Friday, April 9, 2010

Malayas Bistro

It was not until she sang the familiar Perfidia that I really paid attention to her voice. From the beginning of the acoustic set, my friends were already fully engaged to the performing duo of  Dewi Liana Seriestha and her father, Yudhi Seriestha. I was, on the other hand, busy browsing the menu like how a school kid would excitedly flip through the fresh, glossy textbooks before the start of a semester. Her voice had a rough edge that's appealing to the generation that raves Christina Aguilera and those who sound or at least try to sound like her. This pretty Sarawakian lass can really sing anything and I imagined what a good recording artiste she'd become one day. Gosh, we all think and talk like those American Idol judges these days, don't we? A friend told me that she was on Mentor, a singing competition on television and that's how I knew her name.

Some single ladies behind us were busy singing along to Dewi Liana's repertoire, with champagne and wine in hand while the bar was occupied by a few guys chatting over some liquor.  At the centre of the bistro, a family was celebrating the birthday of a child. It was really generous of the father to send over some roast chicken and chocolate cake. I could have thanked him by singing the kid a birthday song but of course, with professional singers around, that would be silly. Plus, I was not drunk enough for it. We were having a small, much belated birthday celebration ourselves sans a cake but with some alcohol, just the way we adults like it.

All enwrapped in the beautiful, incandesced interior that was perhaps inspired by the colonial times of Malaya, it's easy to imagine that this place lights up the Saturday nights of CapSquare with its attractive design, good turnout and cool music. The truth is, these were the only customers they had that Saturday night. It doesn't mean that it's a bad place to be in. It's definitely not. Located in a business centre, it's obviously brisker on weekdays and progressively slows down towards the weekend. So, not surprisingly, they are closed every Sunday. I personally like to chill in this bistro on a Saturday night. It's a more relaxing option to the loud lanes not too far from here.

Vegetable pakhora


Many of the dishes we requested for were either sold out or not available that night. Given the tapas sizes and relatively affordable prices, we ordered quite a bit of everything that remained. Fairly decent were the mostly regional dishes and one of their signatures, the vegetable pakhora stood out with its crispy batter and good mixture of vegetables. The extensive menu is worth a try during lunchtime as I'm sure interesting dishes like the thali and grilled fish must still be available.

Chinese-style fried rice

Fried calamari rings

Samosa

Char kway teow


Malayas Bistro, to me, is not the usual nightspot that's congested, loud and offers a substantially generic menu of expensive chicken wings and pizzas. And that's definitely not a bad thing.

Malayas Bistro
G-9 CapSquare Centre,
No. 7, Persiaran CapSquare,
50100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: (+603) 2691 1616

Click here for Sean's comprehensive post on the available dishes.

11 comments:

J said...

Cool....
Nice live music + alcohol in hand = recipe for a good night out.
(Throw in a some good company and that's a recipe for a great night...)
:)

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

sounds like a good quiet nite..minus all the crowd..

choi yen said...

That day I just pass by CapSquare then only knew where it located =.=" I'm so outdated :(

Sean said...

gosh, i had forgotten about malayas. been meaning to return to try their banana leaf rice. yeah, i hope this place gets a strong lunch crowd, cos it does deserve it...

minchow said...

That really looks like a superb venue for a private soiree! Just in time for Saturday night... I may just make my way there tonight. Hope Dewi Liana's still playing!

Rebecca Saw said...

CapsQ is a plc I hardly ever went after Pink Sage closed. I heard abt an outlet tht serves pretty good indian food.. but kinda hard for me to get to the city since now i'm in PJ.. ;)

Ciki said...

what is incandesced ?! LOL, damn cute la you

yup, read this on seans.. another place to check out - don't u wish there were 10days in a week?!

GFAD said...

I'd walk in to this place solely on the basis of the decor. I love the colonial style. My dream is to have a colonial-style bungalow. Makes perfect sense in this country - cool and well ventilated. Why on earth don't developers build houses based on the weather (as do olden day architects), instead of building heat traps that have to depend on aircons to cool them?

HairyBerry said...

j, definitely! and i should mention really a really good carpark too! ;D

joe, ya lor. and too much loud music is bad for the ears as well...hehehe.

mimi, haha, i'm also very outdated one. thank goodness for the internet to keep me updated! ;D

sean, yeah, i'm looking forward to their thali set as well! i should add that this is a kinda special because it offers dishes from all major ethnic groups in Malaysia. and more! ;D

minchow, so, did you make your way there last saturday? i think it's a good place to chill even on a weekday, so, do check it out! ;D

thenomadgourmand, oooohhh, good Indian food in CapSquare. now, i'm even more excited. PJ also got lotsa places to eat. ask the local, aka unka. hehehe.

cumi & ciki, that yellow tungsten light la. hehehe. i wish there's only one day in a week. and it's a saturday! ;D

GFAD, absolutely agree. you know, we are really abusing air-conditioners. i mean, do we really need to wear jackets in the office if we don't go below 20 deg C? adapting to the climate - this is what we should learn from the more developed countries, not their slang. hehe.

Kenny Mah said...

I love live music, a decent crowd that is not too noisy and good fare for the belly. Why the name "Malayas" though? Missing an apostrophe, maybe?

HairyBerry said...

kenny, ya lor, that's what i thought as well. or could it be someone's name ar? darn, i should have asked the staff that day. jom go again! ;D