Since today was a good day – weather wise, lol, it was sunny and all as opposed to the usual all day, everyday raining, we thought today would be a perfect day to pay a visit here. I remember back in the day, about 22 years ago, when I was a young kid, I looked forward to my visit here. This Hornbill restaurant used to be Carls Junior back then. It was literally a kids dream. You’d get good food – burgers and fries and keep hornbills as company yawwwwww! Just kidding, more like those hornbills sneaks around and steals your fries but hey, you’d get an ‘up close and personal’ time with it/them, lol. Told ya, a kids dream indeed.
Anyways, fast forward 30 years, this is now Hornbill Restaurant & Cafe. It is located within the KL Bird Park vicinity, so you’d get pretty much the whole thing – loads of greens all over, the sounds of nature, people watching (tourist walking about the park), birds flying here and there. You’d think siting here among nature would mean loads of mosquito but worries not, none of those at all.
Okay, I was sooooo excited to see them hornbills but I saw none 🙁 At the point of my visit, they were being fed and prepped for photo op for the tourist. However, another scrawny, some part featherless white bird that resembled a smaller version of a stork (bangau) kept us company.
Things are a lil pricier here but that is to be expected, with it located within a bird park and that park being a tourist attraction. You’d get pretty good service, tasty food and a pretty enjoyable setting. For something you would most probably experience once in a blue moon, it is worth it. Do not however expect fancy food. They keep it pretty simple here.
Chicken Satay (a dozen/12 pieces), 26.90 ringgit
The satay was pretty good and it came with two options – beef and chicken, I ordered the latter. The satay was yummy mostly because of the peanut sauce. I like eating the chicken bits on its own before dunking it into the peanut sauce because I usually find it being glazed with a thin layer of sweet sticky flavorful gravy but that was not the case here. Here, the chicken on its own does not come with additional flavor, just plain ol roast chicken? but when you dunk it into the peanut sauce – then it becomes da bomb! A lil sweet, a lil crunchy, a lil chewy and plenty of flavor. Yummy!
Fried Mee Mamak, 17.90 ringgit
The noodles were delicious. Exactly as it should be. It was a mamak styled dish with plenty of prawns, eggs and garnish. Yummy!
Would I head here again?
Yes, I would. It was an overall pleasant experience – eating in a bird park where birds are roaming free, lol. Food was tasty, customer service was awesome and ambiance was great. That being said, I would be paying additional amount of money for the same reasons, especially because the restaurant is located in a tourist attraction
Address: KL Bird Park, Jalan Cenderawasih, Botanical Gardens, Kuala Lumpur.
Opening hours: Everyday. 9 am – 8 pm.
Signing out now, Ciao.