Two Sons Bistro at Solaris Dutamas: Restaurant Review

Two Sons Bistro is a family affair, founded by married couple Steve & Ida with a name that represents their two toddlers, Riley & Rylan. This warm, welcoming restaurant is worth checking out for visitors to Solaris Dutamas, with an interesting repertoire of Western & Eastern specialities that spawned one of our most satisfying lunches this month.

A Steaming Hot Pot of Mussels

Start with a steaming-hot pot of mussels – Two Sons offers a 450-gramme serving that’s notably well-priced for RM28 (three or four patrons could share this as a starter), especially since it comes with an all-you-can-eat free flow of garlic brioche or fries to soak up the sauce. What’s more, you can choose from 16 types of preparations (!) – our option was char-grilled with sweet paprika butter (flavoursome & fresh-tasting); others might prefer spiced tomato & beef chorizo, oregano & sour cream, celery & leek, sun-dried tomatoes & olive oil, turmeric lime butter, ginger & lemongrass, cheese-baked, bird’s-eye chilli & thyme, butter cream, Thai green curry or tom yum – the list goes on. You can even swap the mussels for clams (RM22 for 450 grammes).

Steaks

Don’t skip the steaks – Two Sons’ head chef was a senior member of the kitchen at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Singapore, so this place takes its aged Aussie beef seriously. We ordered the tenderloin, since it seemed like good value at RM65 for 250 grammes – it turned out to be great value; prepared rare per our request, this proved achingly smooth & tender, with a clean & clear-cut flavour, coupled with our pick of potato rosti, creamed spinach & blue cheese sauce, all equally irreproachable.

Pastas

Pastas are a pleasure too; check out the linguine (RM29) simmered in robustly savoury tomato-&-olive-based sauce, topped with lamb meatballs that customers would cut open to reveal a centre of hard-boiled quail eggs, a unique take on Scotch eggs.

Many recipes here showcase a visual spark that makes for fun photography, such as this Chinese-style juicy sea bass in lime, chilli & garlic dressing, presented in an old-school tiffin carrier with rice & sauteed veggies in the menu’s Asian section. RM28.

Grilled Lamb Cubes

Also eye-catching: Indian-inflected grilled lamb cubes, succulent & spicy, served on striking skewers to be savoured with toasted tortilla wraps, sauteed veggies, mint yoghurt & curry. RM32; pair with red wine – Two Sons is not serving alcohol yet, but it plans to. For now, there’s no corkage charge, so take advantage of that & bring your own bottle.

Dessert

The star of the sweets: A combo of a baked apple with a filling of creme brulee custard (RM16), an inventive interpretation of two classic desserts put together. It’s a hopeful harbinger of what to potentially expect of Two Sons as this restaurant matures.