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Welcome to the Food Republic

Some of the mouth watering dishes at the themed food atrium.

FOOD! Glorious food! Those were my sentiments as I walked into Food Republic Pavilion KL, the first themed food atrium in the country.

A chef making oyster pancake at the Food Republic.

Located on the first floor, Food Republic houses a whopping 27 outlets — 23 hawker stalls and four mini restaurants offering a delectable smorgasbord of local, eastern and western cuisine.

Between the Malaysian favourites, Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Italian fare one thing’s for sure, you’ll definitely be spoilt for choice at this food paradise.

“The time is right for the introduction of the Food Republic dining concept, as culinary appreciation and food culture here is very strong. Malaysians are adventurous in terms of their palate and soak in the ambiance,” said Dr George Quek, the man behind Food Republic and chairman of the Singapore-listed BreadTalk Group Ltd.

The first Food Republic was opened in Wisma Atria, Singapore, in 2005. A couple years two others were opened in the island state. And each Food Republic atrium is different from the other with various themes, such as the 1960s and the era of old European glamour.

Food Republic Pavilion KL, which opened last November, has a New York concept with its stylish, modern interior and unmistakable ambiance of a city known as a melting pot of culture, food and lifestyles. The atrium, designed to be a dining hot spot for shoppers, tourists and office folk, seats 1,042 people.

On my recent visit, I decided to go on a culinary heritage trail, sampling the signature dishes from a few of the outlets serving Asian favourites.

If you’re a big noodle fan, you’ll surely enjoy the dishes at Thye Hong, which offers some tasty delights Singapore style. And it’s the only stall where the chefs wear straw hats, so it’s not hard to miss. Thye Hong is famous for its char kway teow (RM6.50), fried prawn noodles (RM7) and fried oyster omelette (RM7).

Chef Bong Wee Meng says the char kway teow is slightly different from that sold at hawker centres.

“It’s an original recipe. We use a flavourful broth of fresh and dried prawns, a whole chicken and mussels with the shell. It is added to the kway teow just before it’s taken off the fire, and that’s what gives the dish its unbeatable flavour.”

What’s interesting is that Thye Hong serves its food on opei leaves, from the bark of the palm tree. The leaf is believed to enhance the flavour of the dishes.

My favourite of the three dishes I tried was the fried prawn noodles because of the mildly sweet and tangy flavour of the gravy. The generous amount of fresh succulent prawns will surely make diners very happy! The fried oyster omelette, though slightly on the oily side, gets my vote for its tasty simplicity.

If you’re craving Malay cooking, you have to give Mak Tom’s Nasi Lemak a shot. The stall sells rice-based dishes like nasi lemak with sambal sotong or chicken rendang, as well as nasi goreng kampung.

I had a go at the nasi lemak with chicken rendang with a side order of pandan chicken. The meal was good, and the sambal and rendang gravy combined really well. But I did find the rice slightly on the rich side because of the santan.

For wholesome soups, there is none better than Ah Yip Herbal Soup. The menu boasts a comprehensive list of 12 different herbal soups and a variety of other dishes as well.

A big hit with customers is the Dang Gui herbal soup. I was a little wary at first, but this steaming hot bowl of herbal soup really took me by surprise with its well-balanced flavour that was not too strong or over powering.

The Dang Gui herbal soup, priced at RM12.90 a bowl, was light and refreshing, best to be enjoyed on a cold, rainy day or when you need a little pick-me-up.

Owner Cheng Keng Yip has over 40 different soup recipes, and the 12 he offers are a selection of the best. Another worthy mention is the boneless chicken rice, served with vegetables and mushroom (RM6.90), a tasty alternative to the usual chicken rice.

Toast Box, a 1960s-style kopitiam that sells local old-time favourites like toast, nasi lemak, lontong, laksa and more.

But the show stopper is, the toast. You can take your pick from the original chicken floss thick toast, butter kaya traditional toast, peanut butter traditional toast or the otak-otak thick toast. It’s quite unusual but tasted awfully good. The prices are very affordable, RM2 to RM3.50 for toast generously slathered with your topping of choice.

You Tiao offers a variety of traditional Chinese snacks like yau char guai, tau fu fah, jin tui, ham chimp eng, ma keok, kap zhong and more.

Jeffrey Leong and Gian Li discovered a hole in the food market with these old-time favourites when they were trying to fill a hole in their stomachs when they were out shopping.

They jumped at the chance to open their stall. The snacks has a soft, smooth texture with just the right amount of dark sweet syrup. It’s no wonder that You Tiao sells up to eight barrels of it on weekends alone. It is the perfect dessert to end any meal with.

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