Great pizza, but the burgers are the best in Mont Kiara.
Every food blogger covered this place two years ago when it first opened, but the fact that it has endured this long even during the pandemic shows that the hype was not empty. Crust remains a popular eatery in 163 Kiara mall despite its hidden location. Although pizza is their clear speciality, the burgers at Crust are worth considering too.
Ambience & Amenities
Crust is tucked away in an out of sight lot within 163 Kiara. The quickest way there is to enter at the main mall entrance (where The Social and Chili’s are) and go up the escalator directly next to Cafe Deli by El Meson. If you are already in the mall, go to level 1F. Walk toward the north end of the mall (the end facing Jalan Kiara) and on your left, you’ll see a corridor next to Coffea Coffee. Head down this short hallway and on your right you’ll see Crust.
The dining room at Crust is very lush and bright with dangling ferns and one entire wall of windows. A cylindrical wood-fired pizza oven dominates the middle of the room, but only one table is set up in a position where one could watch it. The prime seats are obviously by the windows overlooking Jalan Kiara, but if you don’t mind the heat, Crust also has a patio with the same view.
The patio is similarly greenified, but it is brighter out here with a transparent roof sheltering diners from the rain. There are only a few ceiling fans for cooling out here, so I imagine this patio could be uncomfortably hot on some days.
Crust does not have a toilet and is the furthest away from both mall toilets as possible. There is a washroom down the corridor that leads to the parking garage (walk past the escalator near the Paradise Dynasty restaurant), and another one at the other escalators next to Rebel Pasta. Crust does have a handwashing sink near the doors to the patio.
Menu
The Crust menu is small at 3 pages and only focuses on the greatest hits. Of course, pizza is the main focus, but the rest of the dishes are crowd favourites that Mont Kiarans can’t get enough of like brunch, pasta, sandwiches and burgers. There are just a handful of different options in each category, so if you’re craving something really specific you may not find it at Crust. This is not a place where there are twenty varieties of something, not even with the pizzas.
There are not much in the way of drinks. The only unique thing is a brief list of milkshakes. Water comes in a big jug and is free, but you have to request it specifically from the server.
Food
The Iced Honey Lemon (RM8) is pretty basic. It is not too sweet or tart, but it tastes a bit watered down.
The Swiss Mushroom Burger (RM28) is one of the most impeccably assembled burgers I’ve ever seen. Nothing was oozing out and there weren’t even any errant drops of grease anywhere. This burger has a hefty patty but it is not that juicy. However, there are many other textures and flavours in this burger that this cleaner, drier meat works better. Veggie haters rejoice: the only vegetable in sight is a veritable slab of deep-fried mushrooms. The battered golden shell provides a nice crunch that would otherwise be met with greens. There was a lavish layer of garlic parsley mayo that leaned more toward the garlic side. I could barely taste the parsley in this, but I’m not complaining. Overall, this burger is a good size, tastes fantastic, and holds together well.
The fries are crispy and McDonald’s-like, but they’re unsalted and bland to eat without dipping them in something. The white sauce provided is lightly sweet, almost like tartar sauce. The flavour of it matched with the burger more and was likely meant for this purpose. Dipping the fries into this sauce was less delectable and we eventually asked for ketchup.
The Tapenade Pizza (RM36) looks like a ten incher cut into six triangles. It’s personal pizza sized and too small for sharing unless you get other dishes. The pizza base is the standard thin crust but can be easily eaten with hands instead of a knife and fork. Disappointingly, I could barely taste the tapenade as there was just one tiny blobby of it on every slice, buried under the cheese so I couldn’t even spread it around. The rest of the toppings on this pizza are similarly lacking. Most times there was just one of the significant ingredients (such as the roasted cherry tomatoes or rosemary potatoes) on each slice. It wasn’t very cheesy or saucy either. I wouldn’t say the pizza tasted bad or boring, but I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with flavours.
What saved this pizza and would make me want to order it again is the oft-overlooked part of the pie. Perhaps not surprisingly, the best part about Crust’s pizzas is… the crust! This is the first time I’ve had a pizza in Malaysia where the crust actually had some density to it – none of that flatbready junk that’s so thin that you’re eating nothing but bread husk. The crust was thicker than normal, with a light crisp on the outside and satisfyingly chewy in the middle. This is the kind of crust that begs to be dipped into a sauce. Luckily we had that white sauce that came with our burger.
On the menu under “sides” is the option of “extra house sauce” for RM1.50. This may be the same sauce that came with the burger. You might want to consider getting it for the pizza crusts. Otherwise, the restaurant has Maggi tomato and chilli sauces that you can ask for.
Saturday Worthy?
If Crust could just be a little more generous with the toppings, their pizzas would be perfect. I still prefer the pizzas at Crust over the ones at nearby Porto Romano or even Eataly because I am so fucking sick of ultra-thin cracker crusts that I’m willing to sacrifice the rest of the pie for a great crust. As for the burger, I can honestly say that Crust has the best beef burger in Mont Kiara at this time, but it’s barely a competition considering the lack of other options in the area. This makes Crust our new place to fill our pizza and burger cravings when we can’t be arsed to go to Desa Sri Hartamas where there are better, cheaper options. Crust is certainly pricey, so this will not be a restaurant that we visit regularly.
Price for 2 Pax: RM79.20
Iced Honey Lemon: RM8.00
Swiss Mushroom Burger: RM28.00
Tapenade Pizza: RM36.00
Crust
Address: Lot 1F-17, 163 Retail Park, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: Daily, 10am – 10pm
Alcohol Served: No
