Rooftop 25 • Hilton Garden Inn Kuala Lumpur — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Quite interesting experience for my first time here. But if have opportunity, will be back again.

The place where Hilton Garden Inn Hotel is, is really not very promising as it is at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. But Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is considered the oldest part of KL and quite narrow and tight. And tight, it truly is! So tight that the basement parking of only 30 car park lots (for a hotel with international brand name! ) is ONLY valet parking ie customers cannot self park.

And it is really narrow. No choice, had to. leave my car to the valet of one young Indian man with an older Indian man as the valet ticket manager. But their service is excellent. No questions except are you eating at rooftop? Then they take the car keys.

We walked in not at main entrance (North entrance, older wing) but at the corner entrance, the South entrance.

It seemed deserted and we are wondering if we got it wrong.

Then some Westerners were also queuing for the lift and seemed that this hotel, did, after all, have some degree of patronage by foreigners. In fact, even one who seemed to be from Australia with 2 large luggage was also there.

We took lift to 25th Floor and on getting out, was also disappointed as the stairs up is to the hotel swimming which looked very ordinary.

Never mind, continue to walk up and surprise! Left of the swimming pool is a beautiful cozy courtyard/small restaurant setting with a truly Amazing clear view of the best parts of Kuala Lumpur, Twin Towers, Millennium Tower, KL Post Office Tower.

Initially my reservations was at a lower area, which was disappointing as can't admire the view so well from there. I requested from the man who seemed like the manager but in the end, it was the petite smiling Philippine waitress who acted promptly and directed us to a nice spot next to the glass wall with a Fantastic, Excellent View.

So top marks to her for service. I had pre-ordered the BBQ with beer package for 2. Beers came first and we had time to take pictures, chat and see the Sun set which is amazing as changes in the view of the city as the Sun sets

Food is top notch. Three sizeable cuts of Beef steak, Lamb chop and Chicken Thigh and drumstick. Taste good, tender except for the beef which is well done but we found it tough so told the waitress who asked us to give her back the beef to show kitchen and after a while, the medium cooked beef came out. It is nicely, perfectly medium cooked. The potato chips under all the 3 meat were crispy and tasty.

Excellent and just right for the 2 of us. So just enjoy the view changing to night view.

Only one thing is a bit warm as it is open air and no fans, so after food, a bit...

Ah, the Rooftop Restaurant at the Hilton Garden Inn KL—a venue that promises so much and delivers… well, disappointment on a plate. Herein lies the dilemma for many diners (certainly for me it does): at what point do I excuse poor service and subpar food simply because the price is cheaper than what one would expect from a hotel-based restaurant? The answer, it turns out, is never.

On a dreadfully wet and blustery night in KL (who knew the heavens could open with such vengeance when I made the reservation?), six of us arrived ready to escape the monsoon and indulge in some rooftop luxury. First red flag: the valet parking was full. A full valet parking during a storm? Either half of KL had a secret love affair with substandard food, or this place wasn’t equipped for much of anything.

We finally ascended to the 25th floor, only to be told our table wasn’t ready because of the rain. Understandable, I thought at first—until I remembered this is supposed to be a restaurant that operates on a rooftop. If you can’t handle rain, maybe don't put your dining area in the sky.

Now, let’s talk about the menu. "Limited" doesn’t begin to describe it. A strange and rather half-hearted attempt at combining “western” and Malaysian/Asian dishes, most of which weren’t available anyway. The service? Slower than a traffic jam on a Friday afternoon in KL. It was a game of patience, and we were losing.

Then came the mixed grill platter—featuring chicken that was more “chicken run” than “chicken dinner.” The smell? Questionable. The taste? Even more so. I half-expected Gordon Ramsay to pop out of the kitchen and call it an insult to poultry everywhere.

The cooking overall? Let’s just say that even with stunning views, it’s hard to enjoy your meal when you’re wondering if the chef cooked it over a lit candle. There’s a serious need to rethink whether this menu belongs at a rooftop restaurant offering such “promising” potential. As for the fried rice? Yes, it had a chili kick, but it was drowning in more oil than the Gulf of Mexico. The fried rice was doing laps.

In the end, the experience was a damp squib, much like the weather that preceded the woeful food. Honestly, it left me wondering what the point of having such a beautiful view is if you’re just going to ruin it with greasy food, slow service, and suspect chicken. Save yourself the trip—just enjoy the view from the ground and...

What should I say. We were waiting more than 2 weeks for the refund but still didn’t receive anything. We were complaining about the food which we ordered 2 weeks ago. We arrived there at the hotel room and went directly upstairs to have dinner. First of all, the waiter was so unfriendly. He could at least greet us. Instead of that he was just bringing us the menu plan in a grumpy way. Maybe he had a bad day but it would be nice not to react like that. At that moment we were already thinking to leave this place but we decided to stay. After choosing the meals (meat platter for two person and something else..can’t remember) we were really shocked what we got. Meat which was very hard to cut and chew. It smelled also not very good. The vegetables looked very old and tasted no like that. I hope that they are doing quality checks for their purchase. Overall we were not able to eat it and complained for the future customer. We didn’t expect to get a refund but they promised us and we were really thankful for this offer. However, we didn’t receive anything. In other words the food was not so good and they didn’t keep the word. I wouldn’t recommend to go to this place.

Update 17th of April: Still didn’t get any refund from the restaurant nor any message. The manager promised me to contact me but still didn’t got any messages from him.

Update Dec 24th 2024 Still no compensation. If they promised for a compensation try to get it on...