- Sarah Ahmad
W1, Bangsar
Photo by Samad | The facade of W1 from Jalan Telawi 2
So when you hear about British restaurants, what's the first thing that pops up into your mind? I ALWAYS think of fish and chips, and the occasional haggis, however we were pleasantly surprised by the dinner served to us at W1 located in busy Bangsar, a British-London style restaurant offering London-styled dishes with an Asian twist.
Here's a fun fact! The owner of the restaurant told us that he chose the name W1 because that's the zip code representing the centre of London which includes popular areas such as Soho, Paddington, Camden and Oxford Street. It's only befitting since London is known to be an incredibly diverse population which is reflected in the delicious food that W1 has to offer.
Photo by Sarah Voon | Look for this rather large W1 bush!
Photo by Sarah Voon | The London-style interior design
Photo by Sarah Voon | The London-style interior design
Photo by Sarah Voon | Pimm's Cocktail!
We were greeted with a colourful cup of Pimm's, served with fresh fruits. This is quite a common and traditional drink to sip on in England, especially during summer and also during Wimbledon season! This refreshing glass definitely fits in well with our humid tropical climate.
Photo by Sarah Voon | W1 Lou Sang and Platter! We got to try their Special Lou Sang (for 6 at RM88++) and their Special Platter (for 4 at RM108++) which will only be served during the month of February for Chinese New Year 2018. This Lou Sang was definitely one of our favourites thus far! It's very different! If you're looking for something very different from the norm, I urge you to try W1's Lou Sang! Other than the typical ingredients like cured salmon, peanuts, sesame seeds, carrot and cabbage, they've included new ingredients and textures like jellyfish, takuan (pickled Korean daikon radish), crunchy seaweed, fish skin, pickled beetroot, pickled red onion, pomelo and so much more! And if you really want to make it EXTRA special, pour their house made peanut butter vodka sauce into your Lou Sang. It's so divine!
Photo by Samad | My portion of Lou Sang with bits of crunchy seaweed on top!
Photo by Samad | A shot of peanut butter vodka to pair with the lou sang to replace the traditional plum sauce -- a recommendation we would strongly advise you to take!
Photo by Samad | That money bag looks divine eh? For the platter, they have 5 foods to try, including the Char Siu Wing, Cabbage Roll, Fried Prawn, Steamed Chicken and Money Bag. The Char Siu Wing is, yes, you guessed it, chicken served like Char Siu Pork, with peanuts, sesame and scallions. Tasty and moreish finger food! The Cabbage Roll has mushroom and mince chicken which was cooked in ginger broth. This was surprisingly a very light and fresh flavour combination!
The Fried Prawn should be eaten with the yuzu lychee aioli which is the white sauce on the platter - this sauce was a favourite of ours cause it was also quite unique and different. The Steamed Chicken was good and a simple plate served with Sichuan chilli oil, kyuri and scallions. My favourite was the Money Bag! The filling consisted of crabmeat and mince chicken, to be eaten with the sweet chilli sauce. It was so yummy!
Photo by Samad | W1 Scotch Egg
After the amazing introduction to W1's dishes, every other dish continued to wow us. Like this Scotch Egg, a traditional London picnic food! A Scotch Egg is usually a hard-boiled egg wrapped around minced meat, battered and deep fried. However, the W1 Scotch Egg (RM16) includes a beautiful poached egg with a runny yolk, wrapped in a crunchy warm beef crust that's mixed with some South East Asian spices and served with homemade curry aioli which was the best! Definitely give this one a try!
Photo by Samad | Jiaozi Moving on, we tried their Jiaozi (RM16), which is duck dumplings with black vinegar and mushroom XO sauce. This dish was one of my favourite dishes of the night! The meat inside the dumpling tasted like it was pulled pork instead of duck! It was so flavourful and not at all oily or fatty (like how some ducks can be wrongly cooked). The spicy black vinegar and mushroom XO sauce served with it complimented the red meat so well. Must try! Would 100% return to eat this.
Photo by Samad | W1 Special : Mandarin Orange Seabass Next up is a weekly/monthly special the Mandarin Orange Sea Bass (RM28). The skin of the sea bass was coated in an even layer of sesame seeds and crust, grilled to crunchiness perfection, served with a Mandarin Orange, peanut and a Malaysian Curry Mint Plant sauce. It was SO DELICIOUS GUYS. Please go and try it!
Photo by Samad | Chargrilled Squid Our last dish to try for the night was the Chargrilled Squid (RM28). This is served with sliced potatoes, cherry tomatoes and sauce vierge. This was a simple but spicy take of calamari, well-cooked and lovely to share.
Photo by Samad | Sticky Cola Pudding To top it all off, we finished our night with a Sticky Cola Pudding served with Chocolate Caramel Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream (RM18). The pudding was served warm, it was moist, it was the perfect portion, alongside the cold ice cream and creamy chocolate caramel sauce MMMM! Let me tell you, after the food that we've had the greatest opportunity to try, this was really the cherry on top of everything!
Photo by Samad | Home made hazelnut tequila And if you absolutely love Nutella, go ahead and try their home made hazelnut tequila (whaaaaa?). Yup! I love Nutella and I love tequila so this was a win in all directions! A perfect dessert shot to be sipped and enjoyed slowly. W1 is an awesome spot to chill out with friends over delicious food and drinks! They open for brunch on Sundays and are pet-friendly! So bring your pups along to your brunch/dinner dates. On Tuesdays they have BYOB night with no corkage charges too!
Definitely give W1 a try! I reckon it's a perfect place to bring family and friends over for special occasions, or for a casual night out in town. It's incredibly affordable for a restaurant in the centre of Bangsar serving up amazing food and drinks, and with an environment that is overall very welcoming, comfortable and homey, what more can you ask for? W1, Bangsar
22, Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Opening hours:
Monday | CLOSED
Tuesday - Saturday | 4pm-1am
Sunday | 12pm-10pm