20 new restaurants to check out in KL & Selangor in February 2016

You can view a list of our most recent new restaurant features here. This is part of a monthly series.

Malaccan Peranakan temptations, Mediterranean vegetarian cuisine, French-inspired petite cakes and more; here are 20 new eateries to visit.

1. Sarang Cookery at Jalan Galloway

Focusing on the soulful flavours of Peranakan cooking, Sarang is a place for pie tee, ayam sioh, kari kapitan, nasi ulam & assam heh, plus a one-of-a-kind crepe constructed with roti jala, filled with bananas & palm sugar pieces, sprinkled with chopped chillies & bunga kantan, created by a Malaccan Chitty chef.

Read review: Sarang Cookery at Galloway

Find: Contact details and map for Sarang Cookery

2. Doma at Mont Kiara

KL’s most unconventional Korean restaurant fuses the surprising synergy of Seoul & Sydney to stir up contemporary cooking with cross-border currents.

Doma’s chef Terry Song comes to Malaysia from Australia, while co-founder Carl Lee is South Korean; check out their collaboration if you enjoy Korean flavours but want to move beyond the city’s archetypal BBQ eateries.

Read review: Doma Korean Cafe at Mont Kiara

Find: Contact details and map for Doma Korean Cafe

3. Barat at Lorong Kurau, Bangsar

Into the West: Barat is a vegetarian restaurant that everyone can explore, whether you’re herbivorous or not. Its irrepressibly friendly founders Meeta & Prabodh Sheth have nurtured a loyal following over the past two years with their first outlet, the casual Gujarati vegetarian joint Ganga, & they’ve clearly poured plenty of heart into their new effort too (Ganga & Barat are now neighbours on Bangsar’s Lorong Kurau).

Like Ganga, Barat is intentionally economical, belying its look as an upmarket venue – this is a beautiful establishment with compelling flourishes, including a mural by Indonesian illustrator Ines Katamso. But its cuisine leans in a different direction (the clue rests in the name Barat), looking to the Mediterranean for inspiration.

Read review: Barat at Lorong Kurau

Find: Contact details and map for Barat

4. Rococo at Melange Boutique Hotel

An atmospheric aerie with artistic affectations, Rococo supplies a cafe-bistro setting that’s serene & secluded, perched on the rooftop of the new Melange Boutique Hotel, crammed with Ghost armchairs & a centrepiece table full of boulangerie-style loaves, cakes, scones & macarons, compellingly complemented by a seventh-floor perspective of KL’s intricate urban sprawl & a soothing Saturday-afternoon soundtrack of Crowded House’s timeless tunes.

Read review: Rococo at Melange Boutique Hotel

Find: Contact details and map for Rococo

5. Shitamachi Tendon Akimitsu at Evolve Concept Mall

The Klang Valley’s first restaurant that specialises in authentic ‘tendon’ (tempura donburi) is now open, serving bowl after bowl of steamed rice heaped with battered seafood & vegetables, showered with a light soy dressing. Prepared to order by Japanese cooks who have been under the tutelage of Tokyo-based chef Tanahira Akimitsu, this is soul food at its heartiest.

Read review: Shitamachi Tendon Akimitsu at Ara Damansara

Find: Contact details and map for Shitamachi Tendon Akimitsu

6. Ga.to Gateau at Bangsar South

Creative gateux in petite portions form the raison d’etre of this amiable new cafe helmed by Charmaine Ng (an alumna of Le Cordon Bleu Sydney), her husband & brother. Expect thoughtfully nuanced cakes – our favourite’s the Cheesecake Duo, constructed with both baked & creamy no-bake layers, studded with a subtly delicious tomato jam, plus a cheese wafer for added crisp.

The Golden Sunrise is worthwhile too, a gluten-free, flourless but flavourful cake filled with morsels of pumpkin, crowned with thick pumpkin cream.

Read review: Ga.to Gateau at Bangsar South

Find: Contact details and map for Ga.to Gateau

7. Private Room at Taman Tun Dr Ismail

KL’s first speakeasy-style bar that specialises in the pleasures of wine, Private Room was conceived by a team of young bankers, entrepreneurs & sommeliers as an intimate space where cracking open a bottle from South Africa, Spain or France can be an affordable & fun affair. It’s a versatile destination that strives to cater to wine-drinking veterans & novices alike.

Read review: Private Room at TTDI

Find: Contact details and map for Private Room

8. Tsujiri at Damansara Uptown

Kyoto’s Tsujiri tea house opens its first outpost in Malaysia this month, boasting a 150-year-old legacy originally pioneered by Japanese tea innovator Riemon Tsuji in the late Edo period of the 1860s.

Traditions of tea collide with contemporary culinary trends – customers can sip & savour the pure, simple pleasures of Uji-origin tea, or marry the flavours of matcha & hojicha with soft serves, parfaits & shaved ice desserts, emulating the Tsujiri experience that spans Japan, China, Taiwan & Singapore.

Read review: Tsujiri at Damansara Uptown

Find: Contact details and map for Tsujiri

9. Hugo Premium Steampunk Lounge at Petaling Jaya

Inspired by Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film Hugo, Malaysia’s first steampunk-themed bar features an intricate interior that’s a visual feast, fitted with mechanical flourishes & a retro-futuristic mural that H.G. Wells might have extolled, honouring the sci-fi subgenre of a pseudo-Victorian era that synthesises steam-powered industrialisation with visions of technofantasy.

Read review: Hugo Steampunk Premium Lounge at Section 19, PJ

Find: Contact details and map for Huga Steampunk Premium Lounge

10. X Coffee at Q Sentral

X marks the spot for caffeine acolytes: This under-the-radar coffee bar on the 12th-floor lobby of the new Q Sentral office building is tricky to find, with the stark minimalism of only two tables for patrons, but it’s worth inspecting for its interesting hook – it deals exclusively in Japanese-roasted coffee by two Tokyo-based purveyors, Fuglen & Glitch, plus Karuizawa’s Maruyama.

Read review: X Coffee at KL Sentral

Find: Contact details and map for X Coffee 

11. Like, Cereals-ly at Damansara Perdana

Inspired by London’s Cereal Killer Cafe, this unique new dessert stand is a five-year-old’s fantasy come to sugary life, its shelves stocked with nearly fifty colourful boxes of Cheerios, Koko Krunch, Kellogg’s Frosties, Trix, Reese’s Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Honey Stars, Apple Jacks, Rice Krispies & much more.

Read review: Like, Cereals-ly at Damansara Perdana

Find: Contact details and map for Like, Cereals-ly

12. 61 Monarchy at Damansara Uptown

61 Monarchy is primed to reign as PJ’s premier destination for whisky disciples; expect to explore a world of whiskies – Scotch, Irish, Welsh, Australian, Canadian & more.

Read review: 61 Monarchy at Damansara Uptown

Find: Contact details and map for 61 Monarchy

13. A’Roma Dinings at Taman Paramount

Dine in the shadow of the Colosseum (sort of): a’Roma Dinings brings the cooking of Sicilian-born chef Sergio E Viscuso to Taman Paramount, an unexpected entry on a street recognised for Chinese prawn mee, chee cheong fun & fish head noodles.

Read review: a’Roma Dinings at Paramount Garden

Find: Contact details and map for a’Roma Dinings

14. 328 Katong Laksa at Puchong

328 Katong Laksa brings the recipe of its well-known Singaporean namesake to the Klang Valley, helmed by a Malaysian-Singaporean couple who reputedly have familial ties to the island republic’s East Coast Road outlet founders.

Read review: 328 Katong Laksa at Bandar Puteri Puchong

Find: Contact details and map for 328 Katong Laksa

15. Dotty’s at Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Get naughty at Dotty’s: Guilty indulgences gild the counters of this cafe-bakery, where sweet curiosities are conceived with fanciful aplomb. This is TTDI’s first brush with a speculoos eclair & a salted egg yolk cronut.

Read review: Dotty’s at TTDI

Find: Contact details and map for Dotty’s

16. Yellow Apron at Petaling Jaya

Yellow Apron brings a bright new silver lining to workers in PJ’s Section 13, colouring outside the lines of what to expect on a street of warehouses & corporate offices with a blue-ribbon selection of imaginatively merry recipes served in a casual space.

Read review: Yellow Apron at Section 13, PJ

Find: Contact details and map for Yellow Apron

17. Bacchus at The Row

Chef Angie Hiew is back: The pioneering founder of KL’s legendary Spanish restaurants Flamenco & Sentidos Tapas has been on a break for two years, but she returns now with Bacchus, which specialises in small plates & strives to honour its namesake, the Roman god of the grape harvest.

Read review: Bacchus at The Row

Find: Contact details and map for Bacchus

18. Aka Café at Taman Desa

Helmed by Malaysian mother-&-daughter team Amanda & Aika, this new hidden cafe offers a slice of cosy calm, with a selection of Japanese snacks & fusion fare inspired by Amanda’s years of living in Tokyo.

Read review: Aka Café at Taman Desa

Find: Contact details and map for Aka Café

19. Mak’s Chee at 1 Utama

Hailed as one of Hong Kong’s top purveyors of wonton noodles, the Mak’snoodle family opens its first Malaysian outpost this month – Mak’s Chee at 1 Utama is helmed by HK chef Johnny Yu, a grandson-in-law of noodle patriarchMak Woon-chi, whose recipe for these noodles has endured three generations.

The brand’s history dates back to the 1920s; the Guangzhou-born Woon-chireputedly popularised prawn wontons (instead of pork) & even served his speciality to Chiang Kai-shek at one point.

Read review: Mak’s Chee at One Utama

Find: Contact details and map for Mak’s Chee

20. Nam Heong Ipoh at Da:Men Subang

Ipoh’s venerable Nam Heong kopitiam brand launches its first modern restaurant in the Klang Valley this month, promising heaps of hawker fare to partner with Ipoh’s classic egg tarts, tau fu fah & white coffee.

Read review: Nam Heong Ipoh at Subang

Find: Contact details and map for Nam Heong Ipoh