The Only Bacon Sandwich in Kuala Lumpur ?

Lot 10 Shopping Mall, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

A rather strange topic to write about, but worthy of a mention....Lot 10 is the ugly, green eye-sore on Jalan Bukit Bintang. You can't miss it. The mall opened about 20 years ago and straight away became something of a disappointment having mediocre shops and zero atmosphere.

However,in view of increased competition from Pavillions and the soon to re-open KL Plaza,Lot 10 is going through quite a major refit.

Many new stores are planning to open next year such as Debenhams,National Geographic and some trendy celebrity named boutique clothing shops.

But of particular note are the new food and drink outlets in the basement and on the roof.

The roof now houses a gym,theatre-The Actors Studio,a nightclub, Rootz and bistro-Teeq and is billed as a "forest in the city"just because it has a little bit of turf.

The bistro,Teeq is a bit swanky and pretentious and has a rather limited and expensive menu.

Rootz is currently one of the hot places to go for the fickle club goers of KL, although who would name a nightclub on the roof of a building "Rootz"?

The place was raided in a much publicised raid late xmas eve with full TV coverage and I believe Rootz is closed at present.

You need to use the lifts at the front or back of Lot 10 to access the roof, the escalators inside the mall will eventually get you there but it's a bit tedious and involves going through the car-parking levels.

The basement,which now has street access via an escalator has a very interesting food court and is the only place in town I know where you can get a bacon sandwich.

The majority of the food stalls offer various types of Chinese and Taiwanese non-halal fare which may explain why it's so popular with the local Chinese as most food-courts in other malls are halal.

There is also a very good German food stall offering amongst other things real bacon sarnies. For RM12 you get a reasonably sized bread roll full of streaky-bacon,cheese, tomato,lettuce and dressing.

Definitely worth it!

Other dishes include various types of real German Sausages with either potato salad,sauerkraut,mash and mustard ranging in price from RM20-RM30 or you can go the whole hog! and order a pork-knuckle for two people for RM45,or a serving for one person at RM25.

And to wash it all down,amongst their beer selection they have a German beer that I've never heard of.

I was quite impressed with this place as it serves reasonably priced pork dishes in the middle of town.

What I wasn't impressed with however was the "dining ambiance" or lack of it-it's loud,echoes and has a constant loud drone of extractor fans and aircon units which keeps your clothes odour-free but makes conversation a bit of a challenge.

Apart from eating at the counter,the seating layout mixed with the hap-hazard layout of all the other food stalls is very confusing and easy to forget where you were sitting if you're in a group ordering different things from different stalls.

There is a (slightly) quieter area near the front escalators but it's not a place to linger,just eat and run.

Also worth a mention are two ground floor bars at street-level,one called Inner Circle the other BonTon. Although not destinations in themselves,they're OK if you're feeling thirsty and happen to be passing by....

Inner Circle Bar also sells non halal food and has Tiger at RM 10 a mug during the day,RM 14 after 9pm

It's a bit small and poky,has zero atmosphere but is OK for a couple of beers whilst you're watching the world go by.

BonTon is located at the back of Lot 10,has a large outside seating area and sells Carlsberg.

It's nothing special but more "open-plan" than inner Circle Bar.

There are very few places along Bukit Bintang where you can get a beer so these two establishments provide an oasis in a desert full of coffee bars, foot-massage places and tacky souvenir stalls.