September 3, 2024

Charcoal grilled fare at Carbon fine dine

Deep inside Kota Damansara, PJ is a row of factory lots. We weren’t even sure if we were at the right place until we saw the words Carbon emblazoned across a grey building. Chef David Tay greeted us outside and took us through an amazing 10-course Exploration menu at RM450. Having cut his teeth at Singapore establishments, David returned in 2023 to partner Yeoh Wei Chieh and bought their own place to set up shop.

David has one clear principle – that no customer leaves hungry. We were truly stuffed and stunned at the finesse and creativity of the dishes, many that centred around his love for burning chacoal hence the name Carbon.

The Exploration menu started with:

*Souvlaki raita – sort of like a mini vegetarian taco with shell that had a good crunch to the bite.

*Crystal prawns Arancini – stuffed Italian rice balls, with an Asian twist of sweet and sour pineapple topping that reminded one of laksa.

*Yellow fin tuna polenta – Polenta doesn’t always come out well but as a base for the tuna, it was excellent play of textures, the smooth fish against the grain.

*Hokkaido Scallop with kedondong juice – one of the top votes from me. Delivered raw as ceviche in between slices of avocado, the juice of the usually sharp and sour kedondong somehow tasted sweet juxtaposed against the seafood. Nicely done.

*Duck kapitan – Not usually a fan of ravioli, this one I would order a full plate as a meal. Pulled duck filled the inside of the charcoal pasta skin of the ravioli, littered with tobiko, sitting pretty in kapitan gravy. Another well-executed dish.

*Zucchini flower eggplant – stuffed with babaganosh with yogurt creme fraiche sauce and sumac and harissa. Familiar yet different.

*Cod Chimmicuri – Not just another fish dish, this was prepared in a claypot with a hot and slightly sour gravy that had tomato, coriander, onions and torch flower (bunga kantan). So good, i t should not be eaten on its own – so of course, we had a bit of rice to absorb the delish gravy.

*Signature roasted duck breast tamarind – this was the piece de resistance, finely turned in the grill before us for hours, yet tasting juicy, moist, full of intense flavour. Possibly of the best roasted duck i’ve had.

*Signature claypot rice with duck – nothing is wasted, as small bits of the duck go into this rice ensemble that emitted a nice char and fragrance of being cooked in clay, a distinct specialty by Yeoh. As much as Carbon is deemed a Western fine dine resto, this dish is as Chinese as it comes, and one of the house favourites as guests almost always, says David, asks for this. One mouthful and it’s easy to see why.