There’s a new food court in town and it’s bussin’!
Food Republic has opened its newest outlet at Pavilion Bukit Jalil – and in the bright, spacious atrium, diners can expect sleek, modern décor with woody tones, contrasted with beautiful turquoise and contemporary splashes of lively accents. We absolutely love the interior concept, which keeps diners at ease while they enjoy their meals.
Food Republic takes pride in serving popular street food in an air-conditioned setting that retains the beauty and history of a lively hawker area. Each stall offers a multisensory experience, including a ‘live’ culinary demonstration given through the open-kitchen concept of each stand. So, as your meal is being prepared, you can watch the chefs cook!
There are also additional features, such as cashless payments and food delivery services which are now available, allowing guests to experience the wide range of culinary options at the outlet from the comfort of their own homes.
We recently had the chance to try out some of the food and drinks (as well as dessert!) there…
Signature Chicken Rice
Since 2001, Signature Chicken Rice has specialized in this renowned local delicacy using a proprietary recipe. To create beautifully delicate chicken meat, their signature roast chicken is first marinated with malt, then dried to absorb the flavours before going into the oven. Chicken rice is an all-time favourite dish for Malaysians. Drizzled in handcrafted unique soy and served on a bed of fragrant rice, combined with freshly created chilli sauce and substantial chicken broth simmered for over 6 hours daily, this meal will definitely tickle your taste buds. I really love the chicken rice, which tastes sweet yet savoury. Also, the skin of the chicken was crispy and biting into it, I could feel the crispiness. To balance out the sweetness, the freshly created chilli sauce really outdid the dish.
Little Wok
Little Wok was founded in 2002 in Malaysia with more than 100 years of family legacy preserved through three generations via well-kept family-owned recipes. This family of Teochew cooks continues the traditional manner of producing real Malaysian-Chinese street food, using skills and expertise passed down from the Little Wok founder’s great-grandfather, who started out with his own open-air street food stall.
From Little Wok, we tried their Beef Fried Rice. As Malaysians, you’re probably very familiar with fried rice. There’s vegetarian fried rice, egg fried rice and a whole lot of other fried rice styles. It’s rare for me to have beef fried rice, simply because I’m picky with the meat. In order to have the perfect beef fried rice, you gotta make sure the beef is tender. And that’s what I got from Little Wok. I really enjoyed this simple dish and the meat was full of flavour and very tender. I would definitely choose this as one of my comfort foods.
PenyetPenyet.com
Ayam Penyet, or “smashed fried chicken,” is an Indonesian delicacy in which crispy fried chicken is smashed while still hot with a deft touch to tenderise the flesh. PenyetPenyet.com marinates their meat for more than 4 hours every day, using a particular recipe and seasonings, and serves it with homemade sambal created with a blend of chilli, spices, and herbs. But instead of the chicken, we tried the Daging Sambal Ijo.
Served with white rice, soup, tempeh and beef, this meal is a must try if you really want to spice things up. The meal looks pretty simple, but there’s definitely flavour. The highlight of this dish, to me, is definitely the sambal. Now, I don’t know what they actually blended in it, but this sambal blew me away. It was super spicy but it was good. The meat was okay, but it would have been better if it was slightly more tender because I had a hard time chewing the meat.
Wild Basil Western
Wild Basil’s stall name was inspired by basil, the backbone of Italian cuisine, with wild basil treasured for its unique flavour. Wild Basil has an 18-year history as a seller of inventive and cheap Italian fusion food. And they’re proud of their custom of serving sauces produced from scratch, never from a can, bottle, or mix = and are improved with regional flavours to fit regional preferences.
So from Wild Basil Western, we tried their Signature Crispy Chicken Chop. For starters, I love the presentation. Crispy, golden chicken served alongside fries, coleslaw and mushroom sauce. The plate looked colourful. As for the taste, it was lovely. The chicken was really crispy and I really loved the sauce.
Yong Tau Foo
In Malaysia, Yong Tau Foo is known for its hand-made fish paste, which is produced from fresh fish, with firm meat and a lovely, bouncy texture when cooked. I’ve been having my yong tau foo from this outlet with its sweet sauce, never trying its curry version. So from Yong Tau Foo, this time, we tried a mix of Yong Tau Foo with Curry Noodles.
The curry was super delicious. It wasn’t that spicy, but the flavour was balanced and it was creamy. As for the yong tau foo, I guess you can create your own variation, since they have so many choices – but on that day, we had fishball and fu chuk. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the entire meal was satisfying.
Delicious Hot Plates
Delicious Hot Plate serves a range of meats and seafood meals made on cast iron hot plates to maintain the heat and flavour, so that diners may enjoy them at their leisure. To ensure freshness and texture, the chicken meats are marinated for over 24 hours and only handmade noodles are utilized. My absolute favourite item at any food court would be these sizzling hot plates because, firstly, I like how they prepare it and secondly, they taste great.
From Delicious Hot Plates, we tried their Sizzling Chicken with Rice. This dish comes with rice served with a good amount of sauce and tender chicken on iron hot plates. Overall, the dish tastes amazing and became a personal favourite of mine.
Ichiban Teppanyaky
I’ve never seen this concept in food courts before. For every meal at Ichiban Teppanyaky, you will be treated to a performance, as food is prepared right in front of your eyes. Ichiban Teppanyaky was one of the first restaurants to serve fusion teppanyaki meals, combining traditional Japanese teppanyaki flavours with local and worldwide flavours.
I’ve never tried meals from here, but I did hear that they taste pretty good. So from Ichiban Teppanyaky, we had their Australian Sliced Beef. It’s basically stir-fried beef served with stir-fried veggies and some sauce. The texture and colour of the meat was amazing and, as expected, the taste was good. The meat was super tender and juicy too. Eat it together with the stir-fried veggies for an enhanced experience.
Sisters’ Crispy Popiah
The sisters behind Sisters’ Crispy Popiah take great pleasure in discussing the history of this delightful treat, which they created from a recipe passed down from their mother more than 35 years ago. To be honest, I was taken away by the taste and uniqueness of these popiah – they had chicken in it! Popiah is known to be a tea time delight. It is stuffed with veggies and has more of a sweet-spicy flavour.
But the popiah here has a lot of flavours going on. The popiah looked kinda cute, with a pastel-like colour going on. There are two types of popiah skin – the crispy one, and the eggroll. Their signature would be the Original Crispy/Eggroll Popiah, Juicy Rendang Chicken/Beef Popiah, Chicken & Cheese Popiah. They taste amazing and I never expected popiah to be savoury! Also, customers are allowed to choose their preferred choice of popiah skin, filling, sauces and toppings.
Sweetspoon (Desserts)
What’s a better way to conclude a meal if not with dessert? Sweetspoon offers new concepts in the art of dessert making, providing fresh, seasonal items that stimulate one’s senses while conserving the tradition of local desserts. There’s a wide selection of hot and cold sweets, that are freshly produced everyday with in-house authentic recipes.
To conclude our dining experience, we tried their Classic Cendol. I’m not really a cendol person (I know, not very Malaysian!), but I must admit, the cendol here is pretty tasty. Shaved iced topped with coconut milk, gula melaka, red beans and green rice flour jelly – this is a treat that’ll guarantee satisfaction.
All in all, the experience at Food Republic food court was simply great. Currently, there are only a few stalls operating, but more stalls will open soon. Prices are reasonable, and suitable for those who want good meals, but are on a budget.
Want to check out these stalls? Head to:
Food Republic Pavilion Bukit Jalil
Lot 1.16.00 Level 1, Pavilion Bukit Jalil, No. 2, Persiaran Jalil 8, Bandar Bukit Jalil
57000, Kuala Lumpur
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