Bounty & The Shack at The Kuala Lumpur Journal: Review

KL’s newest boutique hotel may deserve to be a destination for restaurant enthusiasts: The Kuala Lumpur Journal flaunts two enticing eateries, a short stroll from bustling Bukit Bintang – the street-level Bounty, with a serene, shimmering setting & bistro-inspired menu, & The Shack, a leafy alfresco venue on the first floor that focuses on casual comfort cooking & easy drinking.

Bounty

Bounty lives up to its name, with a bumper crop of recipes that defy the predictability of most hotels’ all-day-dining outlets. Brunch staples & pastas take on a luxe twist while remaining competitively priced – amid a selection of inventive sandwiches, poached eggs on Bounty’s own-baked buttery brioches with grilled asparagus would be swoon-worthy on their own, but the aromatic application of truffle shavings & white truffle oil intensifies the pleasure quotient (RM26). Pasta al pomodoro is also reinterpreted, relying on house-made tagliatelle enhanced with sweet Momotaro tomatoes & creamy Burrata cheese (RM26).

Onion rings come coated in crispy-puffy batter, handed a European touch with melted Gruyere cheese & Bordelaise red wine sauce thickened with Wagyu bone marrow (RM23) while grilled prawn risotto is granted a Korean, kimchi-imbued tang (RM32). Bounty & The Shack are both run by the team behind Bangsar’s Bait, which explains the creative confidence for these recipes.

The Bounty’s repertoire is beefed up further with Vietnamese-style oxtail stew from the East (RM29) & Guinness stout slow-cooked Angus beef cheek with parsnip puree from the West (RM32), tender & toothsome matches for the outlet’s house reds.

The Shack

The Shack’s menu is less extensive, but it does spotlight something that only a handful of KL’s joints offer: a gumbo-inspired Louisianan stew with mud crab, shrimp, okra & rice at the base of the steaming-hot serving pot (RM55 for a portion for two).