Meja Kitchen + Bar is the first restaurant to be fully opened at TREC, KL's much-touted new F&B-lifestyle enclave. Reputedly founded by the folks behind the Klang Valley's Movida bar-club chain, Meja serves a hodgepodge of Western & Southeast Asian offerings that might seem too familiar to truly thrill, with Caesar salads, buffalo wings, spaghetti carbonara, sirloin steaks & spicy garlic seafood pizzas sharing the menu with nasi lemak, tom yam soup, beef hor fun, cucur udang & curry laksa.
We tried the chicken nachos & the ayam betutu for a two-hander sampling of fowl; both proved competent but not compelling. The nachos (RM30) form a circle around a superfluous centre of salad leaves, with each tortilla chip topped with a reasonably flavourful mix of chicken chilli con carne, pinto beans, tomato salsa & jalapenos, accompanied by guacamole & sour cream (strangely on the side) - it's all a bit too neat for nachos. The ayam betutu (RM28) comprises Balinese-inspired, foiled-cooked chicken leg in savoury gravy, partnered with steamed rice, sambal matah & veggies, showcasing sufficient skill but scant soul. Still, on a positive note, service at Meja is warm & efficient, & the Chilean Carmenere can be enjoyed for RM25 by the glass.
TREC's Electric Boulevard phase hadn't sprung to life when we visited on a recent weekday, though Japanese joint Hacha Mecha & speakeasy-influenced bar Ikki should be in business by the time you read this. Zouk's outdoor cafe-bar remained completely calm between 6pm & 8pm; other upcoming outlets - Artebar & Live House - appeared to be works in progress.
Meja Kitchen + Bar
10-11, Electric Boulevard, TREC, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. Daily, 12pm-3am
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