UPDATE: As of March 2022, Walking on Sunshine no longer serves food of any kind, only drinks.
Al-fresco dining is nice, but the bugs, heat and crappy lawn furniture can quickly sour its charm. Walking on Sunshine in Mont Kiara’s 163 Retail Park brings a lush, blooming garden indoors so you can enjoy the beauty of nature from within a civilised, air-conditioned space. This combined cafe and hair salon is beloved; it has almost a near-perfect score on Google reviews, and the Singapore outlet has won many awards and is featured constantly in Singapore media.
Ambience & Amenities
There are a few tables at the entrance near where the decorative yellow car is. The main dining room is down the corridor next to the bar in a solarium-like area that is enclosed on four sides with all-glass walls for maximum natural light. There are barely any two sets of tables and chairs that are the same. The seating is a variety of luxurious, buttoned leather sofas, low-back wooden chairs, and these interesting armchairs with a metal backing that look like it was made from an old airplane wing. They’re paired with tables that are either regular height or those lower to the ground. The low tables will be matched with the comfiest looking sofas that are perfect to sink into with a coffee.
The cafe prides itself on exhilarating all five of your senses when you visit, whether it’s for food or a haircut. The most obvious is visual, with the greenery positively overflowing throughout the restaurant. The fake plant budget for this restaurant must have been through the roof. With the hair salon being right there, I was worried that there would be a constant chemical reek and that the obnoxious sound of blasting hairdryers would drown out our conversation. That was not at all the case. I did not get a single whiff of Barbicide during my meal, and the noisiest thing was the other guests around us chitchatting.
There are no toilets in this large space, so guests will have to use the mall facilities located next door. Exit the cafe and turn left. Go around the corner and proceed toward the elevators. Through the doors on the right will be the washrooms.
Menu
Walking on Sunshine has a physical menu out front, but once you sit down, the menu is an e-version that is accessible by a QR code on the table. The food is largely western options like eggs benedicts, pizzas and pasta, but there are a few Korean favourites like fried chicken in Yangnyeom sauce and seafood pancakes. Some dishes are an east meets west fusion like bulgogi beef fettuccine or kimchi fries. On each table is a slip where you write in your order and use the call button to summon a waitress to collect it.
Click on menu pictures to enlarge
The coffees were an essential item and were present on every table. Although the food is halal, Walking on Sunshine does have Happy Hour beer specials that run pretty much all day. Citrus-infused water is free. You can ask for it, or serve yourself from the jug that is on the bar.
Food
The Pamela’s Peaches (RM16) tea was presented so prettily with a superfluous but welcome mini bouquet accompanying the pot. Each pot is good for three cups, and be sure to let the tea steep before pouring. Cleverly, the teacup is double-walled, so you can pour in the piping hot tea and hold it without burning your hands. After fifteen minutes of steeping, my tea was pleasantly strong with a touch of peach sweetness. I would guess that the tea base is Earl Grey from the bergamot flavours in this tea. With how much is in the pot and the fact that it is packed with real leaves and not a bag, this was one of the only times that I didn’t feel completely ripped off by ordering tea… even if it was RM16.
The Chicken Pizza (RM38) is the standard 10 inches wide and cut into eight slices. The heft of this should fill up most people if you’re not sharing. The crust is thin but stable enough to withstand being held without totally flopping over. The amount of cheese on this pizza alone is worth the price. There was so much cheese that it was nearly impossible to tell what ingredients were underneath. This pizza had lots of big, sweet chunks of pineapple, however, the amount of chicken was skimpy. On one slice, there was only a single chicken chunk in the corner. Mark did not care for the chicken, saying it tasted like “faux chicken,” (must have been the sous-vide texture) but I didn’t have any problem with it.
I got an original Kroffle & Matcha Ice Cream (RM20). There are five choices of ice cream listed, but during our visit, two were unavailable so it was only the common vanilla, chocolate and matcha flavours available. It was stunningly plated when it arrived with an artistic chocolate whorl and careful fruit placement. Know that a kroffle is not a waffle! Walking on Sunshine isn’t just making up funny new words for food items.
A popular Korean snack, a kroffle is croissant dough cooked in a waffle iron. Do not expect a waffle because the inside will not be the fluffy light texture that you’d expect. The outside of these kroffles were crispy and gave a nice crackle when cutting into them. Cutting required more pressure on the knife since I had to carve through the layers of croissant pastry. The inside had a more buttery flavour and was chewier than a traditional waffle. The scoop of ice cream on top is plentiful and sufficient enough to have a healthy spoonful of ice cream with each bite. As a croissant lover, this is a fun take on the classic breakfast. I usually find waffles too heavy, but these were lighter and I wasn’t uncomfortably stuffed afterwards like I usually am after a plate of waffles.
Saturday Worthy?
Walking on Sunshine has clearly set a high standard for themselves. Not only is the restaurant a beautiful space, but the food is exquisitely presented and tastes great. The service was also noteworthy. I don’t typically care much about a restaurant’s service as long as they bring me the correct plate of food, but everyone at Walking on Sunshine was so welcoming and friendly. Even the hairstylists were helpful when I obviously wasn’t getting a haircut today. It’s a bit expensive, but aren’t all brunch places? In Mont Kiara, no less?! Unlike the others, however, Walking on Sunshine nails the big three: a lovely environment, superb service and yummy food.
Price for 2 Pax: RM81.40
Pamela’s Peaches: RM16.00
Chicken Pizza: RM38.00
Kroffle with Ice Cream: RM20.00
10% Service: RM7.40
Walking on Sunshine
Address: Lot 1F-01 (1st Floor) 163 Retail Park, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara 50480, Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: Daily, 10am – 10pm
Alcohol Served: Yes
