Huckleberry Food & Fare
Address: 2G & 4G, Jalan Medan Setia 2, Plaza Damansara, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 017 231 1898
Open daily: 7.30am to 10.30pm
Walk through Huckleberry Food & Fare in Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur and you’ll instantly feel consumed by a dash of Christmas spirit.
This is a restaurant where nothing has been spared in terms of festive merriment. Baubles and ornaments hang from the ceiling and glide along the walls, snaking their way to the exterior, where shiny lights sparkle in the daytime and sprinkle magic once night descends.
“Christmas is a big deal in our family – we love to celebrate Christmas. The decorations at the restaurant are beautiful because for us, that’s the holiday that we celebrate at home and we always want to bring that same joy to everyone because it’s a season that’s about warmth and gatherings, friends and family and enjoying food and company,” says Sasha Sabapathy, one of the founders of the restaurant.
It is this warm, family-friendly feeling that has boosted Huckleberry’s organic growth and popularity in the area through its 10 years in business. In fact, Huckleberry’s inception was grounded in Puan Sri Shantini Sabapathy – Sasha’s mother – and her fondness for cooking up a storm.
Sasha and her family opened Huckleberry 10 years ago and continue to be deeply immersed in the family business. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
“The restaurant really started with my mother’s love for food. So I grew up in a household where there were literally shelves and shelves of cookbooks. And my mother would always be poring over them and making different recipes from that.
“And my grandmother – my mother’s mother – was an avid baker. She actually had a home baking business and she would bake wedding cakes, fruit cakes, loaf cakes, sugee cakes, marble cakes – basically all sorts of Eurasian-style cakes. So food was a huge part of my household,” says Sasha.
About a decade ago, Shantini felt that something was missing in the KL dining scene in terms of high-quality cakes and breads.
This realisation propelled her to open Huckleberry, which very quickly established a firm foothold in the area and became a beloved neighbourhood staple, famed for its fabulous selection of cakes and food.
Every inch of the eatery has been decked out with Christmas decorations, as Sasha and her family love the festive season. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Ten years later, the little restaurant has expanded slightly to cater to swelling numbers of diners and now occupies two lots in Damansara Heights.
The brand also has a branch in Bangsar Shopping Centre, a presence in Intermark Mall and Jaya Grocer at Gardens Mall; as well as another outlet opening soon in the new KLGCC Mall.
And yet, the eatery remains 100% family-owned with Sasha, her mother, father and brother all taking active roles in keeping their legacy restaurant growing and thriving.
Huckleberry will be releasing its Christmas dine-in specials from 1 December 2025 onwards through to the end of December in both the Damansara Heights as well as BSC outlets. In keeping with the familial streak, most of these cheery Christmas recipes are based on things that Sasha and her family like to eat over the festive period.
The Turkey, Cranberry and Camembert Toastie (RM26) for instance is a clever ode to Christmas leftovers.
The turkey, cranberry and camembert toastie turns Christmas leftovers into a brand-new hearty meal. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Here, shredded chicken is paired with a house-made cranberry compote and melted camembert straddled between sourdough multigrain bread in what proves to be joyous, triumphant celebration of familiar flavours and staples couched in brand new configurations.
In this iteration, the turkey is pliant and tender and the cranberry compote imbues sweet, fruity notes to the meal while the cheese adds a layer of hedonism that reminds you that festivals are all about overindulgence – diets be damned!
Next, try the Roasted Chicken and Chestnut Roulade (RM46). Essentially, a deconstructed version of the classic roast Christmas bird, here, chicken breasts are stuffed with a chestnut filling, roasted and served with a cranberry sauce and chicken jus.
A reimagining of a classic roast chicken, this chicken roulade stuffed with chestnut is a creative force to be reckoned with. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
The highlight here is the succulence and tenderness of the chicken, which is incredibly malleable yet magically – not dry. The chestnut stuffing adds rustic, earthy notes to the meal, which is elevated by the uplifting spark of the cranberry sauce and the wholesome qualities of the jus served on the side.
From the pasta family, indulge in the Slow-Braised Duck Ragu Rigatoni (RM39) which features rigatoni tossed in a slow-braised duck ragu simmered with mushrooms, carrots and aromatic herbs.
The pasta is cooked to al dente perfection, retaining just the right amount of chew and bite but the true heart of this dish is the duck ragu, which is robustly flavoured, intensely hearty and the ultimate good, old-fashioned soul food.
The holiday theme continues with the Spinach & Artichoke Cannelloni (RM38). This instant charmer is made up of cannelloni filled with spinach, artichoke and ricotta, slathered in a cranberry-infused arabbiata (spicy Italian sauce fashioned out of tomatoes, chillies, garlic and olive oil) and topped with a basil pesto.
The spinach and artichoke cannelloni is a dish that represents the ultimate in holiday indulgence. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
This is honestly one of those dishes that is impossible to fault. The cannelloni is stuffed to the brim and oozes with ooey-gooey cheesy goodness and this hedonism is taken to nirvanic new heights courtesy of the arabiatta and basil pesto which add rustic musculature and an elegant herbaceous slant to the meal.
Huckleberry is famed for its cakes and breads so do yourself a favour and indulge in the eatery’s range of festive sweet treats that are guaranteed to get your Christmas off on a sweet high note.
Of what’s on offer, try the Italian-inspired Pandoro Bread Pudding (RM24).
“My husband is Italian and he’s from the north of Italy where Pandoro is like the most popular Christmas dish. So Pandoro is like a very light sponge-like cake with vanilla and orange flavour notes to it. And it’s baked in a star-shaped mould and they dust vanilla icing sugar on it,” says Sasha.
The Pandoro is an ode to an Italian-style cake that is a holiday favourite of Sasha’s husband, who hails from the north of Italy. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
In the restaurant’s iteration of Pandoro, it is crafted bread pudding style with buttery Italian Pandoro soaked in vanilla custard and packed with dried fruits, crystallised ginger and warm holiday spices. The result is a soft, warm dessert that is buoyed by musky vanilla undertones and the sweetness of the dried fruits, which give this treat a festive kick-off.
Then there is the Black Forest Chocolate Trifle (RM26), a multi-decker surprise that features layers of chocolate and cherries in a contemporary twist on a classic. This is a dessert that is a little like an excavation project – each deep dive into its depths yields brand new discoveries and a whole wealth of flavour profiles.
The black forest trifle is a multi-layered sweet treat with a festive heart. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Sasha says the effort that has been put into the Christmas dine-in menu is indicative of how fiercely the family is determined to keep quality (and satisfaction) levels high, whether expressed through their Christmas meals or their everyday fare.
“You can literally tell that we’re a very small family-run business because we’re very specific about how the consumer is going to interact with our products. So we continue to make sure that people are still enjoying the same Huckleberry that they’ve always loved since we first opened our doors in Damansara Heights,” says Sasha.
Dining and Cooking