A group of intrepid bar owners have opened their first restaurant, with the aim of injecting some Italian flair into KL’s Petaling Street. — Photos: Mona Lisa
The Chinatown area in Kuala Lumpur has increasingly become an interesting place, an example of a place where anachronistic places and people mix and mingle in seamless harmony.
Case in point is brand new restaurant Mona Lisa, plonked in the middle of Jalan Sultan. Outside the restaurant, the hubbub of the street is evident, giving way to flower shops, hawker stalls and the old-fashioned eateries so beloved by Malaysians. In fact, directly outside the restaurant is a stall manned by an elderly woman peddling coconut water.
The eatery meanwhile is an air-conditioned oasis of calm and sophistication – exuding sleek charm, with a polished bar and all the trappings that make it literally seem like you’re on a different planet from your external surrounds.
And yet, vestiges of heritage remain. The building was formerly a 100-year-old shop lot, so the brick façade and wrought iron windows have been retained, giving it an old-world charm that permeates throughout.
Prawns, oil, chilli, garlic and butter. What's not to love? — MONA LISA
The restaurant is the brainchild of Mark Nejad and two other partners. Nejad is an Iranian who came to Malaysia to study, fell in love with the country and has called it home ever since.
An architect by profession, he also dabbled as a club promoter. He and his partners were tasked with setting up and opening many of the city’s best bars like Suzie Wong and Vertigo.
Eventually the three decided to set up their own nightlife outlets, which is how they came to helm bars like Brooklyn Bar and Chancellor Private Lounge in Damansara Heights.
Nejad is an architect-turned-club promoter-turned-bar owner.
Mona Lisa marks the trio’s first foray into the restaurant scene but to Nejad, this seems like a natural progression.
“I believe that the night scene in KL is dropping. If you really look into it, we no longer do big clubs here. I have done this night scene for 15 years now (since 2009) and the crowd has changed.
“The people who used to party with us, they are all either married or have kids, and they do more casual chilled-out dinners or drinks.
“And the younger generation now prefer to go to cafes compared to bars. Even if you see the studies, the latest generation consume less alcohol than the previous one. So I think the food part was the right approach for us, it’s a stepping stone for us to move forward,” says Nejad.
That’s not to say the eatery is eschewing the drinks scene altogether, because Mona Lisa hides a little surprise and this time, the mystery isn’t in her enigmatic smile.
Because open a door behind the eatery and you will be led into a little speakeasy bar called Chi. Obviously, old habits die hard and Nejad’s true love – though lurking behind a door – still has a strong presence.
The truffle croquettes are an odd to the rustic, woody notes of mushrooms and the pure opulence of truffles.
So why open an Italian restaurant in the middle of Petaling Street? Najed said his thinking was both streamlined and clear.
“There is always a risk to having a vision. But the main idea was there was no other Italian restaurant around. So there are a lot of local spots and fusion restaurants nearby. But I wanted to create a very staple standard Italian place for locals and tourists who wanted a taste of something familiar,” he says.
On the restaurant front, there is a lot to pick and sample, so you’ll be really spoilt for choice. Start with the Wagyu MB6-7 Beef Tartare (RM88) which features wagyu Karubi beef tartare, served with lumpfish caviar and toasted brioche.
The beef tartare features silken smooth beef slices juxtaposed against an egg yolk and caviar in what proves to be a fabulous meal opener. — Photos: Mona Lisa
The beef tartare arrives with a brilliant yellow golden egg yolk atop. Stir it into this raw bovine goodness and enjoy it as is or with the shards of crisp brioche. The beef is magnificent – silken, supple, with an underlying creaminess from the albumen goodness dispersed throughout.
It’s a hedonistic way to start the meal and one that certainly does not disappoint.
The Gambas Al Ajillo (RM35) features wild sea prawns sauteed in butter, garlic, chillies and smoked paprika. This is a tapas dish popular in Spanish cuisine and it has been done resoundingly well here, with fat, fluffy prawns drenched in oil and butter with a hint of fire running through its veins, courtesy of the chilli in the mixture.
Moving forward, have a sample of the Truffle Croquettes (RM35) which as their name implies, feature rotund, crispy balls filled with mixed mushroom duxelles, truffle paste, truffle oil, truffle mayo and lumpfish caviar.
The croquettes have an instantly addictive quality – a crunchy outer core gives way to tender innards packed with an interspersion of mushroom and truffle, which offer nuanced hints of rusticity and elegance.
The scallop and truffle combine two opulent ingredients in one fantastic mouthful.
The opulence train keeps chugging along with the arrival of the Scallop X Truffle (RM58) which is exactly what its name suggests. The dish essentially features pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with truffle sauce and caviar. These voluptuous molluscs are the ringleaders of this triumvirate, stealing the thunder and the show one mouthful at a time.
If you’re up for a huge seafood feast, indulge in the Mona Lisa Ultimate Seafood Pasta (RM128). Here, tagliatelle pasta plays host to a motley assortment of sea creatures, including grilled lobster, scallops, clams, tiger prawns, New Zealand mussels and squid set against the canvas of a lobster bisque marinara butter sauce.
The seafood pasta is made up of a congregation of the best that the sea has to offer, dressed with a delicious lobster bisque.
The aquatic sauce is the magic potion that holds this meal together, featuring seafaring undercurrents that are not too heavy and still allow the other ingredients to shine. It’s a playful, irreverent meal that makes you feel – in an entirely vicarious way – as though you are by the sea.
Moving forward, Nejad says that he and his partners are already hard at work developing a purpose-built food complex in Damansara Heights, scheduled for completion in late 2025.
“It’s a six-floor building which will have a grocery store, a cafe, two fine-dining restaurants, an izakaya spot and a rooftop bar. Hopefully we’ll be ready for December next year. We have been blessed with a very good team so we are expanding very fast,” says Nejad.
