A Night with Chef Fournier Baptiste at Mezze

Chef Fournier Baptiste was down in Malaysia as Malaysia was one of his pitstop for his 2013 cooking tour. This wasn't the first time this one Michelin Star chef visits Kuala Lumpur, similar to his last visit, he was at Mezze in Jalan Medan Damansara serving up a storm for customers who had reserved tables at Mezze just to savor his master piece.

Fournier's cooking style focuses very much on simplicity and the freshness of his ingredients. No, you would not find any fancy or extravaganza food art, what you get is a simple but yet so delicate plate of dish. Every ingredient was visible to the naked eye. He does his best to bring out the flavor of the ingredients and not let it be overpowered by too much decorations or excessive herbs or spices.

I was given the opportunity to savor his master piece thanks to my dad who was sent an invitation for the dinner.

Aperitif

Aperitif

I apologize for the blurred photo, I didn't realize it was blur till I was editing it. This was the courtesy of Chef Fournier. Aperitif is usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite, it is usually dry rather than sweet.

Among the choices present were avocado salad, rocket salad spring roll, Spanish pedrone pepper and a cucumber like hors d’œuvre.

The two aperitif that I failed to took a picture was the rocket salad spring roll and the cucumber like hors d’œuvre. The rocket salad spring roll was simple and fresh - wrapped in a thin vietnamese roll with rocket salad, white pear and parmigana. It was an epitome of "a little of everything good". 

The last aperitif was sliced cucumber topped with oyster, almond, shallots and a light dose of vinegar topped with dill. I love the toppings as they were well seasoned and goes well with the cucumber blandness.

Spanish Pedrone Pepper

The pedrone pepper was sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Unlike Jalepeno, the spanish pedrone pepper was not spicy to begin with. I am not much of a fan for peppers but I like it how Chef Fournier kept it simple with basic olive oil and salt to add in some taste. 

Avocado Tartlet with Marinated Sardine and Rocket Salad

As pretty as it looks, it was savory in terms of flavor. The crisp of the tarlet with the well marinated sardine and avocado was a refreshing start to begin the night.

Amuse-bouche

Amuse-bouche is a single bite size hors d’œuvre and defers from appetizer. It is usually served courtesy of the chef. In this case, we were served amuse-bouche to clear our palates after savoring the aperitifs. This was a surprising take on coconut milk. It was rich and creamy like, the texture felt like mousse.

This was made out of fresh coconut and topped with potato violet powder, thinly chopped lemon, crispy thinly sliced cauliflower and fried carrot leaf. I love the amuse-bouche! The rich creaminess of the coconut was so sinfully good and it was even better with each bite of a small piece of lemon. 

Starters

Slow cooked organic egg with mushroom and black truffles sabayon @ RM 48++

Slow cooked organic egg with mushroom and black truffles sabayon @ RM 48++

Simple and fresh. True to his style, every ingredient used was visible on the plate. The eggs were slow cooked and was beautifully hidden by the raw ingredients on the top. Yes, you got that right, the mushrooms were raw! I never had raw mushrooms and this was a new experience. The brown blob is actually mushroom paste and my, the taste was excellent! Truffles are expensives and when I finally had a taste of it, I couldn't really distinguished the taste!

Duo of Green and White Asparagus with caramelized Unagi

I had this as my starters and I love it. The asparagus was a tad too soft for my liking, I prefer them crispy. The first reaction I had upon tasting the sauce was "SO BUTTERY!" But the subsequent taste gets better - this starter gets better after each bite. 

But what really stands out in this plate was the caramelized unagi. The unagi was well seasoned and cooked to perfection with a slight crispy on the outer layer but soft in the inner. However, the unagi and the asparagus were a great combination of crisp and tender.

Baptiste's Favourite - Mid Course 

Poached Red Snapper in Chicken Broth, Spinach and Lemon @ RM 71++

Mains 

Poached Kingfish Fillet with Pearl Bean, Spinach in Lemongrass Chicken Broth @ RM 105++

Similar with the mid course, the fish was served in the bowl and the waitress will pour the broth from a small jar upon serving. The lemongrass chicken broth was boiled with coconut shred for 6 hours, then the coconut shred was removed. That is why patrons would be able to smell the presence of coconut but yet they could not really taste of see it in the broth. This was a simple dish and Fournier aimed to enhance the kingfish fillet's flavor without overpowering it broth that could have outshine the fish.

Veal Chop, served with Creamy Cep and Pommes Puree @ RM 185++

Veal Chop, served with Creamy Cep and Pommes Puree

The first thing I noticed was the lack of food art, but hey, it was Fournier's style to keep it simple. A rich velvety and buttery texture for the pommes puree which was basically mashed potato in simpler terms. I requested for medium rare for my veal chop and it came out just nice. I love the slight crisp exterior but the tenderness of the veal when sliced through.

The sauce itself was rich and flavorful. Each bite makes you crave for more! The portion is pretty huge for me and the aperitif and starters had me quite full.

PLU1127 Bourgogne Rouge Marechal 2009 @ RM 42 per glass

The red wine was recommended by the sommelier to compliment the veal chop and was described as light to medium body. Surprisingly, I found it well bodied instead of being light to medium. It was rich and had an excellent aroma. The longer it was left to oxidize, the better it was.

PLU187 Fournier Sancerre Rose 2010 @ RM 36 per glass

The white wine was recommended by the sommerlier to compliment the poached kingfish fillet dish. It was deemed to be slightly dry, however, I find it rich and well bodied. It had quite a fruity taste too and I personally think females will love this wine.

Desserts

Iced Crispy Cappuccino of Chocolate, Cream with Crumble @ RM 39++

Iced Crispy Cappuccino of Chocolate, Cream with Crumble 

Chocolate lover will be love this. It was too rich for me, too much of chocolate, beneath the cream was a thick, gooey layer of chocolate. The crumbles were a great touch for the soft velvety chocolate. However, it was too sweet for my liking.

Pineapple Ravioli with lIme, Basil and Yogurt Sorbet @ RM 42++

This is one really weird combination. I would have never guessed ravioli as a dessert! This dessert was savory and well, I doubt everyone will take a liking to it. It was a bold dessert. The sorbet was refreshing to counter the slight sourness in the dessert.

This was my first fine dining prepared by a Michelin Star chef. The wait was surprisingly long as the courses were served over a period of 3 hours. It was a great experience. Like what many blogs had reviewed, Chef Fournier's style of cooking remains simple as he aims to enhance the freshness and the natural flavor of the ingredients. However, sometimes, his dishes could be a tad too salty for one's liking. 

Perhaps his next visit, I will give it a shot again.

-thevanillapudding-

Lotus Curry House, Aman Suria

Lotus Curry House is way underrated as compared to Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar Restaurant. I was there at Lotus, Aman Suria with some mates for a gathering and I was glad they picked Lotus rather than Penang although I was pretty sceptical at first. I was so used to my usual at Kayu that I was reluctant to try a new place. It was definitely less crowded and less noisy as compared to Kayu that was located further up. 

Iced Milo

Teh Tarik

Teh Tarik Halia

Their drinks were decent and not dilute. Well, mamak usually serves pretty good drinks at a super cheap price. So no qualms about that.

Their roti canai is TWO THUMBS UP. Rather than serving in a typical square-ish shape, the roti canai has literally been shredded to pieces and "crumpled" together. Honestly, I was shocked and in my mind, the first thing that I thought was the food must taste really bad. Haha. But, I was so wrong. It was so crispy and crunchy, thin enough to savor the roti canai. You can never get this in popular Indian mamaks because they're so busy fulfilling orders that they don't bother keeping it crispy! The downside? I didn't like their curry in particular. It was a tad dilute and also it tasted slightly sourish instead of spicy.

Maggi goreng mamak aka fried maggi ala mamak style. This was good despite its relatively less than generous portion. It was slightly smaller if you compared it to many other mamaks. However, the taste was good and the maggi was spring-y. So no qualms there.

I would be back soon! I'm already missing their roti canai. I heard their Nasi Kandar is pretty good too, I should try it one good day!

-thevanillapudding-

IKEA Restaurant, Mutiara Damansara

IKEA Restaurant is one of the most well known restaurant around. I used to love their food, till their standard has been detiorating so badly. When it first operated, the food was of fantastic quality and freshness, but now - it tasted pretty much like stale food. 

However, the restaurant is unusually pack everyday for lunch or dinner - I guess it could be the reasonable price they charged and the free flow of soft drinks. They used to serve Diam Cake which tasted godly but it was pulled from their shelves after some issue pertaining to the cake containing pork or something like that. I'm disappointed about that.

Their poached salmon was horribly overcooked. The thick sauce doesn't compliment the fish at any point of time. The potato was a tad too tough and the brocolli, well taste like brocolli. But for RM 15 or so, I guess you can never get salmon at that price.

What is a trip to IKEA without their ever popular meatballs? Their meatballs are the main attraction in the restaurant, honestly, most people paid their visit to IKEA restaurant just for it. I don't take beef, but I do give it a try and it's not that bad though I prefer steaks. This is the only dish that had maintained their standards since it first operated. However, there were issues of its meatball containing horse meat despite they have confirmed that their meatballs are cleared and contain no horse meat.

Spaghetti in basic tomato sauce. I didn't try it but from the look of it, I'm pretty sure that it taste average and I would have prepared a better plate of it.

Herb chicken with potatoes and carrots was just decent. The sauce was way too dilute, it was pretty much like a diluted soup that taste a tad like oil? It's not horrible, but its the kind of dish I wonder why would I ever order it.

Diluted. Bland. That sums up my review for this dish.

Honestly, none of the dish was up to my standards. It was just plain horrible, well to me at least (apart from the meatballs). Everything was either too dilute, too bland, tasteless or just lack the effort. Rarely that I actually have lunch at IKEA Restaurant anymore because the dishes are all so horrible.

If you want a reasonable pricing food, well IKEA Restaurant isn't that bad. But if you want good tasting food, well please make a U-Turn and out.

Ratings : 1.5/5
Price : RM 15 per pax

IKEA Restaurant
No.2 Jalan PJU 7/2, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel : 03 7726 7777
Operations : 
Mon – Thurs: 9am ~ 9.30pm 
Fri – Sun, Eve & Public Holidays: 9am ~ 10.30pm

-thevanillapudding-

Ka Soh Seafood Restaurant, KL

This is dad's favorite restaurant for a good fish head noodles. Located in Jalan Delima, off Jalan Imbi - the traffic is horrendous if you were to come one weekdays. Weekends are fine but I just never like travelling to KL, its just like a whole pack of sardines swimming in a very small confined area. Driving to this area just gives me the headaches because of all the turning and traffic light. 

Comparing to their competitors located on the same street, it was relatively quieter with a few customers visiting the restaurant. Its setting is pretty much of typical Chinese restaurant, so nothing much that I can describe. Their food here is pretty expensive and ripped off because some bloggers also said it was quite touristy. 

Instead of serving you crackers or peanuts, they served a platter of mixed preserved vegetables, better known as Acar. Its sourish with a tinge of spiciness - I know my dad's family back in Perak makes good Acar. I love its flavor combination and the crunchiness the cucumber and peanuts add to the whole platter. Well, I love Acar and this is really two thumbs up.

Brother had the "Kat Chai" which I think its sour plum? Haha. I'm actually not too familiar with it. However, this was rather bland compared to others that I had before. I think its the lack of sugar or perhaps too much water added to it.

The seacoconut that I ordered was a complete ripped off. I felt so cheated. The syrup was bland and diluted. The seacoconut was just depressing in amount, a few miserable seacoconut and they charged a bomb. I think  we would stick to Chinese Tea the next rouond. 

Their signature frog dish was superb! It was one of the best, most mouthwatering frog delicacy I ever had. The frog was coated in a batter that was so sweet and crispy at the same time. However, it is not the the thick crisp that cuts into the top of your mouth, but rather the tender firm crisp that makes you yearn for more. The sweetness of the frog and coating was just bliss. 

I'm not sure what was the cantonese name for this dish. But it was black sauce rice cooked in claypot and topped with preserved chinese sausages. It was alright, nothing great in my opinion. The rice was slightly bland and I had to have it with some chili to enhanced the taste. The chinese sausages were also disappointing because it tasted funny than the usual ones I had.

Introducing their all popular fish head noodles. First of all, this is not the typical fish head noodles you get in shops around SS2 or Puchong. Rather than serving it with thick based tomato and milk soup, this was purely milk mixed with a couple other condiments. It wouldn't be as tasty as the one you have in shops because the soup is slightly bland without much MSG in it, the good thing about it. The other difference was the noodles - instead of typical meehoon or mee, the noodles used was the fat noodles typically used in "lou shu fun". It is not bad and slightly different. 

I would most probably go back for the frog dish. It was total yumz. But with these little dishes, it cost us closed to RM 200 for the meal. A tad too expensive in my opinion.

Ratings : 3.5/5.0

Price : RM 20 ++ perpax

Ka Soh Seafood Restaurant

18 Jalan Delima, Off Jalan Imbi, KL.18 Jalan Delima 
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel :03-2148-3207

-thevanillapudding-

Spring Garden, Tropicana Golf and Country Club

Spring Garden is part of the Tai Thong Group - so don't expect anything less than good service and good food complimented with a very expensive pricing. Their interior was of typical oriental design with a super freezing aircond. The waiters and waitresses were well trained to serve you at any time and cost. The captain server was well in their game as they make small chats with guests to ensure that they are happy with the food and services.

The crowds made up mainly of family, rich kids and rich datos with their body guards. Yes, you are able to witness first hand big shot Datos dining around.

Peanuts - typical chinese starters.

Watermelon juice that was decently made which wasn't too sweet, exactly to my liking.

This deep fried fish paste was as good as it looks - it was fish paste mixed with minced spring onions and other condiments. Dipped in a sweet sour chili based for an extra oomph!

I am not a fan of seacucumber, so dad just ordered one portion for himself. I didn't bother trying since I'm not a fan of it.

Chinese stir fried assorted vegetables which was a mix of celery, sweet pea, lotus, onions, carrots, fungus, mushroom and gingko. They were pretty generous in terms of the lotus because I guess that's one of the cheapest ingredients in that whole plate! As good as it taste, I didn't really fancy the sweet and thick layer of oil that you can see. Alot of oil and starch must have went into this dish!

This cod fish was pan fried to perfection and the sauce was totally a big hit. It's Thai sauce - a sweet sour and a tinge of spiciness when you have a taste of it. I love how the onions and cucumbers mix so well with the sauces, topped with the smooth texture of the cod fish.

This is the scallop wrapped in minced meat dish - a small amount of scallops wrapped with chicken meat and deep fried to juicy perfection. However, I couldn't really taste the scallops at all, they must be really stiingy with it. The chicken meat was juicy and well seasoned. The dish itself was rich in taste which I presumed quite a fair bit of sugar was added, plus to get the glossy thick gravy requires quite a bit of starch! 

I don't usually take venison, but venison meat is one of the best. Venison is actually deer meat for those who doesn't know. This was their signature venison dish - venison in ginger and spring onion. It was well marinated and seasoned. Venison meat is generally slightly tougher and chewy compared to your average chicken, but it taste oh so good! 

Typical chinese stir fried KaiLan that is so delicious with a hell lot of starch and some sugar, the vegetable was actually sweet!

Bro ordered the chinese fried rice with salted fish. Chinese fried rice ALWAYS tasted good, if not wonderfully delicious. But the amount of oil they add will be crazy. The fried rice was decent but not my favorite because of their oiliness. 

This dessert is so pretty and I love how they used Martini glasses for it. It's Chinese black herbal jelly with a dose of sugar and longan. In terms of portion, it is pretty stingy for the price we paid.

I had the double boiled soya milk with fungus and gingko. I love soya milk and the good thing about this? It was thick and rich, unlike cheap soya bean that is dilute and overloaded with sugar. This wasn't too sweet, it was actually a little less sweeter than usual which is fine with me. The fungus and gingko, just an added bonus for some health benefit!

Overall, this place has good Chinese food, but the price is seriously expensive!

Ratings : 4.0/5.0
Price : RM 20/dish

Spring Garden Restaurant
Tropicana Golf & Country Resort
Jalan Kelab Tropicana, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel : 603-7880 7226
Operations :
Mon - Sat
11.30am - 2.30pm

Sun & Public Holidays
10.30am - 2.30pm
6.30pm - 10.30pm

-thevanillapudding-

Restaurant Yap Hup Kee, Kuala Lumpur

This has to got to be my dad's favorite yongtaufoo restaurant, well mine too. They have one of the best yongtaufoo and cheecheongfun. Their varieties are limited but it is so good that you call for more than 1 bowl. Well, at least we did.

Located in a very small quiet alley of KL, it is terribly hard to find if you're a newbie and GPS can be unhelpful at times. Till this very day, we still have problem searching for the restaurant! But the food is so damn good till we go back everytime, getting lost just doesn't matter!

Usually, we order the second till last dish, except for the fried prawn dumpling. I have pictures of some only since we were so hungry that I had to forego taking some pictures!

Among the varieties they have for the yongtaufoo. 

The curry cheecheongfun is good and so delicious that we ordered two bowls. Their cheecheongfun was chewy and thinly shredded that allows easy consumption. The soup was especially delicious and mouthwatering. Their plain cheecheongfun (which I don't have a picture of it) is equally good. Soft, smooth and chewy cheecheongfun topped with fried onions and shrimp is heavenly! Definitely a must try!

Their wantanmee is very different from the one you have at the usual hawker stalls. This was good and delicious. The egg noodles was chewy and springy, while their sauce was two thumbs up. The minced meat was an added bonus since it was so well marinated.

Dry curry chicken noodles - one of my favorite. The noodles was so chewy and springy, but what set it apart was the curry sauce itself. Thick, spicy, rich and wonderfully tasting - yeap. that's how I describe the sauce. The chicken was well cooked too, soft and tender. Again, I would recommend this!

The fried version of yongtaufu. Their condiments are generous in portion, you don't have to worry of thick flour coated delicacies with little fillings. These were super generous and each bite filled with satisfaction!

This soup prawn dumpling was GOOD! Generous, thick and rich with fillings. Well marinated and nothing lacking. This is what I call food worth our money. Juicy succulent prawns.

Well, I'm an avid fan of greens - there couldn't be no greens in my meal. Fret not, there's a whole range of greens for you to pick so that you can have a balanced diet.

This place is two thumbs up for me. I always loved the food, no qualms about it. The price too since its super cheap for whatever we ordered. All I can say that I really recommend this place. The only downside would be the MSG in the food, but whatever, apart from that, its GOOOOOOOD.

Ratings : 4.5/5

Price : Depends

Restaurant Yap Hup Kee

45 Jalan Brunei Barat (off Pudu), Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03 2148 9220

Operations : 

9.00am-5.00pm and 5.30pm-11.00pm 

Off on every alternate Tuesday.

-thevanillapudding-