Hubba Hubba at Invito Hotel Suites, Lorong Ceylon: Restaurant Review

Welcome to ‘The Party Hub’ – where patrons are prompted to get ‘hooked on life,’ ‘eat to live’ & ‘drink to life’ – the latest F&B brand by KL’s Soul Society Group, the force behind some of the city’s most spirited restaurants – SOULed OUT, Tujo & WIP.

Located at Invito Hotel Suites

Hubba Hubba opened this month at Lorong Ceylon’s new Invito Hotel Suites, up the road from Changkat Bukit Bintang, with a view of Jalan Berangan’s long-enduring shop-houses. A second Hubba Hubba that’ll be touted as a ‘Social Hub’ is expected to launch later this year at KL Sentral’s Menara CIMB.

Skewers with a Twist

Hubba Hubba’s energy is buoyant, matched by a menu that takes light-hearted liberties with familiar recipes. Skewers with a twist or two are the ideal introduction here – try the chicken skin, well-seasoned with kosher salt (RM10 before taxes), or the gizzard rubbed with serrano peppers & tomatoes (RM7) …

… or beef tripe with chili soy (RM12), eringi mushrooms with jerk sauce (RM7) & lamb with lime chipotle dressing (RM15). All satisfyingly tasty & juicy (kudos to the kitchen), flaunting a global range of influences with a slight emphasis on Asian flavours.

A Wide Selection to Choose From

As with all of Soul Society’s outlets, the selection’s dizzyingly wide, but we stuck to seafood for our mains. The most delicious dish we had here, hands down, featured succulent slabs of cobia fish with miso jus, lily bulbs & kale (the Chinese sort). RM36.

Portuguese-Inspired Seafood Rice

A taste of Lisbon, sort of: Portuguese-inspired seafood rice, moist & savoury with prawns, mussels, scallops & olives. RM33.

A Range of Starters

For snacking: Edamame beans with Himalayan pink salt, alongside yam tempura with a chili soy dip. Other starters span the likes of fruit crudites & prawn pancakes, while bigger plates comprise lamb cutlets with saffron wild rice & entrecote steak with serunding butter charon sauce (should there be a comma in between serunding, butter or charon? consider us curious); it’d take multiple visits to polish off the menu.

Skewered Desserts

Approaching the end, desserts might come skewered too (& liquor-laced to boot): Pineapple prepared with marsala wine & bananas with rum – both RM7 each – supply the sweetest satisfaction.

Coconut Milk Cake with Rum

Coconut milk cake, also with rum (RM15); we wanted to try the Bailey’s cendol, but that wasn’t available for our visit.

House Wine

No lack of liquor here, of course: A carafe of pleasant house wine (Shiraz) provides value for money at RM30.

Dragonfruit Mojito & Hazelnut Mango Daiquiri

Cocktails come recommended: Love the Dragonfruit Mojito, brimming with fresh fruit (RM25) & Hazelnut Mango Daiquiri (RM24).

Final Thoughts

Hubba Hubba is a hangout with a vivaciously colourful sense of humour; the service team is solid too, with several very friendly & efficient staff members. Our only hesitation is that Hubba can get loud, so we fled faster than expected; the set-to-high music makes conversation a bit of a strain for older customers like us. But then again, party places can’t be like libraries.