Wondermama @ Bangsar Village

Taking up prime territory at Bangsar Village, Wondermama might make many chuckle at its name, but it could muster a serious challenge to cafes like Plan B, Delicious and Marmalade.

Let's list Wondermama's strengths: its menu of Asian fare is tangled in tantalizing twists; its service is fast and friendly; its cheerful, colorful setting capably forges a fresh distinctiveness.

Mother knows best: the rice in the signature Nasi Lemak 2.0S (RM23.90++) is fraught on its own with fragrance and fantastic firmness, but made even more flavorful with sambal petai sotong, hard-boiled egg, peanuts, cucumber, anchovies and soft-shell crab in lieu of fried chicken.

Another creative culinary brainchild: Otak-otak cheese sandwich (RM12.50++), pregnant with subtly spiced fish paste in crisp bread.

Senang dimasak, sedap dimakan: Special Maggi Mee Soup (RM12.90++), topped with salmon, chicken hot dog, beef bacon, fried egg and potato leaves. The type of fully loaded instant noodles that kids of all ages will slurp up to the final strand and last drop.

Not your momma's roti bakar (RM4.50++). Slathered not only with kaya, but garlic butter and tobiko too. The spread could be thicker though.

A simple salad is transformed into a sinful stunner with fried chicken surrounding the leaves and chunks of salted egg yolk surreptitiously buried beneath (look closer). At RM14++, this is one of Bangsar's more wallet-friendly salads.

Is there pizza here? No, there's naan (heh). Starchy-fluffy, showered with goji berries, mushrooms and truffle oil for a RM14++ portion.

The mysteriously named "Dancing Squid" (RM16++) is pan-fried squid with cod fish roe, celery, cabbage and butter, served warm in a jar. Not something that makes our taste buds tango, but ultimately, the hits at Wondermama still seem to outnumber the misses.

Wondermama will eventually serve wine, but for now, customers can bring their own bottles. Corkage is a high but not horribly unfair RM40++ for wine and RM80++ for hard liquor.

We sipped on absinthe, mixed with ice and with Wondermama's kumquat and rose lime juices.

Is Wondermama related to Wondermilk? We're not sure, really.

There's no doubt that folks will flock to Wondermama in the months ahead; if this Bangsar outlet succeeds, there's talk of future branches at Mid Valley and KLCC.

Wondermama is located beside The BIG Group's Plan B at Bangsar Village.

For Wondermama's first month, customers receive a 10 percent discount off the food bill.

Wondermama,
Bangsar Village, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2202-0886 (the number's wonky though) or 03-2284-9821
Open noon through 10pm, except for this week, when it closes at 9pm.