I love having a bunch of friends that see eye-to-eye with me on the enjoyment of food, not necessary fine but all kinds, although admittedly all of us are quite weak in the hawker food department. Our so call ideal place to meet for Malaysian food is “wong ah wah @ Jalan Alor”. FIGURES…
On suggestion by Jon to do dinner- he chose Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie and has been gushing about this place. Since opening he has went there every month to try the menu of the month. Now, no way I’m doubting a person who goes out fine dining with a vengeance.
However, since I have my reservations with Nathalie Gourmet Studio in Solaris (sister outlet), having to go back there to try a few times, and having to conclude that their main course always fail to impress while their desserts always divine, I told myself that I’m going to go to Cuisine Gourmet with an open heart.
While Nathalie Gourmet Studio in Solaris takes a more casual approach and predominantly focuses on cooking classes and macarons, this new outlet at Menara Taipan leans towards fine dining and has overtook previous seafood fine dine outlet, High Tide. Because Nathalie takes her food VERY seriously (according to crazieapple, she has to be the one doing all the plating), you can find her at Solaris during daytime, and Menara Taipan during the evening.
The setting of the restaurant is simple yet elegant. Atmosphere is not at all uptight; you can enjoy your meal and talk beyond whisper here.
Otherwise, you may also opt for her Set Menu, which brilliantly has 2 choices, one for seafood lovers and another for the carnivores (that’s me by the way).
Their seafood menu (RM130) and Nathalie’s Selection (RM145) comes with 5 courses, and by calculations it does seem to be more value-for-money, and the best thing is you can sample everything at a comfortable portion.
Nathalie also came out with a degustation menu (RM200) which comprises of 7 courses of tinier but equally filling portions.
Some of the items which I manage to capture off my friend’s ala carte, degustation. or seafood menu for your viewing pleasure.
Started off with Nathalie’s selection of three finger food, we have a chilled cucumber soup with prawn, salmon blini, and mushroom ragout (correct me if I’m wrong, I tried so hard to recall what the servers had told me), all delightfully light as we wait in anticipation for our starters.
Pan Fried Duck Liver in a Brioche, roasted apple, and apple juice sauce. I love the 2 pieces of petite yet plump duck liver sandwich between a delightful light brioche, combine with the apple which eludes some sweet tangy flavors, it was a classic combination yet something that a lot of restaurant get it wrong. Nathalie’s would prove to be some strong comparison. The presentation has also added extra cookie point to this dish. If there’s anything I like about Nathalie’s, it is that their presentation was always done so beautifully.
Beef tenderloin, Porcini Sauce, Potato and Porchinis Mille Feuille with duck liver jelly is hitting all the right notes. We loved the tenderness of the beef, perfect doneness according to our preference, and the flavor of the combination of sauces and complements were just explosive. There’s really just all praises for this dish. We swiped up every single bit on the plate.
Vanilla Mille Feuille, Vanilla Caramel Sauce, and Vanilla Ice Cream. I have mix feeling about this. While the flavours were there albeit slightly sweet for me, the Mille Feuille kind of left us stranded, we weren’t too impress with the hard dense pastry (but not doubting it could be its original intention) however, since I prefer my mille feuille slightly airy and light, this dessert was not too memorable for me
Updated: very dissapointed with my 2nd and 3rd visit! Sigh! Unfortunately, we've experienced overly salty dishes for most of the MIGF courses.
