The Waterlily Bistro, Mutiara Tropicana

I drove pass this place everyday, saw it was open and wasn’t the slightest bit interested.
Firstly, the name is weird (to me at least), next was the location, & lastly was the decor, which from outside; looks “Malay-ised” & “expensive” to me.

facade

So one rainy night, with me feeling pissy, moody & uninspired, Unka suggested swinging by to check the place out. Now, Unka normally refrained from suggesting uncharted territories when it comes to food.
Perhaps he was hoping that the food is bad enough for me to start complaining & subsequently letting off my steam on the food instead of on him. Or by some miracle, the place actually serves good food & my pissy mood would miraculously evaporate. Either way, it was worth a shot, he must have thought.

Upon stepping into the ‘bistro’, it became clear why it was thus named. Balinese food. Arhh.. images of ponds and waterlilies came to mind.

Attentive wait staff ushered us to a cosy spot downstairs.

waitress

Wood.

Flooring, tables, chairs, stairs, paneling, shelves. All for the ‘authentic’ rustic ambiance of Bali.

interior

Spanning 3 floors, the dining area on the ground floor was wonderfully airy and spacious that rainy night.

sitting

The smell of spices and smoky grilled food wafted to my nostrils and I flipped the menu eagerly, raring to place my order.

The cold weather clued Unka’s tummy on his first order, & hence 10 minutes later the tummy warming broth of Soto Ayam, flavourful & satisfying with a squeeze of lime arrived & lapped up just as fast. While it was good, I wouldn’t rate it the best.

Soto Ayam
Balinese Chicken Soup with rice cakes, served with garlic bread.
RM11.00

sotoAyam

Hunger & greed got me ordering the Nasi Campur. It’s got almost everything in one platter; I thought in glee.
Great for sharing, I reasoned to Unka, smiling innocently. As usual, he indulged me.

nasiCampur

Nasi Campur Waterlily, RM33.00.
Comes with choice of Beef/Chicken Rendang, Balinese Grilled Lemongrass prawns, Squid, Fish, Satay Lilit (Balinese Mixed Seafood Sate on Lemongrass skewer), Fried Water Convolvulus, Sambal terasi & Sambel matah.

nasicampur

Everything was slightly salty to me. But the rice was wonderfully aromatic, having been steamed with coconut milk & sweet potato.

The cumi was nice and springy and yields a pleasant elastically chew. Yum yum.

The piece of err..egg (??) I presume, was oily and unceremoniously shoved aside.

Overall, the seafood was fresh, the portions big & I love both the sambal!

Fancy some alcohol? Wines and beers are available to be paired with food or patrons can head upstairs for drinks.

alcohol!

It would have been a crime to not order the Indonesian delectable dessert when dining Indonesian, and I’m not one to commit such a hideous offense.

Es Campur
RM11.00

es teler
Oops.. a bit bigger than what I would have expected.

esteler2

Wonderfully milky and rich, it came loaded with fruits, ie; bananas, mangoes, honeydew & etc.
The long pieces of candied coconut on top added a nice touch to the overall towering sugar- high dessert.

Total bil came up to RM60.50 & 10% Service charge is applicable.

The Waterlily Bistro
No. 11-G, 11-1, 11-2 (3 floors)
Jalan Mutiara Tropicana 3,
Mutiara Tropicana
474110 PJ.
03 – 7803 6603
(same row as Jaya Grocer in the BU area)

sign

Parking is a breeze and the place is nice and quiet with commendable attentive service.
Barely 10mins from Centrepoint, this would be an ideal place away from the usual loud rowdy joints.




This Post Has 26 Comments

  1. boo_licious

    Shld be a branch from Puchong and part of the Balinese empire of Ole Ole Bali & Bumbu Bali. Keep passing by it but hve yet to check it out since it always has its blinds down.

  2. Sean

    oh ya i've driven past the waterlily on jln puchong so many times over the years, but never tried before. this place does looks reminiscent of bumbu bali; if the food is as good, then it's worth checking out!
    balinese food seems to be getting pretty popular, huh. now if only one of these outlets would serve babi guling 😀
    oh, and it sounds like this place worked after all to lighten your mood 😀

  3. 550ml jar of faith @minchow

    Nasi campur does look like a top pick! Fresh seafood, carbs and sambal! And nicely finished off with the Es Campur! Your mood must have considerably brightened by then! Well done Unka! 😀

  4. Bangsar-bAbE

    I tried the Puchong branch before. Yup, some of the grilled items were a bit salty. Try Bumbu Bali…the food is nicer. =)

  5. Sin Tai Lim

    Glad to know they serve alcohol…any idea can we bring our own drinkk???

  6. thenomadGourmand

    boo: Oh! Didnt knw they got a branch! Part of the Ole & Bumbu empire? Wah..this empire is like a monopoly of Balinese food in Selangor!

    sean: Nope, no pork la. Sad hor?
    ps: It's not that great, food-wise. And yea, my pissy mood did lighten 😉

    550ml: It was nice. tho a tad salty for me. But the rice was steamed with sweet potato! I like!

    b-babe: Hehe. U knw me la..salty a bit complain di!

    stl: I'm sure they do charge since they serve alcohol & thus wouldn't encourage patrons to BYO. But u call them to chk be4 u head over!

  7. qwazymonkey

    Drove passed it a couple of times. This row of shops really secara tiba-tiba one lah. But seems a lil overpriced for "regular" Balinese fair though.

  8. J

    Hey where are the waterlilies though?? Haha…
    (The food looks tempting though… Hot yummy soup on a cold, rainy day is perfect!)

  9. sc

    the menu is exactly the same as Ole Ole Bali- heard all's related- waterlily, bumbu and ole ole. the platter and salads were better in ole ole, the lamb and chicken was better here (the last i tried 🙂 ). hey , are we neighbours? you seem to be at aman suria's area very frequently 😀

  10. backStreetGluttons

    thats interesting , just where bsg4 says waiting for Restaurant Boss to belanja him so can call us all over.we saw the renovation and thoz . omg another look-alike Bali. Uninspiring did we hear you say. Good for unka

  11. UnkaLeong

    We shall save this place for another rainy night when the traffic is really horrid and your mood is as foul as the weather. *muacks*

  12. "Joe" who is constantly craving

    the platter looks good, i would have gladly not shared though haha..

  13. thenomadGourmand

    qwazymonkey: yup, agree on the price & the location! weird rite?
    also, seems all Balinese plcs also kinda ex one..

    J: food does looks good 😉
    But aint great.

    sc: Oh really? My, all from the same mother company! cannot la like that, we foodies r 'forced' to eat Balinese food ALL with the same "taste" since the formula of cookin is the same!
    Oh yes, we are neighbours. Wanna go Rosemary bites?

    bsg: yup, clone-like. So when are u guys gonna be there??

    unkaleong: Dont want la. Its aint that great.

    joe: LOL. It was at nite, got to watch the carbs.

  14. ai wei

    another balinese theme restaurant??? would love a try too! start loving balinese meal after the ole ole bali visit 🙂

  15. Selba

    It looks really like a nice place and also the food looks good… Ah, I miss Balinese food!

  16. ~Christine~Leng

    i thought it was ole-ole bali without looking at the title.. haha. I've only tried one balinese restaurant so far. Time for another 🙂

  17. sc

    we are? staying nearby too? 🙂
    when are you planning to go to rosemary? if the timing is ok, i'll definitely join you..

  18. Allie

    That plate of nasi campur can feed 3 person la. LOL

  19. J2Kfm

    rather pricey was it not?
    probably too much marinade, rendering the meats salty?
    gaudy signboard aside, the place actually looks promising, though Bumbu Bali looks better, in terms of ambience.
    personal opinion this one.

    though pork-free is a headache, meaning no sate babi, no babi guling. hmm.

  20. Nic (KHKL)

    woah, so many new restaurants with exotic interiors hor, these days? haha. this sounds like an interesting place to eat. and for photography!

  21. thenomadGourmand

    ai wei: Got to chk, many otr foodies commented that they are actually owned by th esame mgmt as Ole Ole!

    selba: Decor is nice yes. Food-wise is ok.

    Christine: Me too! I wanna try atr outlet to compare!

    sc: Sure thing! Will drop u an email!

    allie: Haha..no no. Can only feed one of me!

    J2kfm: Yup, not cheap. But dont think there are anywhere that serves economic Balinese in KL.
    Yaya, aft reading yr posts on Bali food and all that pork, this pales in comparison!!

    Nic: Yup, nowadays all outlets spend more on decor than their chef!

  22. rebeccasaw

    comment by bibliobibuli of http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/

    bibliobibuli has left a new comment on your post “The Waterlily Bistro, Mutiara Tropicana”:

    The decor and ambiance are great and I love to go there to relax. But now a few weeks on, the standards of this restaurant have slipped.

    The tipak cantuk (sort of gado-gado) was wonderful in the beginning, full of crispy vegetables, and a satisfying lunch in itself. But I tried it again a week or so again and ended up making a complaint because the vegetables were so few and drown in the sauce.

    This week I tried the grilled chicken and advocado salad. the avocado flesh was brown and unripe. I couldn’t eat it. The chicken was grilled to dryness. the only thing nice about the dish was the french fries.

    I wanted to talk to the manager and gently make some suggestions but no-one seemed to be in charge or want to take responsibility.

    I will still go for the drinks and to unwind but i won’t take friends there again till standards have improved.

  23. Faye Heines

    I’m pleased! It’s nice to see someone very excited about what they do. Thank you.

  24. TummyRumble

    eh I didn’t know you wrote a post on this place. my friend suggested we go there tmr… haha

    1. Rebecca

      Oh! Hope they still maintain the standard, honestly i heard it has dropped!

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