Bites: Sage @ The Garden Residences, Kuala Lumpur

Home has now become a lot quieter.  Most of my relatives live outside the country in Australia, Canada and Singapore. So now, even during the winter solstice festival, it would just be mom, dad, sis and I.    Normally such festivals include a whole lot of cooking but this time around, we decided that with only 4 people in the house, this was way too troublesome.  So for this special occasion, mom still made the obligatory tong yuen but we went out for a nice dinner at Sage @ KL, a Japanese – a French fusion restaurant.

 

The interior is neat with high ceiling.  When we first stepped in, it was super quiet and it pretty much stayed that way the whole night.

 

Bread with delicious EVOO parsley dip!

 

Two types of bread.  One white, the other whole meal.  And boy I have to say that the quality of the bread was pretty amazing too a level that it can easily rival Amuse.  But learning from Amuse, it makes sense to serve the bread on lava rocks to keep it warm throughout the occasion or at least for a bit.

 

The Amuse Bouche:

Scallop Carpaccio with a hint of tomatoes.  Not too bad but it was not the best I have tasted.

 

Chef’s special of the day.   King Fish sashimi slightly smoked with a edible flowers.

Having eaten it, my first question was why did the chef slice the fish so thick?  I soon realised that it was probably a smart idea since you would want the fish to have enough smokiness without actually cooking it through.  This was pretty yums.  I preferred this to the Amuse Bouche.

 

The few appetizers we had for our 4 course meal

Seared Foie Gras with Dark Grapes and Red Wine Reduction was sister’s choice.  This was absolutely moorish if you fancy rich, fatty Foie Gras.  For me, half of this would more than justify as an appetizer but for my sister, this was just spot on.  It was insane IMHO.  Other places that I have dined at do not even serve Foie Gras of this richness until I re-visited Joel Robuchon’s Restaurant in Hong Kong again.

 

I decided to keep the cholesterol low with a small serve of spicy seafood pasta angel hair.  This was delicious and I would expect so as its flavors were very inclined towards the Asian palette.  This means, there is a lot of acidity, salt was perfect for me and woah the flavors were just very nice.  The seafood was nicely prepared with generous servings of fish, scallops and prawns.  A very appetizing way to prepare diners for their next course.

 

Dad has the Cream of Cèpe Mushroom Soup with White Truffle Oil was dad’s choice to share with mom.  I felt like the soup was just mediocre.  It was creamy and rich but nothing that I have not eaten before.

 

 

For the mains:

Mom and Sis called the special of the day which was a lobster pasta.  This featured a generous serve of lobster cooked in a very rich seafood sauce.  It felt like a very condensed bouillabaisse or perhaps a lobster bisque which was fine if you are a big fan of rich seafood but mom said she preferred it to have a little more Asian feel to it.  I understand why because this might feel very one dimensional if the only thing you could taste is a lobster bisque flavored sauce throughout the whole meal.  Normally at this level of dining, it is always about the layers of flavors harmoniously pleasing the tongue.   Perhaps a little more thought?

 

My choice for the night was the Beef Rossini with Roasted Foie Gras and Red Wine Sauce.  Having chosen this as a main was the only reason why I did not order the Foie Gras as my main.  It was a good call really, because the Foie Gras used in this dish was no lesser awesome compared to what my sister had.  More importantly, this awesome piece of beef fillet puts even Perth Royalty of fine dining Balthazars to shame.    This was just perfect.  No saddening fatty muscle to disrupt the meal.  Just very tender yet decently lean red meat melting in your mouth in each bite.  Mash was delicious and so were the greens which were cooked just spot on the complement the meal.

 

What dad ordered was even more intriguing when it showed up like that.   Paté en Croute Chicken with Foie Gras and Natural Jus was dad’s choice and eh did not quite like it.  I think probably the fact that is was a free range chicken and they probably used the leaner part of the chicken to make the pate rendering it too dry.   Seems like my dad was on a spree of bad selections that night.  Or perhaps it was not that bad, just not good either.

 

Then comes the desserts:

I decided to tryout the Mille Feuille of Strawberry with Cointreau Ice Cream.  Which was, sadly, a looker but not quite a tasty treat.  Its Mille Feuille felt shortchanged like I wanted a million layers but you clearly gave me 3.  And the bigger problem was that each of the 3 layers did not each feel like a third of a million.  I expected more crumble.  More crack with my spoon.  For these reasons other than the sour strawberries, this dessert was not my thing.  Oh but the ice cream was nicely prepped!!

 

Classic Crêpe Suzette with Grand Marnier Ice Cream.  Dad dessert was really nice I felt.  I would have preferred his to mine any time. 

 

Sister decided to stick to her favourite which was the Ginger and Lime Brulée with Mixed Berries, Almond Tuile.  This was probably the saviour for Sage’s dessert Kitchen.  The brulee has a good taste of ginger and lime but the important thing to me was that the brulee custard was spot on.  It was soft, smooth and creamy.  Not gluggy, hard and sometimes having a lot of bubbles in it.  This was really nice despite me having just one teaspoon of it!

 

At the end of the meal, we had hot drinks and petit fours which sadly only had 1 chocolate per person.  Sipping hot drinks after dinner the family just stayed there and chilled.  It was a rather good night marred by some underperformers which had really fancy names.     Something like how company sometimes give their workers title like Executives but they are nothing but graduates Hhahaha.

 

Family photos:

Sis and Mom!

 

 

Dad and I!

 

Not sure really awkward coincidence but out shirt colors are fairly similar according to the gender.

 

WenY

Bites: Overseas Restaurant @ Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

Having celebrated dad’s birthday so many times, I soon realized that I have never paid his dinner once.  Since I have started work, this spelt the perfect opportunity to treat him to his favourite food.  Chinese food.  While Malaysia is a heaven for foods of all sort, our Chinese food is easily one of the best in the world.  But as restaurants become overly popular, they become way too commercialized.  One such restaurant is Overseas Restaurant in Malaysia.  While I have tried so many of their branch restaurants before, I was never a fan of any.  Yet, the hype of this charming old spice continued in Malaysia.  So for this rare occasion, I decided to bring dad to Overseas first roots located along Jalan Imbi in the heart of the city center :)!

 

Calling some of dad’s favorites, I decided to start with a Chinese delicacy, the sharks fin soup!

While I am not a big fan, this one definitely blows your mind!

 

The next dish was the four season which is a large appetizer platter containing four types of dishes.  That night we had:

Sharks fin and crab meat Sang Choi Bao.  Very nicely prepared.  And for me, definitely a good variation of lettuce wrap compared to the overeaten duck Sang Choi Bao.

 

Braised bean curd stuff with fish paste.  Deliciously braised in a sauce which coated these tiny morsel nicely!

 

Crumbled prawns with fish paste.  Crispy on the outside soft on the inside!   Best eaten with the garlic-chili sauce!

 

Crumbled scallops drizzled with mayonnaise!   Another kid favourite but at this age, I could easily do with lesser fried foods lols.

 

Another house specialty at Overseas! 

Homemade tofu with hairy gourd!  Really yummy and more importantly, smooth on the inside!

 

Overseas Restaurant Roast Pork!  Crispy skinned delicacy!  Very lean but still pack that beautiful crunch!

 

Overseas's Barbecued Pork is another highlight among it frequent customers.  But for the family, we have tasted better.    Then again, this is easily delicious when compared to most restaurants!

 

To finish the night, we also ordered a ginger steamed fish and a longevity noodles! While the noodles turned out fine, the fish was really salty.  Probably intended to be eaten with rice rather than on its own @@!  If more complains are needed from me, my only comment would be the slow service which could be due to us being seated in a private room on the 3rd floor @@!

 

Dad’s favourite cake is the classic butter cake with a butter icing made by an old aunty.  No fake cream or unnecessary additives.  Just plain honest butter cake from the olden days!  Pretty delish except for that after thought on how unhealthy each slice is!   lol much?

 

At the end of the day, this restaurant was pretty impressive.  I guess the original is always the best.  Never could I have understood why is it that parents have shun this place.  But when you see the effort required to reach this restaurant in the heart of the city, you will probably understand why @@!  This restaurant now span 4 floors above the ground which  is an impressive feat.  But when you learn that they have more than 6 branches around the state, their success is clear! 

 

For those who are concerned about cleanliness in dining in Malaysia, this restaurant definitely is the place to be!  But remember that booking is compulsory for most nights!  Specialty dishes like the sharks fin and barbecued meat are very popular and often finish early.  So always pre-order :)!   Also, do not expect this old school restaurant to be cheap!  By Malaysian standards a meal like this should only cost around $300 but for this restaurant, it was something closer to $550.  All in ringgit of course :)!

 

Address:

84 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur,

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone:+60 3-2144 9911

 

They also have a website which can be accessed here  Overseas Restaurant Website.

 

WenY!

Bites: Balthazar @ Perth

As one of the earliest fine dining establishments, Balthazar's is one of the famous landmarks along the Esplanade Road other than Grand Palace Restaurant.  For me, this was my birthday dinner venue with my sis :)!  Walking in, the atmosphere here clearly portrays the dining style of the restaurant which is casual fine dining.   It felt relaxed, no fake suits or overdressed individuals which is pretty good considering we were in the CBD.  At the bar counter, the mixologist churns out drinks at a never-ending pace.  I pity him but he seems to enjoy his job a lot!Hard at work.

 

The bread counter was not in the kitchen but rather one a little kiosk just by the table which my sister and I sat at.  Wonder how they keep the bread nice.Bread stand!

 

Looking through the appetizers, there are two ways one can start their evening.  First, by sharing small plates. and the other, by ordering individual appetizers.  Deciding on which to pick was not difficult as the individual appetizers felt too similar to the mains.

 

My sister decided to start with the freshly shucked oysters topped with smoked tomato caviar.While I declined her invitation to share, I felt like there was a lot of technique in preparing the smoked tomato caviar.  Felt somewhat like the fabled El Buli restaurant in Spain where they had the Apple Caviar.  More importantly, my sister felt that the oysters were really fresh and the overall chemistry suited her palette well.  Win!

 

While she enjoyed her oysters, I decided to try the Swordfish belly coated with sesame served with garlic, miso and black pudding!It is my first time having black pudding and it was superb! Very fragrant and the intensity of the spices were spectacular!  Miso complemented the fish well but I felt that the sesame coating of the swordfish belly was a little oily.  Nonetheless, it was yummy!  If had any complains besides the oil, it had the be that the use of the fish belly did not really shine through the dish.  Just a fancy disposition for me.

 

Next were the wanton skins, feta and celery mousse.Served upside down, this little cornets had my hopes high as I had something very similar at Jackson’s a few years back.  But this was unlike that.  Its filling of feta and celery mousse was nice, but the wanton skins were lacking a very essential crisp!

 

Our last sharing plate was possibly the best thing that night.  The spiced lamb ribs served with a hint of mint and lime.These were every bit delectable.  The meat was absolutely tender with a falling of the bone characteristic.  It was slightly gamey but even my sister who was a fussy eater did not have problems with it.  This was just so good!  Would definitely return just for this one.

 

Before our mains came out, we were served complementary palate cleansers that was nice too! It was a lychee sorbet as far as I can remember :)! 

 

Mains:Sister’s beef fillet, four mushrooms, smoked potato, herb butter and black garlic.  Depending on your focus point of the dish, you would easily have different verdicts on how this dish fared.  For me, every bit felt perfectly executed except where it counts the most.  Meaning, all the sides were good.  The mushrooms, the black garlic, the smoked potato.  All except the beef.  It still had those muscle bists around the fillet making it difficult to eat.  More importantly, it did not have in itself the tenderness I was expecting! *emo*!

 

For me, I had the pork fillet, jamon, mash, scallops, crackle and black pudding! For me I was happy with this dish for most parts.  The pork fillet was moist while the berries had just the right amount of sweetness that fared well with the saltiness of the jamon.  Mash was delicious and the scallops were cooked spot on.  All of these though, felt a little salty when the black pudding was added to the equation.  Lastly, the crackling was OK but hmmm.. not the roast pork crackling that I was hoping to see.  In the end, it was more of a textural component but with little flavor!  As mentioned before, this was nice but could have been better!

 

At this point, we were pretty filled.  In fact, the sharing plates already made us very full.  But with one last effort, my sister and I shared  a dessert!This was one complicated dish.  Coconut panna cotta, basil sorbet, sesame tuile and peanut mousse.  For me, this dessert clearly screams Thai.  But perhaps a little more effort is required to make all the components complement each other.  At this point, my sister and I agreed that while each element is flawless, the dish as a whole was no more than a lost puppy. 

 

The night for me went pretty well.  I enjoyed the food quite a fair bit.  But considering this was one of the best places to fine dine in the state, perhaps I expected a little more.  Not that this was not good, but out of all the dishes we had that night, the ones that will live in my memory are just too few.  In fact, the lamb was the only memorable dish.  At the end, the bill for two settled somewhere in the mid 100s including drinks. 

 

WenY