Eat Drink KL: Five-HT @ Maarof, Bangsar

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Five-HT @ Maarof, Bangsar

With cafe fatigue bubbling over in KL, folks seeking fresh sparks of chemistry might be fired up by Five-HT (the name references the mood-stabilising serotonin), where revisionist Japanese fare & unorthodox coffee concoctions buffer the menu.

Rice bowls form the foundation of Five-HT's comfort food: The Tamago Mentai Donburi (RM20) could be a balm for the beaten-up soul, blanketed by soft, creamy layers of scrambled eggs & torched cod roe mayo. The kitchen's ambitions sometimes bend toward a fusion arc - the Black Ninja (RM25) playfully honours Hokkien mee, featuring udon soaked in a sweet-savoury sauce, with crispy beef bits supplanting pork lard, topped with a tempura onsen egg & spinach. Carb-phobic customers might break for the Bedrock Salad (RM19), tossed with house-cured salmon & fried beet pickles in a sesame dressing. The science of satisfaction is precarious, but these recipes favour patrons who crave uniformly full-bodied flavours.

Lattes laced with truffle oil (RM19) or blended with avocados (RM18), & an espresso combined with coconut water (RM15): Your reaction to these may reveal whether you belong to the bloc of staunch purists who blanch at what they consider graceless gimmicks or the camp of persuadable progressives who believe in the spirit of open-ended experimentation. Our take on Five-HT's beverages is positive - the flavours feel elementally clean, buoyed by an easy-drinking smoothness.

Five-HT
50, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur. 
Kitchen opens Tues-Sun, 12pm-230pm, 6pm-1030pm; coffee & desserts available 9am-closing. Tel: 03-2201-0101

Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings, F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.
Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link: 
Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter may be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.

The Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available, connecting restaurants & customers to promote a positive spirit of community.
Every restaurant on this app rewards users with a 6 percent discount, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long. 
In return, users share photos of their experiences at these eateries, creating a new community of restaurant lovers.
For every transaction, at least RM0.10 will be channelled to a charity of the month.


Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, with 100 recommended restaurants. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://issuu.com/eatdrinkkl/docs/ebook

Buckle your seatbelts: Eat Drink KL is partnering with Uber to take restaurant lovers on new adventures across KL & Selangor!
If you haven't used Uber yet, it's time to begin! For new users, just follow the steps below to redeem free rides:
1. Download the Uber app from the App Store, Play Store or Windows Store - and register your Uber account.
2. Apply the code EATDRINKKL as your first promotional code & you'll receive 2 Free Rides worth RM30 each.
3. Request a ride through the app and ride for free to any destination (with two ride values of up to RM30 each).