Thursday, June 02, 2016

Huckleberry Food & Fare aka 'Huckleberry After Dark'

Bread connoisseurs will know about this bakery + cafe place in Plaza Damansara named Huckleberry Food &Fare serving delicious comfort food - an all-day breakfast menu with a long list of handcrafted artisan bread.

I've been to this place for breakie on a rare Easter Sunday back in March this year and I praised their hot-cross bun a lot! This dining place is located in Plaza Damansara- a quiet hub inside Bukit Damansara that also houses other famous restaurant such as Neroteca, Mezza Bistro and so on. Huckleberry Food & Fare houses the corner shop at one of the row of shoplots here.



Huckleberry Food & Fare is known to have a very ideal opening hours for a quick breakkie as they open from 7.30am onwards. You can grab a loft of homemade artisan bread or pastry on your way to work. This place used to open early morning till evening only and I had always wanted to dine here but it's closed once I'm off from work in the evening.


Now, my wish came true because from last month onward, Huckleberry Food & Fare extended their opening hours till midnight; serving dinner menu to its customers. Yay! And guess what, this dining place is called 'Huckleberry After Dark' in the evening as the entire restaurant's interior and atmosphere changes once the sun is down.



Thanks to Food Malaysia and the team at Huckleberry Food & Fare, I was invited to sample the brand new dinner menu at Huckleberry After Dark aka Huckleberry Food & Fare.





The whole shop is being transformed into a relaxing yet chic hangout place after dark - complete with a full-fledged bar serving a large variety of alcoholic drinks that you can ever imagined. All their crews even changed their working uniform in the evening to suit its atmosphere.


During the day, you can find your artisan bread of choice, delicious pastry as well as desserts of the day here, on this counter. At night, the bread baskets are removed, diverting your attention to its desserts of the day for a must-have sweet ending before you ends your meal.


And the bar comes alive at night, serving a long list of alcoholic drinks from its menu as well as off-menu list ones. Their bartender is superb and has a lot of experience in its field that he can craft cocktails and other alcoholic drinks which are off-the-menu.





The dim lighting creates quite a romantic environment which is suitable for a date. I'm quite impressed with its hanging lantern lighting and do look up the ceiling when you're dining here. Sometimes, beautiful thing are just hanging above your head.




If you prefer an outdoor dining, they do have a row of tables located outdoor which is well decorated with lighting in a jar, a beautiful rack filled with pot of fresh herbs and some pots of flowers surrounding it. You will feel as if you're dining at a balcony under a windy and calm environment - best place for a relaxation after a long day at work. 






Now, we move on to their dinner menu at Huckleberry After Dark. You might need a little bit of time to digest the dishes' name - but you can safe a little bit of time by going straight to its description. Their main core for dinner is the long list of Tacos, Pizzas, Hot Dogs and Burgers alongside some appetizers and sides.


But before we move on, do have a look at their drinks menu. As mentioned above, they have a full fledged bar serving a large variety of imported booze that you can't find in an ordinary restaurant. House pour and exquisite wine by bottle, a long list of liquors - gin, whisky, vodka, rum, tequila and so on, cocktails, beers, alcoholic milkshakes, mocktails as well as coffee, tea and soft drinks for you to choose from. This is the place to drop by if you're looking for some great selection of booze in the evening! 



Presenting to you the full drinks menu at Huckleberry After Dark. And yes, you can find the drink's name is as interesting as it taste.










We had a perfect evening partying with these! There's so many types of imported beers that I haven't even heard of - okies, I know I'm like a frog under a coconut shell :P

And without further delay, I placed my first drinks order for the evening - which I kicked start at the Spiked Milkshakes category whereby your creamy milkshakes meets its pairing booze. The first thing that caught my attention was the word 'peanut butter' which puts some question mark in my head - a combination of peanut butter with alcohol. And there it goes, meet my first drink of the night -  the Canna Butter Kisses (PB & J) (RM23.90) which is a combination of peanut butter, strawberry jam, vodka, frangelico and topped with a peanut butter cookie. I would say that this is a drink customized for peanut butter lovers as its presence in the drink is absolutely obvious with a little bit of kick from the vodka. Do share it with your partner or drink a few sip only while waiting for your meal to be served - or else you might be already be bloated and full with this creamy drink.






We also tried the A$ap Rocky Road (RM23.90) and chocolate lovers need to order this. A silky and creamy chocolate drink paired with bourbon and topped with rocky road brownie and Vanilla & salted caramel ice-cream. I would keep the brownie aside as a dessert If I were you! It's a drink that comes with a dessert for your indulgence. If you're not into alcoholic drinks, there's also some non-alcoholic milkshakes choices on their menu.






Then, I was ready to move on to the Handcrafted Cocktails selection which gives me a wow factor. My eyes landed on words such as 'egg whites',  'nutmeg', 'basil' and 'carrot juice'. And this is the No.1 Cocktail Choice in my list; the Basil Grande (RM27.90). It gives a minty feel in my mouth due to the presence of fresh basil and the berry puree provides the natural sweetness to your palate. There's a little bit of black pepper to give a kick to the drink but no worries - your tongue won't be fired by it :) The alcohol component in this drink is the homemade vanilla & cardamom vodka which brings a balance to the other elements in it. It's just so refreshing and you'll want more of it.






If you're dining in a group, the Pitchers/Batch Cocktails selection is what you need. The cocktails under this category are served by jug instead of a glass. Another thing that you will noticed is that all cocktail in this category uses the homemade basil and mint syrup as a sweetener. Those herby plants that are planted in the restaurant actually goes into your drink! 

Great that we were dining in a group, thus we ordered this Pimm's Jug (RM59.90) and I'm lovin it - it's definitely my cup of tea. You see, I love minty, herby and fruity drink and this lovely cocktail consist of homemade basil and mint syrup too alongside strawberries (yay), lemonade, cucumber, lemon juice and Pimm's No.1 (the alcohol part - fruit liquor).






We also tried the Red Sangria (RM84.90) and my dining partner love this a lot. The signature homemade herby syrup is being paired with orange juice, mango alongside brandy and red wine. If you're into red wine, do order this Red Sangria! I still love my Pimm's Jug over this - it's just a personal preference! Red Sangria is good too. 



Don't forget their imported beer selections too! 


And Battered Onion Rings (RM16.90) are one of the best booze snacks that you can ever have. Best eaten when it's burning hot for its crackling outer layer!
 





 Now, we move back to their food menu and we were lucky to be able to try almost all signature dishes in the menu (we have limited stomach space- and will definitely be back to try the remaining).





Our Appetizer for the night is The House Guac (RM13.90) and the special thing in this dish is their homemade guacamole and it is paired with homemade nachos! You don't see black coloured version of nachos every day, don't you? The best thing about guacamole is the mashed avocadoes spiced with onions, chilies, tomatoes, lime juice and of course - cilantro (another favourite thing of mine). It's a healthy snack choice if you're just dropping by for a drink or two.





When you're here in Huckleberry After Dark, order the taco and let's ta-co bout it! I'm lovin it with the Drop The Bass (RM19.90) a lot. It's a fish taco topped with fresh coleslaw, pico de gallo and jalapenos. Chopped tomatoes, onions and coriander creates a flavor that opens your appetite that makes me going more than one round for this. Do try this dish out!





For the mains, we started off with this The Bird Waffle (RM24.90) and judging from the dish's name - you might already figured out that this is waffle with chicken (from the word 'bird'). Bingo, this is a savory version of waffle and your favourite buttermilk fried chicken is being sandwiched between some delicious waffles topped with hot honey sauce. Fried chicken is great and good work on this fusion dish. It will be great if there's some coleslaw or salad to paired with this dish though.





Done with waffle and we move on to some brioche bread (I love brioche bread a lot if you do know me well, ahahe). All their hot dog dishes are served with house brioche bread. Huckleberry is famous for their artisan bread and now you can have this bread as part of your dinner too. We had this Return of the Mac (RM24.90) whereby the signature hotdog is being topped with mac and cheese! This dish is all about the cheese - eat first, don't count the calories okies. hehe. Perfectly melted cheese and if you only eating this hotdog with macaroni & cheese, you'll feel as if you're having a pasta dish - and then when I paired this hotdog with their house bread, it gives a different texture and taste to my palate. Something interesting you gotta try!





We also had this Chilli Con Kanye (RM26.90) and the hotdog is being topped with house chili con carne, cheese and sour cream. It's another great choice to try too if you have some extra stomach space.






Besides hot dogs, their burgers are also served on house brioche bun. If you're into beef, be sure to order this Beast Mode (RM26.90) which comes with 3 combo beef patty, pulled beef, duck bacon and some greens such as tomatoes and lettuce. Duck bacon is something unusual on the menu that you gotta try. Beef and duck on a plate - in one bite!






And Huckleberry is famous for their artisan bread, thus naturally; they have a whole lotta dough in their kitchen. And the skilled chef in the kitchen does turn these dough into yummylicious pizza. I'm very excited about this Another One Bites The Crust (RM32.90) which is also a breakfast pizza topped with all essential items you can find on your breakfast table - chicken sausage, mushroom and egg! Anything with egg is good and this pizza is also topped with their signature homemade tomato sauce as its base sauce. This is what 'all day breakfast' means!







If you're only dropping by for a drink or some gathering session with old friends, you can also order some sides as an additional companion for the evening. It seems that the Korean drama (you might know which one I'm talking about) have a great influence in bringing the trend of having booze with fried chicken. And here we are with the K-Pop Frenzy (RM19.90 for 6pcs and RM37.90 for 12pcs) which is a Korean styled fried chicken wings coated with spicy Gochujang sauce. Crispy and savory sweet coated batter with juicy chicken meat on the inside - have a sip of your imported beers to go with this! The K-Pop wave is now made available in this Western fare restaurant too.






Not into K-Pop wave? It's okies, go for this Hot Spud Time Machine (RM19.90) that transport you back to the classic era to indulge this classic fries topped with melted cheese and sautéed onions. Nothing can go wrong with hot and crunchy fries with cheese. Keeping you safe and sound for the night :)






Well, our dinner doesn't end just like that - you can't go off without desserts right? Thus, do try their signature The Mad Batter (RM19.90) which I would highly recommend. Delicious chocolate pudding topped with crumbs, house made marshmallows and butter biscuits. To eat this, just pick the butter biscuit and slide it upwards to topped it with melted marshmallow and chocolate pudding. It's really good and it's a perfect ending, I would say. Gooey half melted marshmallows with bold chocolate pudding satisfied me a lot!




And there's also some cakes of the day displayed at its counter - do check them out too.


Do check out their Instagram page at Huckleberry After Dark for their latest updates on news and promotions.


Huckleberry After Dark
2G & 4G, Jalan Medan Setia 2,
Plaza Damansara,
Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur.

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