Update: Harley’s Damansara City Mall location is now permanently closed. Other locations still exist in Kuala Lumpur.
Inspired by the wildly popular Californian chain In-N-Out Burger, Harley’s Burger Cafe brings the guiltiest, waistline-expanding pleasures from America to Malaysians. This diner-style restaurant is one of a very small handful of places at the decidedly upscale Damansara City Mall that won’t have you expunging over a hundred ringgit for a meal for two.
Menu
The selection of coffees is pretty big for a burger place. The restaurant seems to promote their coffee as sort of a big deal but we didn’t get to try any as neither of us needed the caffeine at the time.
Click on menu picture to enlarge
Every Malaysian has had a burger by now, but Harley’s has a few truly American classics that are rare to find in even westernised burger chains in KL: hot wings, milkshakes and chilli con carne. There’s the option to build your own burger; if you really wanted to, you could create a ten-pattied monstrosity that costs over RM50. If a burger stacked ten high doesn’t scream America, I don’t know what does.
Food
We ordered a Hamburger (RM8.50) a la carte, and a Cheeseburger Combo (RM16.50). There was undeniably lots of lettuce on these, but the other vegetables were in good amounts. The beef patties are very thin on these original burgers – thinner than advertised on their menu, I would say. This is likely so that you’re incentivised to buy their double, triple, quad and quintuple stacked burgers instead.
There was something called Harley’s Sauce on both of these, which tasted like spicy mayonnaise with what I’m quite sure was a bit of Thousand Island dressing. The buns were great – firmer than the usual burger bun – almost like a well-toasted English muffin. This prevented that awful situation halfway through eating most burgers where the bun is soaked with grease and is just a mushy, unappealing mess. The Harley’s bun stayed solid under my fingers until the last bite.
The fries are, unfortunately, on the soggy side. The iced lemon tea is homemade and, for once, not 90% ice like you get at most other eateries. The tea flavour is nicely strong, and it isn’t sickly sweet at all. I recommend getting this refreshing drink as a side to your meal.
We also got their Chilli Cheese Fries (RM8.50) which, I know, doesn’t look particularly appetizing on camera, but it was delicious in a sinful sort of way. Fries are covered in Harley’s Chilli con Carne with big, juicy beans and then finished with Harley’s Sauce. It won’t look great, but if you stir and mix it all up, the chilli will be well distributed over all the fries.
Saturday Worthy?
Although it looked like the food was going to clog our arteries just by smelling it, after finishing everything I didn’t feel gross or heavy at all. The burgers are packed with fresh veg and all of the items were in very reasonable portions. Even as a small eater, I was full by the end but had a little room for dessert. Is this a bad thing? Well, with the price being so cheap, I can actually afford a dessert!
Price for 2 Pax: RM33.50
Cheeseburger Combo: RM16.50
Hamburger: RM8.50
Chilli Cheese Fries: RM8.50
