Voyager Estate Tom Price wine at The Butcher's Table - stunning!

March 22, 2018 - My Wine Sifu had been expressing a need to feed his inner carnivore and bust one of his magnificent wines for the occasion. One of the Boys had said that the Rib Eye at the Butcher's Table was top rate so I figured it would be worth the booking to try. We had to juggle dates due to the BT advising that renovations were being scheduled across our March dates, but eventually a collectively convenient one was determined and the countdown began. Pre-order was the usual crispy knuckle to which we added the rib eye medium rare, and we would add other BT delights once we arrived (for my earlier report on the Butcher's Table click here>>).

I had earlier shared info with Sifu on the Voyager Wine Estate dinner at Stoked (which he was not able to attend) and he shared back that he had bought a bottle of the Voyager's Tom Price on a visit to the winery in Margaret River in Western Australia. It seemed like serendipity - the fates were indicating it was time for it to be tasted. Yes. No argument here.

The Kiwi's beautiful Domaine Du Pegau - silky and sweet

For a change, we arrived bang on 7.30 and both Sifu and long term squeeze Lucy were seated and ready for the off. I had brought a Wirra Wirra Lost Watch Riesling secured from a previous wine dinner along with a 2011 Domaine Du Pegau CdP given me on my last birthday by the Kiwi a.k.a. Doc Wine to compare with the Tom. Normally I like to share wines given me with the people who did the giving. But I had nothing else on short notice in the wine fridge that seemed appropriate. Sorry Doc - will open something appropriate at our next get together. 

We cracked the Riesling to whet the throat and figured foodwise to start with the steak and then move to the knuckle and have some salad to go with everything. Also to start, we ordered some of the legendary Siew Yoke to whet the appetite and let the salt skin give some counter to the tickling acidity of the Riesling. 

I thought to start with the CdP which in retrospect was…  not wrong, but it would better have paired with the knuckle. As it was, the rib eye came to the table and…  yeah, should have opened the Tom and poured both. Didn't think - bit tired, I guess…

For me the steak did not stun. It was tasty enough but seemed to lack sufficient balance across the fat, sear and meat. It was also a shade cool. Notwithstanding, the Pegau CdP was magnificent, all blush and bloom and blowsy, like a cancan dancer in full flight. Perfect balance across fruit and tannin, and full powerful mouth of dark sweet honeydew plums and damsons leading to a rich full and long finish. Ticked all the boxes, this one. Beautiful drop of wine. 

In contrast, the Pork Knuckle was magnificent, all taste and meat and crisp crunchy salt skin and making for a perfect mouthful of meat, fat and salt crunch. It was superb with the last of the CdP and for me was an excellent match.

The Tom had remained unopened at this time. There was some debate as to whether to open it, given the lateness of the night and the fullness of the belly. But open it we did. And boy, what a wine… that rich chocolate mouth you get with the top end grapes, silky sleek in the mouth and a finish that lasted a week. Simply one of the better Cabernets I have tasted across my twenty two year wine career (call 1996 as the start). Ranks well up there with the Mitolo Serpico and the Joseph Phelps Cabernets - would happily buy this wine and lock it away. 

The Rib Eye - pretty good, but wasn't fully stunned...

This is not a wine one gets to taste every week. It came in a spanky box with a fold out info leaflet which I'll repeat verbatim:

The Fruit

Being able to grow fruit for a Tom Price wine is a wonderful challenge for a viticulturist. I have the exciting and enjoyable responsibility of singling our pockets of the vineyard for special nurturing as Tom Price blocks. Though not every vintage ensures a Tom Price wine, seasons like 2004 make all the years of effort worthwhile. 

The early season was blessed with good rainfall which allowed for excellent soil moisture and budburst was even with a bright green leaf colour superior to anything seen before on your vineyards. When the rains fell away in early October the vines were were well set up for uniform flowering. The weather conditions in the ripening phase were outstanding, with a classic warm and dry "indian summer' lasting well into April. Our vineyard techniques didn't skip a beat and the result was fruit harvested in optimum condition with perfectly balanced flavours and ripe, super-fine tannins.

26 year old original Estate vines have provided the fruit for this wine. The fruit was handpicked and hand-sorted before being crafted by the winemaking team over a number of years into the wine that it is today. Meanwhile, my team and I are waiting patiently for another 2004

The 2004 Tom Price - stellar...

Steve James, Viticulturist

The Wine

At Voyager Estate we have always maintained that great wines are made in great vineyards. In reality, however, when considering how rare wines such as 

Tom Price are made, it is a combination of several factors that all come together at once, a very exceptional event indeed. It takes phenomenal vintage conditions, excellent vineyard management and careful winemaking to make a wine we deem worthy enough to be considered a Tom Price wine. On these rare occasions, when all the factors do align, we simply give the fruit the lead and act as the caretaker, thus allowing the wine to evolve from its natural origins.the

The fruit components for this wine were divided into two batches that were fermented n open and upright fermenters with regular pump overs or plunging for soft extraction. Fermentation was conducted with small amounts of the 796 Bordeaux yeast strain at temperatures around 30 degrees. Ferments lasted as long as 21 days, after which one component was pressed, while the other was left on skins for further texture and tannin modification. The two wines were inoculated for malolactic fermentation and then transferred to barrel for 24 months. Two years later, the wine that emerged for bottling was a true reflection of the fruit that started it all.

The 2004 Tom Price Cabernet Sauvignon has been a delight to craft. It will age beautifully and reward those who join it on this journey.

Cliff Royle, Senior Winemaker

So - it is a Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.2 alcohol harvested across27 March to 2 April, had two years in 50% new and 50% old French oak, bottled on 30May. It is a deep brick red, with an abundance of dark, juicy ripe fruit on the nose (think mulberry, blackberry and cassis) which combine with dark chocolate and soft, integrated French oak. Chocolate and sweet on the palate, where dark fruits dominate this juicy wine. Soft finish with velvet tannins that belie an underlying power that should allow cellaring for up to 20 years. A classic wine made in an old-world Bordeaux style. Again, all this came from the blurb. And it says pretty much how it tasted. Sweet, lush, fruit. Stellar stuff. 

Butcher's Table Counter - Mr Ho is centre

It's going to be tough to try and outdo the Baron and his wine on this showing. Only regret is not having opened it first - it would have been stellar with steak (though as said the beef on this occasion was a bit below expectation). I was going to bring one of the wines we had bought at the Voyager Estate dinner; glad I didn't - they were nowhere near the calibre of Tom. Margaret River was never quite on the bucket list of wine regions to visit. It is now. Anyone got any 2004 Tom Price they need to unload?

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

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

Triple Round, Serendah - not blown away

Soft Shell Crab

I generally dislike these food safaris that all my Malaysian Chinese friends seem to like with an intense passion. You know the script - A friend of a friend has somehow determined that this restaurant in this god forsaken out of the way town is the dogs for food and we should all go there one night to eat and why not go this weekend, oh and by the way I have already booked. Annoys me to have to trek across the country, get lost, get angry and turn up at the place in a bad mood and not really ready to enjoy the food. So it was I found myself driving up the North South Highway to Bukit Beruntong to eat at the Triple Round with the lenglui and in no way looking forward to getting lost. Huge control freak - don't like not knowing where I am or where I am going. But this should have been okay - we had a map and it looked straightforward. But then it always does, doesn't it? The food had better be worth it...

Mixed Vegetables

Actually, the web reviews looked very promising and the organising DQ had decided that it was absolutely essential that we all go there to eat as she had already invited her Yeehah friends to go there. So that was that. DQ loves to eat, especially with friends and other people who love to eat. Getting to the turnoff was easy enough though we did indeed get a bit lost by taking the one turning too soon. Got advised to go past the Petron station and take the next right and turn in 180 degrees and the place was at the far end of the shophouse block. Which it was. Next time preprogram the Garmin or the Waze. 

The place was buzzing and this was at 6.30pm. All Chinese. DQ had thoughtfully reserved the aircon part of the restaurant and they were all sat there waiting for me and visibly dehydrating. Seems the restaurant didn't have a corkscrew and they all knew for sure that I would bring one. Of course. I am IWFS. Force of habit makes me stuff a corkscrew in the pocket just on leaving the apartment. Just in case.

The Poon Choy

Not that it did much good in this early part of the evening. We spent our first ten minutes begging the staff to bring plates, glasses and tea before I finally decided to get the things for ourselves. Screw them. The table cheered. The staff didn't seem to notice or care - trying to cater to too many people to try to keep them all satisfied, no need to get worked up over some gwailo doing their work for them. Quite right. Screw him. Er, me. 

The food had been pre-ordered and it all seemed to come at once. There was Crispy Soft Shell Crab and Jellyfish Salad to start, Kampong White Chicken and Ginger Sauce, Prawn Rolls, Mixed Green Vegetables and the stars of the night - the Poon Choy and the Roast Pork Knuckle.

Kampong Chicken

The judgement? Okay, I guess. I am probably not the best judge of prime Cantonese Soul Food, but I found this… just okay. The soft shell crab was nicely crisp and crunchy though not a lot of crab, the prawn rolls firm and sweet, the veggies a bit over salted and the chicken nothing to shout about. The Poon Choy was essentially a mix of various foods in a big round pot which gets covered and steamed together for a while to create a kind of a hotpot. There was roast pork, stewed pork, duck feet, scallop, abalone, prawn, broccoli and black mushroom. It was very hearty, though the sum was probably greater than its parts. And as I am not a great one for duck feet, abalone and mushroom, a lot of the thing went straight past me. Probably too gwailo to understand the thing. It all felt way oversalted, though wholesome and quite tasty. 

Prawn Rolls

The Pork Knuckle got demolished quite fast and was good in a Germanic kind of way. My bit had tiny chunks of meat and gristle and little bony bits and not really enough to get a full taste of it. The bit I did have was okay, somewhat reminiscent of the ones we would get at the Eurodeli in its Ampang incarnation - crunchy, salty skin and juicy succulent meat. One Pork Knuckle we recently had at the Damansara Kim outlet was fairly good, but not the standard of the glory days. Maybe need a return trip to the Triple Round to give the knuckle another try. 

We sucked down five bottles - two of my lovely Hardy's Chardonnay, two bottles of Pinot (one a bold New Zealander, the other a cherry jam gooey Napa creation) and some sweetly vicious looking fizz which I didn't get to try. 

Eat me.

Would I go back? Well….   no, not really. At least not on this showing. A forty five minute drive to get there was not really merited given the taste of the food and the need for the self service. It was… okay. Not bad, just not really spectacular all round. I can see why the DQ and the others like it. Total for thirteen people was RM40 each which is brilliant value. But it didn't quite do it for me. We can get better quality in the city which begs the question why travel to Bukit Beruntong? Not that the place was short of punters scarfing down the food - business was happily booming. Was told that their other dishes are stunners - the pork mince on tofu and the pork ribs in orgasmic sauce - but there was no space left in the belly to try. Now going to Dengkil for the seafood makes sense - brilliant fish, well prepared and superb value which is tough to find in KL. Also the Dengkil is locked into the Garmin. But the Triple Round...   no. Maybe the style is just not the kind of food I would travel for. Didn't blow me away. Sorry.

Photos by Jan Shaw.

Restaurant Triple Round 

1, Jalan Melati 2B 

Bandar Bukit Beruntong

48300 Serendah 

Selangor D E

GPS: 3.4061364 , 101.5562796

Tel: 012 380 1162 ask for Lee Li

Italian Fare at Bavarian Bierhaus

Brief note oon a dinner we had at Bavarian Bierhaus in Wisma UOA on Jalan Pinang last night. It was an Amante della Cuccina Italiana function. Yeah, we didn't get it at first, but the Executive Chef is Massimo Zampar who hails from Udinese in the north. 

Seems he offered to do an Italian dinner for the Amante for the usual price as a buffet style dinner - plates shared between diners and RM50 corkage instead of the usual RM80. Which is stiff given the context of the place. The wines on offer there were pretty low end and charging RM120 a bottle is quite an ask. Also trying to get a wine list from the (I presume) manager proved impossible. He kept saying "Red or White?" and it ended up feeling a little like we were in Petaling Street where I could negotiate the price. He didn't really know his wines and seemed not to appreciate that I did, which became a bit irritating. In the end we went for beer and got stiffed RM60 for two German style grogs. Memo to self - next time go for the Happy Hour Guinness. 

We had a brief lesson on Italian from Eik Ming (a language teacher) and out came the food, a bit late due to traffic delays from a massive rainstorm (indeed our geusts had to give up on getting into town - standstill traffic).

First was an Antipasto of mix cold cuts, Mozzarella caprese salad, Grilled scallops with bacon and mushroom ragout and bruschetta with tomato and sardine. Bruschetta was lovely with the sardine giving an anchovy salt bite to the butter toasted bread. Salad was fine, the scallops were a bit strange as a result of the bacon and ragout mix - it pretty much drowned the scallop and relegated it to texture more than anything to taste. Very nice texture it must be said, but it felt as if the ragout was fighting with the fish and the whole felt a bit snuzz. Cold cuts were okay, but there's always a context in what can be imported and when. Given this, the inclusion of the cold cuts of salami, parma, lardo and cooked ham was fantastic and well appreciated. Nothing like a plate of pig meats to get people in the mood.

Primo dishes were homemade Ravioli with ricotta, spinach and tomato and Homemade tagliatelle with scallop mushroom and bacon. The Ravioli was brilliant - full bite pasta around fresh spinach ricotta in a herby tomato sauce. Total authentic and wonderful taste - the dish of the night. The Tagliatelle was runner up in the dish stakes - full and hearty it satisfied as only pasta and mushroom sauce can. 

The Secondo Main courses were pork ribs, a mixed sausage platter and the roasted pork knuckle. These were a bit of a disappointment. The ribs were well cooked but the marinade felt a bit overdone, with the result that there seemed to be a vinegar tinge on the rib. They had been well braised in the oven, so tenderness was very good. The sausages were filling and hearty and a great selection, but somehow oily. The Knuckle felt dry and tired. Again, there's a context and perhaps all this protein coming at once was a bit overpowering. It was explained that this was a similar style to that of the German neighbours to the north but that this offering had an Italian twist to it. Well, and maybe, though it is difficult not to wonder if this is more needing to maintain the image of the Bierhaus as a masculine pig knuckle and beer place and I guess Chef having signed up top cook for the place pretty much has to get on with it and deliver what the boss wants. it feels like Chef's calling is clearly with his homeland roots. Should be interesting when he gets his own Italian place. Which he will. Talent always outs. 

Dessert of Marscapone cheese on ladyfinger was pleasant and creamy. Didn't try the mousse but the ice cream was also creamy in a less sugary kind of way. Pretty much out of belly space by this time. Service was quick and efficient, and a nice smile from the little girl who got a tip from me. Not sure I enjoyed being sat up on a stool German bar style eating Italian food, but that was the deal. No one could have any complaints about the food quality nor the amounts served. Great value from the Amante perspective. For me, not sure that I'd go back for the knuckle on this outing, more so given that the beer and wines felt pricey. Would love to find a really good knuckle place. The Eurodeli that used to live on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng is sorely missed whilst I refuse to go to Changkat Bukit Ceylon due to the lack of parking and the sleazy feel of the area. 

El Meson Bangsar 8 July 2011

Got email from El Meson in Bangsar today inviting me to a wine dinner for RM188. They pissed me off about a year ago by attempting to whack me with corkage when the wines they had in stock were pretty piss poor. We left before eating and haven't been back since. Guess they must be doing okay without my patronage. Shame, because they were doing an excellent suckling pig at the time, way better than the noisy plate smashing irritating El Cerdo. We haven't been there for years either, ever since he suggested we should get used to his pork knuckle without the crispy skin because it was healthier for us. Still sounds like nonsense. I presume he has equally gotten used to living without our patronage.

Had the El Meson wines on the menu been more attractive, I could have been tempted back. But it needs more than the thought of suckling pig to compensate for untested wine at that kind of price. Maybe next time.