Housed in the former Mah Lian Hotel, this historic building has been transformed into a casual, hip restaurant cum cafe by the owners, who happen to be architects. Clever touches of green around the restaurant brightens up the space, making it totally Instagram-worthy. If possible, grab a seat at the open courtyard for the best natural lighting complemented by beautiful old floor tiles and potted plants.
A champion of local, sustainable produce, the menu showcases locally sourced ingredients such as fish, seafood, vegetables and poultry. They also run a small garden which supplies homegrown herbs to the restaurant and upstairs bar, Botak Liquor. There are different menus for lunch and dinner, with the dinner menu slightly more extensive and offering some interesting choices.
From the lunch menu, we highly recommend the Cured Fish Rice (RM30). A hearty, well-balanced bowl of goodness, we especially enjoyed the firm lightly pan-seared cured local mackerel, served on rice with a beautiful ajitama egg, scallion ginger sauce and herb butter.
The Curryflower (RM18) has been on the menu since the inception of the restaurant and after trying it, we can see why it's so popular with the diners here. The combination is a winner, with a whole cauliflower rubbed in curry powder and salted egg and baked in the oven. Sinful yet healthy...it's a guilt-free indulgence!
The Duck "Rendang" Hummus (RM32) is a dish brimming with flavour; spicy, tender shredded duck rendang is paired with a creamy chickpea, eggplant and liver mousse hummus.
Using a mix of slipper lobster from Sabah and crab claw meat, the Slipper Lobster Timbale (RM38) is finished off with prawn oil, black ebiko and sabayon on sliced beetroot. The sabayon adds richness and creaminess to the seafood stack.
The Ulam raja creme brulee (RM18) caught my eye when I was browsing the menu. Ulam raja is a Malay herb usually used in salads and savory dishes so I was interested to see how it would work in a dessert. This was a brilliant dessert - the slightly bitter dehydrated ulam raja mixed with Thai basil works well with the sweetness of the honeycomb crumble and smooth creme brulee.
Chocha (which means sit (cho) and tea(cha)) is one of few restaurants in KL specialising in tea and natural wine. We love the fragrant, refreshing cold brew Dong Ding Oolong (from Taiwan) tea (RM18), perfect for sipping on a hot afternoon. There are also a variety of hot tea, such as black, green, raw Pu-er, dark/ripe Pu-er and Oolong.
Cold Brew Sencha (RM18)
Chocha also offers a variety of craft beer. The Jungle Jive stood out as an exceptionally refreshing beer.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here at Chocha, will have to come back some evening to check out Botak Liquor. Kudos to the chefs for executing the dishes perfectly and celebrating our local produce in their dishes.
Head upstairs for Botak Liquor Bar (open daily from 5.30pm onwards, except Mondays)
Chocha interior
Note: A new menu will be launched on 8 October, however the above dishes will still be available :)
To reserve a table online, simply click the button below:
Opening times: 11am to 11pm daily. Closed on Mondays.
Location: Chocha Foodstore, 156 Jalan Petaling, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (There is an open air car park next to the restaurant)
Tel: 03-2022 1100
Nearest MRT: Pasar Seni (Exit Entrance A)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/chocha.foodstore/
GPS Coordinates: 3.140920, 101.698075
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I like the food and the environment here but the price is a bit pricey for the portion :P
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