The Moon Bar @ Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur

Occupying a corner lot along that loop strip known as Jalan Medan Setia 2 in Damansara Heights is The Moon Bar.  Ahh… yes, you won’t miss it – just look out for a moon depicted on a dusky signboard.  There are quite a number of eateries and watering holes in this area, so what makes Moon Bar stand out among them?

Mojitos all lined up

Well, for one… I was told the drinks there are very reasonably priced.  For another, they serve porky stuff on their menu, much to the delight of porcine lovers.  Known as a gastro pub, Moon Bar’s food menu showcases a variety of local favourites – perfect for people who love such dishes to go with their drinks, dining in a pleasant cool place, instead of sweating it out on the streets.  Comforting favourites like fried chicken wings, roast pork, biryani rice, Hokkien Mee and even Bak Kut Teh are all available in Moon Bar.

Recently we had a sampling of Moon Bar’s offerings.  In its Starters Platter, we had bites of their Spicy Fried Chicken Wing, Black Pepper Lamb Parcels, Fried Breaded Mozzarella and a skewer of Roast Pork Belly and Chargrilled Honey Lime Chicken.  The chicken wing was well marinated with healthy doses of aromatic spices – finger-licking good.  The Roast Pork Belly and Honey Lime Chicken were scrumptious – perfect with your wines and beers.  The lamb parcels and fried mozzarella were just average for me.

One of their signature dishes is Butter Briyani Rice with Spicy Sri Lankan Tamarind Pork Belly and Mutton Varuval… a dish which Mike Tham, the owner is very proud of.  The briyani rice is bursting with spices, particularly cloves and if you are not a fan of this, it can be quite tiresome removing the abundant cloves from the rice.  As for the tamarind pork belly and mutton varuval, while I enjoyed the fragrant and tasty blend of spices in the meat dishes, the spiciness can be quite something else.

For someone who can take above-average spiciness generally, I found the level of “hotness” in those 2 meat dishes quite overwhelming. It started as a slow burn on my tongue and very soon consumed my entire palate in relentless fiery lashings.  For the next few minutes, I just had to sit out the onslaught and the good thing was that while the burn peaked pretty quickly, it subsided quickly too.  But, man, was it hot while it lasted!  The good news is that Moon Bar does have a milder version, so remember to ask for that if you have low chilli-tolerance!

Hokkien Mee and Bak Kut Teh are favourite supper dishes for many.  Moon Bar’s version of Hokkien Mee is generously laced with lard oil and lard “croutons” – “chee yau cha”!  You can even order extra portions of these chee yau cha at RM4 and dunk all these onto those fat slithery noodles.

The Bak Kut Teh served here is rather mild in flavours.  According to Mike Tham, many of his patrons do not favour the stronger tastes of typical Klang-style Bak Kut Teh, so the chef has toned down the herbal concoction.  Long-grained rice, flavoured with some spices, fried shallots and garlic are served with the Bak Kut Teh.  So, if you get those hunger pangs hitting you while chilling out at the bar, go on, have a tummy-warming bowl of hot bak kut teh and fragrant rice.

Come to The Moon Bar on Friday nights and you’ll be entertained by veteran jazz pianist David Gomes together with friends.  Known as the “David Gomes Trio”, musicians and singers like Jose Thomas and Jordan Rivers will be performing.  For the entire month of March, for the St Patrick’s celebrations, the Guinness promotions are on every day.  Ladies Nights are on every Wednesday, Karaoke Nights on Thursdays, Quiz Nites and Special Events on Saturdays and oh, there’s also BBQ Sundays from 3-8pm.  Open Mic Nights are on Saturdays and Tuesdays.

David Gomes – veteran jazz pianist/singer

Desserts may not be a forte of the bar though but we were lucky to be dining and wining with celebrity blogger/baker FatBoyBakes and guess what – he’s so nice and generous to have brought along his famed Salted Caramel Banana Tart for us!

 

For reservations, please call Suresh at 016-5514686 or Steve at 016-3097338.

The Moon Bar
2 Jalan Medan Setia 2
Bukit Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2385-5288

Operating Hours:
Mon-Fri: 5:00 pm – 1:00 am
Sat: 5:00 pm – 2:00 am
Sun: 5:00 pm – 1:00 am
Email [email protected]

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