Lo & Behold, Petaling Street

Look out for Lo & Behold, Petaling Street’s foxy new den for fun treats of tacos, pastas, fried chicken and smash burgers, served with flavourful Asian flair from noon to midnight.

With five varieties of tacos on the menu, each sounds enticing: Ribeye carne asada with pineapple and jalapeño sauce? Baja perch with gochujang aioli? Duck confit with chilli oil and cucumber? Or mushrooms with corn, red salsa and red cheddar?

We chose sheer succulence - stewed beef chuck, Mexican adobo-style, mildly spiced with chile de arbol puree and parsley mayo, showered with mozzarella, folded in soft tortillas.

Lo & Behold is run by the founders of TTDI’s Ora Dining, so it’s no surprise that pastas are among the attractions, from classic bucatini pomodoro with wagyu meatballs to cross-cultural farfalle with tiger prawns, coconut cream and togarashi.

Korean noodle buffs will relish the ramdon, jazzed up with juicy oyster blade beef and jjajang sauce, great for guilty-pleasure suppers.

For fried chicken fans: Thai-tempting with nam chim chilli fish sauce, garlic and lime or Korean-captivated with honey, gochugaru and sesame or seaweed and cheese.

Don’t skip the smash burger, robust with double Australian beef patties, cheddar and caramelised onions, or the ayam berempah burger with bang bang mayo.

Fully loaded U.S. potato fries come blanketed with minced beef, yuzu garlic, cheese sauce and fried egg.

Complete the indulgence with customisable soft serves - try the peanut butter soft serve with marshmallows, banana sauce and crushed Oreos, cushioned with pistachio cookies.

Sip soju on the rocks with a twist, with large ice cubes in flavours like ice blood watermelon-strawberry, Yakult or lemon zest, plus playful cocktails like the Pina Colada Mojito, fuelled by coconut and mint.

Fun fact: Lo & Behold’s fox illustrations were created by manager Leon, partly representing the Japanese theory of multiple faces.

Lo & Behold

141G, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.

Open Tuesday-Sunday, 12pm-12am.

Tonda Pizza Romana, Kiara Bay

If pizzas make your world go round, circle in on Kiara Bay’s new Tonda Pizza Romana.

Tonda Pizza Romana is a fresh concept by the founders of PJ’s Round Pizza Napoletana, shifting the compass from Naples to Rome.

Tonda's Roman-inspired pizzas feature thinner, crispier crusts than Round’s Neapolitan renditions.

This is Tonda’s first outpost, in Kiara Bay Kepong’s Common Space food hall. By June, Tonda will launch its own flagship restaurant in Taman Desa.

Tonda (Italian for round) fires its pizzas in Malaysian-built Adella brick ovens, rested for a minute after cooking for a firm base, not floppy.

The Pork Pepperoni is blanketed with Italian-sourced salami in every bold-flavoured bite. Other options span the Marinara to the Margherita. Favourites like Funghi e Tartufo and Quattro Formaggi share the spotlight with the questionable Pineapple? Sausage?

Punch up with Tonda’s proprietary chilli oil, blended with nutty-savoury 24-month Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, buoyed and balanced by the fruity heat of habanero and herbs, fine-tuned to pair perfectly with these pizzas.

Napolia, Chow Kit

Tackling Naples’ time-honoured street food, Napolia is KL’s new space for pizza portafoglio, pizza fritta, arancini, frittatina and crochette.

With cries of ‘ciao’ welcoming customers and Come Prima blasting on the speakers, Napolia serves a spirited slice of Naples for the senses.

Munch on the Margherita as pizza portafoglio - an oven-fresh folded ‘wallet pizza’ - served steaming like Vesuvius, easy to relish on the run. No tariff on tomatoes: Napolia relies on Solania tomatoes for ripe, sun-soaked Neapolitan brightness.

Fried fare proves irresistible: Pizza fritta (fried pizza), plus pleasures from the counter - luscious ragu-stuffed arancini (perhaps the most indulgent Italian rice balls in KL’s city centre), frittatina (crunchy-battered pasta fritters with molten magic of cheese and besciamella) and crochette (mashed potato croquettes).

Malaysian-founded Napolia takes over the former location of Pizzeria Dihyang in Chow Kit.

Menya Abura, Sri Petaling

Sri Petaling's new Menya Abura specialises in abura soba, spotlighting fundamental flavours for fuss-free, broth-free slurps. Amp up the ramen bowl with raw garlic and sharp onions for an aromatic avalanche of add-ons.