Butcher's Table - Mr Ho is Back!

Rack of Lamb - woooarghhh!!!

November 15 2017 - Epic meal last night with the Boys Night Out gang, involving a reunion with Mr Ho at his new outlet in PJ. 

The name of Mr Ho is legend to those who would frequent his pork shop in the Bangsar Shopping Complex in the earl 2000s. People would queue to buy his amazing Siew Yoke and other porky delights coming hot out of the oven. Crispy, salty, hot fat and skin - the mouth drools at the memory of it. I recall him opening a store in what was then still a fairly new Mid Valley Megamall (must have been around the year 2004) and then he and it all suddenly disappeared amid a slew of rumours and stories as to the abruptness of it all. His name would occasionally pop up over the subsequent years but all we ultimately had of it all was just the memory of what once delightfully was - Mr Ho's hot, crispy Siew Yoke. 

And then we read in the papers that he was back, in a small operation in SS2 just off the Sprint called Butcher's Table. The place is a narrow shophouse, which can probably take about 50/60 max, inclusive of some seating outside in the entrance. So reservations are pretty much essential. He also has meat and sausages for sale for home cooking. The place is corkage free, but bring your own glasses. Seems he has been open four months and business has boomed following an article in the Malay Mail celebrating his resurrection. In some respects, it indeed is a bit like a second coming to some of us - his Siew Yoke really was that good. 

Salt Beef - good and, er, salty

So naturally it became the first thing we early birds ordered as we sat down with some white wine to destress after the strange but unerringly accurate and swift route the Waze took me through to get to the place (presumably because the Sprint at 6.30pm was locked up); some streets and roads I had never driven along in my near thirty years in the city. And biting through the salt crisp skin and fat and meat - it all came back. The taste, the smell, the…  wooooargh....   still one of the best dam Siew Yoke in the city. Absolutely Ho Seck. Almost worth to take a minute silence in respect; it is that good. 

And it went lovely with the mildly crisp and fruity Oyster Bay SB searing the salt on the tongue. Ahhhh…… 

Though it did take quite a while to reach the table - we had pretty much socked away two bottles by the time it arrived (about thirty minutes). I think Mr Ho is pretty much alone in the kitchen at the moment and maybe finding it difficult to cope with a full restaurant. But at least most of the boys had arrived by the time it got to the table so they got to taste it as well. It was worth the wait. 

Pork Knuckle - woooarghhhh!

In contrast to the Siew Yoke, the rest of the dishes came out in quick succession.  We had two plates each of the lamb rack, the salt beef, and the knuckle to share, along with a plate of delicious mixed sausages as an afterthought when all the previous plates had been cleared. All were magnificent - the lamb was one of the best I have had in a while. There were also sides of Sauerkraut, Mashed Potato, Potato Salad and Green Salad, all of which were equally good.  Everyone raved over the Salt Beef (I didn't quite, though it was very tasty) and the knuckle had that salty Kaesler ham feel about it; soft bite and rich mouth. Seems there is also a crispy version of the knuckle on the menu, though this requires a two day pre order. Next time. And there will be; Lenglui has insisted. We will take the Porkie gang there. The menu also boasted of Specials on the front page, but to be frank these become a bit redundant - Mr Ho's Pork dishes ARE the specials. 

Texas and Boon

Mr Ho came out to join for a glass of wine with us. He hasn't changed much, and is looking fit and well. He clearly remembered the familiars from the days of old and welcomed everyone like long lost buddies returned from the wilderness. We all did the same - so good to have him back. I opted not to ask about these wilderness years, figuring better to just enjoy the moment - if there is anything Prodigal, there is also no need to know. 

Winewise, each guy brought a bottle and we ended up whacking the lot. I recall seeing a Heartland Cut, a Toro Piedre Cabernet Carmenere, a Ripasso, a Dombeya Merlot, some fragrant and floral NZ Sauvignon (Mussel Bay, I think), along with a couple of others which escape me now. I brought a South African Haskell II 2010, a Shiraz Cabernet which sang magnificently with the beef; all big fruit and pepper mouth and salt cutting tannin and blooming finish. Didn't taste much of the other wines - they got opened and passed to the other end of the table and didn't seem to return. So it goes. Sometimes you just drink what is in front of you. 

As usual, the talk was all food and travel and occasionally drifting in and out of politics. But nothing serious - these things are all about the food and the wine. Some of the guys shared that some of the ladies were complaining as to why they could not come. And all confirmed that the foot had been firmly put down - boys only. Yes. Darling. Sweetheart. We sometimes have to be men about some things. 

The Boys

And then it was over. All headed out to wait for their Ubers or into the car for a slow and steady drive home to bed. The GPS programs do a brilliant job - just do what the phone or iPad tells you until some part of the route gets familiar and suddenly you're on home ground. They do seem to have become more trustable in terms of getting you reliably and quickly to your destinations (remember the Garmins? Ended up in some strange locations with them…) I tend to prefer the Waze over the Google - Ms Google on occasion gets a bit blinky when you make a wrong turn and defaults back to "head North West" or similar, which is rarely helpful when you don't have a compass or any sun in the sky to offer guidance. Mr Waze tells you the street numbers and which way to turn, so you don't have to look too much at the screen. 

Return of Mr Ho. Ho ho ho!!

As said, an epic night of wonderful soul food and definitely a return visit with the Porkies is essential. The food is hugely tasty and filling - no need for any Welsh Cake supper after a night at the Butcher's Table. And the ambience is loud and hearty; one of the boys commented it felt like a school canteen, which is pretty accurate with its benches and tables. Also similar to a German Bier Keller.  The place was full, and as tables emptied they got filled by new patrons. Well, well recommended. Ho Seck? This is MISTER Ho Seck!!

Butcher's Table Meat Sales

Cheers!!

PS in the excitement of reuniting with Mr Ho's Siew Yoke, I forgot to take many photos. Most came from the Whatsapp as shared by Boon, Joel, Barry, YC, AK and Dr Lim - Thank You the Boys!

Butchers Table

26 Jalan SS2/103

47300 Petaling Jaya

Selangor DE Malaysia

Tel:  +6 03 7728 2843

email: mybutcherstable@gmail.com

Facebook: The Butcher's Table

Opening Hours

Tuesday to Sunday

11.30am to 3pm, 6pm to 11pm

Fat Olive Garage - good, not great...

Tapas Plate - this was well tasty

December 20th 2016

Got regaled upon by Texas to try this place. They had had a wonderful time and suggested we get the gang together and go. Of course!

Fat Olive Garage is located in Dataran Prima, near the Tropicana in Petaling Jaya and was a long way round trip via Waze to get there due to evening traffic on the main roads. But we got there on time and, following a phone call to the place to establish its exact location, sat with the mostly already arrived gang and started to sup the wines. The actual frontage is hidden from the main road by a hedge of bushes hiding the car parking, so it is easy to miss. Which we did first time round, though Waze was absolutely spot on for its location.

Inside felt a bit basic and rustic, though the tables were long wooden affairs and looked for all the world like something out of a Game of Thrones castle. The kitchen was along one side and seating looked available for about 30 or 40 max. There is an upstairs which is mostly bakery equipment and the two toilets. 

Foodwise, the twelve of us decided to share a Tapas Platter, a Meat Platter and a Paella. Of these, the Tapas was excellent in terms of variety and taste - go back for this one. The Meat was ordinary to fair (though the vegetables were very good) and the Paella also felt ordinary. Not quite enough in the way of zing in the thing and more farmhouse than bodega. So it goes. 

The Meat Platter - four meats with
various sauces and veggies

Including a global corkage of RM300, it all worked out at RM160 each. Corkage otherwise would have been RM50 a bottle (we finished nine). 

Hugely friendly service from the Maitress D' who was also Chief Food Deliverer and spent half the latter part of the night packing food for takeaway. Given the cooking equipment I saw upstairs on a visit to the toilet, there is clearly some serious investment here. Chef is young, and for me needs time to cook up and perfect some kind of signature dish. Not that anything was bad, and the party atmosphere we created with our Xmas songs on the Beatbox made it huge fun. It just felt like a long way to travel for hearty but ultimately ordinary food. It is difficult not to compare with Marta's Kitchen in Sri Hartamas which does a similar style menu and which does a hugely tasty range of Spanish cuisine dishes (although watch for parking as DBKL are lethal on Friday nights - best to grin and bear the parking fee in the Service Block where the restaurant is located). The Fat Olive Paella has possibilities, as does the Meat Platter but both need finesse and character to justify the trek. Notwithstanding, Fat Olive Garage is definitely worth an expedition just to taste the authentic Spanish style food that Chef prepares and perhaps one to watch for the future. Hope they make it. 

Fat Olive Food Garage

B-G-17, Menara Prima, Jalan PJU 1/39, 

Dataran Prima, Petaling Jaya. 

Tel: 03-7887-5068

Big Fun at Fat Olive!!

Merry Christmas!!

  

Seafood Paella - somehow did not stun...

Oriental Pavilion Jaya 33 in PJ - fantastic!

August 17th 2016

Fantastic meal at the Oriental Pavilion in Jaya 33 last night. Great taste, delightfully presented, superb service, no corkage - and we had the badminton on the TV, cheering for anyone who was whacking perceived future threats to Malaysia's quest for Olympic Gold. Good food, wine, raucous company and great service - doesn't get much better.

Not actually sure how this group came together, but it has been going fairly strong for a couple of years now. Mostly focused on Chinese banquet style restaurants and people bringing their wines and they tend to be good fun evenings. No agendas, just catching up with each other and sharing the food, booze and the bill. If someone has a birthday then they get a free and the bill is shared by the remainder. Which on reflection is also a good way to ensure attendance so that you don't miss your birthday special! Good fun group, though there is one little blip in the pond whom we shall call The Comedian. He does have a sharply dry and cynical perspective on the world which occasionally can be quite acerbic and mildly funny. But he is dam stingy and cheap and occasionally pompous in his opinions, which is a total red button to me - the countless opportunities I have squandered and let slip through my life due to my weakness and seeming necessity to explode people's pomposity with some smartass verbal riposte has pretty much defined my life. Can't help it - total red rag weakness for bursting people's self important balloons and bringing them back to earth.  Dam sad on my part - I could have been global…  I thought I had mellowed with age - the Comedian is proving me wrong in spades.

The Oriental Group has been around for a good while now, with restaurants dotted at Malls around the city and possibly beyond. They tend to be large venues geared for celebrations with private rooms for those who want a bit of quiet away from the great unwashed or to sing their hearts out to the Karaoke. The last time I had been to the Jaya 33 outlet must have been about eight years ago, about the time I started doing Tai Chi - it was a celebration dinner with a Tai Chi demonstration with about nine tables. Though I had done the Bangsar version about three years back with Dr Gan and Lorraine and Kien. No complaints - good solid Cantonese cuisine well prepared and presented. For some reason, it just fell off the eating map as Marco Polo took centre place as the default Chinese of choice given the service and value we get there. This foodie group is good for keeping us in touch with the higher end Chinese eateries. No bad thing.

On this occasion, there were originally supposed to be 12 of us, but a nasty flu bug had decimated (actually double decimated according to the math) the group on the night to nine. For some reason, the wines came out to be mostly Italian, with a lovely Chianti starting the evening followed by a robust supermarket NZ SB, a Montepulciano white from me (accidental - I thought I had ordered red from the supplier but white got delivered) and two odd reds to finish. As usual, the Comedian didn't bring any booze - his batting average is grim - two vinous contributions to the six dinners shared (and bottom end supermarket standard). I suspect the thinking is that because his wife doesn't drink then no need for him to bring every time, which also presumably justifies his happy chugging of whatever everyone else has brought. Dam cheap chinaman logic, assuming this is the thought process. But the rest of the group seem to cheerfully put up with him - I ignore him and he ignores me and so detente exists. Doesn't stop me throwing cheap shot barbs at his cheapness when the occasion presents - not sure if he gets them but I think he does. So now I bring a bottle of cheap RM30 stuff which I pour just for him. And the wife when she deigns to break her non drinking rule. Mean spirited? Maybe. Yes. No one likes a stinge.

Anyhow back to the food. Someone had brought some home made prawn crackers which were light and delightful as canapes with the first glass. Crispy, delicate, full of prawn and salt and fresh oil but all in perfect ratio and balance - best I have tasted for a long time and setting a great tone for the evening. 

Oriental Four Seasons

The Four Seasons were individually very good, though the soft shelll crab took honours given its texture and crisp salty shell. It was like a brilliant crunchy croquette with a hint of chili and season and no oil - so, so good. I found the Fish Maw in Lettuce lacking something, though the solution was at hand - the chopped garlic in soy sauce gave it the necessary kick to elevete the crispy vegetal crunch and soft flaky eggy combo into something larger and memorable. Both the Chicken and Scallop were fantastically fresh and full of taste - a great starter and well supported by the surprisingly good Chianti. The wines brought by this group tend to be workmanlike good rather than connoisseur level standard, but on the clear thought that had gone into the purchase of this Chianti some of the group have been learning. Light yet firm in body, good spice and nicely chewy, this made for a good partner to tame the general salt of the Four Seasons. Dam shame we had to share it with the Comedian.

Roast Suckling Pig Finest Macau Style. Yes.

People have varying opinions as to the best Siew Jie (Suckling Pig) in the city. Most seem to prefer it with more emphasis on crispy skin rather than juicy tasty meat. Which I kind of get - the texture is the critical factor and the result is generally less "porky" on the nose and mouth. In the West, though, the skin is but the prelude to the meat, and is prepared accordingly. Anyone who has tasted the Lechon style in the Philippines will understand. Tonight's preparation was somewhere between the two, having more meat under the skin and on the bones than one might see in (for example) Marco Polo. This was apparently Macao style (no, make that FINEST Macou Style), and was served with Chilled Citrus Juice which tasted remarkably like the Schweppes bitter lemon mix one might pour over Gin and ice. The pig was good - the meat soft and juicy with skin that crackled and bit saltily into the tongue. Different style of preparation which took it from the ordinary to one for the memory. Can still taste it now - smoky, juicy, sucking on a leg like a Viking and totally focused on this delightful chunk of meat. Not quite stellar, but still darn good. Took the Suckling Pig in Malaysia to a new level. Gin and Bitter Lemon - now I am feeling thirsty…

The brilliant Crispy Tuna Fish

Next up was the Crispy Tuna in Pomelo sauce and this was a star. One thing Lenglui and I lament here in Malaysia is the general lack of a good Fish and Chippie anywhere in either the city or the nation. I love the taste and texture of battered fish - comes from growing up with it as a kid and getting sent to the local chippie to pick up Cod or Hake and chips (the chippie here was Dowdings on Holmsdale Street - story was that Old Man Dowding decided to retire and the family sold the business on, though it was still a chippie when I was last back there about eight years ago). Tonight's offering had a soft underbelly to the batter crust which made for a texture that was at once firm yet soft in the mouth. It also made for a lovely chew when combined with the Tuna - and this made for a first time with battered tuna for me. Who'd have thought Tuna could get battered? Should have known - Chinese can batter anything. Tastewise it came across as Kurau but with more of a firmness on the bite - full on the mouth, though neither overpowering nor fishy. Not close to the taste of the Cardiff past, but excellent nonetheless. 

But the real delight was the Pomelo sauce. Tasting like sweet citrus and with bits of Pomelo strewn across the sauce, it was a sweet fruity sharp and tangy counterbalance to the oil and batter and fish. The use of the fresh Pomelo also gave a pithy, pippy bite and crunch to release the citrus into the mouth. Very, very good, and the whole combo went most agreeably with the remains of the Chianti and the newly opened NZ SB. Combine this with the increasing noise level as the Malaysian Hope got closer to the winning line, it was shaping up to be a good night.

Steamed River Fresh Water Prawns

Most people seem to rave about Fresh Water Prawns, and in some cases I understand why. When done properly, the texture is heaven and the sweet taste when perfectly steamed is unforgettable. In my experience, less is usually more when it comes to these. Tonight's preparation was a bit gingery which for me got too much in the way of the prawn. The texture was good, taste was there, just that the ginger dolloped over the top got a bit too much in the way for taste. Though none of the group made any complaints - just wolfed the thing down with approving noises and grunts. The white Montalcino was a bit on the oily and heavy side for the prawn - the Comedian loudly proclaimed that he didn't like the Montalcino, saying that he was more of a supermarket wine drinker rather than a connoisseur like me. We used to call this inverted snobbery in the old days. Today we just smile and think "Dick". Though I think I responded with something like "at least I bring two bottles of wine," which he seemed to pretend not to hear. Dick. 

The fluffy pancake-y Red Bean... doughnut, I guess

Dessert was Red Bean Soup and a kind of a pancake bun that was all egg and fluffiness and surrounding a dollop of red bean paste. And it all made for a good end to the evening's food adventures, with a little bit of sweet from the red bean coming up against the egg tarty pancake. There have been a lot of new preparations and presentations tonight - kudos to the kitchen for its inventiveness!

The service of both food and wine was pleasantly efficient, with fair glassware and ice buckets available. One girl in particular stood out for consideration and pleasant engagement with us and who got tipped accordingly when asked to write out in English the menu for me to prepare this report. Think her name was Christina. Also got a copy of the bill for the written Chinese version for production next time I go there with Lenglui and a different gang. Total after some discounts from our evening's organiser was RM1173 (RM131 each for nine) which felt all right for an evening of very tasty and well prepared food. Lots of parking in the complex, paid around RM6 for four hours parking.

I'd go back for pretty much all of the dishes on show here, though a group is necessary to share the bill for things like the Siew Jie and Steamed Fish. A pleasant surprise from an old restaurant friend. Well worth a shot. 

Fresh Water Prawn with Glutinous Rice. Loads of ginger and cilantro

Just a footnote on Jaya 33 - a smallish shopping complex that's been around for about twenty years and whose main tenants are a supermarket on the Ground Floor (with supermarket wines for the Comedian) and ACE Hardware on Level One. There's also the more recently constructed Plaza@ Jaya 33 which houses the excellent Kampachi and Noble Mansion restaurants. Jaya 33 has lots of little eateries (both halal and non) on the frontage (including Vintry which is of note for its excellent ribs and dwindling but still good wine selection). A high end photography shop somehow survives there as does a DVD store and Pharmacy, but there were lots of empty shuttered outlets on this visit. The Retail Economy doesn't look too good. The supermarket houses a non halal section where to my delight I found a taste of my childhood - lots of boxes of Brains Faggots parked almost out of sight in a cold box and retailing at RM12 a box. Bargain. These are (or were) tasty balls of chopped up bits of meat and fat in gravy which come in foil boxes of six - just heat and eat, traditionally with vinegar. Which I intend to do soon. Never seen them in Malaysia before and haven't seen them anywhere for decades. I bought two boxes. Let you know if they still taste as good as I remember. Cheers!

Oriental Pavilion Restaurant

1st Floor Jaya 33

3 Jalan Semangat

Section 13

Petaling Jaya

Tel 03 79569288

MENU

Oriental Pavilion Four Seasons

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

Jelly Chicken

Deep Fried Fish Maw with Egg and Lettuce

Baked Scallop with Bacon

Crispy Tuna Fish with Pomelo Sauce

Roast Suckling Pig 

Finest Macao Style served with Chilled Citrus Juice

Steamed River Fresh Water Prawns 

with Glutinous Rice

Red Bean soup

Some Dessert that was like Egg Pancake Baked around Red Bean paste

Noble Mansion - great wines, mostly good tasting food

July 28th 2016

For the July event, the IWFS decided to revisit an old friend of a restaurant, the Noble Mansion in Petaling Jaya. We last visited the place almost three years ago to the day and had a great night of excellent food and wine, with some lovely dishes and booze on show - click here for that report.  This time would see the pairing of the restaurant’s Shunde Cuisine with some equally excellent wines from the Baron de Rothschild selection. Vice President May Peng has been the spearhead for organizing this dinner in conjunction with the visit of the Asia Pacific Export Manager for Baron Edmond de Rothschild, one Florent Mougin who would present the wines at the dinner. 

Short version is that the wines were stellar, which helped make the company have a lot of boozy fun. The service was swift and efficient. Only downside was the later dishes - my tenderloin felt like it had been tendered by a three wood, and my lamb tasted like it had been drenched in the same sauce in which the tenderloin had been soaked. Seems the battered crispy pork rib was the better choice. A frisky fruity dessert made up for things though most people were locked into the vertical by this point.

Dr Rajan, Stephanie, Eric and Ebbie

May be repeating myself here from the previous visit, but no matter - Noble Mansion is an eatery within the Oriental Group of Restaurants, and first its constituent restaurants. The Noble Mansion focuses on the Shunde style from Guangzhou Province, which aspires to be finer than the more traditional fare one finds elsewhere. Shunde has long been widely regarded as the basis for exquisite Cantonese cuisine. While the cuisine of Guangzhou has been historically very minimalist in the use of flavorings, food from Shunde is celebrated for its liberal use of ingredients such as sun dried tangerine peel and dates, resulting in simple but powerful flavours.

As said, IWFS KL was last at Noble Mansion about three years ago to the day and on that occasion got forty to pitch up. So we were somewhat surprised when 60 said they would turn out for this one. Traditionally, the IWFS KL finds Chinese cuisine dinners a tough sell to the Rakyat. The story seems to be that they cannot see the price being justified when they can go to their favourite twin fan and burner eaterie and get better food for a third of the price. Fair enough. But you don't get the ambience of a Mansion House, or the glassware, or the efficient (though somewhat serious faced) pouring of top class wine. I think that this was the kicker - May had struck a deal with Michelle at AsiaEuro to snag some Magnums of an under known Chateau at a sparkling price and get the whole night for under three hundred ring per pax. The Magnums were also in vertical - 2006 to 2008 and we could get to compare them on the table. 

Dato Jeremy Diamond and Lenglui - everyone loved the outfit. Hers, not his...

In my role as IWFS Secretary and emailing of the dinner notice, I had asked attendees to deck out in their best Chinois finery, and Lenglui made sure I came resplendent in Black Silk and Gold. Haven't had so many comments on what I was wearing in my life. It is a very nice jacket though - black silk with dragons embroidered on both breasts. Very Jackie Chan. 

Mingling around the tables with a glass of Rimapere SB and nibbling on some salty mushroom and money bag things. Well, had I been earlier I would have - when I got to the plates it was mostly crumb and crisp. But tasty enough to tame the low acidity and ease one's way into the evening. 

First course of Prawn Cake had a lovely lemongrass hit on what felt like nitrogen frozen and sugar frosted Basil (though it may just have been parked in the freezer for a couple of hours) and other veggie bits. The whole thing was parked in a de-stemmed cocktail glass sitting on a bubbling bowl of dry ice. The Prawn Cake was fresh, soft and crunchy, with salt hits that made it magnificent and close to being the dish of the night. It paired nicely with the light and fruity Rimapere - bit low on the acidity but in excellent blend making for a friendly dash of easy drinking and perfect with the salty prawn cake.

Pan Fried Prawn Cake with Long Beans and Icy Vegetable Shunde style

The soup had a mix of shell fish bits in a nicely seasoned and creamy broth that felt totally devoid of any oil. It also felt reminiscent in texture of a Heinz mushroom soup but way more refined and ticklish in the mouth. Wonderful texture. The shellfish was okay, but lost a lot of taste in the broth. 

Double Boiled Scallop, Razorback Clams and Crab Meat in Superior Crab Soup

It was paired with the Baroness Nadine Chardonnay which had been billed as similar to the Pulignys of Montrachet. The nose certainly promised much with its clean oaky butter, and the body was firm in the mouth and finish. Got spritzy lemon and mango banana in the mouth. Neither soup nor wine did much for each other, but I have had worse matches - at least neither killed the other on this pairing. I did throw some of the remains of the aperitif crackers that were still on the table into the broth for the sake of experimentation. Didn't work - too much oil and salt in the cracker which clashed fiercely with the cream in the soup. Add the oaky butter in the wine and pffffftttt… more damp squib than firecracker.

Pan Fried South African Fresh Abalone Shunde Style

I found the pan fried South African Abalone a darn tough beast to carve and eat. I have had these in Tokyo and they were belter, all firm bite and tender chew. Tonight's felt more like biting into a Springbok rugby player than a shelled seacrawler. Not sure if others felt the same or whether I had just drawn the tough one - no one said anything negative, so maybe I was just unlucky. Also not sure where the Shunde style crept into the preparation, though my notes say it tasted the same as the prawn, a salty crunch and zip on the lips and mouth. Tasty, but darn chewy. Having said all this, the Baroness started to sing with the Abalone. There were flowers on the nose and in the mouth, the fruit softened from citrus to tropical yet it retained great acidity which clung to the cheeks like a frost on a winter car windscreen. Still citrussy, crisp and fresh, in lovely balance and nicely elegant from start to finish. Clean, crisp, clear and cutting - a cracker of a wine drinking wonderfully on the night.

Andy, Jaya and David

We were now on to the main event - the vertical magnums of Chateau Clarke from 2006 to 2008 which would all be paired with the beef, the lamb (or pork) and the fried rice. They were all poured one after the other so all stood on the table waiting to be judged by the assembled. 

It made sense to try each of them one by one and then go on to try them with the dishes as and when they made the table.

The 2008 felt tight and lean and taut, with the forward tannins tending to upend the balance and tilt the wine toward a somewhat reedy feel. Felt like it needed more time, though one for the austerity fans rather than the fruit bomb lovers.

The 2007 had better fruit and came over rich and bold. Big friendly nose of forest berries, clean firm and fresh with a lot of cassis in the mouth and on the finish. Excellent drinker, very friendly.

The 2006 had a firm nose, and initially felt a bit claggy and sour on the throat as if there were some elements that were a bit off. Got a hint of cat-pee on the nose and mouth with pretty forward tannins, suggesting a need for a good few more years for its austerity to come fully to the fore. Perhaps one for the purists - lean, mean and a little bit green.

The Beef Tenderloin came out smothered in what was billed as Foie Gras sauce and with a quail's egg. Mine must have been a darn big quail, was almost the size of half a golf ball. Also seemed a good waste of what might have been decent Foie Gras - felt a bit like the restaurant was being opulent for the sake of being opulent. But kudos for the experiment. Perhaps if it had been hotter it might have made a difference. The meat was…  no, on reflection I didn't really like it. As said earlier, well over tenderised and having so been beaten thunderously with the hammer of Thor it tasted like something out of the Fray Bentos factory. No bite or chew, like biting through processed spam. And it was cold. Fail. 

Pan Fried Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras Sauce and Fried Quail Egg

The lamb was an improvement, and quite nicely done but the sauce remained way too sweet. It was like lamb chop toffee apple, all sweet caramel with a hit of cinnamon. The sauce might be belter on a pork rib but I don't get why it needs to be almost constantly paired with all other meats. Apparently the Pork Rib was very good. And strangely without sauce...

Grilled Lamb Cutlet with Green Garden Salad

The fried rice tended toward the salty but the texture had a good vegetal crunch to it thanks to what felt like celery chips thrown into the mix. Might have accounted for the salty feel on the thing.

Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Ginger Shunde Style

Dessert was cute - traditional bits of ginkgo, bean and iced jelly in syrup but served in an apple hollowed out to take the mix. This gave it a refreshingly green crisp chilled cider twist that made for a very pleasant and tasty closer. 

Chilled Sweetened Fuji Apple with Snow Jelly

So… overall not stunned by the food - the first few courses were good, but the beef having been mashed with a three wood rather than tenderised took all the texture out of the thing. Also, not sure how Shunde the food was. Dr Gan would probably have said not even close. Ah, Dr Gan…  still missed.

Lovely wines all through the night - soft Sauvignon Blanc, full on Chardonnay and an excellent Bordeaux vertical. Don't get this too often and kudos to May for getting this excellent evening together. Great food and wine service and the applause felt quite genuine when the staff came out to take a bow. 

The aircon initially felt a bit cool, but evened out as the food got to the table. Very pleasant ambience helped immensely by members who had got into the spirit and dressed up for the night. 

Didn't get much in the way of complaint from the assembled, who were all happily guzzling the remains of the Clarke. All were happy with the food and the friendly cost of the evening (RM298 for members) and AsiaEuro made everyone happier by saying the wines would be available at special price to everyone. 

Oh, so drama one...

David asked me to get up and give an opinion on which of the vertical was the best. Yes. I managed to turn it around by asking everyone what they thought a) of the wines on their own and b) did that opinion change when drunk with the food. There seemed a consensus that the 2007 was the better on its own because of the fruit but that the 2006 sang with food. Some people preferred the 2008 over everything which only goes to prove the truth that we all taste things differently and from a different expectation perspective. All booze is good, and only experience and preference born from hard time served swilling it will tell us which for us is better. Yes. What?

We decided to leave everyone to the boozing and slipped out, albeit with a reluctant glance back at the revelry that looked clearly to be heading toward the early hours. There you go - now at the age where pacing becomes important. There was no need for a marmite sandwich for supper, and the two panadol with the 6am pee mitigated the headbang of the morning after though it remained a very muzzy day. Maybe there's a blogpost in here somewhere - how to manage the morning after. Cheers!

Yam Seng!!

Noble Mansion

Level One, Plaza@Jaya 33

1 Jalan Semangat 

Section 13, Petaling Jaya

Phone:+603-7932 3288

THE MENU 

Aperitif

Deep Fried Beancurd Skin Roll

Golden Crispy Shimeji Mushrooms

Crispy Prawn Cracker 

Rimapere Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2013

1^st Course

Pan Fried Prawn Cake with Long Beans & Icy Vegetable Shunde Style

2nd Course

Double Boiled Scallop, Razorback Clams & Crab Meat in Superior Crab Soup

3^rd Course

Pan Fried South African Fresh Abalone Shunde Style

Baroness Nadine Chardonnay 2012

4^th Course

Pan Fried Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras Sauce & Fried Quail Egg

5^th Course

Deep fried Pork Ribs with Ginger Shunde Style

Or

Grilled Lamb Cutlet with Green Garden Salad

6^th Course

Shunde Style Fried Rice

Chateau Clarke Baron Edmond de Rothschild 

Vertical of 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintages in Magnum

Dessert

Chilled Sweetened Fuji Apple with Snow Jelly, Gingko, Fresh Lily and Red Date

THE WINES

Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc 2013 

Rimapere is a partnership between Chateau Clarke in Bordeaux Craggy Range in Marlborough NZ. The name means "five arrows" in Maori, these also being the emblem of the Rothschild family, symbolizing the five brothers and sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812, Frankfurt, Germany).

Rimapere grapes are carefully grown and the wine is made under the direction of the Craggy Range winemaking team. The cool climate of the Rapaura area in the heart of Marlborough is perfect to ripen high quality Sauvignon Blanc and give these grapes their classic lemon and grapefruit flavours and crisp acidity.

Pale yellow in colour with an intense nose of lemon, grapefruit together with mineral notes. This wine shows great balance and freshness thanks to a good acidity level. Well paired when chilled with white meat, grilled fish, or seafood.

Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine 2012

100% Chardonnay.  The grapes were hand picked from end January to beginning March 2012 with an average yield of 7 tons per hectare. After whole cluster pressing only the free-run juice was used. 20% was fermented and matured in concrete tanks. The remainder was fermented in stainless steel tanks and thereafter matured in 300 liter French oak barrels for 11 months of which one third was new barrels.

A fusion of citrus blossom aromas with macadamia nougat and baguette crust on the palate. Soft, fine structure and a creamy roundness with an elegant, lingering lemon zest finish. Recommended with seared sesame crusted tuna or melon and prawn salad. 

Chateau Clarke Baron Edmond de Rothschild "Anglais" Listrac Medoc 2008, 2007, 2006

The origins of the Chateau Clarke estate date back to the 12th century when the Cistercian monks of the Vertheuil Abbey planted the first vines. The land was bought by the knight Tobie Clarke in 1818 (hence the name) and sold to the Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 1973. The neglected vineyard was completely recreated between 1974 and 1978 to attain a final wine producing area of 54 hectares.

Today the vines are planted on clay-limestone hilltops that enables the Merlot grape to express itself at its best, The ancient buildings have been restored and the techniques and equipment used in the winemaking process have been brought up to date. 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from 30yo vines are handpicked and meticulously sorted before vatting through simple gravity into  wooden vats for vinification. Pumping over and pigeage. Malolactic fermentation and maturation in new French Oak Barrels for between 14 and 18 months. 250,000 bottles produced.

2008 notes - super powerful, intense and complex nose, with mature red fruit. Notes of violets and spicy oak. The attack on the palate is dense and rich with tight tannins. Freshness and persistent flavours of fruit. Merlot makes a nice sweetness and is enhanced by beautiful spices that give a kind of "Margaux style". 

2007 notes - intense deep purpled red, complex nose, concentrated fresh blackcurrant fruit and smoke, full body, good depth, dense with a beautiful ripeness. Decanter 16.5.

2006 notes - minty, new wood aromas show this wine as modern and smooth in style. The tannins are a touch woody rather than fruity suggesting a need for time to integrate. Sweet plum, cassis, violets, dusty tobacco, fruit depth with vanilla spice and toasty oak. Good balance and texture.

"The Manga Degustation" Bistro A Table - cute and fun!

Course One with Manga Page 1

7th March 2016

Writing this eight days after the dinner, I have a fond fuzzy memory of the evening. It was fun, great wines from everyone, lots of stories and laughs and somehow managing to avoid getting roped in to a "retreat" at a Buddhist Forest Reserve in Bentong. Can't remember the food at the moment, though, other than the fact it was fresh and visually strong and French-ish. Just can't remember how it all tasted. The notes will reveal!

Food Bore alert - This is another long post, much of which sets the scene for the food. Skip to half way down if you prefer to avoid. Look for the big photos.

This one came about as a result of a conversation with BAT Maitre D' Carol after a dinner there last November with the Amante group (though why the Italian foodie group was doing French Bistro food I have yet to resolve - I think perhaps Chief Amante was in the mood for French and managed to strike a deal). Carol shared that Bistro A Table Degustations took place every first Monday of the month - a quick check of the assembled found that we would all be around in March so we promised to return to give it a try. 

I like degustations. It's the range of tastes they offer to showcase the kitchen's culinary and creative skills and leanings. Also, I do find with age that I prefer to taste rather than feast. Especially with a bottle of something nice to exceptional with some intellectually engaging company. Wonderful stuff.

Course Two with Manga Page 2

Established in 2011, the Bistro à Table website advises that BAT "has long been a forefront contender in Malaysia’s food scene, offering creative and daring dishes to its patrons" in what it calls “adaptive French” cuisine - adapting the best of Malaysia to the classical French staples and techniques. The multi award-winning establishment "strives to bring the world’s very best produce to its diners, from Japanese Kobe beef to New Zealand lamb, to French poulet de Bresse to goose foie gras, to local Malaysian tropical fruits."

Executive chef and owner/operator Isadora Chai seems to have become legend in a short time. Whenever her name comes up in conversation, everyone seems to have a personal story about her and it is usually a jaw dropper. I have never come across this about any other chef in my time in Malaysia. People will say, "oh yes, I know Chris and Eddie, their food is wonderful" or "Chef Marco is SUCH a nice man" but with Isadora it is more that she has somehow impacted their lives and they are so keen to share the tale. It begins, "You know, I went to Bistro and that Isadora…. " and gets followed by some fantastical tale designed to leave one incredulous at Chef's abilities and temperament. I had met her years ago at a wine dinner in Ribs and…  see what I mean? Everyone seems to have a story about Chef. She does have an aura about her, like Mourinho used to have at Chelsea. The Special One. I guess that makes her The Isadorable One? Whatever, Chef clearly has colour and passion and attitude. I liked her already.

Course Three with Manga Page 3

For some reason, I had been avoiding paying a visit to Bistro for years without really being sure why. There had never seemed to be an occasion to warrant going there, and the competition from other dinners seemed to continually get in the way. It also seemed a bit far to both get to and to drive home after (is located in Section 17, PJ), and reports of the food ranged from rave to rude. But mostly I think I let myself get put off by the one story continually offered by the Governor as to Chef's insistence that she could not comply with Mrs Governor's request for the steak to come well done. His position is that the customer is always right and has not been back since. And perhaps out of some subconscious submission to the Governor's occasionally intimidating "Brook no Contradiction" demeanour, a visit there had never happened. Any time the suggestion to dine at Bistro had arisen, this same story came out with his understated vehemence and continually became pretty much the last word on the matter. Which in retrospect is not fair and I should really grow a set when it comes to the Governor. 

Course Four with Manga Page 4

However, things started changing in the last couple of years or so. Occasional visits to Soleil (located at the opposite end of the shophouse block) kind of put the drive there and home argument to bed, coupled with recent suggestions by the Sweeper and the Sapper that Bistro really was well worth a visit. Also, a recent rainy dash on a September Friday evening for something to eat at the disappointing Verona brought next door neighbour Bistro right into the frame. And so it came to pass that I found myself eating there twice in the space of three weeks, once (as said) with the Amante in November and another with my Singapore foodie friend and blogger Julian in December (we did ask for Degustation day, but got advised of no degustation for December so we did a la carte for that one). 

I decided to hold off on writing about these visits, because the dishes at each felt a shade bipolar - some were stunning, others not so. My foodie friend Julian had a particularly underwhelming experience and has written of this elsewhere. A Degustation, though, should showcase what a Chef is capable of in artistic and technical senses and I feel is fair game for a report. So here we go. 

Course Five with Manga Page 5

We had been liaising with Carol as to numbers and corkage and got it down for a special two for one - worth it, given the quality of glassware and service I had experienced there on the previous visits. Carol is a veteran of the Malaysian Restaurant scene and an absolute asset and treasure, having cut her managerial teeth with the erstwhile Frangipani and honing her skills through a range of excellent though now sadly defunct establishments. Even tempered and soft spoken, Carol exudes this air of calm unflappability that would now considered massively old school yet is refreshingly welcome. It is well worth a visit to the Bistro just to get served by her. 

The evening had been billed as "The Manga Degustation" to debut Chef's own "dark and blasphemous Manga Comic strip", said the promotional email I had received. It promised "an amalgamation of Japanese and French flavours [where] the dishes served will be subliminally based on the chapters presented throughout the dinner." In this, diners would get a page of the story prior to each course and the dish that would come out would somehow encapsulate the drama on the page. Chef channeling her dishes from her Manga story. I think.

People had been invited to come dressed in Cosplay outfits to get into the mood of the dinner, which I understand to mean in the costumes of favourite Manga characters. And they did! Lots of day-glo coloured wigs and gaudy clashing mish-matches of fashions and colours that somehow work in this fantasy imagination context. No one seemed to be taking it all too seriously and were clearly enjoying both the company, the vibe and the food so what the heck? 

Course Six with Manga Page 6

I don't know too much about Manga. It is not an art form that quickly resonated. Things like Gigantor and Marine Boy were around when I was a kid, but I was always more of a Thunderbirds and Stingray fan. But I do know that Japanese Anime and Manga is huge. Models, comics, books and trading cards, the industry is massive. Fans seem to resonate with particular characters and presumably look to emulate them in costume and lifestyle. Escapist? Maybe, but I don't feel qualified to judge. Some people resonate with Star Wars or Star Trek, others with Gundam and the WWE. Whatever buzzes your bolts. I resonate with booze and food. And the WWE.

Spoiler alert - don't read the next paragraph if you plan to attend a future BAT Manga Degustation. 

The story seems to be about a stormy romance between a demonic angel-winged daughter of Lucifer named Raxicon and a somewhat raffish human "ethereal" son of God named Liam. Kind of Underworld versus Overworld with the Earth caught in between. Both being from different sides of the fence, their love is naturally forbidden. Naturally they fall in love, fight, break up, she brings catastrophe to the earth, and their love ends up symbolised as the Blood Moon and as a memory at the bottom of the sea.

Our party had all arrived pretty much at the same time and the place was about half full. Some had already started their dinners, others were waiting for the fizz to chill. Carol seemed a shade stressed as she juggled ordering staff to get ice and glasses whilst welcoming people to their seats. 

"Bleeding" Egg Mollet with Beetroot Foam and Lobster Aioli

We were told of what to expect for the evening and got presented with the first page of the story. The pages would prove to be laminated and black and white with the occasional art piece in colour and whilst I did try to read and get a sense of the story, others seemed content to just keep chatting and not get too involved. 

In this, the visual dizziness of the pages was a bit offputting. It looked (and indeed was) hard work to read the thing quickly. Lots of words and artwork. I couldn't entirely follow the story because it would have taken too long (which felt a bit rude in company), so I had to make do with a brief scan of the words and pictures. The first seemed to be about a fallen angel who wanted to be like everyone else and kept cutting off her wings only for them to grow back bigger. Lots of bloodsplash on the page. Which mirrored Course One's Bleeding Egg - lots of seeming bloodsplash on the white plate which was in fact beetroot juice. Visually very effective and arresting on the eye, though at the risk of seeming indelicate it did look a shade….   menstrual. Sorry, but it did. Yuck. Dear Lord that I am able to think these things…

I have no notes on the taste of the dish. Probably still stunned by the visceral image of seeing a period on a plate…   Oh good grief, let's get out of here…

We were supping a Pol Roger NV which was wonderful crisp bubbles and kind of chewy fruit. This is a full bodied fizz, lots of whack in the mouth and nose and brilliantly sleek on the downside. Got a bottle or two in the fridge at home from a wine dinner at the erstwhile Ribs - need to drag them out at some time.

Parsnip Puree with Black Truffle, Pumpkin and Red Wine Bread

The Course Two Parsnip Puree was wonderful, but then I am a total sucker for Parsnip. This one had been pureed and a slice of truffle thrown on top and was well excellent. There was also some slices of what tasted like bitter gourd and aubergine parked on top which gave a pleasant tang in the cheeks to electrify the wonderfully smooth gunk and sweetness of the parsnip. Not entirely sure about the red wine bread, but presumably the colour retained the idea of blood and death. The story had moved to a church and a blossoming romance between the fallen angel (actually a demon) and a raffish looking… unfallen angel. Parsnip and truffle as a symbol of love - okay. We sniffed the red wine bread and figured the wine therein was French, though the vintage was beyond us. 

We were on to a Cloudy Bay 2015 SB which was pleasant enough though lacking the zing of previous vintages. But then I remember drinking it at a wine dinner in Cilantro many moons ago when Kevin Judd would still have been in charge and before the days of conglomerate takeover. Still remember that one, total stunner, no idea what year it was. CB is sadly now not a patch on what it once was. And now under RM100 in the stores from RM170 in recent years. Presumably the market has caught up with the brand and it is now facing serious competition from the world. Good.

Scallop with Shaved Smoked Japanese Mahi Mahi Roe and Wakame

Course Three was the scallop whilst the story was…  I am not entirely sure. There was a tsunami and a battle so I guess this was the swoosh and tempest and the turmoil of discovery that deceit and deception indeed exists on heavenly levels. Never trust a raffish looking angel, eh? The dish itself was delightful. The scallop had been sliced incredibly thin and "ceviched" into a milky mush and came across like a kind of oyster / sea urchin puree that slipped along and evaporated with a strange brine like breeze through the mouth. The Wakame had (I guess) been freeze-crisped up into a crunchy Fatt Choy style to give a bitterish salt vegetal hit to the creamy scallop. Along with little sprigs of cilantro and basil (I think) the whole became a beautiful range of crunchy herbal tastes as counterpoint to the slimy-ish wonderful gunk of the scallop. This one rocked. Very good with the Cloudy Bay, whose lack of strong acidity actually did it a favour here and let some good steely minerality cleanse the palate. 

Octopus with Tahini Quinoa and Anago Jus

Course Four was the Octopus on a bed of quinoa with some radish slices, some bitterish rocket and a long squeeze of tahini with some salt for taste. The combo felt a bit….  odd in the mouth. Not bad odd, just… odd. There was the squish and rubber crunch of the octopus going up against the soft neutral gluten-free chew of the quinoa and undercut by the zappy radish and bitter green rocket. Lots of cross textures going on. It was probably me - octopus is not my everyday choice of mollusc at the hawker stall, and anytime the tastebuds and mouth get challenged by something a bit left field I kind of go default and neutral on the thing. Though I did feel that the whole was missing something to bring it all together. Perhaps a dab of balsamic to give a bit of acetic to the thing? (NB I have a friend who continually wordmangles/mangalizes Balsamic to Islamic Vinegar - I don't know how to explain the difference).

The Manga comic had a big Octopus bearing down on our heroes who had got locked into a serious undersea snogging session so I guess that was the connection. 

The Cloudy Bay was doing surprisingly sterling service to the food. Its apparent blandness gave way to some excellent fruit and lemon sweet mouthfeel when paired with the food. It is in very good balance. Perhaps I have been a bit harsh with it - will have to try another bottle in a different context. 

It was at this point that someone asked whether anyone was following the story. I said yes, but most said no which engendered some comments to the effect that it all somehow felt like bullshit and one didn't need the story to eat the food. Well, and yes, it was true one didn't need the story. But whether that made it bullshit I am not sure necessarily follows. The Philistines also thought that everything arty was bollocks, but have generally been judged by history not to have been the best judges of anything. Dopey idiots blowing up historical artefacts because they do not fit an "enlightened" understanding of God seem to be in the same frame. Surely better to keep an open mind lest it close you to new truth? There is no greater tyranny than that of the closed mind. Freedom is just a new thought away. Yes. 

The assembled group all know their good food, but perhaps felt a bit confused as to why have the Manga story and theme in the first place? What was the point, what was the rationale, how did it fit with the food? I think sometimes there isn't one, and maybe that was the situation tonight - it was what it was. Creatives often have a story they want to bring into the world just to have it be told and hopefully heard. Whilst most of the world probably won't listen, some will. It's the need to touch, the need to reach someone that drives us all. Same reason I do this blog and my songwriting and recording - it's a very human need to connect. Perhaps there is an ego tripping somewhere in all of this, but I'm just happy to throw my output out there. If it gets picked up and applauded, great. If not, so it goes. The result can certainly be judged, but unless there is an underlying agenda I'm not sure the motive needs to be. That can hurt.

We had opened the Burgundy I had brought and it was widely praised as a belter - classic Chambertin, bright, light cherries and cheery finish. Carol took a taste and approved - enjoyed the classic style. I initially thought it was one I had picked up from SW Wines but later found this was mistaken - it was in fact a 2009 Lucien Le Moine 1er Cru "Les Cazetiers" which came from Dave Chan during his Artisan Wines time. As memory now serves, he had brought this one to a wine dinner at the Marco Polo and we bought a few bottles. Drinking very nicely. Got a memory of paying under RM300 for it. Sometimes the wine gods smile. 

Saddle of NZ Lamb, Wild Rice and Kobe Tendon and Sweetbreads

Course Five was the Lamb and Kobe tendon on a bed of wild rice, with sweetbread which had been bedded on a smear of (what tasted like) green pea puree. Very French Bistro, very rich style and massive reduction to the consistency of goo on the meaty jus which got soaked up by the rice and made for good chewy slurping. The dish was excellent, though the pea puree gave a bit too much green sweet for the wine which was otherwise an immensely brilliant match with the meat. Texture wise I preferred the lamb, which had a bit more resistance to the chew than the tendon, but this is more a personal preference - both were cooked very nicely. 

Peach and Champagne Granita

We also poured the Bordeaux that the Rubber Baron had brought which was also classic and delightful - a 2000 Chateau Leoville-Las Cases Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de Las Cases. Full, meaty, potent and from a startlingly good vintage. It hit every button you can think of. One of those you sip and just go "ahhhhhhhh….." The Rubber Baron is hugely generous with his wines. Every one he brings to dinner is always a real treat of some kind. Also a natural pair with the lamb and beef. Perfect wine for the food. 

There seemed to be lots of death and destruction in the comic, though I was not sure why - I had pretty much lost the plot by this time.

Quite why the sorbet came after the Main was not clear, but it worked. Sucked out all the gunk of the wild rice gravy from the throat which had the added effect of giving the wine a cooled supercharge on the finish. Don't try these things, never know eh?

Dessert was the Blood Moon which was the final love symbol for the Manga story. Very pleasant combo of sour oranges and zippy Yuzu contrasting with the sticky sweet toffee cage surrounding the Blood Moon. Sugaringly refreshing. 

Blood Orange and Belgian White Chocolate Marquise and Yuzu Jelly

At the end of the dinner, Chef came out armed with printed copies of the entire Manga story to give to everyone. Seems the whole Manga Degustation Concept had been a three year project from inception to execution and she seemed well happy to have finally got it out of the system. Chef also came out armed with a great smile and a pen for autographs. And why not? A legion of fans were on hand to worship and adore their Isadorable One. Chef inspires a loyalty in her patrons who happily sustain BAT both through and beyond its flights of degustational fancy. Any love is good love and got to get it where and when you can. And the floor staff seemed quite happy as well. In the cut and thrust loyalty-at-a-price environment that is the KL Food Scene, have to respect that.

2009 Lucien Le Moine 1er Cru "Les Cazetiers"

Overall, it was a good and fun evening. The food pretty much rocked in visual and taste terms and our wines and service thereof was excellent. There was good consistency in quality and taste and there was good sense of movement and development through the menu. As far as the theme went, some people clearly had fun with the story whilst others didn't need it. I think perhaps it worked better where there were less people on a table. The twos and threes seemed to be having a good time of it all, so perhaps eight on a table needed a bit more managing as far as the story was concerned. Most of the time, when the pages got handed out they got parked under the plate just to get them out of the way. Seemed I was the only one trying to follow the story. As said it was not easy - it felt a bit long reading at the table and felt a bit rude when company was looking to engage.  Couple this with me making all my notes and taking photos of the food… I was more anti-social than normal and it all didn't quite work. A bit too much to read and look at to take in. I also couldn't quite get the connections between story and dish at the time of consumption. Perhaps BAT could consider a prologue with an Amuse Bouche?

2000 Chateau Leoville-Las Cases Grand Vin
de Leoville du Marquis de Las Cases

As said, Bistro has good solid support from die hard supporters who apparently attend the monthly degustations with defiant regularity. They love her. And she loves them. A lot of mutual warmth and goodwill clearly evident. Chef does have this aura of seeming impervious invincibility about her which seems to inspire love and loathe in various degrees across the foodie universe. Chef also has charm and charisma, though she doesn't let the guard down easily. Paul Bocuse has a similar air - steel eyes with nuclear reactions lying just behind them. As a creative, I know a bit about setting up the inner defence shields. People tend to just react with a loud gut rather than respond from a position of considered knowledgeable reflection yet still declaim Delphic judgements (mea culpa). Which can lead to serious depression - been there, thank you, and I know I need to keep a lid on it. For me, recognising that people react rather than reflect lets me temper my own reactions. Couple this with an awareness that I might also not really know what I am talking about, then possibly we're on the road to wisdom. Kind of knowing what I don't know and recognising the fact. Well, I hope it's a step on the road. Otherwise, it's all nonsense, n'est-ce pas? It may all be nonsense anyway... anyone up for a re-reading of Albert Camus?

I'd go back to BAT with these people and these wines and the vibe on the place. And I would easily go back to BAT over Lafite notwithstanding previous mixed experiences with the BAT a la carte. And I am guessing that next time we will get into another of these "but is it FINE dining at Bistro a Table?" and the context will again come into play here. From a European perspective, no it is not Fine Dining because NOwhere in Malaysia is Fine Dining against that Euro standard. But just because it is not Fine does not mean it is implicitly bad. Everything is a matter of degree and how much we are prepared to pay for it, no? On this showing, I found BAT on this showing to be very good to fine enough dining, though perhaps maybe with a small "f" rather than a capital one. Price perhaps felt a bit stiff, but the countermanding of the generous corkage brought a better balance. 

The standards and service at places like BAT, DC, Soleil, Sage and Cilantro may be the "Finest" we are going to get simply because this is Malaysia. And in my 25 years here Malaysia continuously has shown itself as a place where relentless pursuit of sustained excellence is something to be hugely desired but which appears to consistently be in short supply in the national character. Something seems to just sap the staying power over the long term. It is just not that competitive when compared to some of the neighbours and we who choose to stay will have to chew on it. So it goes. There has been improvement in the upscale dining scene over the past ten or so years in terms of standards of food and service, but it must be hugely tough to keep it going. And trying to keep good staff who can job hop for an extra couple of hundred a month must be soul destroying. And for ANYone to attain Michelin levels, well…  Maybe it is time for a new standard. Lim Tayar, anyone?

Seems the Manga Degustation will be re-happening over the next couple of First Monday degustations at the BAT. Having done it, I don't feel the need to rush back and reprise the experience. It's a bit like seeing your favourite musical a second time - some of the magic disappears. But I would recommend it as both a food and a theatrical entertainment experience. It made for a fun memory. Though bringing our own booze was a large part of this for me. And maybe Carol needs a bit more help with overseeing the booze - she was well stressed on this evening. 

Of course I got Chef's autograph. I subscribe to the legend of The Isadorable One. Food is Theatre and Art and Entertainment (and business) and we are all luvvies giving each other meaning and validation in this same wonderful world. Because no one else will. N'est-ce pas? 

Bistro a Table

6 Jalan 17/54

46400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

MALAYSIA

Ph: +6 03 7931 2831

email: info@bistroatable.com

GPS Coordinates:

N 03˚ 7’33.3264”

E 101˚ 38’13.5420”

The Manga Degustation 

"Bleeding" Egg Mollet with Beetroot Foam and Lobster Aioli

Parsnip Puree with Black Truffle, Pumpkin and Red Wine Bread

Scallop with Shaved Smoked Japanese Mahi Mahi Roe and Wakame

Octopus with Tahini Quinoa and Anago Jus

Saddle of NZ Lamb, Wild Rice and Kobe Tendon and Sweetbreads

Peach and Champagne Granita

Blood Orange and Belgian White Chocolate Marquise and Yuzu Jelly

RM300 nett

The Wines

Champagne Pol Roger NV

2015 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

2009 Lucien Le Moine 1er Cru "Les Cazetiers"

2000 Chateau Leoville-Las Cases Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de Las Cases