A recent visit to Solaris Mont Kiara branch of ALLO by The Owls Café was actually our first visit to any of the branches under The Owls Café franchise.
We came here for a late lunch after visiting Zoo Negara Malaysia and it was after peak hours on a Saturday.
This post details our experience at ALLO by The Owls Cafe (Solaris Mont Kiara).
Table Of Contents:
About The Owls Café
The Owls Cafe is a well-established brand in the KL café scene. Ghostbird Coffee Company (a coffee roastery specializing in Sabah Ranau coffee beans) is the in-house coffee brand. And its distribution covers other cafes in Malaysia too.
To date, New Chapter by The Owls Café at Bukit Jalil (inside Calvary Convention Centre) is the longest-serving branch under The Owls Café.
Besides this branch, there is The Owls Cafe at Jalil Link, and Midorie x The Owls Café at MyTOWN Shopping Centre. You can find The Owls Café over at Sunway Pyramid too, on the ground floor.
There is a newer branch called Owlsome by The Owls Café over at Taman Teknologi Malaysia as well.
ALLO by The Owls Café at Solaris Mont Kiara is a relatively new branch (opened in late 2021). It shares a similar menu with the other branches under The Owls Café. Here, waffles are clear staples, but they do have a variety of western mains as well.
Ambiance
Another thing that ALLO by The Owls Café has in common with other branches of The Owls Café is an abundance of style:
The fashionable air-conditioned café does not look out of place from the fancy exterior of AMI Suites.
It greets visitors with beautiful lighting and an incredibly high ceiling (one wonders how they change blown lights). To decorate this café, they have a pleasing color palette of soft pink, creamy white, and gold accents.
The shop lot is bigger than it looks from the outside. There are plenty of seats but it does not feel cramped. Seats go towards the back of the lot with the counter and kitchen taking up one half of the lot.
There are even more tables upstairs.
Food At ALLO by The Owls Café
We did not have high hopes for the food after our earlier experience at The Red Beanbag but were soon proved wrong. The nasi lemak with chicken rendang was delicious.
And the pesto pasta was some of the most flavorful pesto we have had in a while (they grate the cheese too).
Waffles were not part of our order but we will say that the mains left us satisfied. Personally, we don’t think they use MSG to flavor the food as we did not feel thirsty afterwards.
Of the drinks we got, the most interesting was the iced gula melaka and coconut latte. But none of the drinks were bad. We tried the iced hojicha latte, iced latte and iced hazelnut latte.
One thing that we find odd is how few pastries and cakes there are available on the menu of ALLO by The Owls Café.
Pricing At ALLO by The Owls Café
Given the high-end neighborhood the café is in, we think pricing is fair (At least for the mains and drinks) for ALLO by The Owls Café. Portions for both food and drinks are sufficient too.
Note: They do offer set lunches
Soups and salad range from RM20 to RM29 whiles snacks like truffle fries will set you back for RM26. Of their signature waffles, the cheapest is the classic waffles for RM15. Although their signature David Waffles or Chicken & Waffles costs around RM30.
Meanwhile, mains like rice and pasta are in the RM16 to RM36 range. As for beverages (including non-caffeinated drinks), these cost between RM10 (for tea) to RM16 for house specialties.
Service
While there on a weekend, we counted 15 wait staff and counter staff. Some of them were idling but service is fast (food comes within 15 minutes), and the staff is attentive.
Food and drinks presentation do not disappoint either. Drinks came with rice straws and custom-made coasters.
Ease Of Parking
From what we observed, there’s no dedicated parking for customers directly in front of The Owls Café. But there is street parking on side of the main road that is walking distance from the café.
Residents of AMI Suites at Mont Kiara have the most convenient access to the café.
We find the basement parking is quite uncomfortable due to dim lighting and unclean surroundings.
Conclusion
Since everything (e.g., ambiance, service, food quality, etc) checks out, we’re not mad at the higher pricing at ALLO by The Owls Café. The pricing is not unusual for a cafe in Mont Kiara.
And if we are in the area again, we may come again to try the waffles!
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