Buns. Burger Bar @ Desa Sri Hartamas KL

Two things.

First and foremost, I am feeling a little groggy from all the running around and short travelling stints that I have been engrossed in lately - for work that is. I was in fact looking forward to settling back down at the office today.

Secondly, I am extremely gleeful with the food photography outcome of this review. From the indoor lighting; the backdrop; the food; the great helpers; the pancake lens; the photographer - ahem, says it all.

Buns Burger Bar

That evening, I arrived at Buns. with literally no expectations whatsoever on the food served. Surprise me please.

Why? I was being very dubious of newly opened burger joints nowadays. I would've thought that the burger frenzy have already bypassed - a slightly outdated trend perhaps. Still, when it comes to food jaunts, there will always be room for more - keeps this blog running too for that matter.

Though nowadays, it seems to me that the cafe furor are much more appreciated.

Run by two youngsters - Angela and Aaron, Buns. Burger Bar opened its doors barely a few weeks back, serving an array of burgers, small plates and pasta. The tapas selection appeared rather distinctive on a burger and pasta menu. Hence, I was particularly keen to give that a go.

Buns. is pork free.

I came with five friends that evening to sample some of Buns.' specialties. Let me start with the quick bites, according to favorable preference. 

Garlic Prawns. Rm18.

Served on a pan, five succulent garlic tiger prawns that was simply delectable. Going around the table, it was unanimous, this was the favorite of the lot.

Gyutan (Ox Tongue). Rm12.

Followed by the ox tongue. This was quite an exotic dish to be placed on a burger-centric menu. It was surprisingly tender, served with ponzu and daikon radish, it had a hint of sour aftertaste to it. We enjoyed this too.

Corn Tempura. Rm9.

Corn lovers, this is for you! A crispy ball of sweet corn with a paprika dusted crust. The crisp outer layer was nice, but I thought the loose corn beneath was rather average.

Potato Mozzarella Croquette. Rm9.

Now, moving down the chain. Unfortunately for us, the raspberry infused potato balls and raspberry sauce at the side didn't go quite well with the overall flavors of the dish.

Crispy Glazed Squid.

Again - it was unanimous that this was the least favorite among us that day. The crispy squid was not-at-all crispy and obviously glazed with a tinge too much sweet and tangy sauce on top.

On to the burgers. Also, going from the top pick to the least appreciated.

Chick. Rm16.

Probably not the type of burger where you can chomp down in a single bite, but we really enjoyed this. The chicken thigh was delicious - tender and juicy and the best part was definitely the crackling skin!

Guac. Rm19.

Another one of our favorites. 100% freshly ground Australian beef patty, house made guacamole, salsa and crispy onion rings on top. The guacamole deserves an additional clap. A clever combination that works really well. 

Scampi-dory. Rm17.

On it's own, the dill-battered dory fillet would have tasted great. Burger-style though, it didn't work quite well. We ended up finishing the fish only.

South East Asian. Rm17.

The problem we had with S.E.A - the lemongrass infused patty was a little loose, hence making it quite a messy affair to handle, and the kerabu salad, corriander and sambal mayo on top, didn't work quite well for my taste buds too. 

Spaghetti Bolognese.

Buns. are still in the midst of tweaking their pasta menu, hence, these are merely tasting samples. Spaghetti + Beef + Tomato sauce. Not exactly mind blowing, but an extremely simple dish. On that note, more sauce please!

Soft Shell Crab with Mushrooms.

My friends were raving about the soft shell crab and mushrooms - those were really good. What I'd like to tweak - the cream sauce. It was course and really wasn't mixed well. The lack of sauce also meant an extremely dry serving of pasta. More sauce also please! 

Trio of Brownies.

A trio of almond chocolate, red velvet and salted caramel chocolate brownies. Now, I'm going to be a bit harsh here - brownies are meant to be on the fudgy side but these needs major tweaking. All three brownies were way too dense and the red velvet version should have never been served.

Brownies are supplied by Baked KL, as part of their charity foundation for tonight's food tasting only. The brownies are not part of Buns.' menu. 

Before I end, the camaraderie of the clan of happy-eaters that evening.

Overall Rating: 6/10. Towards the end of our meal, we went round the table, sharing the hits and the miss' of today's meal. The burger mains were good but the burger condiments could've been better. I could barely differentiate between the lemon mint mayo in the scampi-dory or the garlic-rosemary mayo in the chick burger. Well, all of it tasted like mayo. Verdict wise, it was rather unanimous that we would come back for the small plates, and also the Chick and the Guac burgers. The rest of the dishes simply did not stand out as much. On that note, is there any other burger joints within the vicinity of Sri Hartamas?

Buns Burger Bar is located at:
Address: 48, Jalan 27/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, KL
Opening Hours: 11am-11pm (Tue-Sun) Closed Monday

No signboard at the moment, but was told that it will be up by end of the week. In the meantime, watch out for the Bun's wording on the glass panel. The place is just a few doors away from Naughty Babe Dirty Duck.