Wine and dine on nyonya and Chinese accents at DS Wine

It was instant reconnection with chef Julia Ung as we shared food stories and nyonya history at her latest abode DS Wine. Together with chef Onion, they make up Jung & Co, taking care of the food aspect at wine bar DS Wine. We had a succession of small sharing plates that boasted nyonya nuances with chef Onion’s Chinese heritage shining thru each creative dish, with excellent wine pairing recommendations by Happy and David. 

I declare that all Scotch Eggs should be made this way henceforth! A flavour bomb to an otherwise boring English snack plate, the century egg in the middle topped with bunga kantan (torch ginger flower) made this ensemble outta this world. Probably one of my top fav dishes for the night. But only if you like century egg otherwise, move along, nothing to see here. 

I loved, loved, loved the pork liver pate topped with cracklings paired with the Chinese black olive butter, to be slathered on fragrant round mantou. Each serving comes with 3 mantou but you can easily eat another basket of 3 buns with the given pate/butter portion. Sinfully rich and savoury, this also goes into my must-order list.

The other amazing thing being the simple banana with salted egg crumbs on roasted banana and kaya toast – a dessert to die for, the strong almost simultaneously sweet and salty flavours hit the tongue and your palate goes into alive mode, begging for more.  

I also wanted more of the Tsukune, or more accurately, the marvellous sauce with pineapple and sweet potato and dunno-what other sorcery which made it irresistible. That’s not to say the other dishes were any less creative – Angus Slice paired with calamari and squid ink base was an unusual combination that was a bit mind-boggling yet weirdly wonderful and addictive.

Other dishes that we had included Pekasam, a very unusual Malaysian salad that was like a version of ulam but given chef Julia’s own interpretation with young papaya leaves, pegaga and daun kesom; otak-otak croquette; prawn pancake; tang yuen – glutinous rice with shiitake, kucaijin hua ham, dried shrimp and celtuce – reminded me of the Hakka abacus dish; and ceviche with chef Onion’s touch that gave it a Asam laksa nuance.

And to top it all off, the rum and raisin ice cream packed a heck of a punch on top of tapai!

Every dish had been given attention to detail, with interesting flavour notes that made each one unique and stand on its own merit. This is not a place where you eat and run, but where you have to sit to enjoy the wine, and savour and appreciate each precious morsel cooked up by the Jung team. Thank you Julia and Onion for a most memorable meal. Can’t wait to go back! 

Add: 12, Jalan SS 20/10, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya. hp: 012-857 6870