First of all, Selamat Berpuasa to all my Muslim friends.
Remember the free dinner at Le Meriden contest I was running a while ago? Well, it’s over with and the winners all claimed their prizes already – a sumptuous Santapan Ramadan Buffet dinner at Le Meridien KL’s Latest Recipe.
Haze and Ciki at Le Meridien’s Latest Recipe
The four winners and their partners all showed up, and together with Ciki, Josen, Haze, and I, we had a plenty good time while sampling the Ramadan buffet spread.
oysters, shrimps, mussels, salmon, and more
The spread for Santapan Ramadan buffet is even bigger than the usual offerings at Latest Recipe.
There’s the standard dishes – salmon and various cold cuts, shrimps, mussle, crab, and of course, oysters too. These are the items I usually kick off my buffet dinner with, it is usually a good idea to keep the stronger tasting stuff later as to not over saturate your taste buds.
traditional Malay food too, I love the beef curry
Quite a lot of traditional Malaysian dishes found their way on the line up too. Otak-otak (though I didn’t find their version to be very good), whole roast lamb, begedil, and different types of gulai & curry. The beef curry was very good!
Chef Antoine and his two side kicks at Latest Recipe
There are also made to order dishes you can get. Chef Antoine was there to man the pasta counter and we got him to prepare a mean plate of piping hot carbonara for us.
many more dishes, including cold cuts and kuih at Satapan buffet
Traditional kuih muih were also available, and this is one of the few buffets where you can choose drinks other than just ice water too. Don’t you hate it when you are already paying decent sum for buffet and all they give you is plain water? I know I do.
Oh, the sugar cane juice is superb, reminds me of when McDonald’s used to serve it.
pasta was made by chef Antoine, and those Belgium waffles were awesome!
Above all, the dish I love most at Latest Recipe is their Belgium waffles. Yes, it is a bit odd to be indulging on mere waffles looking at the huge buffet spread, but do give it a try when you are there, it is simply the lightest, yummiest waffle I’ve ever had.
the contest winners with Ciki & myself flanking 
Prices of the buffet:
Again, congratulations to Chen Mee Kuan, Jennifer Amelia Clement, Joel Tan Tyan Min, and Norazalia Musa. I hope all of you had a good time. Cheers!
Address:
Latest Recipe
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888
Last weekend Le Meridien threw a small party for a few lucky bloggers. The email invitation I got a few weeks prior to the event called it “A Night of Discovery” with no other details. As it turned out, it was a grand tour/food crawl at the various fine restaurants within the hotel, with surprises along the way.
canopes at Conservatory Bar, Le Meridien KL
The evening started out at Conservatory Bar, the lounge at the main entrance of the hotel. A glass of wine in hand and ample of canopes for us to get the stomach ready for what’s next.
We had pan seared cremolate tuna sashimi with sesame wakame salad, diced feta cheese, ratatouille and pine nuts in mini pita bread (pic), martini of tomato salsa, mozzarella mousse and pesto (pic), and even chicken tandoori and minted raita on chili focaccia bread. I had to start pacing myself to not over eat.
Favola at Le Meridien
We then took the elevator and moved up to Favola, Le Meridien’s Italian dining outfit. More food awaits us as chef Antoine started to explain the seafood centric food laid before our eyes, for examp;e, the fabulous spicy calamari with olive oil & citrus (pic.)
chef Antoine at Favola, showing us the various tomatos
The good chef then shows us the various ingredients important to Italian cuisine that are used here at Favola, including almost half a dozen types of fresh tomato, and the imported as well as one local mozzarella from Langkawi (Malaysia boleh!) that passed his personal quality tests. I can have those cheese as snack all day if you ask me.
Antipasti Duo at Favola
Our main dishes (or what we thought as main dishes for the night) at Favola were two antipasti.
Smoked salmon with cold cucumber and macadamia puree, grilled peaches, buffalo mozzarella, Pecorino rocket and Radicchio salad. I love the contrast between the salad and the salmon, and I can really use more of that buffalo mozzarella at home, It was so good!
foie gras on wild mushroom risotto, haze
Then there’s the pan seared foie gras on wild mushroom risotto in clear beef broth that was so delightful. This was highly anticipated when chef Antoine told us about it, and the dish did not disappoint at all.
The other part of this antipasta was the chicken meatball in green olive tapenade, onion and roasted bell pepper, that was very good too.
after Favola, we make our way to Prime
At this point in time, with some really good determination to not over eat, my stomach stood at maybe 70% full. Then we collectively moved to Prime, my favorite steak house in town.
the beef served at Prime, that’s a grade 12 wagyu on my hands
A surprise awaits us at Prime as we stepped into the private room. Slabs of Blackmore Wagyu beef from grade 6 to 12 as well as grain fed Austraian Angus beef were on display as chef Antoine again explained the ingredients used at Prime to us.
The number of days a vacuum packed beef could be kept refrigerated is tightly regulated here to ensure maximum quality that goes into every serving.
it’s like choosing between fish & bear palm (chinese proverbs, learn!)
Look at the two slabs of Blackmore Wagyu marble grade 6 and 12. These are some of the best beef you can get, the grade 12 Wagyu on the right consists of some 60% fat, not for the faint hearted, but that was exactly what we’re going to have at Prime! Yes, I’m a very lucky man.
Blackmore Wagyu marble 9, with truffle sauce
Undoubtedly, the high light for the night were the steak. The charcoal grilled Blackmore Wagyu chuck flap tail marble 9, with roma tomato confit, brocolini and braised intercoastal on mascarpone polenta. It was absolute heaven, especially with some truffle sauce to go with the red meat.
teppanyaki ice cream, ciki
Dinner wouldn’t be complete without desserts, and for that we were guided to the final destination of the evening – Latest Recipe.
Teppanyaki ice cream is a must have here, and the Belgium waffle personally prepared by chef Antoine was fantastic.
desserts at latest recipe, and macaroons macarons
We were also served a dessert platter with honey dew sago shot, carrot cake, lychee tart, vanilla creme brulee, agar agar, and my personal favorite – chocolate mousse with citrus jelly. It sounded like an unlikely combination, chocolate & citrus jelly, but the contrast was perfect, I finished it despite the stomach complaining at 150% capacity filled.
fatboybakes, ciki, a lil fat monkey, Damian of Le Meridien
This was easily one of the best events I’ve attended, the people at Le Meridien were fantastic hosts and have everything prepared meticulously. A big thank you to Damian, Sashi, Harvey, Fauzy, and of course, chef Antoine for the great evening.
Address:
Le Meridien
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888
A few months back, after a lovely dinner at Le Meridien’s Prime (really awesome steak), the communication manager Cheryl offered a complimentary Starwood Privilege membership to me for a year. The card holder is entitled to 50% discount in food bills for two at Westin, Le Meridien, and Sheraton in KL as well as other participating hotels.
The Living Room, Westin Hotel KL, Starwood Privilege
More awesomely, the membership pack also comes with a bunch of vouchers that include a free stay, and one free meal (for 2 pax) each at the three hotels mentioned above as well as other discounts and special deals. Check member offers page for more.
Last Monday we decided to finally utilize one of the vouchers and head to The Living Room at Westin KL for dinner. A restaurant with quiet and relaxing ambiance (I went there for Kaesler Winemaker’s Dinner before)
“Malaysia Signature” at The Living Room
We opted for The Living Room since it is the only one the voucher could be used for a sit down dinner (others are buffet). The free meal was for their set dinner, so Haze and I picked the one set that’s available for the night – Nasi Berlauk “Pak Dan”. We could have ordered extra dishes off the menu and enjoy 50% discount but didn’t, this proved to be a wise choice as the portion from the set meal was rather big.
Before the main meal, we were served some bread as appetizer. A note, do not over indulge on the bread. They are very delicious but always remember not to over stuffed the stomach at early going.
The dish comes with Ekor Assam Pedas, Sotong Sumbat, Ayam Kapitan, Sambal Telur Puyuh, Kacang Panjang Goreng, Nasi Putih, Papadums, Sambal Belacan with Ulam, and Puding Caramel Kelapa.
For the non-Malay speaking world, that translate to spicy tamarind oxtail, stuffed squid, kapitan chicken, quail’s egg with sambal, fried lady’s finger, steamed rice, crispy cracker, raw vegetable with sambal belacan, and coconut caramel pudding.
Nasi Berlauk “Pak Dan”, Puding Caramel Kelapa
That was from the description off the menu, but interestingly there’s also some sauteed prawns with onion which was lovely. My favorite item on the dish had gotta be the oxtail, very tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The quail’s egg too was excellent.
The only gripe I had with the dish was the chicken that proved to be slightly too dry, and not exactly spicy (perhaps catering to international crowd.)
The coconut caramel pudding made an unconventional but pretty interesting dessert, sweet and a bit exotic.
Overall this was a very good dinner. The original price of RM 98 per person might be a bit hefty, but hey, this is a five star hotel with great ambiance, and best of all, I had the voucher. It is also good to see that some of the higher end hotel restaurants serve local delights instead of your usual Western, Japanese, and Chinese cuisines too.
Address:
The Living Room, Westin Hotel
199 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147758, 101.714591
Tel: 03-2731 8333
By the way, this is the one thousandth post on kyspeaks since the inception some five and a half year ago. Been an amazing journey, rest assure there’ll be more to come. A big thank you for all the visits, comments, well wishes, critics, and the occasional “hello” in Real Life ™.
Bobby Chinn on World Cafe: Middle East (photos from TLC)
I’m generally quite content with what I do for a living, but there is a category of people that I’m quite jealous of when it comes to their profession, and Bobby Chinn is one of them.
While I’m sure there are lotsa hardwork and uncertainties, the job of a TV personalities on a food tasting/travel show couldn’t sound more awesome to me. The grass is greener on the other side, always.
Last week I got closest as I’ve been to that “dream” of mine, I got invited to meet Bobby Chinn for his new episods of World Cafe: Middle East.
Bobby Chinn’s exploit in Middle East (photos from TLC)
The series cover Bobby Chinn’s exploit in Middle East. Starting from Istanbul, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, then Damascus and Aleppo – the oldest city in the world, Jordan and the West Bank with thriving Palestinian food tradition despite the instability, as well as Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt – where Bobby Chinn was born.
The man himself turned out to be quite an entertaining and friendly host despite the very visible effect of jet lag as he just arrived in the morning. Together with Haze, boo of masak-masak, Jovin & her aunt, and other guests, we had a good time while Bobby shared his experiences whilst making this series.
Catch the show on Monday 10pm, Astro Channel 707 TLC
donut thingy with sambosa, salad, some lamb soup
Now lets get on to the food at Al Halabi, shall we?
Al Halabi at Marriot Hotel is probably one of the more up market Lebanese restaurant in the country, with posh decoration of cushions, busy looking tables, a huge selection of shisha pipes, and chandeliers looking like gemstones. A very Arabic atmosphere, other than our group with Bobby Chinn being half Arab, most clients looked like they’re either Persians or Arabs.
The lamb soup was better than the lentil soup I ordered, which tasted like diluted dhal. Salad was refreshing if not a little too sour for some. I didn’t quite enjoy the donut thingy, but the fried pastry (Sambosa vegetable) was rather nice.
hummus & baba ghanoush, fluffy soft bread
This was only the third time I had hummus, but I gotta say the hummus was actually very good! It was a bit like a cross of peanut butter and tofu but with slightly oily texture, in a good way… if that make any sense.
Baba ghanoush, a classic eggplant dip, was a bit more sour and oily (olive oil), I kinda liked it, though not too much. These two goes pretty well with the excellent fluffy bread.
egg plant dish (musaka’a), fried spring chicken, grilled fish
For my main dish, I chose to have the egg plant (musaka’a) with rice. It was quite similar to the Northern Indian’s Baingan Bartha, but slightly less flavorful. Despite the bright color, it wasn’t exactly spicy, just a bit oily and sourish, nothing to shout about.
The other main dishes to choose from were the fried spring chicken (which was reportedly to be decent), grilled fish that were too dry, and grilled lamb (said to be quite tasty).
sizzling grilled lamb, baklava
Dessert came in the form of a very sweet pastry item called baklava - made of phyllo dough and filled with chopped nuts and honey, quite nice. I think I had at least 3-4 of those.
Bobby Chinn, KY, Haze
If this was the best Lebanese food could offer, I wasn’t particularly impressed, so I asked Bobby Chinn himself on his thoughts about the dinner. The man tried to be politically correct and said he enjoyed the hummus but didn’t want to elaborate more. I guess I’ll just have to watch the show too!
Address:
Al Halabi at JW Marriot
183 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14765, 101.71372
Tel: 03-2715 9000
Last week Haze and I went to meet Ciki for some catching up and plenty of red meat. The location was Prime, one of the five star restaurants that isn’t exactly known to be budget friendly.
We went there anyway only because Ciki promised a 50% discount she was getting from the friendly Director of Communications, Cheryl, whom I also met over the fabulous review session at Favola, the Italian restaurant at Le Meridien.
the irresistible wagyu prime rib
Torn between a lavish self indulgence and not bursting budget, we ordered a bottle of wine and the wagyu prime ribs (per kg RM 478) to share among the three of us.
Prime ribs and filet mignon are my two favorite cuts when it comes to red meat. While I had filet mignon a few times since coming back from the States, this was the first time I had my beloved prime ribs since 6-7 years ago.
served with wedges, and just look at the pink center of the beef
The prime rib is the cut of meat between the 6th and 12th ribs of a cow, and in this case, Wagyu beef. This cut usually has quite a lot of fat marbled muscle that makes it very tender and juicy.
Needless to say, the Wagyu prime rib was excellent. We had it prepared medium rare, Idaho steak fried potato , wild forest mushroom friscassee and light black summer truffle jus are accompanied the dish, we didn’t really need them to enjoy the beef though. It was already so good as is.
The portion was huge too, the three of us actually had trouble finishing it.
red wine, spinach and mozzarella salad, lobster bisque
As we were about to finish, Cheryl joined us “for a drink”. The one drink turned out to be two extra bottles of red wine, and she ordered the spinach and mozzarella salad (RM50) and lobster bisque (RM 45) for us to try too.
The salad came with Master Kobe that were grilled perfectly, figs, aged balsamic vinegar dressing and of course, very delightful mozzarella cheese. The lobster bisque did not disappoint either, I especially like the combination of golden pastry and the bisque, sophisticated.
tiramisu, crème brûlée, chocolate pecan mud pie
After all the meat, salad, and soup, we activated the second stomach for desserts. The Illy Coffee tiramisu (RM 30) was perfect for someone who loves their dessert with plenty of alcohol (Sambucca liquor), texture wise it was a lot softer than normal tiramisu. Of course, the alcohol is added only to request, I recommend it.
Crème brûlée (RM 25) was made with Tahitian vanilla beans and served with fresh berries, we finished it.
My favorite dessert of the day, however, was the pecan mud pie with chocolate sauce (RM 30). It was very rich, flavorful, and absolutely sinful.
KY, Haze, Ciki
The girls spent the next couple hours talking about anything and everything while I made my limited verbal contribution from time to time. It was an awesome dinner and great hang out session that only made better by ….. the fact that Cheryl signed off the bill!
So thank you Cheryl, and when I’m loaded, I’m gonna go to Prime more often.
Address:
Prime
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888
