Recently, the Lipstiq team wandered around the newly-opened Damansara City Mall (DC Mall), which is nestled in the heart of Damansara Heights, not too far from Bangsar and Sri Hartamas. Although it’s still pretty empty, the shopping centre looks inviting with its modern look featuring contemporary accents, from furniture and lighting to architecture and decor.
Coincidentally, upon walking up to the rooftop area, we discovered Locker Room — a mid-range Japanese-inspired sports bar and kitchen. Even before patronising the dining venue, we’d already figured that it’d be a cool watering hole for after-work drinks and bites, and rightfully so.
We were shown straight to our table and the first thing we noticed was the distinctive interior decor, with geometric patterns splashed across the ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows. The eatery has two dining spaces – a covered al fresco area and the main dining area with long tables and cushioned seats, along with a VIP suite room which comes with a personal butler.
Food here consists of the typical bar grub, but with a Japanese twist and bearing funky sports-related names. Think interesting-sounding food items including Aussie Rules (RM26), Food Fighter (RM24), Kobe Bryant Wagyu Burger (RM30) and more. You get the drill..
A must-try is the Hawks Mentai Pasta (RM35) — linguine pasta coated in creamy cod roe sauce topped with tempura-fried prawns, which goes very well with the freshly-made Pomegranate Martini (RM38). If you love mentaiko in any way, shape or form, you shouldn’t miss this dish as it is oh so satisfying.
It might seem like an odd pairing, but the savoury cod roe pasta, which consists of roe much smaller and refined than the usual flying fish roe often used in sushi, pairs well with the tempura for an added depth of texture. Without saying, the flavour definitely packs a punch.
Meanwhile, the Pomegranate Martini uses orange peel and cherries as its main ingredients. As you would expect, it smelled fragrantly fruity and was delightfully sweet to the taste. Points for presentation is of course a no-brainer here as the chilled martini glass was served on a Japanese sushi board garnished with an actual pomegranate.
Aside from that, Locker Room’s Grampus Sando (RM26) — a miso chicken katsu with matcha bread sandwich was pretty memorable as well. We loved biting through the light and crispy green tea bread into the juicy cutlet, with the miso sauce adding an explosion of flavour.
We paired the dish with a Whiskey Sour (RM38), a cocktail which is made from a perfect blend of bourbon whiskey, egg white, lemon and aromatic bitters. The flavour balance was impeccable, and the zingy acidity it offers makes it the ideal refreshing pick me up.
We were stuffed by then, but couldn’t pass on the delectable selection of desserts. We were presented with the bar’s signature dessert, the Snickerbocker’s Tempura (RM18) — skewered tempura Snickers bar served with a scoop of matcha ice cream and fresh fruits on the side.
It’s best for sharing unless you really adore sugary treats, but this sinful dessert was crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, much to the pleasure of our sweet tooth. Who knew matcha and the chocolate bar would make such a great match?
While catching big games on the giant screens, patrons can hit up the bar for drinks, comprising a wide selection of craft beers of different styles including yuzu, strong dark ale, white beer, Belgian strong beer, and Belgian abbey blonde ale, amongst others.
The sports bar also provides the comfort of good ol’ favourites such as Asahi, Suntory, Carlsberg, and more. Refuse no further – rally up your friends for a fun sports-infused night out at Locker Room!
L3-01B, Jalan Damanlela, Damansara City Mall,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Locker Room is open on Monday – Friday from 12pm to 1am, and from 3pm to 1am on Saturdays. To make reservations, kindly call 016-920 6030.
