MEJA Kitchen + Bar @ TREC KL

By Cindy Low • 17 Dec 2015 in Venues

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Asian Fusion
TREC isn’t just the home of the multimillion ringgit Zouk Club, but rather, it is actually a hub for entertainment and food—all the essential elements for leisure and pleasure. Avalon was one of the more recent clubs to join the area at the end of October, and just beneath it, it boasts a dining extension called Meja.

Despite being situated under a club, the venue is actually positioned as a family restaurant, though based on our visit, it was filled with corporate heads talking about finances (as we discovered through eavesdropping) – the neighbouring RHB bank office building was a dead giveaway too. Types of clientele aside, a packed restaurant is a good sight no matter what. Before entering into the well-lit restaurant itself, an imposing bar sits in the middle of Meja and there are two windowed sections where one is friendly for those who want to puff on a cigarette or two after a meal. For those who fancy culinary voyeurism before a meal, the kitchen is exposed for all to see the hustling spectacle of food preparation.

The menu at Meja is extensive, not only by the number of dishes alone, but by the array of choices available. Mainly, there is a strong Asian infusion in many of the dishes available. They are proud of their Hainanese Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak, which has an unusually large fried chicken thigh and actual prawns in the sambal. Very high praise for what would otherwise be mediocre plates of food, which was exactly why we much preferred the Kyoto Style Grilled Salmon and the Barbequed Rack of Lamb. The salmon dish had a lot of components to it — some may argue too many — but each component was flavourful; the salmon sat on a flattened Portobello mushroom, pak choy, slivers of courgettes, and was topped with scrambled eggs. On the other hand, the lamb was cooked to a tender pink, but we must say that the accompanying mashed potato should not be overlooked – it was creamy and had a delicious cheesy tang that we attributed to Emmental cheese.

The cocktails were very well-presented, most notably the Assam Boi Mojito that was adorned with a caramelised elder flower and pieces of assam boi presented in a hollowed halved lime floating in the refreshing sepia-hued drink. If you’ve been partying too hard at Avalon and still want to continue long into the night, we suggest the Avalon Babe. The drink — consisting of two shots of Hendrick’s Gin with ginger ale and a dose of chilli padi seeds and a stick of lemongrass — was fiery, it was not literally on fire mind you, but it figuratively scorched our oesophagus. The Avalon Babe will certainly wake you up from a groggy daze of binge drinking.

The next time you think of TREC, think about food too, because Meja is there to feed you.