Friday, April 23, 2010

Mandarin Grill & Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★★

The hotel's official website described Mandarin Grill as a place where million dollar business deals were clinched. On this particular afternoon though, there was no business propositions on the table. It's just a simple lunch to celebrate my upcoming birthday.

This marked my first dining experience at the Mandarin Grill. I was expecting something resembling a traditional steak house in the lights of Hugo but boy, was I wrong! The restaurant was nicely decorated with a very modern design highlighted by white and black colour. There's an open kitchen on the side, with head chef Uwe working very hard behind the scene.



Chef's Salad, 10/10
This is one of Uwe's many masterpieces, also a signature dish from the Krug's room. The salad was presented like a flower plant. The 'base' was a thick puree made of various vegetables and chicken bits. The middle layer of 'flowers' consisted of crispy parma ham and a salmon sashimi curled into the shape of a rose, which was then topped with a special salad and edible flowers.

What an outstanding presentation! ...and it tasted even better than I looked. The many different layers created a wide range of textural contrast much to the delights of my taste buds.



5J, 7/10
The restaurant staff carefully sliced this famous brand of Spanish Ibérico ham piece by piece onto our plate. The fat-meat proportion is simply perfect.



Pan fried codfish with saffron risotto, 8/10
I am not a particular big fan of fish but this afternoon, I decided to take my chance on the codfish and that decision made me a genius. The fish fillet was cooked to perfection and placed beneath was a bed of delicious saffron risotto.




Service, 9/10
The service level was exactly what you would expect from a five-star hotel. The staff was very attentive and also patient enough to explain the details of our every dish to us, which was very important, considering that there were so many different ingredients in each of these dishes.

Food Rating: 8.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong 
Closest Metro Station: Central 
Tel: +852 2825-4004
Website: Link


Monday, April 5, 2010

LaFite at Shangri-La Hotel (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA) ★★★★☆

Lafite at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is a fine-dining institution in KL and has been among the city's top restaurants since it opened doors back in 1985.

At the helm of Lafite is chef de cuisine Damon Campbell, one of the rising stars in KL's dining scene. A fellow Canadian coming from my hometown of beautiful Vancouver, Chef Campbell earned his stripes at world-renowned French Laundry in Napa Valley, California as chef de partie under three-Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller and Diva at The Met in Vancouver, one of my favorite restaurants back home. He made the move to Asia in 2008 joining Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur as chef de cuisine for the hotel’s award-winning signature restaurant, Lafite. During his tenure, the restaurant won numerous "best fine dining in Kuala Lumpur" awards and he was nominated by Time Out magazine in 2009 for 'Chef of the Year.'



After a number of underwhelming meals in a roll, I was hoping to finish my KL trip on a high note. Hopefully, Lafite will deliver.



Instead of going with the degustation menu, we decided to explore the a la carte menu. That's going to give us the flexibility of choosing the exact dishes we wanted.



The meal started off with spherification. This came with a nice burst of briny flavors that left my mouth full of sea water emulsion. I'm guessing it's oyster (flavors) there.



It was followed up by a further amuse bouche, refreshing green pea emulsion with seaweed. I love the clean flavors there getting our palates all ready for the next course.



Virtual Cooked Scallop - It's Jelloman's first starter. This came with a hot salt griddle where she was supposed to "grill" her raw scallops on her own before enjoying them with the yuzu miso dressing.



Salmon "mille-feuille" - I had the salmon mille-feuille myself and this was beautifully presented with the citrus cured salmon tartare trapped between two rectangular wafers made with tatami-iwashi like an ice-cream sandwich. Some lemon juice provided all this dish would need to be successful. Very nice.



Foie gras Volume 4 - Jelloman's second starter was roasted foie gras served with spiced sponge, banana and orange meringue. Banana and orange, that's a nice way to balance the richness of the foie gras.



Lobster Parmesan - I was craving for some lobster tonight and this was interesting, a marriage between lobster and parmesan cheese!

It was reasonably good though. The poached lobster was perfectly matched with a tomato stew and, the light parmesan foam and crispy parmesan wafer provided some cheesiness to the dish. A nice pleasant surprise.



Wagyu Beef - Comparing to the four starters, I thought the main dishes seemed to take a much safer route. For Jelloman, it's 48-hour slow-cooked Australian wagyu beef tenderloin. It's been sous vibe at 63 degree and finished off with baby cabbage, carrot, crispy onion and mash. After a successful run of innovative dishes, we were finally brought back to earth! A very down-to-earth meat course.



Sablefish "Yuzu" - I have to admit, I like my main course a whole lot better than Jelloman's. It's seared Pacific sablefish but what I love most about this dish was the aromatic yuzu tea with snow pea, hon-shimeji and ginger serving as the broth.



The ginger provided some unexpected (but nice) heat to the broth.



"Lemon" - A lemon themed dessert to finish things off. Something for the eyes as well as palates.



Petite fours came in this cute looking box with all kinds of homemade chocolate. A sweet end to a remarkable dinner.



On a bit of a side note (totally unrelated to this meal), I started growing a very BIG pimple on my nose a couple of days ago and it got worse since we arrived in KL. Today, it got to a point where I looked like a totally different person all together. Because of that, Jelloman has been calling me "Avatar" all day. I'll leave it to all of you to decide whether I really looked like one here...






Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Lobby Level, Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, 11, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, 50250 Malaysia
Closest Metro Station: Bukit Nanas / Raja Chulan
Tel: +60 03-2074-3900
Website: www.shangri-la.com/kualalumpur/shangrila/dining/restaurants/lafite/



Shook! (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA) ★★★☆☆

After a few Malaysian meals in a roll, we finally decided to take a break and tried something different this afternoon. As I vaguely remembered, there was a restaurant called Shook! at the Feast Level of the Starhill Gallery that was packed with customers when first visited 2 days ago. This would be our venue for today's lunch.



But whatever happened 2 days ago, I had no clue. Today, the place was "swatting flies" (an old Chinese saying).



We couldn't care less as we were too hungry to even think. Luckily the restaurant has a good international cuisine menu so I could easily order with half of my brain working.  

Baked escargot in a rich butter sauce was a wonderful way to start our lunch (5.5/10).



We were less happy with the deep fried soft-shell crab (4.5/10).



They had a good interpretation of this classic Italian dish, linguine vongole (5/10).



Equal to the task was my roasted chicken leg with pumpkin purée and baby asparagus (5.5/10).



If you're tired of Malaysian food like us, find Shook! real quick.





Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address:  LG1, Feast Village, Starhill Gallery, 181, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-2719 8535
Website: www.feastvillage.com/re_shook.asp



 

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Madam Kwan's (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA) ★★★☆☆

Mrs Kwan Swee Lian (Madam Kwan) devoted herself in bringing customers the best of Malaysian cuisine since 1977. From the signature Nasi Lemak to “wok” style Hokkien mee etc., there’s always something for everyone to enjoy from the unique flavors of the Malaysian cuisine. And you can find them all here at Madam Kwan's Pavilion.



The popular Nasi Lemak is a must-try here at Madam Kwan's.



One thing I found out about the dish, "Stinky" peas with prawns. It really does stink. Bring lots of mouth wash if you really decide to try this "wonderful" dish.



Nothing beats a good old Malaysian kway teow. I'd like it to be a little more spicy though.



If you want to experience authentic Malaysian cuisine, this is the place to be!




Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$
Address: Pavilion Shopping Centre, Lot 1-16-00 , Level 1, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 2143-2297
Website: www.madamkwans.com.my



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Enak KL (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA) ★★★☆☆

Award-winning Enak KL is the place to be if you want to experience authentic Malaysian dishes with a modern twist. Tucked away deep in the basement level of the Starhill Gallery, Enak KL offers a modern Malaysian cuisine and seafood delights that include signature dishes like sup ekor (oxtail soup), rendang padang (slow-cooked beef) and Udang Raja Lemak Merah (king prawns simmered in rich creamy sauce with lemongrass, candlenut and herbs).



The restaurant is decorated predominantly in red.



Otak-Otak Enak, 3.5/10
Dinner started with an interesting sea mackerel mousse with steamed wild betet leaf, served in a nest of vermicelli with a creamy sauce infused with golden turmeric. It tasted a little bit weird (a little like roasted mullet fish roe from the Taiwanese cuisine).



Rendang Padang, 5.5/10
Then it's the house specialty, Rendang Padang, a slow-cooked beef stew with Enak KL's signature blend of spices and fresh coconut cream.



Sambal Udang Buah Keras, 4.5/10
Roasted prawns were simmered in a vibrant sauce flavoured with candlenut, dried shrimp and Indian Bay leaves. Not bad.



Bubur Pulut Hitam, 4/10
This is one of the most traditional Malaysian dessert - glutinous black rice aromatic with screwpine leaves and palm sugar. It was served with a fresh coconut cream.



Manisan Kelapa Muda Enak, 5.5/10
But I like the other dessert a little more. A young coconut in custard topped off with a feather-light meringue.



An interesting birdcage-style Chinese tea room is located just outside the entrance of Enak KL. I am going to try this place next.






Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address:  LG2, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery 181. Jalan, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-2141 8973
Website: www.enakkl.com


Neroteca (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA) ★★☆☆☆

Neroteca has been selected as a top 5 restaurant in Malaysia by the Miele Guide for the last couple of years. There are also a lot to be liked about this restaurant according to various online reviews (ie. ambiance, decoration, food etc.).

Located in the heart of a residential area, Neroteca is probably not the easiest place to locate if you are a visitor in Kuala Lumpur like us. It took us quite a bit of walking under the heat before finally finding this place.



Neroteca is best known by the locals for serving authentic Italian cuisine in a laid-back deli-like atmosphere. The interior decor is made to be simple and unpretentious.



It was already late in the afternoon so we didn't order too much to eat. The Genovese salad was a decent start. Rocket leaves, fresh tomatoes, tuna and shrimps made up this dish.



From a wide range of pastas, we picked the penne with porcini, prawns and codfish tossed in a spicy tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was a little too spicy and dominating but still it was better than the salad.






Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F, The Somerset, 8 Lorong Ceylon, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-2070 0530
Website: http://neroteca.com/