Thanks to Sidney of Big Boys Oven, we, as in May Gin, Sue, Kelvin, Andrew, Ken, Joshua, Chong and I were invited by Alice George Communication for another round of food tasting at WIP, Bangsar Shopping Complex.

WIP, acronym for Work In Progress, is a restaurant that serves decent food from early evening until 10pm and turns into a pub and chill out place after that. It is just at one of the corners of Bangsar Shopping Complex facing Jalan Maarof and one wouldn’t miss it as the huge signboard with “WIP” was erected just by the road side.

You have the option to dine outside, which could be pretty humid and stuffy since the main road is just a stone throw away. However, you get to have your dinner under the stars and moon.

A narrow view of the restaurant from the bar.

Like the name, even the menu is still working in progress as there are no pictures at all in it. Hence, one needs to read the description to have a brief idea about what one is going to order and eat.

Black straws.

We were served with a few glasses of detox juice drink, which would sound exciting to the health freaks but not to the live-to-eat people like yours truly. I didn’t manage to taste all of the cocktails as well, no thanks to the sudden serving of six to seven drinks at one go.

Gardener’s Tonic RM17, a mixture of spinach, carrot and apple, said to gives you a perfect 20/20 vision.

Bubbly Mango RM17, a mixture of kiwi, orange, mango and soda water.

Stop Gap RM17, mixed using beetroot, celery, pear, carrot and spinach, which is said to be good for both the brain and brawn.

Blue Lagoon RM24, mixed using blue curacao, Smirnoff vodka, soda and 7Up.

Mojito RM28, mixed using Ron Varadero white, Monin mint syrup, lime wedges, mint leaves and brown sugar.

Another juice which Joshua conveniently forgot to jot down the name and its function. I only remembered it was a combination of orange and cucumber.

First up was Vegetables Pakoras RM15. It is a dish of fried vegetables served together with a small bowl of spinach sauce. It is a very Indian flavoured dish, and an ideal snack while gulping down glasses of beers.

Cajun Chicken Tortillas RM16 was a favourite among the diners. Marinated roasted cajun chicken were wrapped with tortillas and then served together with a salad bouquet. It has a slight sourness in it that definitely opened up our appetite for the upcoming dishes.

Another appetizer served was the Tempura Prawn With Dragon Fruit Salad RM25. The fruit salad had combination of oranges, green apples, strawberries and of course, dragon fruits. The crispy tempura prawns were nicely deep fried till golden colour.

The first main course to be served was the Salmon Steak And Wild Rocket Salad RM36. A rather big but not thick slice / piece of Norweigian salmon steak grilled to perfection and served with potatoes au gratin and fresh tomato salsa. The tomato salsa went pretty well with the white meat.

We were then served with WIP’s Lamb Kebab On Hot Plate RM29. Pieces of lamb meat were marinated with Indian herbs and spices and then served on a sizzling hot plate with fresh asparagus as the side dish. The meat was tender and flavourful after being marinated. It was a little spicy for them but not for me. Coupled with the crispy naan, it was nothing but thumbs up.

Up next was Thai Green Chicken Curry RM26, which has chunks of vegetables, kerabu and mango inside the thick curry. It was served with a bowl of steamed rice. Thanks to the amount of coconut milk poured into cooking the curry, the gravy was thick and creamy.

The guys at WIP wanted to serve us desserts but seeing that we were still hungry, we ordered a few more stuffs from the menu. Not only to satisfy our stomachs, but also so that we would have more pictures to post in our blog.

First to arrive was Sidney’s Nasi Goreng Petai RM16. The aroma of petai could be smelt as far as across three tables, at least, according to Kelvin who came over to have his share of the plate of fried rice. I, too, couldn’t resist myself from trying a few spoons. Besides having a strong smell of petai, there was a wee bit of spiciness from the sambal used in the fried rice.

I ordered the Grilled Lamb Rack RM45 with mushroom sauce as my choice of sauce, served together with sauteed vegetables and mashed potatoes. Juicy lean meat under a layer of fat which literally melts inside your mouth; Combined with the mushroom sauce I ordered, the taste was overwhelming. The three racks were snapped up in no time. However, the mashed potatoes were off the chart.

We also had a plate of Sang Har Meen RM33 or fresh prawn noodles. I prefer this type of noodles compared to the noodles used in SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur but the egg gravy just didn’t cut it as it didn’t have enough prawn roes in it. Once again, the prawns were really huge and fresh, just slightly overcooked as it was a little hard and difficult to chew. A few “corrections” here and there are going to make this dish very popular and favourable.

The other table ordered a Beefy Pizza RM33 and Tofu Puffs RM16. Beefy pizza is an all-beef pizza (Duh!), topped with beef pepperoni, beef bacon, beef ribs and all other beef ingredients.

The Tofu Puffs RM16 were really good, at least, to me. Underneath the crispy brown skin, there is a hot and really tasty mixture of minced prawns, mushrooms and mixed vegetables in it.

We had two desserts that night. The first one was the Organice Crepes RM18, organic fruits with melba sauce at the side. It’s another fruits only dish, but is targeted at diners who want organic food. Even the crepe was made using organic flour.

Another dessert was the pipping hot Homemade Apple Pie RM15, which came with a scoop of cold vanilla flavoured ice cream. The cold and hot combination, with sweet ice cream and sour apple fillings (Bugger, I forgot the correct term for the mushy mushy thingy.) was definitely refreshing after a round of heavy meal.

It was Sidney’s birthday the following and the guys at WIP gave him a small birthday cake.

All in all, while the taste wasn’t superbly outstanding or remarkable favourable, it was still a pretty good meal on its own. Why I said it wasn’t outstanding? We had two food tasting at SOULed Out Kuala Lumpur and then WIP in less than a week time, and unfortunately, both eateries serve very similar dishes. Hence, it was rather unfair to compare WIP with SOULed Out side by side when most of us subconsciously did so.

That being said, WIP should still be on your list of restaurants to try when you are around Bangsar area. Considering how bad the jam can be, might as well chill out at WIP before heading back home, right?

Address: G111 Ground Floor Bangsar Shopping Centre, 285 Jalan Maarof Bukit Bandaraya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03-2094 1789
Opening Hours: 12pm – 2am

Related posts:

1. SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur, Desa Sri Hartamas
2. Quad-Happiness At Good World Restaurant
3. Tickles Your Nando’s Taste Buds
4. Fresh Prawn Noodles
5. “Slaughtering” Crabs Of Seremban

Tags: Bangsar, Bangsar Shopping Complex, Blue Lagoon, Bubbly Mango, Cafe, Cajun Chicken Tortillas, Detox Juice, Fresh Prawn Noodles, Grilled Lamb Rack, Homemade Apple Pie, Jalan Maarof, Lamb Kebab On Hot Plate, Mojito, Nasi Goreng Petai, Organice Crepes, Pub, Restaurant, Salmon Steak And Wild Rocket Salad, Sang Har Meen, Stop Gap, Tempura Prawn With Dragon Fruit, Thai Green Chicken Curry, Vegetables Pakoras, WIP, Work In Progress