Bosko @ Bandar Utama & Salt Lick @ Solaris Mont Kiara

Checking out a couple of venues that might work well enough for kicking back after work: First up, Bosko in Bandar Utama's Centrepoint complex, where shelves of Sauvignon Blanc & walls filled with wine pairing tips assure us we're in the right place.

Bosko - a play on 'boss code' - is cheerfully colourful, soothingly spacious, bright & breezy, with a spirited service team.

 The menu's meant to be crowd-pleasing, with quite a few interesting highlights. We tried the kitchen-made meatballs with raspberry marmalade mayo & creamy mushroom sauce (RM12) & oven-baked tortilla-base pizzas topped with mussels, prawns & pineapple (RM15) - both were pretty worthwhile. Prices are pleasing.

 We spotted Swich-supplied cakes when we visited some time back, including the now-famed cempedak cake with toasted coconut (RM12) & butterscotch tiramisu with pecans (RM12.90). Hopefully Bosko will continue to offer these.

 And of course, wine - bottles of Chilean Merlot start at RM65 each (yay!), while a white sangria costs a wallet-friendly RM16.

Next up, Salt Lick, the latest restaurant to occupy the street-level corner lot of Solaris Mont Kiara's SohoKL complex - this specific shop-lot has housed everything from a short-lived Taiwanese eatery to a Peking Duck outlet over the past five years.

 Salt Lick tackles both East & West with reasonable results; customers can start with a spicy-tangy salad of grilled prawns with young mango, lemon, lemongrass, chillies & coriander (RM20) before moving on to a main of petai fried rice with satay & acar (RM18) or a four-cheese pizza with parmesan, mozzarella, feta & blue.

 Salt Lick is run by the folks who own the Ravi's Banana Leaf Rice outlets, so it's no shock to see 'amritsari macchi' - fried fish - with mint chutney (RM15) on the menu. To swerve from Indian to Korean flavours, snack also on some bulgogi-braised chicken wings (RM18). Wrap up this schizophrenic meal on a British note, with sticky date pudding topped with butterscotch.

 Asam Boi Mojitos share space at Salt Lick with Jalapeno-Cucumber Margaritas (RM25); wine starts at RM15 by the glass.

Bosko Restaurant & Bar

 1st Floor, Centrepoint Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya. Daily, 10am-2am. Tel: 03-7733-2511

Saltlick Restaurant & Bar

Ground Floor, SohoKL Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Daily, 12pm-1am. Tel: 03-6204-9797

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Caffe Bene @ Solaris Mont Kiara

South Korean coffeehouse chain Caffebene unveiled its first two branches in Malaysia this year, bringing its people-pleasing selection to Sunway Pyramid & Solaris Mont Kiara's SohoKL, with plans for the next outlet in Penang.

Solaris Mont Kiara is really crowded with caffeine bars now, but the new kid on block looks like it'll prove capable of luring Friday's extended-lunch crowd with its cheerful sweet treats for weeks to come.

Liege waffles _ an increasingly familiar sight on KL's cafe menus _ are among the specialities here. This version crowned with 'tteok' rice cake & nuts (RM13) makes for a uniquely Belgian-Korean collaboration, with the crusty base & the glutinous topping supplying a dense chew.

'Patbingsu,' the Korean shaved-ice dessert with red bean paste is available in various forms here; the one with Caffebene's own-made coffee gelato (RM10.80) makes the most sense to try here. Other options include strawberry bingsu or cookies & cream.

The gelato's not bad; satisfyingly smooth & pleasantly understated in flavour. Everything at Caffebene, from the service to the setting to the offerings, reflects a tried-&-tested, non-threatening proficiency that feels like the hallmark of massive franchises (Caffebene has hundreds of outlets in Korea & abroad).

Even an affogato (RM8) that might seem boldly experimental with cream-cheese-flavoured gelato turns out to taste safely conventional, since nothing here is strikingly robust, for better or worse.

Unfortunately, that characteristic makes Caffebene's Kenyan single-origin hand-drip coffee (RM8) border on blandly sterile.

The silver lining is that the beverages here won't taste too sweet: the misugaru non-coffee 'latte' (RM12) is pretty enjoyable, a creamy, shake-like blend of toasted grains.

Juices, yoghurt smoothies & assorted teas are offered too; all in all, there's no reason why Caffebene shouldn't be a success in a nation where Starbucks & Korean pop culture enjoy widespread appeal.

Caffe Bene

Ground Floor, SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Near Cold Storage.

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Lok Yun & Big Joe's @ SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara

Walking through SohoKL can be haunting, thanks to memories of the many restaurants that closed here; Lok Yun, one of this complex's newbies, occupies a corner lot that previously belonged to no fewer than three East Asian eateries: Zhen Shan Mei, Pin Shan & Peking Duck.

Lok Yun's another Chinese outlet with OK food; we liked the pork belly fried in salted egg yolk, though it could have been crunchier ...

... while various other pork parts, including neck & spare ribs, proved less memorable ...

... fried with salted fish, braised with bitter gourd or ginger, it's all a blur in our foggy recollection.

Wine's available & service is solid, but we're not sure whether longevity is in Lok Yun's future.

A few doors away, Big Joe's is another recent entry, taking over what was once Dubrovnik.

Big Joe's main attraction: shelves of books that include some unexpectedly tempting titles.

The food's a hodgepodge of meat-heavy Western fare (think mushroom soup, spaghetti bolognese & chicken chop), plus occasional specials like sandwiches like paprika spelt bread stuffed with butter, paprika, cheese, tomato & lettuce.

Plenty of pastries & cakes, plus German beer chilling in the fridge; perhaps worth a lunch stop for folks working here.

Lok Yun & Big Joe's
Ground Floor, SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

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Ministry of Coffee @ SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara

Malaysia's Cabinet of Caffeine welcomes another new portfolio, electing Ministry of Coffee to govern with grace in Solaris Mont Kiara.

Owned by Penang boys Michael & Mark, this two-level cafe could help revive the once-thriving complex of SohoKL; it's comfortably cavernous, with a distinctive-looking decor & an obliging service team.

Business begins 9am daily with a brunch menu that runs through 3pm, featuring an embarrassment of organic eggs, partnered with organic baby spinach, melted cheese & toasted focaccia (RM18.80 nett) ...

... or with tortillas wrapped around barbecued organic chicken (RM21.80) ...

... & with smoked salmon & hollandaise sauce in English muffins (RM22.80). The kitchen insists on free-range poultry & lower-pesticide veggies in an effort to make these meals more wholesome than the norm.

 Eggs emerge even in the Sunny Fish Burger (RM21.80), sandwiched in ciabatta bread with grilled barramundi, sauteed mushrooms & arugula.

Cream of roasted potato soup with quail eggs (RM16.80). Several of these recipes could do with fine-tuning (runnier yolks for the eggs), but they're OK overall.

Quite like the sandwiches (available starting 3pm), particularly this one with avocados, house-made hash, roasted vegetables, mesclun mix, tomatoes & cheddar cheese in wholemeal bread.

 Peanut butter alert! Banana sandwich with beef bacon & peanut butter (RM14.80).

 Beetroot pancakes with maple syrup (RM14.80), another fun entry on the wide-ranging menu.

More bananas, this time with house-made yogurt & walnuts (RM8.80).

The coffee? They have the equipment & the expertise to take it seriously here.

 Ministry of Coffee depends on Doi Chaang single-estate organic Arabica coffee, shade-grown, hand-picked & sun-dried, with profits shared fairly with thousands of indigenous Akha farmers in mountainous, ecologically sustainable Thai plantations.

All in all, a place with potential, one to watch in the months ahead. 

 Ministry of Coffee Soho KL

J-G-09, Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

At the back of the block on the street level, behind the main road

Daily, 9am-11pm. Tel: 03-6211-5531

Click here for online reservations.

This restaurant is available for bookings under TABLEAPP, which enables customers to make instant reservations at Malaysia's top restaurants, while saving time and money in the process. Reserve your table at this restaurant by clicking here.

The Oct.-Dec. edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favorites is now available in an eBook for free, convenient reading on computers, tablets & smartphones. It comprises reviews of 100 eateries that span various locations, cuisines & budgets: http://eatdrinkkl.publ.com/Eat-Drink-KL-100-Favorites-Oct-Dec-2013 (link expires Dec. 31, 2013; see blog entries after that date for new link).