Do you love crafted beers and pizzas? Then this spot was made for you!
Tap Room KL is like a mini park in the city, as it’s surrounded by the lush green trees and plants of Bamboo Hills in Taman Bamboo. As for the dining venue itself, the best seats are, of course, outdoors, because you’ll be surrounded by nature and the sounds of a mini waterfall. It’s also a great spot for OOTD pics!
The Tap Room KL is home to modern Neapolitan pizza makers, Pizza Duo, and local craft beer brand, Paperkite, which have become hot topics among Klang Valley foodies. The restaurant has even been named one of the finest new eateries in Kuala Lumpur!
Most people visit this joint just for the beers they serve. Just so you know, Paperkite is a new craft beer range that is 100% brewed in Malaysia by Malaysians, and it’s become a favourite of beer lovers because of its different flavour profile. Although the booze sounds tempting, we went to Tap Room KL recently to grab some good food. Keep reading to know what we had.
Pizza Duo
Pizza Duo, which has Malaysia’s largest Stefano Ferrara oven, serves pizzas created by husband-and-wife pair Mark and Aina, who have been making them at home since 2020. The couple knows a thing or two about making pizzas, as they spent time in Naples, Italy honing their skills. Pizza Duo’s Neapolitan pizzas are full of personality – each is the outcome of a 72-hour double-fermented dough, made with freshly milled Italian flour, fior di latte, and San Marzano tomatoes, combined with innovative toppings stacked over light, easily digestible crusts. We sampled three different pizzas.
This first pizza was the Supreme Being. Topped with San Marzano tomato, bechamel, beef bolognese, fior di latte and parmigiano reggiano, this pizza was definitely da bomb! Everything about it was just divine. The taste of the beef along with the Italian herbs, makes you forget about every other pizza. The next one we tried was the Spicy Pep. Basically a pepperoni pizza topped with San Marzano tomato, bechamel, beef bolognese, fior di latte, parmigiano reggiano, red onion and chilly honey, this concoction is spicy! Those of you who have low heat tolerance but still love spicy food, will enjoy this pizza.
Last but not least, Krapow. By the name of it you could tell it has some Thai influence. This is definitely a one-of-a-kind pizza that you can’t find anywhere else. Have you ever seen a sunny side up egg on pizza? Well, this is a first for us too! Since most of the pizzas on Pizza Duo’s menu consists of beef and duck meat along with some veggie choices, this is the only chicken pizza served. Topped with basil chicken, bird’s eye chilli, fior di latte, fried egg and crispy fried basil, this pizza has a good combination of Thai and Italian that will blow your mind!
Tap Room Menu
If you’re looking for more than just pizzas, there are more food options on the Tap Room KL menu, which offers dishes with Italian, local, Japanese and American twists.
For starters, we had the Chargrilled Chicken Satay. What we loved about it was that, unlike most satays that have a layer of fat in between the meat chunks, this one is fully meat. It was convenient to eat, as the chicken meat was tender and juicy. As for the sauce, it definitely added a punch of a nutty and mildly spicy flavour. Instead of just regular cucumbers and onions, Tap Room KL made it special by adding crispy sweet potato chips that were so good. Definitely a new way to have satay!
Next, we moved to the mains. We chose three different dishes: Fish’ n Chips, Meaty Platter and Sumptuous Salmon. The best restaurants not only nail the deliciousness of a dish, but bring out its beauty with the presentation as well. We gotta admit that Tap Room KL has got some pretty good skills.
We tried the Fish’ n Chips first. Aesthetically pleasing, the fish and chips was plated on a wooden board, with purple cabbage, pickles, spicy mentaiko mayo and miso tartar as sides. The fish batter was super crispy, and inside, was the soft fish. The sauces really complimented the crispy fish fillet and the cabbage was so fresh and crunchy.
Then we tried the Meaty Platter. This dish is recommended for sharing since the portion is quite big. Also served on a wooden board, you’ll get a grilled grain fed striploin (medium rare beef), chicken leg, 3 sticks of tiger prawns, purple slaw, grilled corn, and their signature mushroom sauce and spicy sauce. We really loved the striploin, especially how juicy, tender and easy it was to enjoy it. The Tiger prawn was good too, without any fishy smell on it. Both sauces were epic and really enhanced the flavour of the entire dish.
Last but not least, the Sumptuous Salmon. Everything about this dish was light, but refreshing and tasty. We got a pan seared salmon with pearl barley, baby spinach, arugula, lemon butter sauce and tomato salsa. Another new thing: pearl barley. Usually, we see barley in drinks – but this is part of a dish. The fish was cooked perfectly, with all the flavours packed into it. Eating this meal gave us a zing, especially when scooping morsels up together with the lemon butter sauce. We loved every bite!
When having meaty dishes and super cheezy and rich pizzas, you’d want a refreshing juice or a hot tea to soothe your tummy. We ordered Melon & Peach juice and Gunpowder tea, only because the names sounded awesome. Gunpowder tea tasted similar to green tea and it really felt good drinking it after all the heavy food we had. The Melon & Peach, on the other hand, was a perfect combo of refreshing watermelon and peach flavour. This time around, we didn’t have room for dessert, but we did spy a few tempting concoctions like waffles and ice creams that we’ll be sure to try next time.
Overall, we had an amazing time at Tap Room KL. In broad daylight, it’s all bright and will give you that autumn feeling, whereas at night, that’s when the music gets louder and the air is super breezy. Before you get confused, Bamboo Hills is home to a few restaurants and Tap Room KL is one of them. We recommend visiting Bamboo Hills at night, because it’s cooling and beautiful lightings add to its wonderful ambience. Everything in Tap Room KL is aesthetically pleasing. You can even watch how they make pizza using a traditional oven; check out beer barrels; and chill at a cozy spot right behind the restaurant.
Making a reservation is a good idea, because Tap Room KL (and other restaurants at Bamboo Hills) gets super packed. But once you’re done dining, you can go for a walk around the area. Our favourite spot was definitely the lake, which is so beautiful.
Getting to Bamboo Hills is easy as it’s situated just off the DUKE highway. You don’t even have to worry about parkingm because there’s ample parking space. Since Bamboo Hills goes with cashless and ticketless parking, you can pay online via Grabpay, Touch ‘n’ Go or online banking.
