Bowls of Steel 2024

[Pork-free] We finally re-visited Bowls of Steel in Damansara Utama following their re-opening last November.

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Bowls of Steel is one of our favourite spots for noodles in KL and made it to our Top Meals list in 2021 and 2022 (see the posts here and here). So we were kinda bummed when they went on a hiatus in mid-2022.

Top Nine Meals of 2022

But all is good – as they finally reopened again in November 2023.

Bowls of Steel 2024

Bowls of Steel continues to operate at its same spot in Damansara Utama. It occupies the first floor just above Padang on Wheels (see our post here) or what used to be 7-Eleven for age-ing millennials.

There have been a few changes with the reopening. As the business is solely run by chef Jun – dining is strictly reservations only with no walk-ins. As each bowl is meticulously prepared by Jun, do be punctual for lunch/dinner and expect a slow-eating experience throughout the meal.

The menu is also revamped, with some form of iteration (or upgrade?) from offerings in the past.

Starting off strong with Nailed It!

We started our dinner strong with Nailed It! (RM25) – a dish that chef Jun described as his proudest creation as an anak Malaysia.

This salad was truly unique as it features rarely used local produce such as buah kulim, pickled temu pauh, Hainanese bread croutons and salted egg yolk shavings.

We enjoyed the ulam raja fragrance with a slight bitterness, complemented by ripe quinine mangos and temu puah (pickled in gula Melaka and calamansi).

For the uninitiated, temu pauh (aka mango ginger) looks like a mix of ginger/galangal but tasted like raw mango. We had the opportunity to try this on its own.

Overall, the salad was a bouquet of flavours – with a unique blend of tanginess, sweetness and bitterness, and a touch of acidity from calamansi pandai oil and bunga kantan vinaigrette.

For tipple, get the Red Horse beer (RM35) from the Philippines. With 8% alcohol content, the flavours were deceptively light but pavd the way for some good time throughout the meal.

There’s nothing illegal about Prawnhub

New on the menu is the Prawnhub (RM48). This meticulously crafted bowl features hand-rolled thin egg noodles, topped with tiger prawn umai, telur kucar-kacir, sambal udang, tiger prawn charred at 58°C, and crustacean-lemon oil.

The Malaysian inspiration for this dish comes in the form of umai – which is a traditional Melanau dish in Sarawak similar to ceviche. However, chef Jun has opted for prawns instead of fish to elevate the strong prawn umami kick.

If you love prawns, you’ll love this dish (which we did). The dish has a deep umami kick as all the prawn heads and shells are used to make a “bisque-ish” reduction. The umai provided some bounciness and acidity to the dish, with lovely hits of Bunga kantan, long beans and sengkuang.

Finally, the prawn was cooked precisely at 58°C for the perfect balance of char and tenderness.

All hail The G.O.A.T

Finally, The G.O.A.T (RM50) is the closest thing we have to the Lamb Noods (see our post) which we ate two years ago.

Bowls of Steel, PJ

Despite the different iteration, this dish hits all the right spots for us, as it retained the winning formula of its precursor.

Hand-rolled flat egg noodles are cooked to perfect al-dente texture, with the mutton and bone curry reduction that’s utterly delicious.

This dish now features crispy lamb bits, and lamb bone marrow and charred capers topped on crispy fu-chuk for that extra “kruk kruk” experience.

The pandan-calamansi-asam foam and herb salad complete the ensemble.

Summary

It’s been awhile – and the noodles here still blow our minds away. We are happy to have chef Jun back in the kitchen again. Do opt for the ramen bar to have an amazing view of chef Jun cooking. We had a great time discussing food and high school days as well.

Tip: If you can’t get reservations, try DM-ing for any vacated spots.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Bowls of Steel
Address: 94a, Jalan SS 21/62, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Hours: 6pm-9.30pm (Wed-Sat), 11am-2.30pm (Sun), Closed on Mon & Tues)
Phone: 011-6556 9267
Reservations: https://reserve.oddle.me/en_MY/bowlsofsteel/ticket/4278