Vivo

Vivo, officially called Vivo American Pizza and Panini, is a pseudo-American restaurant on the lower ground floor of Berjaya Times Square. It is very easy to get to (walking distance from Bukit Bintang and connected to the Imbi Monorail station) and has plenty of seating, enhanced by the fact that it never seems to fill up. This place does not strike me as the sort of restaurant that would be able to stay in business for very long, but it's been around for several years now. Good for them.

I've only ever noticed the one at Times Square, but they have a number of stores throughout the greater KL area (Tropicana City Mall at PJ, The Curve at Damansara, and Jusco Bukit Tinggi at Klang) and down south (a few in Johor Bahru and one in Singapore at Central).

It is billed as a pizza restaurant, but I didn't even notice. It has more of a feel of a diner...except large and clean. We were hungry and ordered more food than usual. That was a mistake though, as the portions are more in line with American-sized portions than local portion sizes. We were so full afterwards and didn't even finish everything on the plates.

The menu carries a wide selection of foods. And for being a pizza place, has a nice choice of pizzas too (7", 10" and 13"). We got toasted Panini subs with fries...which would have been filling on its own. But I got excited when I saw salads on the menu. It is not too easy finding salads (good or not) in Malaysia unless you eat at hotel restaurants or American chains. So I saw a few salad options and got one. Yum...crisp, fresh, and filling...also a meal on its own! The prices for mains started at RM10 and went up from there. Drinks were priced a little high. But aside from the relatively generic experience, it was a good and filling meal.

May rating: 4 stars

Vivo
LG68, Lower Ground Floor
Berjaya Times Square
1, Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur

Web site: http://www.vivopizza.com
Telephone: (+6) 03-2148-9799
Open from 10am until 10pm

The Castle

The Castle is a Middle Eastern restaurant that has recently closed its flagship store on Jalan Damai and opened two in other locations. The one more popular with the local Malaysian crowd is now located at the edge of Kg. Baru. The one more visible to tourists (and reviewed here) is the branch on Jalan Imbi, across from Berjaya Times Square and next to the Imbi Monorail station.

The Castle attracts a good crowd for late dinners, and on weekends it is packed till the early hours of the morning. Smoking shisha is common with 'diners' here. The Castle on Jalan Imbi has replaced a mamak (Al-Esfan), so there is plenty of open-air (but roofed) dining space as well as an air-conditioned room in the back if you can't take the KL heat.

As with many Middle Eastern restaurants in KL, food prices are considerably higher than most other restaurants. It is best to come here in groups to order a number of plates and share over some bread or rice. The menu is not very helpful unless you eat Arab food often. But some of the waiters were able to explain the difference between the dishes.

We ended up getting some naan bread to eat with the other dishes we ordered, which were among the best-tasting Middle Eastern dishes I have ever had. The only thing that was good but not great were the falafels...a favorite of mine. The salad was delicious too. Our drinks were fruit juices mixed in some odd combinations...whether you like it or not will vary greatly depending on your personal tastes as most of these combinations they have are not too common. Still, it is good to try.

Overall, the drinks, naan, falafels, salad, stuffed grape leaves, and humus-type dish we had cost about RM60. It was typical price for Middle Eastern food, but it tasted great. While I wouldn't come here all the time, I did enjoy eating at the Castle.

My rating: 4 stars

The Castle
Plaza Berjaya
Jalan Imbi
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Open till very late (5am?)