Stop Press! Calling all burger lovers, there's a new joint in town! Carl's Jr, the franchise from the good old USA has just opened an outlet at 1 Utama Shopping Centre. Serving charbroiled burgers that promises "it's gonna get messy", this is definitely worth a visit especially if you love bovine delights. For those of you who have long memories, you'll remember Carl's Jr previously made it's debut on Malaysian shores under the MBf group of companies. Their most memorable outlet was in the KL Bird Park where you could get a burger together with free refills of soft drinks and a view of the hornbills feeding. Sadly that didn't do too well and they pulled out of the Malaysian scene. Now, Aspac which is part of the Hong Tat group in Singapore that does property development is the franchise holder for Singapore and Malaysia. There's plans to open at least 25 outlets within Singapore and Malaysia. So far, they have opened 4 outlets in Singapore.
Being new to the menu, I had some trouble understanding how things work here especially the signboard plus the combo meals. When you walk into the place, they give you two items - a cute burger cut out which gives you a RM2 discount from your combo meal and the menu without prices on a pamphlet which you can take home. There's 11 types of charbroiled burger - their famous Famous Star and Super Star. Then they have the Portobello Mushroom, Chili Burger, Guacamole Bacon, Western Bacon varieties. Some of the varieties also come with double patties that will definitely fill you up. There's also charbroiled chicken sandwiches, crispy chicken, fish sandwich and fish and chips if you don't take beef. For sides, there's salad, onion rings, fried zucchini and criss cross fries. There's even desserts - cheesecake and choc fudge cake.
I decided to go for their Portobello Mushroom Burger - the medium combo set that was priced at RM24. The burger is definitely bigger than the usual suspects from McDonalds and Burger King. Here instead of a thick meat patty, it's a larger patty but thinner. Topped with a generous amount of chopped portobello mushrooms, a lettuce leaf, tomato, onion, mayonnaise and cheese, it was not bad. I was slightly dissapointed though as I expected more like a fresher burger since they are said to prepare it when you order. This didn't feel like it was grilled when I ordered it since it arrived on my table quite fast so I suspect it could have been pre-cooked, kept warm and then assembled when I ordered.
Splashie Boy had the Western Bacon Cheeseburger - Medium Combo for RM19.50. This came with a piece of chicken bacon, onion rings, meat patty, melted cheese and lots of barbeque sauce for flavour. This was not bad and quite tasty with the sweetish and smoky barbeque sauce although there's not much taste to the chicken bacon. The fries which was served with the combo meal wasn't too fantastic though - we reckon they can't beat McDonalds super crispy french fries. Both the combo meals come with free refills for drinks. Just help yourself from the counter of ice tea, soft drinks and ice lemon tea. There's also hot tea and coffee from their own brand, Channel Islands Roasting Company. For those of you who are on a low or no carb diet - you can rejoice as they offer a low carb option for every burger or sandwich. It looks like this means they will serve you the burger minus the sesame crusted bun.
Splashie Boy had the Western Bacon Cheeseburger - Medium Combo for RM19.50. This came with a piece of chicken bacon, onion rings, meat patty, melted cheese and lots of barbeque sauce for flavour. This was not bad and quite tasty with the sweetish and smoky barbeque sauce although there's not much taste to the chicken bacon. The fries which was served with the combo meal wasn't too fantastic though - we reckon they can't beat McDonalds super crispy french fries. Both the combo meals come with free refills for drinks. Just help yourself from the counter of ice tea, soft drinks and ice lemon tea. There's also hot tea and coffee from their own brand, Channel Islands Roasting Company. For those of you who are on a low or no carb diet - you can rejoice as they offer a low carb option for every burger or sandwich. It looks like this means they will serve you the burger minus the sesame crusted bun.
Tastewise, I was not blown away with the burgers though it offers more exciting options like guacamole and portobello mushrooms with my burger. I thought prices were way too steep though for a fast food joint even though it was bigger portions. Their basic burgers - Famous Star and Super Star were going for RM12 to RM15 for the combos while the burgers with the luxe toppings were around RM20 to RM25 for the combos. There's also no mention about how much the Double varieties cost on their signboard. See what I mean about lack of information? Anyway, do give them a try as tastes may differ. Since it's early days yet, the service and burger quality may change again so another revisit is definitely needed to try their basic specials like the Famous Star and Super Star.
Carl's Jr
Lot 210C, Ground Floor
1 Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing)
Petaling Jaya
Tel No: 03 - 7729 0718
(Halal. The outlet is located between Chicken Rice Shop and the retail shop, Be Element and is further down from Burger King and TGIF.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.
36 comments:
Expensive burgers! Will try and see if it's worth it.
Wah.... so expensive! I remember the bird park days. Will take the kiddos and have a try sometime in the near future.
BTW, went back to Max! last week, it was great and tonight going again with some lady friends. I'm looking forward to the special order of mushroom soup!
OMG they're back! Were they always so expensive? I'm too young to remember.
Wonder if White Castle will magically reappear on our shores :)
To all the flogger, I assure you - this is the best burger I ever try so far...! I first try this burger way bacl 7 years ago when I travellied to LA for business trip and since then I don't failed to get one whenever I went to LA and now it is in KL...what a wonderful news.
I am not a fancy of Burger but with Carl's Jr burger ..it is just wonderful!
LY.Tai
quite expensive for a fast food joint hor boo? looks yummy though, will try it soon...hmmm, funny that i didnt noticed carl's since i was at One U (old wing) recently. shall keep my eyes peeled this time
i remember vaguely about this..saw the mouth watering burger..then almost fainted at the price..thats chillis and tgif prices...but must try..but somehow i only go to 1U in a blue moon..
They are back! Yipee! Used to like their burgers a lot last time!
Carl's Jr!!! I never fail to chow down on their burgers when I'm in Singapore.
I should drop by 1-U to do a taste test seeing that the outlets in Singapore are non-halal.
carl's Jr in SIngapore! that's awesome!! Even though you probably didn't like it very much, I pretty much live off of Carl's Jr during hard college times haha I guess i've learned to love it!
I agreed with SC, price way too steep for a fast food joint. I still wanna try it myself but need to think of ways to convince Hubby to go with me. He said McD expensive (he not a fan of burger), wait till he find out how much it costs here. Hehehe.
thanks for the recommendation. i had an A&W Marine Fish burger last nite and it was so disappointingly small. good to know that ther'es a new burger joint, but somehow, ramly burger always win :)
hmm main tipu.. but pre grilled and reheated.. taste ok ah?
i was there last week too but have yet to open. seems like the BK opposite doing the microwave thingy!
looks like carl's jr menu hv expanded and oh my the price! will try it out soon. cant wait. they used to be very very good.
ooh so it's finally open! doesn't sound that promising though but I think I'll just check it out for memory's sake.
Boo_licious, do you mind checking your yahoo e-mail. I've sent you one regarding an article. Pretty urgent. Many thanks. Su A.
That sounds expensive for a burger.
Once a upon a time they used to have an outlet in Port Klang. Just imagine of all places in Port Klang. My husband (then boyfriend lah) used to have lunch there since he was based there. Yummy burger....
boo_licious, were you there during the opening? I was there during lunch time when they officially open.
Seen a few people with their cameras and I am wondering were you around or not. :P
oooh, great that they're back. wonder if ARBYs, WENDYs, will ever make a come back.
YIKES, just saw the price!!!!
aiyo, might as well eat at american chillis....
For that price they really shd grill it fresh.
wmw - I was greedy for the portobello. Guess I should have just eaten the basic burger for RM12
fulltime mom - they shld open an outlet at the bird park as that place is good. Wowee, Max does mushroom soup too, sounds good.
wye jon - I can't remember the prices though but I do remember White Castle's mini burgers.
coketai - we'll send u to taste test if this one is like the USA ones.
sc - walk pass TGIF, BK, Sun Moulin towards Jusco supermarket there. It's after the Dave's Pizza and this Be Element place.
joe - yup, in TGIF, burger is RM19.90++ with fries but no drink, so slightly more pricey but difficult to compare like to like as that's just plain burger.
mycoffee - I vaguely remember chicken wings with bbq sauce rite?
moolah - yup, they use chicken bacon here. Who knew u could make bacon from chooks?
cheesywee - I didn't like the fact I had a better local burger on Sunday for RM10 only and it was freshly grilled but I think the toppings look interesting here.
precious pea - if not burger fan, don't go as sure will not like it as prices are so high.
titahpah - yup, ramly and otai are cheap alternatives but just as long as you don't ask what's the beef content in their burger patties.
teckiee - didn't feel like it's grilled hot and when it's ordered as it came so fast!!!
jackson - I was excited hence I went to check it out but kinda sad and dissapointed.
babe - yr hubby doing MBA rite? BK has a case study there in an operational mgt textbook on how they cut the time, kinda interesting how they keep their burgers fresh.
bee nee - maybe they will improve with time. Usually must give time for new places but I was so excited to try it out.
su - thxs for the email, replied already.
ipohwav - yeah, sad that it's so expensive as it means eating a luxe one is a once a mth indulgence?
flower - wow, didn't know they were at port klang. Guess they expanded a lot.
mikelee - me not priviledged to attend the opening ceremony. This was just us eating this last nite.
fbb - ah, Wendy's had yummy milkshake. My sentiments exactly. I actually walked towards TGIF to check the price out straight away and worked out the comparison.
tummythoz - yup, shld be like restaurant food though vs fast food joint.
haha, for some reason as soon as i saw "carl's jr" all that came into my mind was paris hilton. :P
RM20+ for a fast food burger set??
O_o
It's interesting to see that they've decided to try out the Msian market for the second time round but I don't know how long they will survive with that kind of pricing!
how u take such nice pictures? and how come the photos u uploaded can be so large? can teach? :P
Yeah tried it too....
Found the price a little on the high side for the quality that I get. Wouldnt return and would settle for Chili's Swiss Mushroom burger anytime !!!
jasmine - ah but then paris is now a good girl while it's lindsay lohan who's in trouble.
J - yeah, a lot of people say the same to me also. Oh well, let us see how.
christine - it's in the camera setting, there are various sizes of pixs u can use. Not sure what u're using for yr blog.
tanalan2 - I wasn't blown away, kinda prefer the Rasta's burgers which is definitely freshly made as it's juicy.
wow Must really try la...
Its been so long since I last chowed down a Carl's Burger....
u have burger king, carl's and TGIF on the sme row, Which one would you choose?
Yum! Been many, many years since I had a Carl's Jr (discounting the one I had in Singapore a few months ago)!
saw their mascot - giant star hopping outside the shop today, so stepped in to check their menu but didn't order anything. it seems big so can only try it next time.
bernsy - yup, do give it a try and see what you think
big boys oven - dunno, I think I rather have burger at Azim's Burger shack as it's more satisfying.
elb - I feel so nostalgic when I eat one as I remember the bird park place well.
tekko - yes, the portion is quite big but I still prefer a smaller burger but freshly grilled.
this is definitely the best if u were to compare burger king, mc. The high price definitely justified the quality of the burger. Its the fine restaurant quality burger not fast food.
I've been to the Singapore branch and loved it (mainly for the portions). It was relatively affordable in comparison with other fast food options in Singapore, but considering the prices in Malaysia seems to be approximating Singapore's, I don't particularly think it is worth it.
But it has been a year since I entered a Carl's Jr - if I want to spend that much money on burgers, there is this place call Botak Jones which is located at HDB heartlands. A lot more flavourful than Carls Jr.
In any case, I don't think the 1U Carls Jr is worth it. Maybe once just to try. But if they are going to charge so high, they may as well make the restaurant look less of a fast food joint.
P.S. RM25 is about US$7. That's pretty expensive even in the United States - their burgers go for around US$6.
I hate the circular fried onion rings from the day I was born. I had never eaten a single onion ring, solely for its smell. But I was amazed on how i can finish a whole burger from Carl's together with maybe 2 pieces of onion rings inside it! Their onion rings didn't smell yucky at all! I'll definitely come back here whenever im in OU :D
Do CJ burgers taste the same like the old franchise,guys? Tell me please.During my sceondary schooldays,I can still remember quite a big size CJ burgers compared to others.CJ was in Penang for a short time in the early 90's.Just next door to McDonald in Komtar,Penang.BTW,I miss that free Coke refills too.Any chance that they will open an outlet in Penang anytime soon?Maybe in Queensbay or Gurney Drive.Not in Komtar or Prangin Mall coz Komtar is dying even McDonald is not even there anymore.Maybe I can head up to KL to get a taste of CJ burger.
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