Humble Nana: New Temptations & Year-End Treats

Evolving into an enticing restaurant with far-reaching Japanese inspirations, Humble Nana now explores everything from yummy yakitori to soulful seafood, rice bowls to ramen, with a few fun surprises on this voyage. Here's a look at what to hanker for at Humble Nana, plus a peek at its Holiday Menu to celebrate the year-end festive season.

Take a table amid Humble Nana's contemporary neon-lit interior or its greenery-surrounded outdoors to savour the sultry smokiness of a one-month-old kushiyaki selection, showcasing skewered meat and vegetables as well as other gorgeously grilled dishes.

Be it Australian chilled rib eye beef (RM20 for two sticks) or chicken (RM9.90 for two sticks), it's worth sinking your teeth into these, subtly seasoned with salt and shoyu, finished over the warmth of charcoal, slicked up with Humble Nana's special sauce, with a butter-shoyu base that brings a rich, velvety dimension to these protein pleasures. Classic non-meat skewers like shiitake mushrooms and okra are also available.

Charcoal-cooked squid (RM12) and eggplant (RM9.90) also shine, firm to the bite and juicy to the chew, chilli-dusted for extra dynamics of heat to complement the smouldering virtues of the cooking. Humble Nana boasts plenty of small and large plates that can merrily be shared, such as a tempura platter of enoki mushrooms, zucchini and lotus roots, sprinkled with tobiko for bursts of umami and completed with a spicy mayo sauce for sparks of zest (RM19.90).

If you're seeking a quick lunch stop or a quality dinner destination in Bangsar South, Humble Nana fits the bill with bowls brimming with heartiness: The restaurant's most beloved smash is the Japanese curry rice karaage, heaped with large chunks of fried chicken with potato-laced curry, rounded out with a really runny-yolked egg - superbly satisfying (RM20.90).

The miso curry lamb rice bowl is pretty intriguing too - the tender, sesame-showered meat is potently matched with thick curry that balances its intrinsic sweetness with the savouriness of miso, plus plenty of lively corn and shoyu-soaked ajitsuke tamago (RM22.90).

If you prefer noodles, Humble Nana isn't lacking in that either: The shio ramen is another bestseller, crowd-pleasing and comforting with grilled chicken atop a steaming-hot bowl in a light dashi clear broth (RM14.90, very reasonable for ramen). 

On a hot afternoon, however, our top bet might be the zaru cold soba, kept cool on ice cubes, with a dipping sauce that's chilling on the side, conveying notes of miso, shoyu and wasabi that enhance the buckwheat noodles buoyantly for wholesome, vegetarian-friendly sustenance (RM14.90).

Beyond traditional Japanese temptations, Humble Nana offers vibrant, contemporary cafe-style specialities with Japanese and Southeast Asian inflections. Smoked duck salad is jazzed up with sriracha sauce for tangy heat (RM13.90), charcoal-bun burgers are bulked up with house-made Norwegian salmon patties, paired with fries mixed with seaweed flakes for harmonious hints of brininess (RM23), and kurogama panna cotta infuses the nutty earthiness of black sesame into this delicately creamy dessert, layered with red bean pasta and peanut butter crystal candy (RM8.90).

For fuss-free festive feasting in Bangsar South, Humble Nana also has the goods to generate Yuletide glee, from now until Christmas and even into the New Year: The roast chicken is a season-suitable choice, as moist as a lovingly home-cooked treat, served in a brown sauce demi-glace with grilled potatoes, cauliflower gratin and sauteed (RM28.90). Wash it down an iced peppermint chocolate beverage, which might make it feel like wintertime in The Sphere (RM15); other current promotional dishes include roast lamb and char-grilled beef.

The coffee tastes fresh and robust at Humble Nana, so come in for flat white (RM10) in the morning or in between meals for a perk-me-up; alternatively, a hojicha latte (RM12), Humble Nana's latest beverage, stays in line with the Japanese themes here.  

Plus, Humble Nana is also a participating venue in Eat Drink KL's coffee pass subscription, so you can enjoy espresso-based coffee at a discounted rate here.

For reviving refreshments, take a dance with the Mango Tango Tea (RM12; jasmine green tea, made fruity and full-bodied with mango syrup and mango slices) and the Iced Gula Melaka (RM11; milk with Humble Nana's own-blended gula Melaka syrup for nectarous Malaysian rejuvenation).

Many thanks to Humble Nana for having us here.

Humble Nana

UG-08, Level UG, The Sphere, Bangsar South City, Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Open Mon-Sun, 11am-10pm. Tel: 03-2242-0898