CALIA @ Pavilion Kuala Lumpur — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

📍 CALIA @ Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 🧸🌸

Experience affordable Michelin Star dining by Chef Francisco Araya who has created a Modern Japanese menu for diners at Calia. ⭐️ Indulge in air-flown Japanese A5 Wagyu or delight in fresh Hokkaido Scallops and Sea Urchin. 😍🥩

A balance of experience and excellence, Calia is driven by the pursuit of perfection for the modern gastronomist. With a modern yet timeless approach, Calia unveils a new standard in fine foods and dining. 💯

Here’s what we had:

𝙒𝘼𝙂𝙔𝙐 𝙎𝙐𝙆𝙄𝙔𝘼𝙆𝙄 𝘽𝙊𝙒𝙇 (RM68) 🐮 - Full blood marbled wagyu slices with Japanese sweet sauce and 63° egg 🤤 THIS WAS THE BEST DISH!! The wagyu was hella good omg 😍 A mark of unmatched quality 😮‍💨 Indulging in a succulent piece of wagyu beef is an unparalleled experience for meat connoisseurs. 😏 It’s exquisite flavour, buttery tenderness, and melt-in-the-mouth texture gives it a more tender, flavourful, and luxurious eating experience 🥹💯 The exceptional marbling of fat within the meat is what sets wagyu beef apart, giving it an unmatched flavour, tenderness, and juiciness that is cherished by discerning palates. And their sukiyaki sauce is sweet and nice which makes it’s moist 👍🏻 𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙄𝘼 𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙂𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙀𝙉 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝘽𝙐 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝘽𝙐 + 𝙏𝙄𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙒𝙉𝙎 (RM88) 🧸 - TOO CUTE TO EAT 🤣🩷🧸 It’s chicken collagen broth served with seasonal fresh vegetables and Japanese meatball 🍲 The bear is the broth - it will melt slowly once the stove is on 🔥 This shabu shabu is a treat for the eyes and tummy 😆 It’s cuteness is not the only reason to order as the broth is legit super flavourful and rich 😍 Lots of vege and meatball (serves 2 pax). We added on Tiger Prawns and they were super fresh 🦐 𝙉𝘼𝙎𝙄 𝙇𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙆 𝘿𝙊𝙉𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙄 (RM28) 🍚 - Coconut flavoured Japanese rice, chicken karaage, Japanese sambal anchovies and 63° egg. “Premium” / “Atas” nasi lemak for rich kids 😎 Portion is huge and price is super affordable given the serving size and presentation! Fried chicken was super chunky and juicy 😋 𝙂𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙄𝘾 𝙍𝙊𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝘾𝙃𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙀𝙉 𝙇𝙀𝙂 (RM33) 🍗 - This was another fav of mine! The garlic roasted chicken had a similar taste to teriyaki sauce (sweet, sticky and slightly tangy) 😚 It came with coleslaw and garden vege 🥦 Prepare yourself for a well marinated garlic chicken leg roasted to perfection and served with garden mix salad! I loved the Japanese onigiri rice served together with it 🩷🍙 𝙒𝘼𝙂𝙔𝙐 𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙒𝘼 𝙐𝘿𝙊𝙉 (RM48) 🍜 - Sous vide wagyu with udon in an umami soy broth, grilled mushrooms and coriander. This was decent and it had a strong herbal taste to it 𝘼𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙄 𝙎𝘼𝙇𝙈𝙊𝙉 (RM43) 🐟 - Flame seared salmon topped with ikura and secret CALIA sauce. Very fishy and you can really taste the freshness of their salmon! Premium quality ingredients which explains the otherworldly flavours produced 🤩 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙇 𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙉𝙏 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙎𝙀𝘾𝘼𝙆𝙀 (RM20) 🍰 𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙀 𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙏𝙀 (RM18) 🌹

Ambience was fabulous and service was immaculate 💯 A fine dining experience worth every penny spent! Will definitely be back to try more of their instaworthy and aesthetic Australian Japanese fusion food 😍🇦🇺🇯🇵 the view at Calia is amazing btw!! 🌇 You can actually admire the bustling city of Bukit Bintang while indulging in your...

I'll be reviewing each item according to the order of the pictures: -

Matcha Latte (4/5) : Great matcha flavour well balanced with the milk. The milk texture is light with sufficient taste of lactose. However as a sweeter drink it is less suitable for the more heavy flavoured dishes we ordered.

Matcha Soba Hiyashi Chuka (3/5) : This is the first dish that was served. Immediately we noticed a strong fishy smell that came from the crab in dish. We ate each of the toppings and soba separately before mixing them together for an overall taste. The soba by itself with its seasoning is definitely too salty. Mixing them together gave the dish a little more balance in terms of flavour but I'd still call it too salty. We also concluded that the crab was not the freshest.

Aburi Salmon (4/5) : Torch burnt salmon layered on top of rice with specialty CALIA sauce, comes with marinated radish and ginger, sea weed and a pinch of wasabi. The salmon is properly seared on the outside with the inside remaining raw, so if raw salmon ain't your thing this is not the dish for you. The dish is topped plentiful with the sauce but unfortunately it made it too salty and you might need more rice to go with it to balance out the taste.

Wagyu Sukiyaki Bowl (4/5) : This dish taste as expected. Light, sweet and slightly salty flavour of beef sukiyaki gives it that great umami taste. Topped with a 63 egg to mix with the beef and rice, this dish is a must try for beef and sukiyaki lovers.

Wagyu Spicy Mapo Tofu (4/5) : A special take on the traditional mapo tofu recipe. This dish is also topped with a 63 egg and plentiful mapo tofu sauce. This dish is not spicy in a chilli spicy way but in its own special spicy peppery flavour. The beef in this dish is cubed much like the tofu pieces, along with the slightly viscous sauce, giving it a great bite to every spoonful of transported into your mouth. Might not be spicy enough and too viscous for some.

Butter Sake Clam (5/5) : Perhaps many of you have already tasted Clam in White Wine but this Japanese fusion will still be a welcomed surprise for clam lovers. Like white wine, sake also has its own unique strong flavour when used for cooking. This balances out the usual fishy flavour of clams and give it a great sweet taste of sea. The butter gave the dish a fresh earthy taste when it first enters your mouth but ends with a sweet clammy note.

Umami Fries (4/5) : It is fries flavoured with dry sea weed, salt and perhaps some MSG. Nothing to shout about but nothing about it too.

Iced Long Black (5/5 no photo) : Taste like how a good long black is supposed to be. Great strong coffee taste with a...

Rather surprised by the high reviews here, as I thought this was far from our money's worth.

We ordered the Halibut, a Kaisen Kamameshi with yellow fin and salmon, bare bara kale salad, a couple of wagyu dishes, and some snacks.

In terms of the food and drinks, We were disappointed with the Halibut, it lacked any flavour from the fish, and even less flavour from the dish itself - the fish was also slightly overcooked. As for the Kamameshi, the broth was pre-poured which meant I couldn't dictate how I wanted my Kamameshi's consistency - unfortunately for me, they had filled it to the brim from the start, and I ended up with very watered down flavours. Overfilling it with the broth meant I ended up with very mushy rice, which takes away the whole point of the iron pot - not to mention a very small portion. Which was sad as the flavours were there this time. As for the bara bara kale salad, once again, very small portion of protein - we had kale salads for cheaper with much heavier protiens in yakinikus across KL so I don't understand why this one gives so little, though once again it's pretty sad as the flavours were definitely there. Had no complains for the wagyu dishes. They tasted great; portions, though on the smaller side, understandable. Drinks were good, latte art was very cute! And the Matcha was thick and strong. Desserts were quite good, though the lava of our lava cake didn't exactly lava haha, but the flavours were on point and addicting. Menu was very extensive, you're definitely spoilt for options.

In terms of ambience, It was a very nice spot with a great view of Bukit Bintang, loved the ambience, and how spacious it was. Great spot for a group outing and perhaps at night for a nice date.

In terms of service, Servers were quick, attentive, and helpful - though I realise they tend to miss out the more secluded tables, as I saw hands waving for a good chunk of time.

All in all, an OK place for a special meal or a date, due to its options and ambience, but purely based on food, taste and bang for your buck - this isn't a place...