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

Teh Tarik Place

Teh Tarik Place is a small chain restaurant that serves some basic Malaysian dishes, including the namesake national drink, teh tarik. I suppose this would be a good place to suggest trying teh tarik if you've never had it! The menu is fairly simple as are the interior decorations (mostly wood and stone).

The typical range of fried rice and noodle dishes (RM6-9) are on hand, as well as laksa (RM7), nasi lemak (RM4-8), a range of roti dishes (RM 2-7), and a small nasi campur bar. They also have set lunch combos (RM7-9) and serve breakfast (RM2-3) too. Some popular snacky foods that I could eat daily if given the opportunity, like curry puffs, ABC, and cucur udang. The drinks are also the standard ones that you would find at a local mamak stall. Prices are pretty good for restaurant, and it is a cleaner option than the typical mamak for those who value hygiene and cleanliness at restaurants.

At the time of writing, there were six stores open in malls around the greater KL area, including the Curve, 1 Utama, IOI Mall, Sunway Pyramid, Empire Shopping Gallery, and Sooka Sentral. None of these are really central except for the one at Sooka Sentral (right next to KL Sentral Station). But it is worth a trip to one of its locations to give it a try. I don't go often, but I would if I had one closer to my house (hint, hint).

My rating: 4 stars

Teh Tarik Place
Empire Shopping Gallery
Lot LG21, Ground Floor
Subang Jaya, Selangor

Sooka Sentral
Lot GC2, Ground Floor
Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
50470 Kuala Lumpur

The Curve
Ground Floor
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

1 Utama
Lower Ground Floor, Rainforest
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

IOI Mall
3rd Floor, New Extension
Bandar Puchong Jaya
Puchong, Selangor

Sunway Pyramid
Lot OB3 LG1.1 & G9
Oasis Boulevard Three
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Web site: http://www.tehtarikplace.my/
Open from 10am until 10pm