3rd Stop on the MIGF train

On to Chynna, the next stop after Iketeru and Senses. Was quite lucky to have my godsisters in tow for this one.


Appetizers: Chilled smoked abalone with slipper lobster, baby octopus, chestnuts in Konyaku jelly
The thin slices of abalone, the refined scallop, the cool savoury jelly, the sculpture-like presentation. It was a very good way to start of the evening.



Mains: Double–boiled Longan consommé with MingMu fish & walnuts.
Very tasty, I never expected longan soup to taste like this. The chunky chinese walnuts were tender that they break apart as soon as you plonk them in your mouth. The taste of the flatfish dissipate on your tongue as well and is not overpowered by the soup. My favourite dish of the night.


Main: Golden fried savoury Soon Hock coated with six spices & eggplant with basil leaves
This was my second favourite dish of the night. The crusty coating sealed all the flavour of the fish in all its goodness while the veggies texture were of the right consistency to complement the tender fish.


Mains: Honey seared organic chicken with garlic
The mellow sweetness of the honey and the fragrance of the japanese bamboo leaves brought out the subtle taste the of the chicken and the tender meat just falls away at the touch of a knife.





Mains: Pearl rice braised with scallop & wolfberry
Tasted like a perfectly unfinished risotto with a delicious tiger prawn stock, tinted scallops and pearly round rice. Not watery or soupy.








Durian cream puff with assorted fruits & Fortune cookies
Yay!!!! Durian!!!!
Probably one of my favourite dessert on the MIGF menus. So sinfully good especially the tangy summerberries (cranberry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry) and the mellow durian flesh. So much contrast, so much texture. OOOOMMMMPPPPHHHH!!!!!!



Chef Lam wasn't around that night so we bid adieu and moved on to Iketeru and Latest Recipe to check out next month's promotion.

Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.

A wine detour during the 2008 MIGF

To be quite honest, it would be my first wine tasting dinner (and Iketeru's virgin attempt at it).
I arrived a bit early to chat with the staff but did not dare approach Mr Irvine because of the crowd that surrounds him. Instead Chef Ricky and I helped ourselves generously to the champagne.

Wine: NV Irvine Meslier Sparkling Brut
Bubbly, sourish and dry to a fine cut. I think we shared about 2 bottles.

The F&B manager introducing the diners to Mr James Irvine and Chef Ricky.










The eager beaver diners. I was pretty lucky to seat myself with a French gentleman name Hubert (pronounced U-be_ar) Cuny, who was able to teach me some tricks of distinguishing wine and gave me some insightful commentaries on the wines presented that night. Opposite me were a pair of investment banker/venture capitalist. All in all, a very entertaining night of conversation.








The humourus Mr James Irvine, entertaining, witty and highly enlightening to boot; teaching things like lifting your tongue while drinking wine and lotsa other nitty gritty details. The rest I learn courtesy of Mr Hubert.






Starter: Fried crab cheese roll with Enoki mushroom served with sesame Miso mayonnaise
Wine: 2007 Irvine Pinot Gris
The crab cheese rolls were soft inside and crisp outside, and Mr Hubert enjoyed his first encounter with the crisp made from lotus roots. The pickle vegetables were a much better complement to the wine which was light and not too strong. (it feels more like a mouthwash after the crab cheese rolls)

Mr Hubert commented on the Pinot Gris being a gray wine (somewhere between a white and pink/rose wine). I found it a medium strength wine, tasted semidry and fruity.


Seafood: Teppanyaki style seafood combination (Scallop, cod fish & prawn)
Wine: 2006 Irvine Springhill Merlot
Every piece here goes down well with this wine. The scallops are perfectly seared, the prawns oily but not greasy and the cod is just right with the salad.

The wine was semi-strong, medium-bodied red that tasted just nice, a bit fruity with a hint of sour in the background.




Main: Baked lamb rack with mountain salt
Wine: 2005 Irvine Barossa Merlot
The best dish of the night, but Mr Hubert didn't like the wine paired with it much, complaining that it is too woody (he thinks that they used too young a barrel to store the wine in). I agreed with him that I prefer the first Merlot to this one for a different reason, it just didn't go down my gullet too well (whatever you think it means).

The lamb was crusty and medium-well done, pretty weak flavours for a lamb but it suits the wine. Delicately spiced if I may add. The potato mash will probably mop up most extraneous flavours on your tongue.

Main: Grilled sliced beef roll with Sukiyaki sauce served with curry risotto
Wine: 2004 Irvine Grand Merlot
At this stage, I think I was too engrossed in the conversation to even take any pictures. (I lie, I actually got stoned on the wine)

The grand merlot really lived up to its name. It is strong, fruity, a bit rough on my tongue. I don't know if that caused me to taste the curry risotto like peppery bakuteh. The beef roll was tough and chewy and loses flavour quickly.

Dessert: Homemade green tea ice cream
Gobbled done, just bittersweat.


Still not a gourmet, definitely not a sommelier.
Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.

2nd stop on the 2008 MIGF train

When my datemates went to Ipoh this week, we had to postponed the Chynna tasting session until 2 weeks later, leaving me free to check out Senses (for the 1st time) and to dig into their MIGF menu. Being the earliest customer there, I probably jumpstarted the kitchen ahead of schedule. Service was impeccable compared to Iketeru sereneness. And I also got a view of the Parliament house with the Bukit Gasing reserve in between.

Bread (and butter) for starters, rye, soft roll, poppyseed/pumpkinseed/mixed signals and baguette. Good fillers, I think I ate more of them than the dishes. :P








Table smoked Tasmanian ocean trout, Nordic deep sea shrimp with sour cream & chives
Okay, so the trout came in freshly smoked with a wine glass covering it in smoke which they will remove at you table. If you think it is showy, wait until you taste the trout, the smoke is clinging to the surface while the (semi)raw inside taste fresh as a fish out of the water. Resting on some sweet pickled strips of vegetables that complement it, It seems like a big scarlet A.

Being a hamchoy, I was a teeny weeny bit disappointed to see such small shrimps (can't even call them prawns), but they were springy and sweet. No objection, your culinariness.














Mains: Heirloom tomato on organic durum toast, marinated mackerel, smoked olive onion
What an ensemble cast.
The mackerel was singing, the tomatos were in chorus. The two together on your tongue just alternate in cresendo, neither fading or giving way to the other, not even til the very end. The durum toast was dry but sponges up the gravy. Even the olive onions and caramelized onion threads were sweet to the point of balance, not over, not under.



















Soup: Game consommé with truffle noodle
Another entertaining dish: bring a bowl of soup to your table, squeeze some truffle sauce into the soup. Voila, instant truffle noodles, which tends to stick together making a truffle net instead.

The soup was hearty and thick, while it took a while to cut the noodles into spoonsize threads. Chef Michael mentioned afterwards that he wanted the diners to play around with our food. I find it quite the hassle and wanted to spank him on the spot (Which probably made me forget to ask him about the bed of salt underneath the bowl of soup).

















Mains: Organic Bintje potato with truffle centre
A potato bowl with truffles and potato puree on the side. Break the bowl and watch truffles saucy soup spill out. It's Potatomania and Trufflelicious.

Either my olfactory was not functioning properly or the truffles have been baked until their fragrance has been totally toasted. I could not smell them. At least I could taste them like a chinese ink painting in 3D.

The blackness of the truffle ink drawing lines in the smooth canvas of potato puree with chunks of the potato bowl providing the rough edges for contrast. My favourite dish of the night. Simple yet effective.
















Mains: Gently cooked Japanese Hirame with
sous vide giant octopus, spiced pimento gel
Hirame is flatfish, or so I am told (probably by wikipedia).

Looks pretty gory, the filet of Hirame and chunks of octopus arriving on a sea of bloody tomato sauce with the plate still hot to the touch as if to indicate that the vile murder only took place moments ago.

Fear not, dear Hirame. Your corpse will not be in vain, it was springy and the tomato sauce brought out your mellowness. Any hint of who oiled the octopus was gone under the wash of the tomato sauce. Indeed, a thrilling crime that Hercules Peirot will not solve.















Interlude: Tea “Chaud Froid”
Tea, sweet and fruity, not much of a palate cleanser if you ask me. Give me sorbert anytime.












Dessert: 5 puttonyos Tokaji with its ice cream
Tokaji, Tokaji,
once you eat, make you sing.
hic hic hic, HIC HIC hic!
it is nice, it is bling,
you ask me, I already ding (dong).

Yes, blame the hungarian alcohol in the souffle which did not evaporate completely. Hence I got hit, and had to interrogate chef Michael in my addlebrain state. Love the raspberries with the (melty) ice cream and the biscuits, which counteract some of the bitter alcohol aftertaste.



















Chef Michael is pretty enlightening, a pity I could not get him to talk more about the food. Perhaps, it should be FBB or WMW turn to interrogate this award winnng chef (He won last year).

I ended up somewhere on the premises of the KL Hilton 2 hours later and will stay mum about the antics.

Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.

My 1st time clearing spam on a blog

on that old malaysianscrabble.blogspot.com.

God, that's a lot of spam in the comment fodders. No wonder they labeled it a spam blog.
Anyway, posted the 2008 Causeway Scrabble Challenge ROTO on it.

1st stop on the 2008 MIGF train

Okay, after that noisy(!!!) party last month, it is time for me to nip around KL Hilton to sample their MIGF menus. My first choice was my usual place: Iketeru.
The carpark was a bit empty, the restaurant was quiet. Coming early does have its perks (just that I won't be the first one to have the MIGF menu, there were already 20 orders before me and 4 more while I was there).


Starter: Homemade tofu & organic vegetables with Okinawa salt
The tofu(s) look familiar like the one last week, tasted almost the same, creamy and smooth on the tongue, except for the more generous helping of the shoyu sauce that accentuate the underlying sweetness of the tofu.

The vegetables were crunchy but it was hard to find a balance with the Okinawa salt dip. My tip: dip the wet end of the veggies into the salt, which will absorbed the right amount of salt (instead of coating it with salt crystal) to taste the veggies without it being too oversalty.



















Sushi:Yellow tail & octopus sushi with Himalayan pink salt
The sushi(s) were coated with salt and then flambe until scorched. Flavourwise, you sometimes unveiled the invisible salty taste that overwhelms the fish and octopus a bit yet merrily runs off into the background to feel the lemony harmony of the octopus or the robustness of the yellowtail.























Simmered:Steamed Matsuba crab, sea urchin, turnip & tonburi seed. Served with kikka sauce, Australian pink salt
Chef Ricky, I want more crabmeat with this!!!!!! (and look at that crab giving the finger)

I tasted more radish than crabmeat but the overall impression was better than last month, because the other garnishes added a lot of layers to the taste and texture, especially the tonburi seed, aka "land caviar", not salty but they do burst in your mouth.




















Fry:Light fried tempura of Conger eel, lobster & maitake mushroom. Served with original mixed salt, curry, matcha, pepper
Mix and match your salt. For me, the lobster and the asparagus goes best with the matcha salt; conger eel with pepper salt; mushroom with curry salt (Your opinions may differ, as Chef Ricky pointed out other people's preference)

Everything was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.




















Main Courses: Grilled Wagyu beef rib with rock salt
. Served with tomato fruit
The meat was good, the tomatoes were sweet, the broccoli was nice, but this was the first disappointment of the night.

Chef Ricky and the floor manager were wrangling over the charcoal burner, previously it was too smoky. Tonight, I received the other extreme: it was NOT HOT.

So I missed my chance to slowly grill the tender slices of the beef tataki to my liking. BOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! (I am so making Chef Ricky eat a Wasabi Maki). Although our conference afterward reveal that we both think alike that that grilled should be red hot before serving to eliminate the need for any smoky charcoal but he was worried about the diners, not the burnmarks on the carpet should someone drop it.
















Dessert: Persimmon sorbet & red bean jelly 
with chestnut, Hakata salt Japan
The persimmon sorbet goes very well with the red bean jelly that I sampled last month. Nothing too sweet (same as Chef Ricky), just deep mellowness all the same.
"Wonder if my sorbet serving is bigger than others?"

























Bonus: Futomaki & Rice paper rolls
Disappointment No.2: I want a Futomaki that cannot fit in the my mouth and this is what I get. >:(
That staff got sacked for a day.






Disappointment No.3: spicy! spicy? spicy....where's the chili padi? I ate 3 rolls without even asking for ice water.
The same staff got sacked for an extra day.


Yes, Chef Ricky, prepare to down that Wasabi Maki...




Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.