No ruby slippers required - tap your heels together three times, tell Toto you're not in Solaris Dutamas anymore, & let happy little bluebirds take you to this restaurant somewhere over the rainbow (Damansara Heights, to be clear), run by the Wonderful Wizards & Good Witch behind The Red Beanbag, Smooshie Juice, Oneatezero & Shamaziin.
Yellow Brick Road isn't lacking in heart; there's no place like home, but this space comes close - warm, wholesome & nurturing, suffused with both sunshine & sunflowers. If L. Frank Baum was right that a heart is judged by how much you're loved by others, the evidence rests in a friend of the founders who took the long road to Yellow Brick Road from Penang this week to offer his support in person ahead of this imminent landmark's launch.
The restaurant isn't left wanting for courage - Yellow Brick Road's kitchen could have selected the safe path by replicating The Red Beanbag's recipes, but it's taking a riskier route with an Asian-accented repertoire. In a few days, you'll find head chef Bob's 'Balik Kampung' percik chicken with turmeric rice & kerabu salad (RM25++; a recipe Bob introduced at an RBB retreat), chicken char siu aglio olio pasta (RM25++), sugar-cured prawn omelette with ikan bilis sambal (RM25++), beef rendang cottage pie (RM22++), chili con carne baked eggs with naan bread (RM25++) & 'I Wanna Be Kaya' French toast with coconut mascarpone cream & caramel kaya sauce (RM22++) to partner with popcorn butterscotch & Guinness chocolate cakes.
But what about a brain? Nope, not missing either - the folks behind Yellow Brick Road have more than proven their mettle in masterminding a wide-ranging swath of F&B businesses in recent years. Not even a faulty coffee machine that short-circuited the restaurant's power supply this month could thwart Yew Kheong, Lin Lee, Jason, Shaun & their team; Yellow Brick Road remains ready to launch on the first week of April (coincidentally, the fourth anniversary of Smooshie Juice's official existence).
Something wicked comes this way: Yellow Brick Road's name isn't supposed to be a strict reference to all things Oz (think of it instead as a metaphor for the journey that its four founders have embarked on together), but the fantasy theme is still a factor. Upstairs, a 'Wicked Pancake Parlour' will unfurl within months, whipping up savoury & sweet pancakes - flapjacks rank among RBB's most popular orders, after all - with a bar that specialises in ice cream floats (it'll bring a new meaning to 'I'm melting').
Yellow Brick Road
Jalan Batai, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur. Cakes & coffee might currently be available, 10am-6pm, but come sometime in early April instead to be very safe, once the restaurant has wiped out its Air Supply soundtrack & is ready to serve hot food.
The Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available, connecting restaurants & customers to promote a positive spirit of community.
Every restaurant on this app rewards users with a 6 percent discount, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long.
In return, users share photos of their experiences at these eateries, creating a new community of restaurant lovers.
For every transaction, RM0.20 will be channelled to a different charity every month.
Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, featuring 100 recommended restaurants for January-March 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015
This link expires April 12, 2015. Please check the newest blog entries after that for fresh links.
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Sausages to sambal. Muffins to marshmallows. Peanut butter to mango chutney. Cornflake ice cream to honey aloe yogurt. Lavender-laced lemonades to lychee-&-guava juices.
Eat Drink KL: Small Businesses, Huge Flavours is the first eBook to help customers navigate the diversity of independent F&B entrepreneurs who bake & boil in their own kitchens, offering some of Malaysia's finest, most fascinating food products.
This resource will be continuously updated with new listings: www.eatdrinkkl.publ.com/businesses
