Feast at Bangsar Village: Restaurant Review

Introducing Feast, which takes over Bangsar Village’s ill-fated first-floor locale that vanquished The Big Group’s Bistro 42 & Botanical in recent years. Feast might nevertheless sustain a much stronger shot at surviving, propelled by the momentum of its founders, who also run the now hugely popular Nutmeg cafe in this mall.

We supplied Nutmeg with its first endorsement on its opening afternoon nearly two years ago & hoped to do the same for Feast. But as far as its food goes, Feast is peppered with a few fun touches that seem undercut by a been-there, eaten-that sense of mee-mamak-curry-laksa-chicken-chop deja vu.

Mamee Noodle Salad

Still, there’s one shining reason to try Feast: The fab Mamee Noodle Salad (RM15 before taxes) – crunchy school-cafeteria instant noodles with coleslaw, avocado, edamame, mango & honey vinaigrette. With its beautiful blend of vivid flavours & vibrant textures, it’s the sterling stand-out in a salad selection that otherwise spans the likes of gado-gado sotong & rojak buah.

Feast Fried Rice

Curb your expectations for the Feast Fried Rice (RM16), which finds its flavour solely in the chopped salted beef interspersed in the rice with some salted fish & prawns. The menu offers fried rice with dried scallops & fried rice with chicken kebabs too.

Plain Nasi Lemak or Nasi Ayam

Feast also allows customers the tempting opportunity to order plain nasi lemak or nasi ayam as side dishes – RM3 each for substantial servings. The former is potently fragrant with pandan, while the latter lacks panache – both could be more moist. We like the tasty sambal though, reputedly made with salmon flakes instead of dried shrimp.

French Fries with Fried Eggs and Sambal Mayo

French fries with fried eggs & sambal mayo neither warrant their RM12 price tag nor inspire us to check out Feast’s RM20-plus platters of grilled stingray, asam pedas tenggiri, rendang udang, lontong, salmon head curry & ayam masak lemak tempoyak.

Desserts

Desserts maintain Feast’s Asian bent, with a seaweed-laced, served-warm green bean bubur with coconut milk (RM8), sago gula melaka, & coming-soon attractions such as tau foo fa, milk curd with ginger, ABC, cendol, ais krim potong & mango sago.

The coffee is forgettable, but the service is not – Feast features an excellent crew, warm, efficient & hard-working.

Others

Crafts on consignment – if you’re looking for tote bags & nest boxes, plus lovely seed boxes from Malaysian social enterprise Eats, Shoots & Roots, Feast has ’em in stock. Ultimately, Feast’s food may feel derivative, with hit-or-miss execution, but this place still has the potential to become pretty popular in Bangsar Village; we think it’ll carve both a niche & name for itself.