Community Board: Reasons To Eat

Back to writing about what I know best, I guess, food and beverage. It should be, that’s what I do. Or is it? Am I providing food and beverage or am I just an entertainer? Are people really coming to outlets for the menu, or is it something else? Just what are we providing?

Years ago, before I came to KL, I was running, muddling and shaking my way through many of London’s top bars and restaurants. Thinking the bars were packed because of my gorgeous martinis, I suffered a small stroke when my friend, mentor and then-general manager, Bobby Dazzler, told me the food and drinks were fifth on a list of why people came to eat/drink in an establishment! Shocked and in horror, I fell to the floor. What could be more important, I thought? (“It’s all about PR darling!” Bobby said, as he stepped out of the bar.)

As it turns out, the top reasons were ambience, service, “the In place” and location - in that order. Value and cleanliness came in sixth and seventh. So, years on and miles around the globe, are things any different or does this top seven list factor into KL’s gastronomy scene?

As I have been firmly cemented within the party scene, I like to think I know our customers. twentyone kitchen+bar seems to be a staple in their diets. With a sprinkling of bars and restaurants up and down Changkat Bukit Bintang, Heritage Row, ‘swimming pool’ bars and the odd hotel night spot … what keeps them on their favourite routes?

A new outlet opens every now and then and a whisper on the lips of party people can send the funksters over to check it out. Overpacked soft launches, overrun service and terrible security/door control will often contribute to this being a one-off visit. But I am not concerned with the one-off visits. I am looking at the regular, consistently busy outlets. Just what is it that keeps them pumping?

Service? What, we pay 10% extra on every bill. Through out, KL service seems to be a hit or miss affair (more often than not a miss). Finding a place with continually good service is akin to that elusive pot of gold. Friends will mention to others when they find good service somewhere as it seems like such a rarity. However even with frequent complaints of bad service, these outlets don’t seem to suffer as one would expect.

Location? As well you know, there is “no where to park! ever!” for any outlet you may care to mention. I believe that unless KL-ites can park directly at the entrance, any parking spot is too far away. Each weekend, thousands of KL-ites brave tropical rainstorms, 2-hour jams, police road blocks and Jalan Sultan Ismail to get to and from their preferred nightspot. The fact that a place is nearby just doesn’t drag the locals in.

So perhaps it is the F&B that brings the people in? Take a look at all the party people sitting around their tables/booths/ledges/bars. It’s guaranteed that you will see the must-have bottle of Black Label/Grey Goose/Macallan 12 Year on their table. They are certainly not coming because it tastes better here. Maybe the value of the aforementioned drinks plays a part? But with the great Malaysian national saying of “got discount ah?”, the customer seems to get close to the price they want to pay.

So this leaves us with the ambience and the “in” factor, both of which go hand in hand. This seems to be the area where outlets can consistently and continually deliver. Walk into La Bodega or Zouk, the Beach Club or Luna Bar, and you know what you’re going to get. Be it tonight or next weekend, it rarely falters. So the fact that it is “the place” to get what you are going for and the reason that the ambience will be exactly as your expected, still seems to top the list of why we venture out.

It had nothing to do with sausages after all.

It’s really quite logical that your whole experience of a night out depends on so many factors. Not just the raw product of F&B but all the components that make the complete package. From the moment you jockey your car to the minute you leave the restaurant door. Just remember that the next time the chef burns your soufflé.

 The next time you are eating at your favourite hawker stall, try to stay seated on your wobbly red chair, avoid the bright fluorescent lights and careful of the rats loitering in the shadows. If the owner is there, tell him you came for the ambience. See how high that eyebrow raises…

 Text Dan Thompson

Dan Thompson is co-owner of twentyone kitchen+bar.