First, a little snippet from wiki about Napa Valley:
In 1965, Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi broke away from his family’s Charles Krug estate to found his own. This was the first new large scale winery to be established in the valley since before prohibition. Following the establishment of the Mondavi estate, the number of wineries in the valley continued to grow, as did the region’s reputation.
Travis Brown, Regional Director for Asia for Robert Mondavi wines
In addition, Robert Mondavi Winery also perfected the dry oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc and labeled it as ”Fumé Blanc” in 1966. This was an unpopular variety in California at the time, but the wine proved to be a success.
In time, Robert Mondavi successfully developed a number of premium wines that earned the respect of connoisseurs and vintners alike.
tomato, cheese, bread, calamari, simple yet utterly delicious
A few weeks ago, we were invited to the winemaker’s dinner at Favola, Le Meridien KL.
Classy Italian food prepared by one of my favorite chefs – Chef Antoine, and pairing them with some fine wines from Robert Mondavi, what is there not to like?
Fumé Blanc, Robert Mondavi’s version of Sauvignon Blanc
We sampled Chardonnay sourced from the cool growing regions of the southern Napa Valley with its rich and complex taste; Pinot Noir, a bright and vivacious wine; the full body Merlot; the soft and silky Cabernet Sauvignon; and of course, the Fumé Blanc.
David Stephen and the good chefs at Le Meridien KL
As for food, there were the usual arrays of excellent pasta, tomato, cheese, pizza, bread, risotto, and of course, the best freshly made Belgium waffle ever.
Though my knowledge in wine is still amateur at best, I did learn a few things after this event, and would at least know which wine to choose from without being disappointed. 
Address:
Favola
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888
A couple weeks ago I received and invitation from Yoke May of Westin to attend Kaesler Winemaker’s Dinner. To be honest, I am not exactly a wine connoisseur, but based on my previous experience at Westin’s EEST and Yoke May’s hospitality, I know this isn’t something I would want to miss.
Stephen Dew from Kaesler
A little background on Kaesler:
The original Kaesler vineyards were established in 1893 by the Kaesler Family, Silesian pioneers who came to the Barossa Valley, Australia in the 1840′s and who took up the 60 acre allotment in 1891. Winemaker Reid Bosward and his partners then bought the Kaesler vineyards in 1998.
Our dinner was hosted by one of the partners from Kaesler vineyards, Mr. Stephen Dew. The six course meal with half a dozen different wines to pair was priced at RM 180, a pretty good value. For myself, haze, cumi&ciki, and eiling, it was even better cos we freeloaded, hohoho.
Hokkaido Scallop crudo, green apple sorbet
Since I’m not exactly a wine expert, I’m gonna concentrate a bit more on food. First to come was the Hokkaido scallop crudo with green apple sorbet laying on a bed of thinly sliced cucumber. It was raw, cold, but subtle and sweet at the same time. The seafood was paired with Old Vine Semilon 2008 (RM 90), a wine with a bit of grapefruit and apple taste, a good compliment.
baby beetroot in flaky pastry; apricot & almond beignet
Second dish of the night was apricot and almond beignet with creamed wild mushrooms and creamed tarragon butter emulsion. We were served with Viognier 2008 (RM 110), a slightly stronger red wine chilled to 18C that went really well with the creamy dish.
Next up was this pastry with a flake of gold: baby beetroot with horseradish and chives. The flaky pastry and beetroot made an interesting if unlikely combination, to be honest I found it a little odd. We had Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz Mourvedre 2007 (RM 90) to pair with. The wine was slightly spicy but not one that’s very strong, and by the way gold didn’t actually have any taste -_-
eiling and the excellent roast lamb neck with smoked bone marrow
Then came the best dish of the night, roast lamb neck, crisp ice fish, eggplant, tzaziki, smoked bone marrow, cherry puree. I like how they name their dish, you don’t even need to explain what’s in it, ultimate opposite from Chinese dishes where everything is in 4 letter and you have no idea what you’re about to eat.
It was the first time I properly had bone marrow in this fashion and it was heaven! It sits somewhere in between beef tendon and foie gras, the texture was superb, and the taste, very rich and yet subtle. The Stonehorse Shiraz 2006 (RM115) gave the bone marrow a sense of balance too, oh how I miss this.
licorice port glazed braised angus beef short rib, KY & Haze
The last main dish was licorice port glazed braised angus beef short rib, smoked potato puree paired with Bogan Shiraz 2006. The wine had strong oak aroma to it and rich flavor which I liked, but I do think that the licorice kinda overpowered the beef a little. I usually prefer my beef to be only very mildly seasoned, if any.
marshmallow, citrus salad; ciki & yoke may
Dessert was marshmallow and citrus salad with my favorite wine of the night. The sweet tasting Riestling – Rizza 2009, this wine’s perfect with the marshmallow or even just to drink by itself. The citrus though, was really super sour to the point where one bite will bring you to instant sobriety. I wonder where they got it from.
It was a wonderful dinner made better by the great company, thank you Yoke May for the invitation!
Address:
The Dining Room, Westin Hotel
199 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147758, 101.714591
Tel: 03-2731 8333
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
I can’t really claim that Kepong is one of my favorite places when it comes to food, getting there during rush hour can be quite a PITA, on top of that, I don’t exactly know many good eats around the area other than Kaka bak kut teh (they have pork kidney!), the original KTZ, and several other restaurants I don’t usually frequent unless I happen to be there.
To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that the invitation to Sliver Spoon Trattoria was from the owner Jessica, a long time friend, I would have probably skipped this food review session already. As it turned out, I was more than glad we made the session.
Silver Spoon Trattoria
Located at a pretty unassuming part of Kepong, Silver Spoon is sitting on the first floor of Wisma Manjarala. The decoration an ambiance of the restaurant rivals many 5 star hotel eateries, and yet a look at the menu pricing shows that the place actually live up to it’s name “Trattoria” – casual, affordable, and a hell lot less up tight than those so called haute cuisine establishments.
We were seated at the private room with a bunch of other usual suspects – fatboybakes, nomadgourmand, Gareth, Kim, Terence, Horng, and Haze. Our host was Jessica, someone I’ve actually known for some 8-10 years. According to Terence, she’s grown up rather well.
feta & olive foccacia, mozarella sticks & smoked salmon rice ball,
stuffed portobello mushroom
We got started with some feta and olive foccacia, the dough served here is home made and they really tasted subtle but good. I also love the mozarella sticks with it’s really hearty cheese in almost liquid form, the salmon rice ball was alright too, but I couldn’t really taste much salmon in there.
If I had to choose one appetizer, I’d probably go for the stuffed portobello mushroom. Sitting between a bed of salad and minced meat, the mushroom was really really yummy, I had two pieces despite eating on a budget due to the number of dishes to come.
wine, silver spoon special mock tail
For those who are familiar with Kepong, you might remember that there was a place called Chef Ken in the 90s. It was a place famous for really cheap but awesome Italian food. Well, Silver Spoon got Chef Ken himself back to run this place.
According to the “old timers” like Fatboybakes who used to frequent Chef Ken, this place retains every bit the originality of his foods, down to the famous tiramisu (about that later)
wild mushroom risotto, prawn & avocado stack, smoked salmon pizza
The other appetizer we had was the prawn and avocado stack. Grilled fresh local prawn served on a bed of avocado with other salad and probably some balsamic vinegar. Though the prawn itself lacked strong flavor, overall combination turned out quite well.
Wild mushroom risotto was prepared to cater a bit towards the local taste (meaning slightly more cooked than the “real” Italian style), I love it! The smoked salmon pizza too was pretty good, but I’d love to have a lot more salmon to go with the crispy crust (from freshly made to order dough). Then again, it’s hard to argue when the pizza is priced at less than RM 30.
duck confit, grilled baby snapper, seafood marinara
The 3rd main dish we tried was the delightful duck confit. Instead of just the drum stick, this one came with the whole 1/4 duck. I loved the taste, and made some sneaky moves to acquire quite a bit of duck skin. *slurps*
Grilled baby snapper was one of those dishes that doesn’t really seem to fit in. I’ve never seen whole fish served in such setting, with potato and beans on one side, and a slice of lemon on another. It did, however, turned out to be quite tasty, just not particularly very “italian” to me.
Lastly, there’s seafood marinara. The pasta came with generous amount of mussels, clams, prawns, squid and fish chunks on a tomato based sauce. I only had a couple bites and found that the taste was quite agreeable indeed.
chocolate pot, creme brulee, tiramisu
Then there’s the desserts. We had chocolate pot, creme bruelee, and tiramisu. I find the chocolate pot a tad too rich (but goes well with wine though), the creme brulee satisfying, and the tiramisu a must order if you like your dessert to be rather alcoholic, it was niceeee!
Of course, we finished everything.
Rebecca & bf, Kim & Gareth, Terence & Horng,
KY & Haze, Jessica, Joe & partner & Cheng Yi
We had loads of fun time at Silver Spoon, the food was great, drinks aplenty (Jessica’s dad even brought out the Royal Salute), and above all, the company was excellent.
I’m definitely going there again. The pricing was definitely very reasonable, lamb shank for RM 38, marinara for RM 29, desserts at around RM 15 or so, soup at RM 12. Great food, reasonable pricing, and awesome ambiance. What more could one ask for? Open a branch next to my house la Jessica!
Address:
Silver Spoon Trattoria,
1st Floor, Wisma Manjalara,
Bandar Menjalara,
52200, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.195364, 101.632456
Tel: 03-6277 0445
One little perk being a food blogger is that every once in a while, I get to sample the lifestyle of the slightly more privileged. Last Wednesday was one of such occasions, I was invited to a dinner at Opus Bistro hosted by Millennium Associates and Pernod Ricard Malaysia.
While having attended a few of their Friday wine lunch series, this was the first time I attended such event for dinner. Lunch with wine is always a bit of a compromise between how much one can eat, the weather, and the level of influence you are comfortable with while the sun is still out. No such restraints for dinner, which was what made this event even better.
Opus Bistro with Montana wine
Opus Bistro is located at Jalan Bangkung, a part of Bangsar (actually Bukit Bandaraya) that doesn’t challenge your sanity when it comes to looking for parking space. The restaurant is simple yet posh, an ambiance fit for the cuisine it serves.
While waiting for 7:30 pm dinner to start by our standard Malaysian lag time, we indulged ourselves with some asparagus smoked salmon roullade canape (a fancy way to say rolled up food) and Montana Classic Sauvignon Blanc 2007. I wans’t complaining, it was a good start to the evening, my taste buds agreed.
homemade ravioli porchini in wild mushroom sauce, sauvignon blanc & pinot noir
scampi lettuce green cappucino in tomato broth, raw tuna carpaccio with caviar
By the time our first dish, the lovely scampi in tomato broth is served, it was already 8:30pm. Malaysian timing does not spare anyone. While the scampi isn’t exactly lobster, it did not disappoint, I especially love the savory broth.
Next up was the marinated albacore raw tuna carpaccio that comes complete with caviar, soy chili, and aragula (rocket salad). I tasted a hint of truffle oil in the marinate, and the tuna was fresh, smooth, and tasted awesome. I was more than happy when Suan gave me most of her portion since she doesn’t exactly eat raw fish.
Those two dishes were paired with Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008, white wine with seafood, never goes wrong.
The homemade ravioli porchini in wild mushroom sauce didn’t taste too wild, the walnut did not stand out either, but the truffle oil, ahh, that really gives this dish a very distinct class. I loved it. We had the Montana Reserve Pinot Noir 2006 with it.
marinated wagyu skewer, Montana terraces pinot noir 2007
fillet of carribbean red snapper with poached scallop , cheese platter and fruits
The forth dish was fillet of caribbean red snapper with caramelized port sauce accompanied by poached scallop. I thought the fish was alright but not particularly special, perhaps overshadowed by the previous dishes. The scallop was fresh and sweet though.
We switched to Montana Terraces Pinot Noir 2007 for the next dish, the marinated wagyu (marbling no. 7) skewer. Using wagyu beef of this quality on a skewer is perhaps a bit of a luxury, but none of us complained. I could have easily consume another portion if it was presented to me.
Finally, we had cheese platter with fresh fruits to conclude dinner. Aged cheddar, goat, gorgonzola, and my favorite – brie. We switched Montana Brancott Sauvignon Blanc 2008, the sweeter green grapes compliments the cheese well, we were well satisfied.
Sue Lynn, Suanie, KY
This event cost RM 150 per person, with the excellent foods at Opus and free flow Montana wines, I’d say it is quite a good deal. I met Sue Lynn of bangsarbabe for the first time, and had the opportunity to catch up with familiar faces I haven’t seen since last Friday Wine Lunch. It was a lovely evening.
I need me some grapes now!
Address:
Opus Bistro
67, Jalan Bangkong
Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.138116, 101.669197
Tel: 03-2092 4288
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Activate BB 250 everyday from Monday to Friday, and you get to enjoy free blackberry access all weekends. Now isn’t that a great deal? This offer lasts till the end of March, 2010. Don’t miss out!
