Bijan & Bar Restaurant - Kuala Lumpur

- December 14, 2013

Bijan & Bar Restaurant is a fine malay cuisine located in Kuala Lumpur. We made a reservation by phone earlier before heading to the restaurant. When we entered the restaurant, one of the staff guide us to our table. However, another staff trying to block this staff from bring us to our table by saying "do not let them sit if there's no reservation"! After knowing we have made reservation from his workmate, he just ignored us and walked off in a very unfriendly manner. By the way, the restaurant was half empty when we walked in and after we have finished our meal it remains the same. His reaction actually made us feel unwelcome in the restaurant but since we were already here we decided to proceed with our dinner plan.

There's limited parking outside the restaurant but car jockey is available (RM10). We decided not to use the car jockey service and found a parking place nearby the restaurant. As usual there's people guarding the area and asking for money. Seems that this is a very common trend especially in KL. We will always have this dilemma "to pay or not to pay". If we don't pay them, we are afraid that they might do something to our car but if we do pay them this will encourage them to continue with their activity. Anyway, back to the food review... The restaurant was dimly lit and there's a bar right in front of the entrance. This is what we ordered:

a) Opor Rusuk - Beef ribs slow cook in a thick gravy of aromatic spices, toasted coconut, palm sugar and coconut milk

b) Asparagus Goreng Belacan - Asparagus stir-fried with spicy prawn paste

c) Ayam Percik - Chargrilled leg of a chicken marinated in tumeric and crushed ginger, drizzled with lightly spiced coconut gravy

d) Pandan Cendol Ice Cream - Pandan ice cream topped with cendol pieces and palm sugar syrup

The opor rusuk was good. The beef was tender, well marinated and the gravy was delicious. However, the asparagus was very salty and we didn't manage to finish the whole plate. Ayam percik was so-so. Pandan ice cream was good - creamy, smooth and not too sweet but the cendol was tasteless.

Oh yeah... we ordered ice water and the waitress asked us distilled water? I thought this was the only water they have and said yes without going through the menu. Turned out it was the most expensive distilled water that I have ever had. It's made in Italy, underwater mineral water from Antica Fonte and cost us RM16 for 1 litre. It was tasteless, odourless, crystal clear, cool and refreshing. Well... the price explained it all...

Total bill: RM151.95 including 16% service tax.