Food Explorer & Home Chef
For this coming Mid-Autumn Festival, Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur offers a selection of artisanal creations by chef Ng Meng Loong, dim sum and dessert maestro at Yun House, the Hotel’s Michelin-selected Cantonese restaurant. This year’s mooncake gift box features a specially commissioned design by …
Revisiting a cherished chapter in Malaysia’s fine dining history, EQ brings back Chalet, once regarded the pinnacle of fine dining during the early days of Malaysia’s culinary history. Returning as a limited edition dining experience hosted at The Conservatory, Level 3, a visit to Chalet …
Ayam Brand is giving baked beans a bold new image in Malaysian kitchens, and rediscovering how local flavours and creativity can transform a humble pantry staple into a brand new dish. Long associated with Western cuisine, baked beans are now being reinterpreted with distinctly local influences, taking centre stage in Malaysian meals.
That’s the spirit behind Makan Lain Macam, Ayam Brand’s celebration of our food culture. Malaysians have a special way of making food their own through reinventing, remixing, and localising whatever ends up on the table.
Available in Original, Light, and Cheese variants, Ayam Brand Baked Beans are crafted to be both versatile and convenient, while packed with classic rich and hearty flavours.
Often seen in the classic pairing with toast next to eggs and sausages on a “mat salleh” big breakfast, now Ayam Brand is rethinking the beans. Based on Makan Lain Macam campaign, you get something familiar, comforting and proudly Malaysian! Taking inspiration from our local Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisines, Ayam Brand offers baked beans in a delicious new take:
“Ayam Brand has been part of Malaysian kitchens for over 130 years. The iconic red and yellow can isn’t just a product, it’s a familiar presence in generations of homes,” says Teoh Wei Ling, Head of Marketing at Ayam Brand. “Among the local consumers, baked beans have always been seen as something ‘Western’. But with Semua Pasti Kacang, we’re showing how easily they can also belong on the Malaysian dinner table. Makan Lain Macam is about embracing the way Malaysians cook — with heart, creativity, and comfort.”
High in protein and rich in fibre, a can of baked beans is an easy everyday choice, whether you’re a student, a busy parent, or just someone looking for a quick, satisfying meal after a long day. More importantly, just like all Ayam Brand products, they contain no preservatives.
Available in two sizes: 230g and 425g, Ayam Brand Baked Beans are stocked in major supermarkets nationwide and on Shopee and Lazada via Ayam Brand’s Official Stores.
More Makan Lain Macam recipes at www.ayambrand.com.my/recipes,
Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur and Four Seasons Resort Langkawi has successfully raised RM89,520 for Terry Fox Run held on May 18 in Kl, and June 14 in Langkawi, in support of cancer research. “We are honoured to support the Terry Fox Run and its mission …
By sheer luck, I managed to get 1 free pizza, which was part of 1MORE Pizza’s opening promo. Top-tier toppings on 72-hour fermented pizza dough and you get light, crisp pizzas, baked in a brick oven for 90 seconds, seasoned with Grana Padano, pecorino and …
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A welcome addition to Lucky Garden in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, Ibu Ruby’s offers Malay/Indonesian street food, dishes that owner Muhammad Imran Abdullah (one of the co-founders of the Muslim-friendly Italian restaurant Positano Risto) grew up eating. Sitting right at the corner lot of a row of shops, the decor is simple, similar to a warung but better. The name of the restaurant is inspired by Ibu Ruby who used to cook for his family when he was living in Jakarta in 1979. Chef Afique, formerly from EQ Kuala Lumpur’s Nipah Cafe, helped to recreate the flavours, using fresh ingredients for the sauces and sambal pastes.
We had Nasi Ambeng which came with fragrant yellow (turmeric) basmati rice, some fried noodles, kangkung belacan, terong belado (eggplant), rendang ayam (chicken rendang), sambal and keropok ikan (fish crackers). We liked that the sambal was spicy (but not overly so) and the rendang chicken – nice and moist – different from the usual thick curry gravy associated with beef rendang but no less flavourful. This is a complete meal by itself, protein, vegetables (fibre) and carb on one plate. They tout to have the best Nasi Lemak around – leaving that for your own discovery and judgement.
We also had side dishes such eggplant, lawar bali (salad of sorts with grated coconut, cabbage, bean sprouts and French beans mixed with spices), gulai chicken and beef dendeng with sambal hijau (green sambal).
The veggies were not particularly outstanding – frankly, I’ve had better versions; chicken gravy was watery, more like a soup rather than a creamy coconut (santan) curry. Was not bad at all, but just different/unexpected. The dry-style beef won top marks with its crisp edges, well-marinated flavourful meat, amped up with the green sambal. I venture the other dishes are worth exploring further as the Paru Balado (cow lung) and Daging Rendang seem highly recommended.
The charcoal grilled sate was the highlight here and it was truly delicious. We had ayam madura and marangi as well as the lidah (beef tongue) madura. Very different from Malay style, Indonesian sate comes with different sauces, some sweetish, peanutty almost like local ones, one was almost like brown sauce, another reminded me of rojak sauce.
The biggest surprise was the beef tongue. Turned out amazing – braised until tender, yet still firm enough for a good bite, not gamey or raw-tasting at all. We didn’t get to try the beef and tempe sate as they weren’t ready yet (at 1pm). Next round.
Enjoyed the spicy and piquant flavours here, can’t wait to return for more satay. They also have different levels of spicy sambal – Sambal Hijau, Sambal Mangga, Sambal Tomato and Sambal Kelapa – not for the faint hearted! Even if you’re not big on Indonesian fare, the satay makes it worth an adventure.
Add: 1, Persiaran Ara Kiri, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. call: 03-2201 3396
Had intended to go somewhere else but since SS2 was jammed packed that day, no thanks to the durian season, we ended up at Oh Yeah Kopitiam on the perimeter of the SS2 square. Every table had a plate or two, so it made sense …
The much anticipated annual Grand Banquet Series is back at Oriental Group across 12 of its restaurants, and this year’s theme is ‘The tradition of liquor in Chinese cuisine’. Paying homage to the rich culture and culinary legacy of pairing and infusing liquors into gourmet …
Martín Berasategui is Spain’s most celebrated chef with 12 Michelin stars across 7 restaurants, helmed by chefs who have worked extensively with Berasategui and achieved fame through their own body of work.
Chef Xabier Goikoetxea from famed Oria Restaurant (one Michelin-starred) at the prestigious Monument Hotel in Barcelona, presents a gastronomic showcase of Martín’s exquisite signature cuisine at Sabayon, EQ KL.
Having spent 15 years with Berasategui, Chef Xabi won Oria its first Michelin star. Here, he pays homage to the rich heritage of Basque cooking while embracing influences from Catalonia and the Mediterranean Sea, chef Xabi seamlessly marries tradition with innovative flair, crafting a menu that has deep respect for Martin’s legacy and the region.
Starting with a quartet of delights – Comté crisps topped with smoked eel and Cantabrian anchovy – so delicate, just a pop of saltiness; tomato macaron with citrus-bright trout tartare – playfully briny and salty; salt-cured prawn on sea tempura – loved the textures and taste; cured (huge) scallop with lightly smoked hollandaise, orange and chervil – amazing texture play. Appetisers will never be the same again after this superb rendition.
Then, a rich, robust San Sebastián seafood broth with tiny bits of squid, leaves you longing for more, before wild turbot arrives glazed in its own silky pil-pil crowned with caviar – luscious, decadent, juicy, with fried quinoa crispy bits, tomato tenet and caperzelle for touch of taste.
The main course offers perfectly roasted sirloin balanced by medjool-date jus, while dessert morphs into basil water, raw-almond cream – green bean for light crunch, basil for a different dimension, so refreshing and light, plus lemon-peel frozen pearls melded into a tapestry of chocolate and tonka-bean textures.
Justin Lee, General Manager of EQ sees Chef Xabi’s guest appearance at Sabayon as the perfect underscoring of the restaurant’s top-tier dining status.
“Sabayon is a jewel in KL’s gastronomic crown, and Michelin-starred guest chefs like Chef Xabi emphasise EQ’s commitment to the best of culinary experiences. Our Michelin-star chef appearances are specially curated to avail Malaysian gastronomes of world-class culinary experiences, with access to cuisine and chefs which define excellence in gastronomy,” said Lee.
Chef Xabi’s guest residency will be from today until Aug 9, for dinner from 6.30pm to 11pm, priced at RM888+ per person. An excellent culinary journey not to be missed. For reservations, email dineateqkl@kul.equatorial.com or call +60 3 2789 7839 or WhatsApp +60 12 583 5319.
Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia presents: A Refined 3-Course Service Dinner by Graduating Superior Cuisine Students. The thoughtfully curated 3-course dinner is their final showcase, celebrating their culinary journey and mastery. As part of the culmination of their training, the aspiring chefs will demonstrate the techniques, …