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.

The menu itself is worth celebration. Again, true to Nathalie’s style, you’ll be spoilt with choices as their menu changes every month, no reason not to come back again, and again right? There is the usual ala carte menu with starters that ranges from RM30-RM50, main course RM40- RM80, and Desserts around RM20s.

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.

French rock fish soup in Ala Carte menu (RM35)



Open Ravioli with Blue Lobster, Vanilla Sauce

Oxtail beef squid, Jerusalem artichoke puree and mesclun, short juice sauce in degustation menu

Salmon confit in duck fat, asian mushrooms in sweet and sour broth, buttered savoy cabbage
in Seafood Menu

Duck a l'Orange in degustation menu. Had a bite of this, it was yummy!
Most of us opt for the Nathalie’s selection. (RM145++ for 5 courses)


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.

I love Red Meat! *Rawr*


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


There's no such thing as Macaron overdose in Augustdiners context.
We were delighted with the selection of macarons. As with all macarons, there was hit and misses in their flavours, yet it is still one of the best in town! Do try their salted caramel, i can go crazy over 'em! 


Poppy and Strawberry Big Mac, Strawberry Mousse and Basil Sorbet


My dear friends






Nathalie has definitely impressed us with this new outlet here and has taken her culinary skills to a new height. I know by fact that if i'm ever craving for french food, Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie would definitely comes to mind. Let's just hope that the September menu would be good! Time for revisit?

P/S As this was a way overdue post, please be noted that the items above is from the August Menu, you can check their monthly menu here.

Ratings:

Food: 7.5/10
(Most flavours hit the right notes with more hits than misses, yay!)

Ambience: 7/10
(suitable for work dinners, and celebrations with friends and family)

Service: 6/10
(decent, could be more attentive)

Presentation of food: 8/10
(never failed to please with those wonderful emulsions and good portioning)

Overall: 7.5/10

Updated: very dissapointed with my 2nd and 3rd visit! Sigh! Unfortunately, we've experienced overly salty dishes for most of the MIGF courses.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie
Menara Taipan,
Jalan Punchak
Off Jalan P.Ramlee, KL
Tel: 03-2024452

12 comments:

Michelle Chin said...

all of you look so pretty! yeppun-da!

Baby Sumo said...

Yeah the food presentation is always impressive at Cuisine Gourmet. They'll also be participating in MIGF this yr, would be interesting to see their menu for the festival.

AugustDiners said...

Michelle: thank yewwwww n what's yep pun da?

Baby sumo: wow r they?? I'm looking forward to it already!

Dividend Tech Warrior said...

Nice pics! ^^

boo_licious said...

Looks good. Yet to visit this place properly for a sit down meal after its launch where we only sampled small bites on the go. Must make a trip here. Thanks for the reminder & I wonder what she will have in store for us during MIGF.

Augustdiners said...

Dividends Warrior: thank you :)

Boo: im looking forward to their MIGF menu too! :P

Baby Sumo said...

Hey, here's their MIGF menu:
http://www.migf.com/2011/festival-menu/cuisine-gourmat-nathalie-menu

Dont you think it's very similar to their degustation menu?

AugustDiners said...

Baby sumo:!thx for sharing! There's certain similarities from de degustation but certainly still worth sampling, I wudnt mind those yummy steak again for sure but what really caught my eye is perhaps de lafite migf menu! Hehe

Anonymous said...

Hey dear, can u recommend me some restaurant which is suitable for celebrating anniversary and with nice food ?=)

and so far, which fine dinning is the best u have ate in malaysia?

AugustDiners said...

Anon: apologies for late reply! Mmm I wudnt go to cuisine gourmet, went back yesterday n it was disappointing however perhaps try bistro a table at pj section 17? it's quite cosy with good food, but not the best. I love frangipani desserts and ambience

krozbonek said...

nice pictures :D

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