Chilli Vanilla @ Jalan Haji Saman, KK

We've actually heard of Chilli Vanilla a while back but since the cafe is closed on Sunday (and Sunday our favourite day to cari makan), we never got around to visit it. Nonetheless, we've heard quite a lot of good reviews about their red velvet cake and never having reviewed a Mediterranean restaurant in KK, we made a point to drop by Chilli Vanilla for lunch.

First Look

Located in a small shop lot directly opposite Kinabalu Emporium (same row as Moon Bell Restaurant, facing the main road), Chilli Vanilla can be quite hard to spot from afar. But as you come closer, you'll see a small shop with a rustic-looking signboard bearing its name.

Overall, Chilli Vanilla has a homey and casual ambience--a nice place to chill out with friends over a glass of iced calamansi drink on warm balmy afternoons. They also play groovy 80s and 90s music, which is a refreshing change if you're tired of listening to One Direction.

Food & Beverages

Chilli Vanilla is owned by a Hungarian lady, therefore, you can expect to sample  more exotic offerings on the menu. The cafe serves Hungarian and Mediterranean speciality dishes such as the Frikadelle (beef meatballs with Hungarian paprika and herbs, stuffed with cheese and spicy salsa), the Moroccan-inspired Lamb Stew (MYR16.90), Spaghetti Milanese (MYR24.90) and the homemade Liver Pate.

Sticking to a clean, healthy diet? Fret not as Chilli Vanilla also serves an array of wonderful salads such as the Mediterranean Mix (MYR16.90), the Waldorf (MYR16.90) and the Aphrodite salad (MYR18.90) which are all gluten-free. 

Oliver and I decided to try something a little less exotic for a start. I ordered the Chicken Breast and Mashed Potato lunch set (comes with a complimentary creamy mushroom soup and a slice of butter cake), while Oliver ordered the Spicy Grilled Duck Tortilla (MYR17.90).

Grilled chicken breast

Chicken Breast and Mashed Potato lunch set (MYR16.90)

Creamy mushroom soup

Butter cake with walnuts

Grilled Duck Tortilla

Unfortunately, the famed red velvet cake was unavailable on that day. Nonetheless, Chilli Vanilla still has an array of lip-smacking cakes such as the chocolate brownies, apple crumble pie and butter cake with walnuts.

Chocolate brownies

Apple crumble pie

Butter cake

You can also have a glass of wine if you like.

Verdict

We give props to Chilli Vanilla for its uniqueness--there aren't many restaurants in KK offering Hungarian or Mediterranean dishes--but the portion size and pricing are on the skimpy and more expensive side respectively. 

We loved the duck tortillas but found the chicken breast and mashed potato a little too salty. The butter cake that came with the lunch set was also only half the size of an average cake slice and was a bit dry for our liking.

We'll probably come back to try the red velvet cake, other than that, the overall gastronomic experience wasn't particularly exceptional.

Food Buddy rating: 3.38/5

Ambience: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Price: 2.5/5

Food & Beverages: 3/5