Food Explorer & Home Chef
Retail destination Isetan The Gardens unveiled a refreshed look and focused offerings of brands and service, alongside an all-new dining floor. The entry of “The Table”, Isetan’s dining concept features a collection of 7 specially curated restaurants and a Bar, highlighting authentic and premium Japanese …
Street food is undeniably an integral part of every Malaysian. As a beer born and raised in the streets of Asia, Tiger continued to champion this platform even when dining out was not possible in the recent years. After two years of hosting its fan-favourite …
Here’s another reason to visit The Crane KL … at the recent wine pairing dinner, we had the pleasure of Damian White, Wirra Wirra Vineyeards sales director who elaborated on the wines and vineyard history.
Adelaide Savignon Blanc 2021: fragrant with lime, passionfruit, mandarin, fresh herbs and jasmine. Described as a fruit salad of flavours, combined with citrus acidity for fresh and zesty mouthfeel. Palate is long on flavour, crisp, clean finish to start the evening.
The Lost Watch Riesling 2020: freshly cut lime and apple aromas with subtle creamy, lavender and spice nuances. Citrus and fresh apple fruit characters dominate palate, balanced with natural acidity. Paired with tuna tartare, salmon mousse on cracker, seared scallop. My fav white for the nite.
Church Block 2019: deep plum with vivid red hues, fragrant aromatics with cassis, plum and raspberry, dried herb and clove spice complexities. Palate has blueberry, plum and mulberry fruits. Paired with Prawn chowder with spicy carrot puree. Very easy to drink red, chowder though failed to shine as was thick and starchy, prawn goodness didn’t come thru.
Woodhenge Shiraz 2019: deep red with bright crimson hue. Aromatic plums and mulberry infused with bitter chocolate, anissed, cinnamon and sweet vanilla oak. Ripe plum and dark berry fruits support lovely rich mouth-filling wine – quintessential McLaren Vale shiraz. Paired with Moroccan style braised lamb with tomato risotto. Mint crumble gave added texture to otherwise normal risotto, lamb truly tender. Really liked the character and body of this shiraz.
Vintage Bell Cabernet Savignon 2017: deep claret with crimson rim. Fragrant red and black currant nose, with forest floor earthiness and briary, tobacco-leaf character. Peaty, cedary influence of French oak. Ripe core of blackcurrant cut by bright acid line, long spine of powdery tannin travels length of palate for a savoury finish. Paired with Grilled wagyu ribeye. Best dish of the night, strong pairing. I’m not one for heavy, spicy reds, but dinner mate @Joanneteoal loved this the best.
Great sweet ending with dark chocolate cremeux and morello cherry leather. Not big on dessert, but this I had almost 2 helpings of this. Tells you a lot. This is the first of many wine (and hopefully other concoctions) pairing dinners to come.
Crane KL is located at the four-storey Selangor Grocer’s Guild which has a neoclassical facade on Jalan Sultan. Boasting a menu of western Asian fusion, the gorgeous restaurant switches ambient at night and looks even cozier, and upstairs is a hidden cocktail bar with a real sexy list of drinks.
Add: 78, Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur
Long before bingsu and kakigori became a thing, there was ice kacang. Some 65 years later, Kwong Wah is still going strong with its iconic ice dessert. Its new 3,000sq ft cafe in Pavilion Bukit Jalil is testament to its heritage, catering to a new …
Celebrate this Mid-Autumn with your family, friends and loved ones with Celestial Treasures, premium mooncakes from EQ. Indulge in either the traditional baked mooncakes or pretty handcrafted snow-skin mooncakes, symbolising completeness and togetherness, These mooncakes are presented in custom-made gift boxes and make ideal gifts to …
Once again, the Oriental Group of Restaurants is hosting the much anticipated Annual Celebrity Chefs Signature Feast, this time, prepared by the award-winning culinary master, Chef Frankie Woo in collaboration Oriental Group’s Senior Executive Chef Wong Chin Leong along with the support of his team. The gourmet feast features seven exclusive dinners across The Oriental Group of Restaurants from Aug 22 – 30.
This year’s highlight is Omakase Fine Dining inspired by Japanese cuisine whereby chef Frankie will be working hand-in-hand with chef Chin Leong and team, curating an eight-course menu using only the freshest ingredients.
For this unique collaboration of traditional Chinese cuisine with an Omakase approach, Frankie has prepared unique dishes, including Spanish baby lamb legs imported into Malaysia for the first time, whole 3-head abalone, fresh salmon, giant fresh water prawns, and ocean Garoupa, for a truly unforgettable feast.
Malaysia-born chef Frankie has over 45 years of culinary experience as head chef at numerous 5-star hotels and top-rated restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore. In 2004, he was invited by the James Beard Foundation to be one of Asia’s guest chefs to showcase his culinary skills to chefs around the world. Since its inception, the Foundation had presented the James Beard Award annually, which ranks as the United States’ most reputable award for the culinary industry, also often regarded as the Oscars of the culinary industry. In addition, he also won a gold medal at the Salon Culinaire ’94 competition in Singapore, amongst many other international awards.
Chef Chin Leong have over 30-years of experience in the culinary industry and has created numerous signature dishes for the Group.
Appetiser: Forget Korean fried chicken, garlic chicken wings never tasted this good before; succulent, full of flavour that pops in the mouth, paired together with a unique gimbap coated with crispy seaweed outside and otak-otak in the centre.
Starter: Fresh salmon tartare and roe, easily surpassed all versions of cerviche or tartare in memory, sitting in a simple juice of choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), lime and pineapple. Bits of choi po (preserved vegetable) speckled the fish, adding a touch of crunch and slight saltiness for layered flavours.
First main: luxurious whole abalone, while not an unusual dish, came with luscious gravy enriched with abalone stock and seafoody heartiness, good to be slurped down to the very last drop. Not all dumplings are equal as this was obviously far superior, stuffed with the perfect concoction of minced meat, prawns and other secret ingredients to make one heck of a dumpling.
Second main: tender roasted Spanish baby lamb leg paired with salsa and Indian poppadom for added texture and spice. I would have preferred this slightly undercooked for a juicier finish but Frankie opted for a medium well-doneness to cater to diners unaccustomed to Western-style undercooked meat. Excellent marination with ginger, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, mustard but I’ll bet chef Frankie had some other secret herbs up his sleeve. How else would you account for the amazing depth of flavour and umami contained within each bite?
Third Main: Fresh water prawn lighten coated with breadcrumb in special sauce that was milk and sweet spicy chilli sauce. An interesting interpretation, though wasn’t bowled over by the creamy sauce. That’s just my individual preference as other diners loved it.
Final Main: back to traditional steamed fish – a hybrid of garoupa and giant garoupa that revealed sweet flesh light and flaky, accompanied by beautifully balanced bean paste sauce with distinct flavour notes of sweet, spicy, salty in harmony. This would have gone swell with a bowl of fluffy white rice, not that I had any room left in my tummy!
Encore dish: as always, rice to end a perfectly well-executed splendid meal, going beyond the ordinary with wild truffle rice and iberico ribs. Compared to earlier creations, this seemed almost bland, but only because chef chose to highlight the subtle earthiness of the truffle with the sweetness of the braised meat in the rice cooked in superior stock soup.
Dessert: a fitting end of coconut and ice cream, spin-off the mango puddings from dimsum shops, the springy jelly at the bottom plus the rich mango cream and young coconut flesh was quite different from usual offerings. Rich, creamy and fulfilling … this is when we roll out of the restaurant with stuffed silly bellies and happy contented smiles.
A rare opportunity indeed for a refined Chinese Omakase culinary journey, the special seven nights only eight-course menu is priced at RM300++ per person, with a minimum party of four while a 10-person table is RM2888++.
For reservation, call:
RUYI (Pork Free) – Aug 22 (03-2083 0288)
Oriental Treasures – Aug 23 (03-2242 2382)
Oriental Pavilion – Aug 24 (03-7956 9288)
The Han Room – Aug 25 (03-2284 8833)
Noble Mansion – Aug 26 (03-7932 3288)
Oriental Star – Aug 29 (03-9134 8488)
Noble House – Aug 30 (03-2145 8822)
The Carlsberg Smooth Draught ‘Real Spicy, Real Smooth’ dining exBEERience contest saw 100 lucky winners and their partners being rewarded with the coveted prize of experiencing contemporary Indian cuisine paired with Carlsberg’s signature refreshing smooth brew, Carlsberg Smooth Draught, in gastronomic symphony. Spearheaded by culinary …
I first tasted Churn’s ice cream in Sept 2020 during the first Lockdown when they had a giveaway. I still have fond memories of that delish Earl Grey ice cream! Fast forward almost 2 years later, today Churn has a full-fledged shop with more than …
Thong Kee Cafe is an old established name that has been around for 3 decades. The original cafe in Bentong, Pahang was started by Wong Mun Thong, and it still exists today, famous for its 1+1 Hainan coffee plus tea. Prior to his foray into F&B, Mun Thong had experience as a renovation worker, sales rep, insurance manager and cook.
Having evolved from the old school kopitiam, it dropped “kopitiam” in its name and adopted the word “cafe” instead and amazingly, became a lot more hip and attracted a much younger crowd. Today there are 9 outlets around the Klang Valley, and most of them attracting long queues.
Despite the Sea Park outlet being in my hood for years, I avoided it for the longest time because 1. I hate queuing and crowds 2. It’s just kopi and toast la. Then, when a friend back all the way Australia raved about it, I decided to find out what the hype was once and for all.
And yes, there was already a long line when I got there at 11am. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long. Verdict? The onsen egg was perfectly half-boiled, the yolk almost orange-hued. Kampung eggs perhaps, or it better be something marvellous at Rm3.40 for just 2 eggs.
The famed croissant with ham and cheese was frankly unremarkable as it cannot compare to the flaky, crisp yet chewy-centred croissants offered at more modern cafes. The toast (normal coffeeshop bread) with ham was crusty and buttery, and a lot more scrumptious. The breakfast muffin with otak-otak was interesting and commendable, though quite small.
We also tried the claypot noodles (lo shi fun) – not bad, tasty but lacked more of the thick black caramel sauce and the fragrance associated with claypot-cooking. Probably it was poured in later and not really cooked in it? The popular nasi lemak from one of the stalls was good but not amazing – I would have liked more kick to the sweetish sambal. The Prawn noodles and Wantan mee seemed tempting from afar – next round.
I cannot resist curry puffs – the style is similar to the ones sold in Ikea, but a little more filled with potato and tiny bits of meat, at a more premium RM2.50 each (3 in a set). Not bad la.
Living up to its reputation, the Hainanese kopi mixed with tea was indeed delicious, and the coffee itself fragrant, well-balanced and moderately “kaw”. A nice change from Western All Day Breakfast, a meal here is comforting and soul-food for those who long for nostalgia, but at premium prices. Kopi average about RM4 per cup while the toast varieties are from RM5 to 8 (approx).
Think I’ll stick to making my own imperfect eggs at home. But I don’t mind dropping by to pick up the kopi.
Add: 33, Jalan 21/1, Sea Park, Petaling Jaya (1 of 9 branches)
Pioneering the efforts of helping people eat better, Tasty Australia presented a series of Chef’s Table degustation menu based on Cross-Culture Omakase using Australian ingredients led by Celebrity Chef Daniel Green. In collaboration with World Gourmet, Chef’s Table OMAKASE features menus specially curated by five …