little cubes of feta cheese (which I thought were tofu cubes initially) tossed in mayo.

There was also a coleslaw of fresh greens of purple cabbage, carrot, arugula & salad leaves and white rice with a sprinkle of fried shallots on top.

For the sauces, there were chicken jus (in the little pitcher), basil mint pesto, garlic aioli and a final one that tasted like mushroom sauce.

Their roast chicken, supposedly brined and air dried for 24 hours before being slow roasted in their rotisserie oven, was tender though not particularly outstanding in taste.  You need to eat it with the chicken jus for a tastier bite.

The Smoked Duck Spaghetti @ RM34 had tender, smoked duck slices with sun-dried tomatoes, caramelised onions and fresh arugula.  The flavour of this one was quite nice and the the fresh arugula was a welcome addition to provide some freshness to the dish.

The Beef Ragu Pasta @ RM32 was ok with bits of beef in a classic tomato sauce.  The spiral-shaped pasta, like fusilli (not tagliatelle as per their menu), was the perfect vehicle to trap the meat sauce in its grooves. What's with the thick slices of grana padano? >_<  Shouldn't they be thin savings of cheese for a better bite? My sister-in-law left them on the plate.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza @ RM35 was supposed to have Jamaican jerk flavours of sweet and spicy Caribbean sauce with jerk chicken, onion, red and green capsicum, coriander and mozzarella but it tasted like an ordinary tomato-based pizza and the toppings were a bit scant.  It did come with a nice char on the pizza though since they're cooked in a wood-fired oven.  I think, because this was served last, it got cold before we got to it, so it was the least appreciated dish of all.

I remember liking the Pan-Seared Red Snapper on an earlier visit, so I chose the Jerk Spiced Malabar Red Snapper @ RM48 (RM53 festive price, this price I remembered clearly as it was my dish.  It was served with some spice-tinged, lightly roasted vegetables of broccoli, cauliflower, okra and cloud ear fungus.

If the red snapper fillets were indeed marinated in jerk spices, it was hardly noticeable but the fish texture was still very tender and flaky.  The sauce (which I believe was some kind of a turmeric-infused cream sauce based on the colour) ended up to be the star component which brought the whole dish together as the sauce was commendable.  The dish I ordered turned out to be my favourite of the night (and luckily so since three of us chose the same dish).

My Personal Opinion

I'm glad I finally got to try their signature rotisserie chicken which turned out satisfyingly tender, decently juicy though not particularly outstanding.  I was hoping for a bit more charring on the skin to bring out its smoky flavour and the chicken needed the chicken jus to bring out its flavour as it was under-seasoned.

But the two red snapper dishes (I had on both visits) are probably the ones I wouldn't mind having again, one for its fresh and citrusy flavours, the other for its bright, appealing sauce.

The gorgeous interior is undeniable, possibly even a little intimate, with great spots for photos, but it can be a little cold, so make sure you dress suitably for this purpose.

Bo All Day Dining
Lot 1-10 & 1-11 The Linc
No 360 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 017-211 2842

Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL

The Linc KL is probably one of the most instagrammable malls in KL though this two-storey mall isn't quite a shopping mall like others but one influenced by art and art installations with a few home-grown stores for retail experience.

Of course, we (my sisters-in-law and I) made prior arrangements to be here for the same purpose...to take photos of some of these instagram-worthy spots.  Once we did our requisite walkabout and photo-taking, it was time for lunch and my sister-in-law suggested this place (a place that she and her husband had eaten in before).

This place is referred to by many names...Bo & Banker, Bo All Day Dining, Bo Dining, B + B (or BNB).  I can understand the B + B moniker since they have Bo & Banker, Bricks & Barrels (Ipoh) and the soon to be launched, Box & Butterfly.  But I think I'll go with the name of Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL (since it's on the menu, it's on Google and it's the most commonly used one by other food blogs).

The menu offers a range of starters for sharing, soups, salads, burgers & sandwiches, wood-fired pizzas, western mains, Asian favourites, desserts, breakfast & brunch specials, set lunch specials and tea time delights, so there are more than enough choices to keep everyone happy.

Besides their a la carte menu, set lunch specials are also offered on weekdays from 11am - 3pm and, on that particular day, we had 5 choices to choose from.  The set lunch special comes at RM28 (for 2 courses, beverage & main) and RM35 (for 3 courses, beverage, main & dessert).

And because it was listed in the menu as 2 or 3 courses (they should have said 3 or 4 courses), we were oblivious of the fine print that also mentioned that a deli salad (with unlimited refills) was included until much later...when our main course arrived and the server reminded us (probably after noticing that we didn't help ourselves to the salad).  On that day, we could have our fill of three...coleslaw, cous cous salad and mixed lettuce with a choice of Thousand Island or their house sauce from the deli counter.

Our first pick was the Rotisserie Quarter Roast Chicken (since it was their signature dish + my sis-in-law also highly recommended it), brined and air-dried for 24 hours before being slow-roasted in their French-made Rotisol rotisserie oven.  Unfortunately, it was sold out. I guess I'll have to try this another day then. Their Rotisserie Roast Chicken can be ordered a la carte as well (RM28 for quarter, RM42 for half & RM75 for a whole chicken).

So we settled for their Seafood Aglio Olio Supreme instead @ RM28 with fresh tiger prawns, clams, mussels, squid and bird's eye chillies (this dish is also available a la carte at RM42 with probably more seafood and a bigger portion?).

There was quite a generous serving of seafood though the prawns tasted like the frozen kind with an overly crunchy texture but devoid of sweetness of sea prawns + the clams could be fresher.  I also didn't detect any bird's eye chillies but the red chilli flakes were sufficient to bring some heat that's required of an aglio olio. The pasta was cooked just right, al dente without being too oily.  Overall, the dish was pleasant enough.

We were curious about the Wagyu Fat Char Kway Teow @ RM28 and picked that for our next dish.  This was wok-fried flat noodles with wagyu beef fat and grilled tiger prawns served with sauteed bok choy, fish crackers, shredded carrot and chillies + a dried chilli sambal (RM36 if ordered a la carte).  There was only one tiger prawn (though it was quite huge) and this one was at least of the fresh kind with a firm texture.

The wok-fried flat noodles weren't particularly outstanding but biting into the wagyu beef fat was a bit off-putting as they came in rather large pieces and some pieces weren't all that crispy.  I initially thought the wagyu beef fat would be more fatty beef but it actually turned out to be just fat only (much like chee yau char, only this one is not from the oink-oink but from the moo-moo).  Perhaps if it had been fried crispier and cut smaller (like pork lard crisps), it would have turned out better.  It definitely needed a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of the dried chilli sambal to cut through all that fattiness.

As the rest of the set lunch specials didn't interest us, we went with an a la carte order of Pan-Seared Red Snapper @ RM48 with lemon olive oil mash, poached pears and a citrus salad laced with a refreshing mayo-like sauce.

I was taken aback by just how huge the fillet was when it arrived, certainly well worth the price paid.  At first bite, it was the acidity and freshness of the whole dish that made it truly stand out for me.  The snapper fillet was fresh, tender and flaky...and the skin was perfectly crispy with a tangy hint of freshly grated lemon zest and (what looked like) chimichurri sauce on top.

The citrus salad of grapefruit, lemon and poached pears with radicchio and pea sprouts gave it the desired crunch and zesty flavours.  Even the potato mash tasted tangy because of the lemon olive oil.  It made the whole dish that much lighter and more appetising.  Just don't eat the whole piece of lemon like it's a piece of fruit (as the sourness will make you cringe) but cut a small piece of it and eat it together with a bit of fish and mash for a tasty, well balanced bite.

My Ice Latte (drinkable) & Ice Lemon Tea (from the set lunch)

With my tummy full, I can't very well end my post without showing you the photos I took of the The Linc. After all, it was the many beautifully taken shots of the greenery and artistic value of the place I saw on blogs that first tempted me to visit the place, so here are some of the shots I took (but you might want to check out better photos of them here, here and here) since my phone camera is ciplak and I suck at photography.

One of the two most instagrammable spots is definitely the majestic old tree that was retained to take centre stage with the mall design built around it.

#1 - Majestic-looking Tree

This tall, grand tree sprouting from the centre of the mall certainly gives you a sense of tranquility and nature just standing amongst the greenery.

The other much talked about instagram-worthy spot would be the colourful art installation of paper doves in rainbow colours hanging from the skylight.

#2 - Rainbow Paper Doves

There are more than 40,000 folded paper doves in 40 colours, it seems.

It's even more beautiful when natural sunlight streams down in the afternoons.


#3 - Rainbow Staircase

Besides the rainbow colours of the paper doves, there's also the rainbow-coloured steps ready for you to strike your best post...standing up or seated down. ^_*

#4 - Luna Lana Light Bulbs

As you stroll through the mall, unique artwork in the form of wall murals painted in vibrant colours emerge beckoning you to pause a moment and take a snapshot.

#5 - Flora & Fauna Mural with 3-D Butterflies

#6 - The Gift of Trees.....what a wonderful gift to us all :)

#7 - Hornbill

#8 - (Proboscis) Monkey & Leopard (or is that a Cheetah?) ^_~

#9 - Octopus (in disguise) & Wooden Hut

Whether it's artwork or greenery, you can find influences of that too in the eateries at this mall, notably in De.Wan 1958 by Chef Wan, Bo All Day Dining and Bean Brothers to name a few.

#10 - Bo All Day Dining

My Personal Opinion

Its beautiful interior and classy ambience invites you to come and linger to savour reasonably-priced western mains and Asian favourites, some of which should please.  Luckily, we chose the 2-course set lunch (since the dessert on that day, bread pudding, wasn't something we fancied) which actually turned out to be a 3-course lunch (with the refillable salad).  This was very filling and really good value at RM28!  Count yourself lucky (if you happen to work around the area) as you can feast on such great value set lunch specials. ^_~

But, most of all, it's the attraction and charm of a little tropical oasis in the heart of KL, within a non-crowded mall with a quiet ambience, that makes it the perfect destination for those who want to relax and take a stroll in a non-hectic mall.

I'm sure I'll be back since there are quite a few potential food options to explore in this mall.

Bo All Day Dining

Lot 1-10 & 1-11 The Linc

No 360 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 017-211 2842