The Chow Kit Stay & Dine Experience Hotel Review

The Chow Kit is new hotel brand under the Ormond Group which opened on 1 December 2019, just before all this pandemic thing came about. If this picture looks familiar, that’s because The Chow Kit and sister hotel MoMo’s Kuala Lumpur is located in the same building as the former Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur, but extensively refurbished.

The Chow Kit takes up the original Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur space, and MoMo’s Kuala Lumpur takes up the extension at the back.

I’ve been wanting to stay at The Chow Kit since 2020 to compare the differences with Tune Hotel, but travel restrictions mean that I had to wait 2 years for this experience.

When booking my room for RM190, I saw a Stay & Dine Experience package which gives me the equivalent of my room rate (ie. RM190) in dining credits. It was a no-brainer to book this package, really.

The new hotel sign greets me as I descended from the elevated walkway from Medan Tuanku Monorail Station with me lugging 15kg of luggage down the stairs.

On first look, yeah this is definitely different from Tune Hotel.

Check-in

The lobby, while compact, is nice and inviting with a high ceiling.

The Chow Kit Kitchen and Bar is located across from the front desk.

Check-in was a breeze with simply handing over my passport and showing my vaccination cert. While my MySejahtera application was still showing as Not Vaccinated, my Singapore Notαrise certificate was accepted with no issues.

I would like to specially mention Roswan at the Front Desk who provided excellent service during the check-in process despite the dinner crowd, and extending a very warm welcome to me back to KL, recognizing my past repeat visits to Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

It really is good to be back in KL with all things AirAsia indeed.

The lift up to the rooms is in the same position as Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

The corridor though, was definitely refurbished. So far, I’m getting budget Raffles Hotel vibes with a bit of colonial look throughout the property.

My room was near the lift, which was nice.

The Den

Entering The Den for the first time, I couldn’t believe that this was Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur last time. Despite the small room space, it does looks a bit bigger, probably thanks to the new floor to ceiling windows.

And of course, since it isn’t the Tune Hotels of old any more, all frills are included, with a personalised warm welcome on the TV.

Room

The Den provides a Queen sized bed with a view of Jalan Sultan Ismail. This comes with retro-looking lamps by the bed sides and side tables.

An open wardrobe and a sink is located by the room living area.

Hangers are provided for hooking within the open wardrobe only.

Two bottles of mineral water are provided in The Den. The sign says these bottles are unlabelled for convenient recycling anywhere, but as an AirAsia fan, I knew this was Pendang Water at first glance.

The sink is located in the main room which is awkward for KL standards but looks fine for Singapore standards.

Toilet

Heading into the toilet, I can see why this is needed to provide more space than what was the budget Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur last time.

Notably, a bidet spray is not provided by the toilet bowl at The Chow Kit.

Towels are provided on the towel rack.

Both a handheld and rain shower are provided. And similar to Tune Hotels, a power shower was indeed provided, even if not advertised by The Chow Kit.

Shampoo and shower gel is provided in reusable bottles in the shower area.

Looking out, the token Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur window has been changed out to a floor to ceiling windows. across the length of The Den, providing a welcoming view back to KL with the KL Tower in the background, and of course the KL Monorail tracks.

To refill water, there is an airport-style water dispenser at the lift lobby where you can fill up the provided Pendang Water bottles or your own bottles too.

The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar

It was indeed a warm welcome back to KL as I now had to stuff myself with RM190 worth of free food and drinks at The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar with my Stay & Dine Experience.

The atmosphere at The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar was nice and cosy, with retro colonial vibes, reminding me of Raffles Hotel’s Bar & Billiard Room actually.

The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar Dinner

The table setting was really nice with a lamp as I read the hardcopy menus provided.

View The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar – All Day Dining Menu here.
View The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar – Beverage Menu here.

I started my dinner with a half dozen beef satay. (RM25 + 10% service charge & 6% SST) The satay was smoky and the sauce was chunky and delicious, though the beef was a little bit tough.

I ordered The Chow Kit Fish & Chips (RM58 + 10% service charge & 6% SST) which is a signature item as indicated in the menu, and indeed it left a lasting first impression on me.

It was actually a whole fish.

The Chow Kit Fish & Chips is their signature tandoori marinated fish, served with crispy kale, hand-cut fries and tartar sauce.

And it tasted absolutely amazing. I didn’t know I could have a fish and chips in this style before.

The Chow Kit Fish & Chips is a hybrid between Asian and Western flavours served piping hot, freshly deep fried, yet not having an oily taste to it. The fish had also been well deboned, and I could eat it like a fillet, save for a small part near the head and tail. The crispy kale and tartar sauce also complemented the fish.

I ordered a Cono Sur Bicicleta Reserva Chardonnay to complement my The Chow Kit Fish & Chips. This took a while to be sent to me though. Hotel guests at The Chow Kit get an all-day happy hour price of RM20 (+ 10% service charge & 6% SST) for this white wine.

I didn’t go all out to expend my dining credits for dinner as I could save them for breakfast too.

The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar Breakfast

View The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar – Breakfast Menu here.

The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar offers a good value The Chow Kit Breakfast Set for RM35 (+ 10% service charge & 6% SST) which includes a coffee and juice for every main ordered, which costs around RM28 to RM30 a la carte.

With my The Chow Kit Breakfast Set, I ordered a watermelon juice and Long Black.

I started my day with a Classic Fry Up of a Full English Breakfast with scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, baked beans, and toast.

This was served in a pan that I think was actually used to cook my scrambled eggs in, as it was a little bit stuck to the pan, just like how it might be after cooking.

It tastes like a Full English Breakfast so I think that’s good. I don’t know how to properly review a Full English Breakfast since it kind of tastes default. Sorry.

The Nasi Lemak at The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar offers a good combination with both chicken rendang and sambal sotong. The rice has the aromatic flavour of santan.

However, while presented well and tastes good, The Chow Kit Nasi Lemak tastes totally different from Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak. Perhaps it’s the additional moisture in Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak to cater for dining in dry air, or the Pak Nasser’s sambal itself, but Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak still trumps the Nasi Lemak race even among AirAsia brands.

Check-out

Check-out was fuss free too. I was allowed to leave my luggage at the front desk while I go take my trains around Malaysia, since I have another stay at The Chow Kit after returning back to KL.

Conclusion

Overall, The Chow Kit – An Ormond Hotel currently offers an excellent Stay & Dine Experience deal with free dining credits of the equivalent value of my room rate. The people, room, and food were in general excellent, with some slight misses like my delayed wine being minor.

I would totally recommend going for the Stay & Dine Experience with free dining credits any time, but I’m also worried that if too many people go for it, the deal would be gone in no time too.