Food Explorer & Home Chef
Thanks to a special Cathay Pacific collab with eat X dignity and Green Monday, there’s a new plant-based menu to look forward to. To catalyse positive change for the people and communities, the collab aims to promote children and youth development in Malaysia, while supporting …
Wynns Coonawarra Estate is an Australian icon with a legacy of world-renowned cabernets that reflect the pinnacle Coonawarra terroirs. The winery is proud to release a new tier of wines that represent a creative renaissance of Wynns’ early pioneering years. Named Reframed, the tier comprises …
Multi-award winning Marini’s on 57 is celebrating a decade of good food, fine wine and great company. Since its opening in June 2012, the luxury dining and entertainment establishment has become an iconic rooftop destination, offering the closest view of the Petronas Twin Towers and panoramic views of the city.
“When we first started, it was to share my passion for food and my vision for a world-class venue with the Malaysian public and the world. In addition to that, I have made it a point to promote Italy in my life and my work because it is a part of me. I believe that food is love and my love for food has led me to where I am today,” said Cavaliere Modesto, founder and owner of The Marini’s Group.
“It has been a rewarding experience on many different levels and we are grateful for the many relationships we have built over the years. We would like to extend a heartfelt ‘Thank you’ to our guests, staff and partners for their support and we look forward to sharing many more delightful moments together,” he added.
This significant 10-year milestone is marked by festivities in October following the anniversary theme is Viva Marini: Guests can look forward to:
To showcase its fine contemporary Italian cuisine, the establishment is offering a tantalising 10-course Founder’s Menu at the Marini’s on 57 Restaurant. Guests will be able to savour reinterpretations of the 10 popular dishes which have been served over the years. This includes Pan-Seared Foie Gras. Hokkaido Scallops, Seared Cod Fish, a choice of pasta with lobster or truffles, and desserts. The Founder’s Menu will be available from Oct 1..
For cocktail lovers, there’s the Viva Marini Guest Shift Series which kicks off at the Marini’s on 57 Bar on Oct 10. Guest bartenders lined up include Rizal Junior, Bastien Michaud and Symphony Loo. Junior was the head bartender of the pioneer team at Marini’s on 57 and the Sabahan returns to his old stomping grounds to work his brand of mixology magic for one night.
Michaud is Pernod Ricard’s brand ambassador for Martell, Mumm and Perrier-Jouet. The Frenchman is a food and drink enthusiast with extensive knowledge of wine and spirits. Catch him in action on October 17. Loo is the Campari Group’s Regional Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia and the On Premise Channel Manager for South East Asia and India. She rose to prominence in 2017 when she was awarded the “Rising Star of the Year” at the Singapore Bar Awards and when she later won the Codigo Competition that same year. Loo will be showcasing her skills on October 20.
The Viva Marini Bartending Competition will be giving away cash prize of RM10,000 to the top bartender while second and third place will receive RM5,000 and RM3,000 respectively. For the preliminary round, participants will need to send in an original cocktail recipe and a video of themselves making an open format cocktail of their choice. The videos may be submitted from October 3 – 30 and 10 finalists will be shortlisted.
The selected bartenders will have to present three original cocktails – two themed ones using certain spirits, and one open format cocktail – in a live event at the Marini’s on 57 Lounge on Nov 14. Visit www.marinisgroup.com and follow Marini’s on 57 on Instagram (www.instagram.com/marinison57/ ) for more deets.
The Marini’s on 57 Viva Marini 10th Anniversary Party will be on October 20 and will feature guest deejay and Grammy Award nominee Timo Maas. The German deejay and producer returns to take over the decks for the night and will spin his brand of electronic dance music.
Marini’s on 57 encompasses three unique spaces – a first class bar with acclaimed architectural design, complemented by a prestigious lounge and exquisite Italian cotemporary fine dining restaurant.
Add: Level 57, Menara 3 Petronas. For reservations, contact +603 2386 6030 or email reservations@marinisgroup.com.
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 …