It’s always exciting to discover a new restaurant that strives to serve the best food to its patrons. Never judge a restaurant by its location though. I say that because when I first saw Mezza9 opening its door in a rather quiet and ’empty’ looking building Glomac Galleria, I was wondering if people would actually come. Little did I know then, that this kitchen is run by award winning chef Sean Wong who was trained in London and worked in named restaurants in both London and Kuala Lumpur including Sentidos Tapas in Starhill Gallery. He’s equally talented in the both savoury and sweet departments which is a blessing to our tummies no doubt.

Cleverly short-handed from Mezzanine, this gem of a place is probably the best thing that has happened to Desa Sri Hartamas and I really hope that it will continue to thrive in the quieter side of this neighbourhood. I don’t have to worry too much though as everytime I’ve visited so far it’s been rather busy. Social Media can be such powerful tools, isn’t it?

Mezza9 is divided into 2 levels. The downstairs dining area is slightly brighter, elegant but not over the top with those adorable overhanging shaded lamps. And the mezzanine floor (ooh, namesake!) features a granite bar and is cool enough for a few drinks and tapas. The food? So far everything we’ve ordered have been hearty and satisfying.

This is the clear favourite of us and we always order at least two platters each visit. Creamy, buttery with plenty of earthy mushrooms, it really can’t get any better (except perhaps if you add some blue cheese ala Sid’s Pubs). Served with freshly toasted baguette this is the perfect way to start the meal.

The Salmon version pales in comparison to the Mushroom Bruschetta but it’s still better than a lot of Italian restaurants in KL. I like the piquancy of the chopped tomatoes paired with Smoked Salmon enhanced by the herbaceous note of basil.

What this dish lacks in appearance (admittedly my poor photography doesn’t help either) was certainly made up by the taste. You can tell that they didn’t skim on time or ingredients and this has been braised for at least a few hours for the fork tender meat and absolutely aromatic gravy. It’s a must order for every first-timer.

I can see why the Roast duck with Spaghetti has a small “Chef’s Recommendation” tag next to it. It certainly is interesting. The sweet and spicy sauce with hint of 5 spice powder goes well with al dente pasta. The duck pieces were fully cooked and infused with the same flavours. With some extra chili, this was gone in minutes.

I had a couple of bites out of this and wanted more. The cod was superbly soft and silky. The creamy caper sauce with a hint of lemon was fabulous although they could perhaps tone down the salt a little. A good low-carb option for the health conscious otherwise.

We have already sampled all the desserts on their menu, and the chocolate lava cake is the one we order time and time again. It’s textbook perfect. Rich dark chocolate taste (Belgium chocolate I’d assume) with molten centre, not overly sweet. One word. Heavenly.

Wine lovers rejoice as they do regular wine buffet where you only need to pay RM50++ for free flow of wine from 6pm to 1am on Wednesdays and 6pm to 2am every Saturday. We have been there 3 times so far on a Wednesday! They have also started to do Whiskey tasting for every Thursday, only RM100++ for unlimited Whiskey. This is a little too dangerous for me so I shall stick with the wine. Heh.

Mezza 9
B-G-03A Glomac Galleria, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.
Open for dinner, except Tuesdays.