Mission

Mission: To respond thoughtfully and responsibly to my experiences of drinking and dining at restaurants with regard to the quality, service, preparation, presentation and overall experience received thereat. The standpoint is one who respects the crafts of the chef and sommelier and who seeks to understand their choices in the kitchen and cellar and grow in knowledge. In this, I will seek to be fair, reasoned, direct and constructive and aim to keep my ego in check on our mutual journeys through the worlds of food and wine.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

New Menu at the Prime October 2012


Been threatening to give this one a shot for ages, and with someone's birthday looming a booking was made. In the end the birthday girl couldn't show but Lenglui myself and the Doc went ahead. The Doc had a RM200 voucher that needed redeeming, and wanted to try out some dishes on their recently amended menu. What to do?

Whilst the reception area was clearly undergoing major renovations, the interior of the Prime had not changed. Long legendary for some of the best steak in the city, we naturally wanted to see if it still had the mojo. The menu had indeed been updated, and the prices had evidently been revised upwards. Maybe blame the bad harvest on increasing grain prices. Inflation had clearly come to the Prime.

Lenglui opted for Angus ribeye, the Doc went for an 1824 Sirloin and I went with a different ribeye. Shared starter of green salad and a delightful Thai style beef with crispy noodle - sweet without cloying and great texture and carbo to combine with the beef proteins. Washed down with a glass of Mumm NV cold fizz, it made for a delightful ensemble.

The Prime is quite reasonable on their corkage, opting to allow no corkage on a bottle brought so long as one is bought from their list. Always a good reason to prefer one restaurant over another. We'd brought a 2005 Brunello which the Doc had brought to a previous food outing and had gone undrunk. Big berries on the nose, powerful and full fruit on the mouth, lovely tannins and great balance, a wine of flair and finesse. It paired with the steak magnificently. The steak was…. okay I suppose. We all opted for the 8oz and they were all done according to our tastes. I just wasn't blown away by them. As we always do here in Malaysia, we all tasted a bit of each others food. Again, all were good and fine and tasty but just not… mindblowing. I guess if we want mindblowing we have to buy the wagyu steak with the marble, but at triple the price it felt too much of a whack to the wallet. 

Another whack to the wallet was to come. Whilst most KL Hotels mark the car parking at a flat rate for the weekend, Hilton and Le Meridien do not. You get two hours at RM8 but each successive hour is RM5. So total carpark whack was RM18. At the Shang, max on a weekend after 7pm is RM10. Feels like quite a lot to pay for the privilege of dining at the Prime. Certainly a reason not to go back there. Coupled with the so so okay only steak, will look to retry the Dish on Tun Razak. Cheaper parking too.

Pleasantly surprised with The Mill Cafe at the Grand Millenium, October 20 2012.


Following a shop hunt at the Uniqlo, we decided upon the Millennium Hotel as our food destination for the night. Lenglui had recently applied for the Hotel card so being in the area it seemed the ideal opportunity to give it a try. 

Previously known as The Regent Hotel, the Millennium now sports a swanky grey marble interior which makes for a cool austere ambiance. Our original plan was to try out the Japanese restaurant there, but on being told that they were fully booked we allowed ourselves to be escorted to The Mill Cafe. In a previous incarnation we remembered it as a tasty Italian outlet. The offering for the buffet was a fairly standard hotel mix of japanese, indian, chinese and italian and looked reasonaby appetizing so down we sat. The wine list was reasonable and we plumped for a 2009 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. 

The service was attentive and friendly without being overpowering, and the food was well prepared and tasty enough. Pizza was light and crisp, Pumpkin soup a bit large in the mouth, sashimi, prawns and oysters were okay, the Chinese offerings looked a bit sad as did the beef so we passed. Desserts came out a bit on the stodgy side, though not overly sweet.

Star of the night was the Lamb Masala with the Aloo Gobi and freshly baked Naan and Tandoori Chicken. Hotels get notoriously bland with their food but this was full blown in the mouth with solid spice and fire. Perfect match with the ageing and slightly sweet wine. The chef (aptly named Makhan Singh) came across to chat with us and told us of his history in KL. Seems he was instrumental in starting up the Bombay Palace and has since served various tours of the hotel restaurants around the city. Definitely worth a return visit for the masala.

CIMB Cards get discount on the food at the moment, so our card was pretty redundant on the night. After dinner we sat at the reception waiting for the band to start. Following a five minute sit during which no one had come to see if we wanted drinks, we decided to opt for home and the football. 

Buffet was RM88++, wine was RM140++