S.A.J. Bistronomy by Leens — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

A very exciting place that challenges the palate with its daring and new flavors. While refining old classics so that they can shine in new lights in the our modern times.

The middle eastern cuisine scene in Malaysia has always been hummus and kebabs. While this restaurant does serve these beloved classics, I absolutely love the fact that they also refined the classics to give it some pizazz and wow factor.

Me and my family, went here for dinner, and were impressed.

The bread was hearty and generous with the seeds and herbs, and compliments well with the smooth and light hummus.

The spectacle for my dinner was without a doubt, the kebab. Lamb cooked perfectly while perfumed with hint of char from the cooking.

I had the lamb ribs, while I would have easily rated this 10/10 for it’s perfectly rendered fat and char grilled flavor, I do have one comment, in that it was lacking a good amount of salt and pepper. It was one of these scenarios where I “wanted to love it, but sadly can’t in the moment”, more of a 8.5 without the salt.

I also had the fish with pilaf, the pilaf was perfectly fluffy and fragrant , and the soft texture contrasts well with the crisp onions. But for the fish, not sure if it’s on the supply side, while the menu states it’s a Spanish mackerel, I always thought I was eating a sea brim. Might want the chef to confirm this.

And lastly dessert, I had the pumpkin fromage and the olive ice cream. Despite recommendations for the ice cream, I felt that the olive flavour was abit too mild, and that it was only recommended for its artistic presentation. What really caught my attention was the pumpkin fromage, incredibly rich texture, but the creaminess was perfectly balanced with a hint of acidity to make it a perfect dessert.

Oh yeah, and the best part? No corkage! Amazing! I think this is the only middle eastern restaurant that offers no corkage, will recommend this...

The food at this place is GOOD! The menu is not extensive but all the dishes we ordered (hummus, rocket salad, fried chicken, duck dumplings and olive oil ice cream) were excellent. I love that they kept the menu simple and excelled at it!

The concept of this place is smart casual and almost family/gathering-like, in that all the dishes were meant to be shared. Portions are midrange for the price but the taste more than makes up for it. For me, the best dishes are the charred chilli hummus and the rocket salad (so refreshing and different). Drinks selection was so-so, though.

Important info: they don’t sell alcohol but you’re allowed to BYO and they don’t charge corkage.

The only bad experience we had was the table allocated to us. I made reservations a couple of days in advance. Upon arriving, we found that they gave us a table right next to the entrance which is the worst table in the restaurant. How can anyone enjoy their expensive meal with people coming in and out of the restaurant and potential standing by (very close) the table waiting to be seated?!! They should remove that table altogether. Anyway, we insisted on another table and had to wait a bit for another table to become available.

Oh and they should find a way to keep the sound from bouncing off the walls. We had to leave after a big group got too rowdy and we started to have a headache from all that reverberating noise. That or don’t allow office dinner parties (which should be held in a separate private room or something).

Wait staff: can do better in menu explanation and handling of bookings.

We are planning to go back again for the hummus and salad, and this time we will bring our own bottle of red.

Great job...

My virgin Syrian food experience was at Leen's Middle Eastern Kitchen in TTDI, and I was blown away by the sheer flavour of the simple yet mind-blowing smoked hummus of this restaurant. The experience was so memorable that I wanted to re-visit from time to time but never seemed to find the time to do so.

Until they opened another sister restaurant called S.A.J Bistronomy, a few doors away from their first outlet. Reservation is recommended to avoid being turned away as they are very popular on weekends.

◾Smoked Chilly Hummus RM30 with charred chilly & mixed herbs, served with 2 pieces of freshly made bread. A twist from the original version yet maintaining the beautiful smokiness of the hummus - polished clean by the hungry brats in no time. Now they are bugging me to bring them again 😅 ◾Crispy Syrian Rice RM48 - fragrant and delicious chicken thigh drizzled with harisah sauce, pickled cucumber on a bed of tzatziki sauce, crushed peanuts... Soulful and sublime sustenance where everything combined together to create explosions in the mouth with each and every bite. ◾Lamb ribs with mint salad RM68 was literally fall-off-the-bone, stick & sticky meat with the heavenly smoked aroma. I have not enjoyed devouring like hungry ghost for a long time. ◾A.F.C RM59 - crispy fried kampung chicken, drizzled with honey mixed with spices and lime. Without the sauce, the chicken tasted ordinary just like any other fried chicken outside, but with it... It turned into another beast altogether. ◾ Free Corkage which is a welcoming factor for me to visit them.

I'm plotting my second visit to try some of the dishes that I didn't...