KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Located on the ground floor of the Regal House, If Only looks like something straight out of a brochure for a resort holiday in Bali.

The restaurant’s interior is replete with woven rattan chairs, chandeliers and a colour scheme that spans shades of white, cream, taupe and brown, all the result of a major revamp that finished in August last year.

Though the restaurant was founded in 2019 with a clear focus on brunch and daytime dining, it started soft launching a dinner menu as early as September last year.

Recently, I visited with a large group, a choice that proved prudent once we started examining the menu, which was clearly designed for sharing.

The kitchen is headed by Bryan Tan, formerly of Rare The Food Company, so one can expect a similarly produce-driven approach with wide-ranging influences from Japan to Thailand.

As it happens, eating on that night naturally turned toward grazing — the "small plates” section of the pork-free menu is by far the most extensive and provides plenty to love.

A salad of Japanese fruit tomato, potatoes, grilled cabbage, pickles, nuts and a spiced sesame dressing (RM42) was a surprising contender for one of my favourite dishes of the night.

These tomatoes are sweeter than your usual variety, complementing the mostly savoury sesame dressing.

Certain bites, filled with potatoes and cabbage, reminded me of gado-gado. Grilled white corn with yuzukosho butter (RM18) was a fantastic demonstration of keeping things simple with great produce, marrying sweet, sweet corn with the hot and citrusy elements of yuzukosho.

The Cherry Valley duck spring roll (RM30) made for a delightful bite or two, with chestnut and shiitake rounding out the rest of the filling, and a solid kimchi mayo to match.

If it all sounds like a lot of food, it is — it’s why you’re best served by coming with a sizable group to share.

A salty, chewy izakaya classic, the grilled eihire (RM22) was another simple crowd favourite.

Unfortunately, the oyster katsu (RM40) served on a bed of scrambled eggs struggled to impress. The oysters were perfectly fried, nice and crispy, while the scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked, nice and silky — but the textural contrast just wasn’t working. Instead of a whole greater than the sum of its parts, what’s on the plate just ended up being loose parts of a whole.

Best of all the small plates was yam cake (RM35), topped with sakura ebi, burnt eggplant and drizzled in a chilli caramel sauce. Crispy, fluffy, savoury, soft and glazed in a sticky hot-honey-esque concoction, each bite was pure bliss.

Before moseying on over to larger-format dishes, we sprang for one last "small plate”. You can certainly make a meal out of only this section, and the grilled char siew lamb ribs (RM75) are a meaty, juicy — if a little gamey - example of that.

The ribs were a little on the sweet side, to which the diminutive dollop of red yuzu kosho offered a fiery counter.

The Wagyu bacon don (RM62) features crispy egg floss, a shoyu vinaigrette, seaweed butter and sticky, short-grain rice boldly flavoured with dashi. It also makes great use of pickled mushrooms, which serves its purpose in balancing the rich, savoury beef with tart, acidic flavours presented in a spongey, almost meaty texture — a welcome change from the usual crunch of pickled vegetables, which can also be found in the dish.

The beef itself is wholly savoury, sort of like bacon, but cut thick to highlight the fatty, tender texture.

The best meat of the night was a dish of twice-cooked Angus short ribs (RM189/420g) that featured cauliflower mash and that delicious chilli caramel sauce.

The hulking boulder of meat is peppered with fried shallots, which fall off to reveal a crispy, craggy exterior and soft, tender interior when cut into. This was no fall-off-the-bone, braised-for-300-hours-till-it-is-mush short rib, but one with just enough resistance to make for a toothsome bite.

The roasted duck breast (RM85) has the potential to be something of a centrepiece dish for big groups, presented as a real hodgepodge of Peking duck, ssam and tacos.

Tortillas, lettuce, a take on Thai nam jim and finally, guacamole accompany slices of perfectly roasted duck, awaiting assemblage.

Unfortunately, I felt this was guilty of the same issue plaguing the earlier oyster katsu: by the time you take a bite of the entire package, there’s just a little bit too much going on to actually pick up on... anything. Which is a real shame, considering just how well-executed the duck breast is.

No matter. A good dessert goes a long way in making amends, and the mochi bowl (RM33) did just that.

The description on the menu lists no fewer than six elements, but at its core, the textural interplay between soft, chewy mochi and the hard, crumbly soil and biscuit is the star here. Easily, one of the most playful and delightful desserts I’ve had this year.

If Only Restaurant

Ground Floor, Regal House, 1, Jalan U Thant, Taman U Thant, 55000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Open daily, 7am-6pm; Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm-11pm

Tel: 017-288 2243

Facebook: @IfOnlyKL

Instagram: @ifonlykl

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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