Chargrill Express @ the Publika

 

The Solaris Dutamas was one of the best thing ever and I am really glad that they are so much more happening now compared to when I have to be at the showroom. I wish there were this much eateries then. I recall feeding on subway almost every other day. But then, it is a whole new world over there right now. Every few months of so, there is something new. The Chargrill Express is one of them.

 

 

Located at some corner you would hardly notice from inside publika (facing Jalan Dutamas 1), it wouldn’t be difficult if you get yourself to the concierge. Cause they are few metres away from the concierge. Anyway, the shop is nicely furnished with glass pane so a lot of natural light goes into the restaurant. The food bar is clean and neat and the menu and choices of food served is generously plenty.

 

 

Starting with the meats at the Hot bar, which sells mainly chicken, lamb and beef, their chicken comes in two flavour and if like the conventional grilling, then you would appreciate the charcoals.

 

 

There are two choices of chicken both of which are unique. The Seasoned Chicken is stuffed with rice seasoned with fresh herbs and spices. I am not sure if it is the chicken marinating the rice or the rice marinating the chicken. Either way, the rice will be stuffed inside the chicken and wrapped with paper for days before grilling it.

 

 

The chicken is not dry and I love the skin being slightly crispy and yet not much chicken fats underneath the skin. But then again, I did not explore the chicken tight. There are probably lots of chicken fats there though. The rice was soft and lightly fragrant with mild flavour.

 

 

Next is the Protuguese Style which is amazingly flavourful. There is an explosion of flavour mixes of herbs and spices with a gentle spicy that not too much so the original flavour of the chicken meat is still quite well preserved. The Protuguese style chicken is marinated in Chargrill’s protuguese marinade for at least 24 hours before grilling.

 

 

These two choices of chicken flavours sell at RM 17.90 for ½ (4 pieces) chicken packs and come with choices of 2 sides (hot/cold). Add RM 2 to for any can drink of your choice.

 

 

And speaking of those sides, the choices of sides are amazing. Reminds me of Kenny Rogers a little but the pasta salads are tastier than that of the Kenny Rogers.

 

 

The Lamb Shank with 2 sides sells at RM RM29.90. Add RM 2 to for any can drink of your choice. The lamb was palatable, but definitely not the best and it definitely doesn’t linger in your memory for long.

 

 

The next option for meat would be the Roasted Beef which ranges within the price of RM 17.90-RM 25.90, depending on the number of sides. It comes with gravy and the gravy serves to nicely bring out the natural flavour of the beef.

 

All the meats come with an additional choice of topping RM 2 for any can drinks of your choice. If you ask me, that really is not necessary but then again, the entire concept is express so you can’t possibly have brew coffees with an entire bar.

 

But having said that, they are thinking of introducing their own mix of which we tried one that has mango, lime and citrus. It looks really lovely but it tastes like their own version of cough mixture. I certainly dislike it but if this happens to reach the menu panel, I won’t recommend anyone ordering it.

 

 

The awesome thing here is that the sides are also served in various sizes. Some can be taken as mains for there are hot pastas as well. There is the Beef Spaghetti (Side: RM3.20, Reg: RM 4.90, Large: RM 7.90, Jumbo: RM 10.90) and the Chicken Creamy Pasta (Side: RM3.20, Reg: RM 4.90, Large: RM 7.90, Jumbo: RM 10.90) which is delicious, as well as the Cream Potatoes (Side: RM3.20, Reg: RM 4.90, Large: RM 7.90, Jumbo: RM 10.90) which is really dull looking but surprisingly flavourful.

 

 

And for those who must have rice, I recommend their Protuguese Rice (Side: RM3.20, Reg: RM 4.90, Large: RM 7.90, Jumbo: RM 10.90) which tasted similar to the briyani rice. Another option is the Chicken Rice (Side: RM2.50, Reg: RM 3.50, Large: RM 4.90, Jumbo: RM 9.90) which is nothing similar to any chicken rice we had in our memory. Please don’t think of the Hainanese Chicken rice as that would probably set a bar too high for this to meet the expectations.

 

 

There are of course healthier choices of sides at the Salad Bar, and I love the Greek Salad (Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) mainly because I love capsicum. There is the Caesar Salad(Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) which definitely not the best I’ve had, as well as the Chicken Avocado (Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) for the avocado fans.

 

 

The sauces and dressings really need a lot more improvements as none of them actually stands out. Most of them barely play any important role in accompanying the main and they are not really essential to complement the main dish. The Fruits Salad(Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) for instance, the dressing really doesn’t do justice to the natural flavour of the fruits.

 

 

On the other hand the Tuna and Mayo Pasta (Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) and Coleslaw (Side: RM3.90, Reg: RM 6.90, Large: RM 8.90, Jumbo: RM 12.90) would be a good sideline.

 

 

When picking is not your forte when it comes to food, then let the Chargrill Express do you a favour with their combo sets of burgers, rolls and wraps. Also available in ala carte of course the Tropical Chicken Wrap Combo sells at RM 12.90 and expect chicken coleslaw, chips with garlic cheese mayonnaise wrapped in pitta bread to nicely serve at a nice portion for one. Add RM 1 for an extra egg but I thought that was quite weird.

 

 

Same goes with the Hot chicken Roll (Ala Carte: RM 6.90, Combo: RM 9.90) which has chicken with seasoning mayo spread on a long bread which really reminds me of roti john from the market. The chicken with mayonnaise is soft and less effort is needed to eat this compared to the rest.

 

 

And lastly, we tried their Grilled Chicken Burger which has an impressive slice of marinated chicken breast on a bed of lettuce, tomato, onions, and cheese with chargrill’s popular perinaise sauce (Ala Carte: RM 8.90, Combo: RM 12.90). Sauce or no sauce, the burger has a mild charred fragrant from the light toast of the bun and do note that the slice of chicken is preoven intead of charcoal grilled. As a matter of fact, on the chickens are charcoal grilled.

 

 

They have a lot of mix and sauces which was proudly prepared from scratch. I give credit for that and I totally respect the effort. Alas, it was nothing compared to the famous ones. There is an entire range of peri sauces but unfortunately, Nandos did better with their peri sauces.

 

 

This place is great for parties and big group dining for that would be a lot of fun to just share the many choices of mains and sides. The staffs are really friendly and the place is really clean with very neat and comfortable dining experience.

 

 

The Chargrill Express is located at:
A4-UG1-02, Publika Shopping Centre,
Jalan Dutamas, Mont Kiara,
58400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:03-6206 4106
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chargrill-Express-Malaysia

 

Thank Foodirector for organizing this and the great company for lunch. Follow me on twitter @sycookies for all micro updates and see more photo pin ups of everything else on Sycookies Pinterest boards. Also, click here for more photos and updates on Foodeverywhere’s facebook page.

 

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