Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Brussels Beer Cafe, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P.Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur


Brussels Beer Cafe, referred to as "Brussels Sprout" by some of my drinking buddies opened in Menara Hap Seng about 9 months ago. For those of you not familiar with the building, it's at the top end of Jalan P.Ramlee close to the KL Tower turn-off and the Weld Shopping Centre on Jalan Raja Chulan.
As the name suggests, it's definitely a cafe and not a bar.
Which, to me is a bit of a shame. The inside bar just looks a bit uninviting and sitting outside is great for eating but less so for drinking.
The water feature gurgles away trying to drown-out the sound of passing traffic but doesn't quite succeed.
It's a tried and tested formula as the owners have a branch in PJ and have just opened in Ampang-they seem a bit too "corporate" as they want to sell you hats and T Shirts bearing their logo...a bit like Air Asia...
However,whatever time I go past, it's invariably packed.
They get a good lunchtime crowd with an attractive(ish) lunch promotion and it seems that it's a good place for after-work beers as there are no real alternatives within this location except the ghastly Over Time bar at the Life Centre on Jalan Sultan Ismail.
But it's even busy on Saturday and Sunday evenings so they must be doing something right.
The menu includes the now-compulsory Pork Knuckle that you can get just about everywhere as well as Lamb Shank, Mussels, Hot Dogs, Sandwiches and Burgers, Meat Balls, Squid and stuff.
Beers include the pointless-unless-you're-driving Hoegaarden,the lethally strong Stella as well as Leffe and locally brewed Carlsberg.
I went there for lunch recently and there were two promotions going;
RM 15 for a Pannini sandwich and soft drink or RM 20 for something a bit more substantial with a soft drink and as much salad as you wanted.
This was a good thing as any sort of green veg is anathema to most Belgian/German food.
And the salad has bacon-bits and Chinese-style pork as selections so it's damn good in itself.
The Bratwurst was a little bland but was served with small serving of "stoemp"-I had no idea but apparently it's mashed potato with carrot in it. The onion gravy was a bit thin so I definitely needed another portion of salad to go with it.
The Beef Skewers with Rice were disappointing so it's probably best to stick to the Western Food here.
The Lamb looks like it's worth a try.
RM 20 isn't really cheap for lunch considering you can get a bowl of noodles for RM 5 but it's a nice change once-in-a-while.
They have a set dinner menu for RM 40,which seems a bit expensive as do most of their a la carte dishes.
Imported beer is always expensive-but they do some interesting Happy Hour deals so check-out the blackboard first.

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