Malaysian made pizza isn’t what it used to be.
It’s better.
Better, we’d venture to say, than it ever was. A combination of factors including heightened food fetishism, the quest for authenticity, the economy.. have conspired to give us way better gourmet pizzas than say, in the past decade or so. The idea of thin crusted, chewy, tastier pizza’s, artfully blistered and topped, have been displacing their bigger, heavier counterparts and there’s a good reason why too. People no longer seek to be “full” so much as to be “fulfilled”.
This means a wafer-crisp crust that’s soft around the edges and not too wet in the middle, bits of fresh basil, or mushroom, and a lacing of truffle oil and extra-virgin olive oil through the sweet tomato sauce is what makes our toes curl with pleasure these days. Yes I do believe that the new-wave of pizzerias that we will see from now on will only be powered by glitzy wood-burning ovens, all trumpeting the quality of their ingredients plus the authenticity of their methods. It’s wonderful. I love how artisan we Malaysians are getting about our pizzas, I truly do!
Top – Funghi Truffle Pizza RM22.90 , Below – Il Carnivore Pizza RM24.90
Once upon a time, there was Delicious by Benjamin Yong.
Now that he has put his old toys aside, he is back with a vengeance. Ben’s sowing his wild oats in the form of Plan B, T Forty Two, more recently, Ben’s in Pavilion , and even newer, Ben’s at KLCC. This latest one called Ben’s General Food Store, that just opened up in Bangsar Village is already packed to the rafters. If I had a daughter, I would probably tell her, do not judge a man by the clothes he wears but rather by the number of concept restaurants he has. If you hook him, at least then, you know, you’d never starve a day in your life. Just saying.
Barley & Button Mushroom Salad RM19.90
So what’s good here? The pizzas of course. You’d be a fool to walk away without first having stuffed your face on pizza. Any pizza. They are tasty as hell and priced at approximately RM20 – 25, they are affordable too. The nutella milkshake and the barley button mushroom salad were delightful. The other dishes were not really memorable to me. Average lamb shank pie (served cold on the inside) and average tasting lasagna. Desserts, this time, were unfortunately so-so as well.
Which brings me back to my point.. the point of eating here. Soft and tender, charred and chewy, with a mountainous crust edge, full of voluptuous pockets of air.
Take my word for it, go for the pizza.
Super Nutela Milkshakes RM11.90
Moroccan Lamb Meatballs RM17.90
B.I.G. Lasagna RM18.90
Lamb Shank Pie RM18.90
more shank..
Black Forest & Classic Chocolate Cake RM9.90 each
Add: Ben’s General Food Store
Lot G 17, Ground Floor, Bangsar Village I,
Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 9am-10pm daily
Website:www.thebiggroup.com Tel: 03-2284-8790
Great new look and err.. post
Thx WW;)
yums! well to me, i prefer thin crust pizza! 😀 and now am wodnering how’s the taste of Barley & Button Mushroom Salad there… hurmm… would love to try that. 😀
The Salad was good! I’d definitely be back for the salad and pizza;)
I really like the look of the truffle funghi pizza… we visited Ben’s KLCC recently and also found their desserts to be mediocre but we enjoyed our mains.
It’s really a shame about the desserts. Every meal should end on a high note, no?
Yer, thin crust pizza is where it’s at. Don’t like the thick crust stuff anywhere except in Italy, as they are the only ones who do it right.
Problem with many Asian Pizza places is that that they make the pizza’s taste too sweet. And the dough is not made from quality wheat. And, the cheeses used are too high in fat. And, the pepperoni is well … not real pepperoni.
Find a pizza like that and it’s good.
Moroccan Lamb balls I can eat all day. I’ll skip barley salad and Super Nutela milkshake, am sure there are some cocopods in Malaysia that would make for a better tasting Malaysian shake.
Lambshank pie looks good though, I hope it’s got enough meat on it though. Otherwise it’s certainly looking like a winner.
Lamb shank was not great. Did you read my post- it was served cold on the inside, indicating it hadn’t been warmed up appropriately even. Not good.
I still remember Uno pizza in Center Point, Bandar Utama being my fav. Now soo looking forward for Ben’s!
Ah, you should like this pizza then;)
That funghi pizza stopped me dead in my tracks. Yes, we’ve grappled with inferior pizza versions for way too long – these are exciting times!
I agree!
Pizzas look good but what got my attention was the Super Nutella Milkshake – now you’re talking! 😀
LOL, you sure like your shakes Kenny. No wonder your skin so nice la:P
Oooh, this looks so good! You’re making me hungry for pizza… and nutella milkshakes 🙂
I don’t know about nutella shake.. give me Oreo shake any-day though .. haha
Yeah, I agree the pizzas were good! And worth going back for! In fact, L asked if we could go back for that the very next day, heh… talk about enthusiasm, lol!
Serious? Must be like his favourite place now la!
I like the name ‘general’ food store. But it doesn’t look general at all.. it looks so special!!! 🙂
I’ll go with lasagne please.
It’s named such – Ben’s General Food Store because it comprises of two sections, the cafe and the food store. Meals here are all served at communal tables in the bright and breezy dining area. The adjacent food store is supposed to have an in-house butcher, cheese and deli section and an abundance of dry and fresh produce. Customers can pick up a freshly made sandwich or take-a-way food from the rotisserie after they are done with their daily shopping. Hence the name “general food store”! Geddit? 😉
I haven’t tried – is service good or poor?
Ben’s projects tend to be style over sustance nowadays
Yo brother B! They were zippy when we were there, but we started dinner early. I agree with you though, that Ben’s chain of restaurants tend to be erratic when it comes to service. You really need to check it out for yourself. I’d definitely come here for pizza. The other items on the menu are pretty generic to Ben’s sort of menu style.. so no big surprises there. We found the other items mostly average.
Good looking pizza they’ve got there. But that super nutella milkshake sounds amazing!
Now this is my kind of food! Looks delicious! Not a big pizza fan but this looks really good. I do love the desserts and am really tempted by these foods. I know I am not the biggest food person in the world but this looks good! Yummy!