For the past few days, i have been pretty emo. Lots of things running through my mind. I don't normally write about personal things in this blog, and i'm not too sure about you guys, but good food always manage to tweek a little smile on my face. I guess food lover can understand this feeling?
Refer to our previous sage visit here
I love being surrounded by people who enjoys food, we can spend hours and hours talking about food and the topic is never-ending. I was recently invited to a dinner @ Sage with friends who has the same passion as I do.
We were given the pleasure to sample Chef Daniel’s specially design menu to us at a very reasonable price, and to top it off, Sage threw in a free bottle of rose Shiraz for us to start off the night.
The 8-course chef’s menu set ahead has definitely got me talking for a few days now, it’s that good!! Chef Daniel is famous for his sauces, what was presented ahead of us may seem like simple presentation which we gobbled down in few minutes but it requires few days’ preparation to achieve such brilliant result.
The standard ingredients that can be seen in his menus are often- foie gras, caviar, truffle oil, and yes we had all these during our dinner session, i can't say i'm complaining much :)
The business has since flourished from my last visits. The restaurant was filled during weekend.
P/S sorry for the shadow lurking in the corner of every picture. Must be having a bad camera day.
We started off with an espresso sized Cream of Porchini Soup infused with white truffle oil.
OMIGOSH im not exaggerating when i said i'd die a happy woman drinking this! The truffle oil was so intense and the porchini flavour was so dense, with a hint of chocolate aftertaste. This, my friends, were one helluva yummy soup! We drank it sip by sip worried that it will run out soon.
Eventually it did- didnt take too much effort too =D
Mmm.. Mmm. Yum Yum.....
What originally was not in our designed menu, Chef last minute pop in the yellowtail kampachi with caviar and truffle oil. We were trying to outguess each other where the subtle smoky flavour came from, turns out we were right, it was hidden right in the caviar. Daintily presented, this is by far one of the best dish of the night, The kampachi was very fresh! We cannot get enough of it.
Very well prepared and served cold is the cappellini Pasta with Tarabagani and Sea Urchin.
I'll be completely honest with you, some of the dishes of the night sound so foreign to me, i mean what is TARABAGANI really? Sound so indian. haha. A quick google search shows that Tarabagani is a type of King Crab also known as the Red King Crab. The dish uses light ingredients without any overpowering sauces.
Foie Gras Enfold with Yuba bean skin and glazed Anago.
Although i would have love to have Chef's infamous pan fried foie gras in the ala carte menu, i'm good with the alternate choice he made. The Yuba bean skin was crispy wrapped around the oh-so-sinful gooey foie gras. Anago is a japanese word for salt water eel, it tasted very similar to unagi which is fresh water eel difference is Anago meat is more tender and moist.
Pan fried Hiramasa with Zucchini Flower and King Crab Sauce. A high quality Kingfish which is farmed under strict standards. Firm texture with sweet rich flavours, the thick king crab sauce complements well in the palate.
Granny Smith Apple Granite. It was so wonderfully refreshing with distinct apple taste. Again, i wish we were given more of this =)
For our mains, we had the Grilled Wagyu Beef with Mashed Potato and Red Wine Sauce. The piece of meat was wonderfully marbled with a slight trim of fats adding oomphs to the beef. The Red Wine Reduction no doubt has spend many days tumbling around the pot. It was packed with flavours but my only comment is it's tad bit too sweet to my liking.
Chef Platter of Desserts *clap hands in glee*
Chocolate Souffle with glazed strawberries and cappucino ice cream (?) correct me if i'm wrong.
In the cocktail glass sits 2 different types of mangoes, one sweet one sour. One can never say no to sweet and sour. The Souffle was runny inside, just the way i like them, brings me back to my Max Brennar days in Melbourne.
Picture credited to Ning Geng
Picture credited to me. See the big difference? F.A.I.L.com ... another reason to change a new camera hehe, maybe santa may come early!
It was one restaurant i almost couldnt find fault in. Thank you for such an enjoyable dinner with a great company.
Our bill came up to about RM250 per pax for an 8 course degustation menu. How freaking cheap is that? In normal days this would cost approx RM500 in Sage.
Ratings:
Food: 9/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Food Presentation: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
(one of the highest we've given so far in augustdiners years, Chef Daniel's passion in food is really inspiring and infectious)
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Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar
The Residences Level 6
The Gardens, Mid Valley City
Tel: 03-22681328
