Published on 2019-09-3

No trip to Sarawak on the island of Borneo is complete without a visit to Gunung Mulu National Park. This UNESCO World Heritage site is home to magnificent caves and enchanting karst formations in a mountainous rainforest setting.

Mulu National Park

In Beijing, diners can experience the magic of Sarawak and its national park at MULU WFC in WF Central at Wangfujing Street.

A new understanding of Southeast Asian Cuisine

MULU was first founded in 2012. The brand’s founder, Jasmine, comes from Kuching, Sarawak and has a keen understanding of her home state’s cuisine and food across Southeast Asia.

Everyone in Jasmine’s family loves to eat and cook and her grandmother has even cooked for the Malaysian royal family. So when she decided to come to Beijing to introduce Southeast Asian cuisine to diners here, she definitely brought her family’s recipes with her.

The first member of the MULU family, MULU Hutong - which offers private dining by reservation only - is hidden away on the Xinsi Hutong near Zhangzizhong Lu and now serves modern Peranakan cuisine (also known as Nyonya cuisine). The second member of the family, MULU WFC, is China’s first upscale multicultural Southeast Asian restaurant.

MULU WFC hopes to redefine peoples’ preconceptions of Southeast Asian cuisine, showcasing its trend-forward, multicultural side. Every dish on the menu has its own unique personality, influenced by the many diverse cultural influences that have shaped the cuisine of this region, from the bold spicing of Malaysian cuisine to the sour spiciness of Thai cuisine. The menu features dishes from ten different countries: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

MULU Sampler with appetizers from 5 Southeast Asian countries

Together with Jasmine’s family recipes, the diverse cuisines of these 10 very different countries form the heart of the MULU WFC dining experience. Each dish is prepared according to traditional recipes twisted with modern techniques and plating.

Southeast Asian map made of evergreen moss

For Jasmine, MULU WFC is more than just a restaurant; it is a platform for sharing and exchanging culture. The restaurant has already cooperated with many embassies from ASEAN countries and has won many fans among Beijing’s Chinese, Southeast Asian and European community.

MULU WFC’s Signature Dishes

Sarawak Laksa

Based on Jasmine’s grandmother’s recipe, this laksa recipe starts with a broth made from chicken bones, prawn shells, and seven different vegetables that is simmered for five hours, which is similar to the technique for making French consommé. The broth is then combined with 36 different herbs and spices to create an intense, layered flavoured soup. Unlike Singapore laksa, Sarawak laksa uses less coconut milk, and includes rice vermicelli noodles topped with bean sprouts, shredded chicken, shredded omelette, tiger prawns, puffed tofu and garnished with coriander and fried shallots. It is worth mentioning that the late renowned celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain even called Sarawak Laksa "breakfast of the gods".

Uncle Gui's Chicken Satay

The recipe for MULU WFC’s satay and its soulful peanut sauce was given to Jasmine by the son of Uncle Gui, the most popular satay vendor outside a cinema in the 70’s in Jasmine’s hometown when she was growing up. The secret formula has the perfect balance of sweetness, savouriness, and 18 kinds of spices, perfect for dipping charcoal-grilled skewers of chicken, thus the name is given to pay tribute to the late Uncle Gui.

Musang King Durian Cendol

After a spicy meal, nothing beats the sweet and delicious sliver of icy-cold cendol down your throat. Cendol is a cold sweet dessert popular across Southeast Asia that is made with pandan-scented green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, and crushed ice. MULU WFC’s version adds a healthy serving of highly fragrant Musang King durian imported from Malaysia to create the perfect dessert to enjoy after a delicious meal.

Other Recommended Dishes

Appetizers

Umai Nyamai

Umai is a local Sarawakian ethnic Melanau dish. If you want to experience a taste of Sarawak then there is no better dish than umai. This fresh dish was traditionally eaten by fishermen. In MULU WFC, sashimi-grade sliced hamachi (yellow tail) is mixed with diced onions, chillies, cilantro and special lime juice and then layered on slices of lotus root for a crispy textural contrast. The dish has a delicate balance of spiciness, sweetness, and sourness. We can also call it a Southeast Asian version of ceviche.

Curries

MULU WFC’s menu features five different styles of curry from five different countries: Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Many diners will be familiar with Thai-style curries but fewer will have sampled a Cambodia style curry.

Malay Lamb Shank Curry

Where the Cambodian curry is light and fresh, the Malay lamb shank curry is intense and fragrant. The lamb is cooked for hours in a sauce made from more than 20 different spices until the meat falls off the bone.

Royal Khmer Fish Curry

A recipe from the Royal Palace, MULU WFC’s Royal Khmer Fish Curry starts with a wet spice paste made from galangal, fresh turmeric, chillies, lemongrass, and coriander root, combines with yellow tail, carrot, baby aubergines, and green beans, as well as sweet potato for balancing notes of sweetness.

Tiger Prawn & Fish Head Curry

This mamak-style (Indian Muslim) fish head curry is said to be the favourite of the late Singapore Premier Lee Kuan Yew. In MULU WFC, yellow tail fish head is first oven-baked for extra fragrance then slow-cooked in a curry broth made with over 20 spices, before finally adding succulent tiger prawns, eggplants, okra, string beans and cherry tomatoes. Spicy, savoury and sweet, a touch of tamarind lends sourness to enhance the umami flavor of the entire dish. This is a dish many Southeast Asians, especially Malaysians and Singaporeans, cried out loud saying they are back home again after just having the first bite!

Street Food

When we think of Southeast Asian cuisine, often one of the first things we think about is the region’s vibrant street food culture. Perhaps the most sensational street food dish on the menu at MULU WFC is the Penang Seafood Char Kway Teow.

Penang Seafood Char Kway Teow

This quick-fried noodle dish with tiger prawns, scallops, squid, bean sprouts, and Chinese chives is full of the smoky charry flavour of the wok, also known as "wokhey" amongst the Malaysians, Hong Kongers and Singaporeans; the smell when it hits the table will transport you straight to the streets of Georgetown.

Noodles

Special Beef Pho

Noodles play a major role on the MULU WFC menu. Representing Vietnam, the special beef pho is based on a recipe passed down through three generations from the best Vietnamese pho restaurant in Melbourne and has been highly-praised by the Embassy of Vietnam in Beijing. The pho broth is cooked slowly with loads of beef bones, onions, ginger and spices for 10 hours for maximum flavour and is topped with sliced beef, beef balls, and beef cheek.

Drinks

The right drink pairing can make an already great meal perfect. MULU WFC offers a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, some traditional and some new creations inspired by Southeast Asian flavours.

Pandan Lemongrass Mocktail

A thirst-quenching mocktail which is boiled with palm sugar and loads of fresh pandan leaves and lemongrass. It is said that this mocktail makes everyone happy as it also has health benefits such as the ability to relieve stress and reduce blood sugar.

MULU’s Limenade

MULU’s Limenade is the restaurant’s own take on a cold drink that is popular in Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, among other countries. The sweet-sour tart balance of the limeade is the perfect partner for hot and spicy dishes like curry or Sarawak laksa.

Es Pokat

Avocado fans will love this smooth and sweet Indonesian avocado smoothie while those in search of something a little bit stronger can order the Jungle Bird, a tiki cocktail originally created by Aviary Bar in Hilton Kuala Lumpur back in the 1970s featuring rum, Campari, pineapple, lime juice, and sugar syrup.

Jungle Bird

Restaurant Atmosphere

The interior design of MULU WFC is inspired by Gunung Mulu National Park, which has the largest cave in the world. As guests walk into the restaurant, they are greeted with a granite boulder emblazoned with the restaurant’s logo – shammy, which is carved out of a solid piece of white marble. Further into the restaurant, the curved white shelf is designed to evoke Mount Mulu’s Peak overlooking the bar counter representing the famous karst pinnacles while a skylight at the end of the restaurant hints at the national park’s famous caves (which are home to four million bats), complete with an abstract lighting feature made up of 1,380 bat-inspired decorations.

Southeast Asian elements take centre stage throughout the restaurant, from the traditional Sarawak ethnic Melanua motifs to the specially designed textiles used for the table settings to the map of the entire Southeast Asian region on the wall created using evergreen moss. MULU WFC takes diners on a journey to explore the Southeast Asian cultural heritage through authentic cuisines that taste just like they do in Jasmine's home.

---