The next outlet in my quest to explore NEXUS Bangsar South so happened to have a fellow Penangite as its owner. Part of NEXUS Bangsar South's new Chillin' At Nexus campaign brought me to Chili ESPRESSO Nexus Bangsar South. Located on the ground floor, with brightly coloured facade, they do have some really friendly staff welcoming you in the moment you pass their eatery. Check out what we had that evening.Chili ESPRESSO @ NEXUS Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur

Chili ESPRESSO

G6, Ground Floor, Nexus Bangsar South

No 7, Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 603-2242 2632

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chili-Espresso-Nexus/1591171401108904

Website: www.isthmuskl.com

Business Hours:

Sun – Thurs & Public Holidays 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ; Fri – Sat 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.Comfy InteriorSimply, bright decor of Chili ESPRESSO

Opened in May 2014, Chili ESPRESSO at Nexus Bangsar South is the second outlet to open after its first successful outlet that started 8 years ago in Sooka Sentral. We were briefed on the inspiration behind Chili ESPRESSO by its owner, Robert who hails from Penang.

“Being born in Penang, he would like to bring back the popular street art back here. The design is based on old pre war shop houses alley or “lorong” with children eating noodles under a frangipani tree. It flows to a more recent colonial styled building where their coffee bar is", he says. Serving up great comfort food at affordable prices, Chili ESPRESSO provides both local and Western dishes with a spicy twist. Interesting art adorn the walls of Chili ESPRESSO

Taking its inspiration from Penang’s heritage city, the restaurant has art murals hand painted by Drew Funk, an Australian based artist on its walls. Inspired by the old pre-war shop houses in Penang, the bright bold red walls had cute art renditions of children and nature in a cheerful mode enjoying a cup of coffee or slurping noodles. A beautiful frangipani tree stood out at one wall. The art is further emphasized by the addition of 3D fixtures all over. Premium French Fries - RM6.80

An appetizer to kick start our night out, we were treated to some rather nice premium French Fries, served with their home made tomato sauce. What's unique and nice about their fries is the fact that each of it has some skin leftovers which added to the flavour, something I won't be able to get at other fast food outlets. It added that extra texture and bite. Mango, Chicken & Jicama Salad - (RM9.80 Small RM14.80 Regular)

Salad lovers will love these two variations whipped up by Chili ESPRESSO. Now I'm not usually a salad guy, but I did like the Mango, Chicken & Jicama Salad. The very sweet mangoes make up the bulk of my enjoyment of this dish. Add in a mix of grilled chicken, crunchy jicama batons, mixed greens with pea shoots, crispy tofu pok, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, aromatic sesame seeds and a sweet and tangy hoi sin sauce and you have a good fun starter dish. Apple, Chicken and Rocket Salad - (RM7.80 Small RM13.80 Regular)

The Apple, Chicken and Rocket Salad has exactly what its name dictates. To be found inside were crunchy apples with grilled chicken, rocket leaves, mixed greens, Kalamata olives, walnuts and a citrus dressing. Chili ESPRESSO's salads come in two fun sizes, so you could enjoy it as a side dish, or a meal on its own. Mexicana Char-Grilled Aussie Beef Burger - RM17.80A closer look at that beef patty

Ah, my favourite beef burger, super sized by Chili ESPRESSO to become this delectable Mexicana Char-Grilled Aussie Beef Burger. The well seasoned grilled beef patty was really thick, making it almost impossible to bite down into the burger in one mouthful. The beef patty itself uses Aussie Beef which had a good bite in texture. Served with fries on the side, go for this with an empty stomach and it'll satisfy you fully. Double Cooked Duck Linguine - RM18.80

An addictive pasta dish, with flavourful double cooked duck and chili flakes, this signature Duck Linguine is a must order from Chili ESPRESSO's menu. Sauteed with oven dried cherry tomatoes, garlic, and light spicy sauce, I do think it makes a rather good main dish. Herbal Nasi Cina Kampong (Ulam Rice) - RM16.80

A Kelantanese dish, the Herbal Nasi Cina Kampung requires a lot of preparation to cook the rice with around 8 different herbs used. Served with red chili pickled green papaya and sambal belacan long bean, diners can choose to have either the the ikan tenggiri with tamarind kaffir lime leave sauce or the fried kunyit chicken with tomato rempah sauce. We tried the chicken version and it actually tasted pretty good! Penang Fried Mee Mamak - RM15.80

My favourite dish of the night from Chili ESPRESSO would be their Penang Fried Mee Mamak. Hailing from Penang myself, I always love the taste of a good mee mamak, and here their bestseller hits all the right notes. The taste was akin to the ones I've had back in Penang, being more lavish in the ingredients used. Lots of seafood of prawns and squid were added together with cucur and boiled potatoes making it really good. Apple Banana Crumble - RM9.80

We ended our meal at Chili ESPRESSO NEXUS Bangsar South with their sweet Apple Banana Crumble. Simple, yet satisfying, the pairing of apple and banana in a dessert is a rather surprising mix. Do remember to check out their outlet the next time you are at NEXUS Bangsar South!

The Shepherdoo Sweet Treasures - RM12

The Shepherdoo Sweet Treasures came in a very presentable decoration which gave a romantic feeling. This sweet treasures consisted of cute and mini coin sized pancakes topped with some fresh straberries, bananas, whipped cream, marshmallows, one scoop of vanila ice-cream and dizzled with warm chocolates sauce.

The pancakes were both savoury and tasty, while the ice cream gave a whole icy sweetness to the whole dish. A perfect ending dessert to a good meal at Shepherdoo.

Tom Yum Ramen - RM10.90

I would recommend this Tom Yum Ramen for the bigger kick in taste. The Tom Yum Ramen came with Shoyu paste soup, prawns, squid, crab meat and fish slices, which was good indeed, not too salty unlike the preveious ramens. It will definitely reminds you of Thai Tom Yum Soup. I would said that Ikuzo made a good fusion tom yam soup ramen. Do try it out.

Cha-Shu Ramen - RM8.90

Nothing gets better with the reasonable price of Ikuzo Cha-Shu Ramen. It came with five awesome pieces of porky cha-shu served in their signature shoyu-based soup, some seaweed and spring onions. Ikuzo were really generous in the tender meat that was put inside. The soy based soup itself tasted really nice and not too salty. I love their thin chewy noodles.

Tonkatsu Ramen - RM7.90

Tonkatsu Ramen is another ramen with the classic miso based soup. It's serving was rather big as it came with generous of breaded pork fillets. You will love at first scoop of this miso based soup.

We ordered the think noodles for this Tonkatsu Ramen. I found my solace in a steaming bowl of miso ramen with long chewy noodes swimming alongside soft pork fillets. Good enough to be taken as the main course, the miso soup did give out a salty savoury taste to the whole dish.