Food Review: W Kuala Lumpur’s New JUST LUNCH Concept Is Just Divine!

Enjoy a delicious, healthy, energy-boosting and hassle-free lunch with W Kuala Lumpur’s signature JUST LUNCH at Flock!

Flock has consistently shown that it is not your typical hotel F&B establishment, because of its ability to constantly reinvent itself. Its evolution continues, with its just-introduced JUST LUNCH menu, which features enticing new culinary treats.

Its aim is to make Flock the go-to destination for a quick, convenient and satisfying lunch in the city. Flock’s cosy ambience and its staff’s famously-swift service makes it the perfect venue for JUST LUNCH.

We dropped by recently, to sample some of the new signature meals that had been carefully chosen for an intimate encounter. The spacious restaurant, with a gorgeous open kitchen area, beckons diners to retreat into an open sanctuary, and tempts them with an irresistible semi buffet that highlights the best of local flavours with a modern twist.

With JUST LUNCH, you can choose from a plethora of a variety of fresh, tantalizing, juicy and delectable ingredients, adding richness and layers to vibrant salads, flavourful bowls, and stunning main courses. Start off with something hearty, like their tomato soup. Warm and flavourful, you can eat the soup by itself or dip some bread in it if you like.

One of the attractions for us was the hydroponic leaf section, where they have greens such as kale, red mizuna, butterheads, upland cress, romaine and more. It’s more of a poke bowl concept. Just pick whichever greens you like and top them off with their variety of dressings and condiments. We think this is a healthy and smart lunch concept because it makes you full, but doesn’t drain your energy and allows you to resume work quickly.

They also served different types of sandwiches made with different types of bread. We tried the smoked turkey ciabatta and beef ciabatta. Both were equally good. The beef was super tender and had so much flavour. We really liked the sweetness of the scrambled eggs and tangy flavour from the mustard sauce. As for the turkey, there was a lot of cheese! Both sandwiches were equally fresh, and the bread was super crunchy.

At the Just Japanese corner, there is, of course, sushi and sashimi, which make for the perfect lunch. Right at the back of the dining area, you can find the sushi bar where you can watch the sushi chef prepare fresh and delicious-looking sushi; while at the front, there are plates of sashimi. The sashimi was fresh and had toppings like pomegranate and sesame seeds, which made us enjoy it all the more.

There was also robatayaki. The word “robatayaki,” which in Japanese means “fireside cooking”, is a grilling-like cooking method over hot charcoal over a broad, flat open hearth. The best part is, you get to watch how they grill food over open fire in their kitchen. There’s shiitake robotayaki, eggplant robotayaki and broccoli robotayaki. We tried the shiitake robotayaki. It was slightly burnt on the inside, but we still liked the juicy and smoky flavour it had. We could tell diners loved the robotayaki, because the trays quickly became empty minutes after they were served.

On the toast side, they served toasted baguette covered with toppings like wild mushroom, salmon and tomato. The toasts were good, but best eaten when immediately served, because that’s when they’re super crunchy. Our favourite topping was the wild mushroom. So savoury and flavourful! The tomato ones were not that bad, but they lacked that burst of flavour we would expect when eating a bruschetta. Also, they were a hassle to eat, since the tomatoes kept falling off the toast.

Now comes our favourite part of any buffet: DESSERTS! The JUST LUNCH buffet offers a variety of desserts. From ice creams to pastries and cakes, there was just so much to choose from. We started off with the cheesecake brownies, which were so so good. They were extremely sweet and so balanced that we didn’t feel overly-sated after having our mains. The cheesecake layer was so creamy and they had like 2 drops of chocolate ganache on top that added a hint of bitter-sweet flavour to the entire dessert.

Next up, we had the wild berry torte, which had a custard filling and was topped with strawberries and blueberry. The tart was perfectly baked and the custard filling wasn’t too sweet. We absolutely loved the strawberries, which were huge, fresh and super juicy. We also tried the apple spice cake. We weren’t really fans, because it had “spice” – but it’s not a bad dessert. We couldn’t really taste the apple, but in each bite, you can see the apple bits, and the cinnamon flavour was strong. Then, we couldn’t help but grab a jar of Tiramisu. It looked pretty, but taste-wise, it was just okay. The coffee was really mild, as there was more cream in the jar. Basically, you’d have to eat up more cream before getting to the coffee part, which lies at the bottom of the jar.

Last but not least, ice cream. The JUST LUNCH buffet offers 4 flavours of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate, calamansi and passion fruit. Of course, we had to pick something we don’t eat every day. If you really want a pick me up dessert before heading back to work, then passion fruit ice cream is the one for you. This flavour just awakens all your senses. It has a burst of fruity flavour along with strong hints of sourness. It really is a refreshing dessert. Calamansi was okay, but it was more sweet than refreshing.

If our summary of JUST LUNCH’s treats have you going, then brace yourself – there’s more that W Kuala Lumpur would like to offer! For only RM48, individually-plated main courses can also be added on top of the semi buffet. Each dish in the buffet is picture-perfect for the eyes and the gram – ensuring that your experience is unlike any other. Guests can also be assured of top-notch ingredients and meticulous preparation.

We tried 3 different mains: Beef Short Ribs Noodle, Grilled Perchik Chicken and Grilled Marinated Duck. The beef was our favourite – it was extremely tender and easy to eat. Just using our forks, the meat was easily falling off. The beef and noodle was served along with a spiced sweet potato gravy. It wasn’t really spicy, but it definitely had a lot of flavour. The noodles were slightly disappointing, as we think it needed more time to cook.

Next, we tried the grilled marinated duck. The sauce, yellow curry, was the highlight of the dish. It really elevated its savouriness without killing the taste of the marinated duck. The meat was slightly chewy, but tasty. Last but not least, the grilled perchik chicken. Okay, we were definitely expecting more from this ayam percik, since it’s a very Malaysia thing – but the chicken seemed slightly underdone, and tasted rather bland. As for the  sauce, it was also mild, and didn’t really add that kick to the chicken. On the side, they served roasted butternut squash, which tasted okay.

Overall, we had an enjoyable meal at the Flock. Just the buffet spread alone was filling, and we had a hard time finishing our mains. For beverages, you can choose to have refillable detox water, or you can order fresh mixed fruit juices and lemonade. JUST LUNCH is definitely a smart and healthy dining option, especially for working adults, as it not only keeps you fit, but ensures you stay productive even after a good lunch.

With a blend of high-quality ingredients to create nourishing and delectable meals from Mondays to Saturdays, the Flock’s JUST LUNCH is THE way to go for your midday meal.