With its relocation and broadening of focus to pubtastic gastronomy, the World’s and Asia’s 50 Best Bar rum-forward Junglebird has expanded their menu, bringing to you a touch of the Caribbean. With dishes inspired from the different islands and a new cocktail menu to match, be prepared to be filled with a ton of flavour.
Junglebird New Menu: No Fowl Play
The 50 Best bar remains one of Kuala Lumpur’s favourite bars, and with its relocation and re-building the bar from the ground up, the new location also meant that a new menu was in order. We do not need to go into detail about how amazing their previous menu was, but you can definitely expect a world class level cocktail experience. Today, their food menu is taking the spotlight, no fuss or frills, but simple wholesome hearty dishes that is almost insulting to just call ‘pub grub’. The elevated dishes are built around a concept of Caribbean flavours, both in drink and food.
Auntie Lena’s “Ngo Hiang” Meat Rolls
Fresh prawn and pork mince seasoned with Chinese five spice and herbs, wrapped in beancurd skin and twice fried
A staple in Hokkien and Teochew cuisine, the ngo hiang is a dish that is made with prawn, pork and seasoning, all wrapped within a beancurd sheet and deep fried. This simple but effective dish is quite filling, and makes great morsels for rummaging through as a bar bite. Great with sour cocktails.
Perkedel Kentang
bite sized, crispy egg floss coated morsels of lightly roasted mashed spuds, shallots, fresh herbs & spices and served with our tangy, fruity housemade cabe ijo
Easily becoming one of the must orders, the perkedel is thick and fluffy, full of flavour, and most importantly, still has strands of egg that add a little more texture. Goes amazing with their sambals.
Albondigas Guisadas Dominicanas
A hearty favourite from the Dominican Republic, handrolled beef meatballs in a savoury tomato stew with olives and capers
The Dominican meatball dish is one that is not for everyone as there is a predominant olive and capers flavour, but to those who love those flavours, this dish is a godsent. Packed with a deep umami briny sweetness from the olives and capers, the tomato stew has levels and dimensions added to its complexity, all used to blanket just the right sized meatballs.
Crackin’ Spring Rolls
Crunchy deep friend pastry parcels filled with shredded jicama turnip, carrot, golden lily bulb, wood ear and shiitake mushrooms
The skin on the spring roll is crisp, with just the right seasoning used, full of sweet savoury and umami. What makes this good is that its quite a chunky bite.
Pico De Gallo Tortilla Chips
Crunchy blue and yellow corn tortilla chops with a fresh lime, tomato, onion, coriander and jalapeño dip
Simple but good, the piquant salsa is great for sharing with its vibrant, tangy and spicy flavour. A dish that is simple and effective and pleasing on the eyes.
Homestyle Kunyit Fried Chicken Wings
Turmeric chicken wings marinated with Lolita Goh’s family recipe served with sambal asam merah
The Kunyit Fried Chicken has easily become the signature dish at Junglebird, with its perfectly spiced and most importantly succulent chicken wings, the large portion is great for sharing and marries excellently with the sambal asam merah, which you can purchase to take home.
Tobagoan Curried Crab Dumplings
Our twist on the iconic dish from Tobago, tender shrimp and crab filled dumplings finished with a rich coconut based spicy curry
One of the more unique offerings you will come across, the Tobagoan curry is not like anything you’d think of when you hear curry. It has elements of coconut but yet seems unfamiliar, even to a Southeast Asian palate. The shrimp and crab dumplings are filled with briny sweetness, which is complemented well by the coconut curry.
The Cubano
Pork salami, pork ham, slow-cooked mojo pork shoulder, swiss cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, sweet-pickled gherkin, hot mustard and full fat mayonnaise
The pièce de resistance of the dishes you will find at Junglebird, this dish is the most perfect of sandwich you will find in Kuala Lumpur. The thickness of the sandwich itself makes it great for 2, with its generous cuts of different pork giving different textures, with salami being dry-oily on the palate, the ham sitting in the middle, with the mojo pork shoulder adding a deep meaty sweetness and chunkier texture, all perfectly balanced out by the intense umami flavour.
Trini Chadon Beni Slaw
Carrot, cabbage, ulam raja, coriander tossed in a spicy tamarind and chadon beni dressing
Served on the side with the Cubano, the Trinidad coleslaw complements the Cubano sandwich well, with its milder but distinct flavour from the sawtooth coriander used.
Crémas Scones
Scones made with cocktail flavoured curds, clotted cream, homemade strawberry jam
Junglebird also serves scones on the weekends, but not what you would expect. The scones here are made using the whey from different cocktails, for example, the batch we tasted was made using the Crémas cocktail.
Crémas (Haiti)
Clairin communal, diplomático planas rum, coconut, cinnamon, star anise, almond, citrus, whey
The crémas cocktail had that flavours that you would associate with coconut cream and rum. The pronounced flavour of almond is present, all clarified, served in a wine glass.
Bridgetown Black Gold (Barbados)
Mount Gay black barrel rum, roasted corn, lime, oleo saccahrin and clove
A twist on the Corn ‘n’ Oil, this rum cocktail classic takes the shape of a reinvention, with a bit more spice. Well balanced with a deep almost molassy sweetness, definitely a decently spirit-forward tipple.
Quentão (Brasil)
Capucana Cachaca, Hot Cider Reduction, Pimento Dram, Ginger, Citrus
What comes off as a Grog-like, the Quentão is quite simple and complex at the same time. The well balanced drink can be ordered hot or cold, with each presentation allowing for a different experience.
JungleBird KL
61M, Plaza Damansara,
Medan Setia 1,
Bukit Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur
+603 2011 5715
Operation Hours:
Daily, 10.00 am to 12.00 pm
| PHOTOGRAPHY: NICHOLAS NG | WEBSITE: JUNGLEBIRD |