The presents are all wrapped up beneath a beautiful Christmas tree, a cheerful wreath welcomes customers at the entrance, and colourful ornaments hang from the ceiling.
Take A Bow is full of festive cheer, with a great gift for its fans - a merry new menu of heartwarming pies, handmade pastas and dinnertime delights!
As the curtain closes on 2022, a year of highs and lows, we find fresh cause to celebrate here.
Since launching in June, Take A Bow has planned to unveil a selection of house-baked pies. Six months later, these pies prove worth the wait - the Hot Chick Pie is clearly not our conventional chicken pie. Stuffed with minced chicken, fennel, pistachio and apricot, cushioned with creamy carrot puree, it's flavourful and fragrant, a balance of meaty, nutty, fruity and earthy-sweet notes, all encased in buttery, golden-brown pastry.
The brilliant bake-off continues with the Beef & Onion Pie, a classic reinterpreted with creativity and confidence, moist and mouthwatering with minced beef, caramelised onions, dauphinoise potato and stretchy mozzarella, buoyed by parsley sauce for herbaceous uplift. A plated pie that seems simple but reveals surprising tastes and textures.
Everyone will have their personal favourite pie here - ours is the hearty Beef Pot Pie, brimming with beef chunks, melted onions, mushrooms and mashed potatoes, plus a secret weapon - blue cheese subtly laced inside for a slight kick. For those of us who lament that lovely pies are elusive in KL, Take A Bow is a restaurant to bookmark.
While Take A Bow's pies might be inspired by a British spirit, its pastas capture an Italian soul, with pici and pappardelle as the stars.
The Tuscan-origin hand-rolled pici, sometimes nicknamed 'fat spaghetti,' is seldom seen in Malaysia; Take A Bow puts a Sicilian-style twist on it, topping it with fresh-off-the-boat sardines caught in the waters of Pulau Pangkor, brightened and bolstered by preserved lemon, fennel, pine nuts and seasoned breadcrumbs.
Take A Bow's duck ragu pappardelle is Parmesan-sprinkled pasta at its most comforting, albeit with citrusy-sweet aromatics that complement the juicy meat, courtesy of carrots, orange and cinnamon. The epitome of what makes fresh pasta so enjoyably wholesome.
Beyond pies and pastas, patrons can make a multi-course meal of their visit, especially with Take A Bow's new dinner menu, spotlighting more elaborate meals for the evening. The Tuscan butter bean stew with romaine lettuce is thick, steamy and rich, like what a terrific trattoria might cook on a cold winter's night.
Scrummy mains take inspiration from across Europe, from the roulades of Parisian brasseries to the bigos of Polish restauracjas.
Chicken is never boring at Take A Bow - check out the chicken roulade layered with asparagus, herbed mozzarella and red cabbage casserole, or the hunter’s stew stuffed with smoked chicken, chicken thigh meat, juniper berries, prunes, porcini and sauerkraut, a culinary potpourri in a firm, crusty country loaf bread basket.
After a long, hard day, encouragement can be found in Take A Bow's fisherman's stew, a cioppino of ikan tenggiri, squid, prawns, mussels, potato cubes, served with toasted sourdough, or the slow-cooked beef brisket with corn polenta, asparagus and brown butter. Whether it's the catch of the sea or the yield of the farm, Take A Bow does justice to it all.
Take A Bow sends us out into the night on a high with liquor-laced desserts.
The tiramisu cloud is fluffy and fabulous with mascarpone and marsala, commanding with cocoa and espresso-soaked ladyfingers, while the rosé-poached pear with Madagascar vanilla creme fraiche is a swirl of fruit and fun, with warm chocolate sauce for body and depth.
Take A Bow
UG-5, The Sphere, Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar South, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Open Monday-Friday, 8am-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 9:30am-10pm. Tel: 03-2242-0599