Ms. Jazz Reviews: Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie

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.

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Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie

Menara Taipan,

Jalan Punchak

Off Jalan P.Ramlee, KL

Tel: 03-2024452

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Grand Palace 皇宫海鲜酒家, Pavillion

Apologies for the long dissapearance, but work and socials doesnt allow much time for blogging lalely. But now that i've settled most of the major issues at work, i hope i can finally clear my much delayed posts at a faster pace. I hope everyone have still been keeping up with us because we've got loads to share!

Grand Palace located in Pavillion was a refreshing change from our usual oriental group's chinese restaurant haunts, the only time i came here was to attend a function, and the memorable dish i had at the time was their soya bean with birdnest that was served in a huge ceramic bowl. The birdnest was at generous portion and I could not get enough of it, i think i had at least 3 bowls that night.

We were glad to be led into a private room, what's with function ongoing, i had neither the mood nor the patience to endure noise and busy movements, and the constant yumsheng yumsheng at your neighbouring tables can get pretty annoying. Excuse me if i sound a bit bitchy here as i tend to get sour about weddings, whats with being mid 20's and single and all. hahaha

This time, we went there with a sole purpose in mind- to indulge ourselves with their pan-fried sharkfin which cost a painstaking RM140++ per individual portion.

Started off the course with both bbq pork and siew yuk- both were decent

The individually fried sharkfin with crabmeat was brought out slowly portion by portion accompany with superior broth on the side. Simple, fuss free presentation, but simplicity seems to do this dish some justice as the flavours live up to my expectation and had left me at a state of enjoyable bliss.

We absolutely love the roasted piglet with glutinous rice. At RM180 per piglet and  was it worth the price? I'd say its worth every cent of my wallet (ok maybe not my wallet, but u'd get my drift =P) We were first delighted by the sight of the piglet which was perfectly roasted to a happy golden color, and the sound of the crunchiness as we cut it through was like music to my ears. Hidden inside like a treasure were the glutinous rice which cooked with such precision that the rice was at a nice seperated texture and with the pork oil infused into the rice, it twinge an additional flavour that uplift the overall taste. Definitely a powerful combination.

I like KuKu Chicken, now please don't get the wrong idea.

"Kuku" is a cleverful word play of mushroom which is pronounced at 菇"GU" A Deboned chicken with assorted mushroom stuffing was definitely something innovative. Again the fresh creation was filled with rich robust flavours and the mushrooms and the chicken does meld with each other nicely

As if we havent got enough of meat dishes on the night, but when your carnivorous craving hits, you've just got to satisfy your tastebud. It's unjustly to torture them, really. So on top of those meat dishes, we've ordered the Braised lamb brisket in claypot with Fu Yu. Different from the Overseas Restaurant Versions. This ones here soup were thicken and slightly more salty. Goes really well with Tong Hou and the deep fried noodles. Now if only the meat was slightly more tender, then i've really no complains.

There's a good selection of desserts from mango sago, 雪, coconut pudding, red bean paste pancakes etc

Mango Sago

红枣雪蛤

I brought along my trusty Patron coffee tequila- a delicious end to a satisfactory meal

Service was subtle, swift and attentive on that night. And it helps that they have a karaoke system that plays all the latest songs, we had a wicked time singing along to Justin Bieber (disclaimer: personally not a fan)

Ratings:

Food: 7/10

Service: 7.5/10

Ambience: 7/10

Presentation  of food: 6.5/10

Overall: 7/10

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Grand Palace 皇宫海鲜酒家

Level 6, Pavillion

Tel: 03-21431128

Crazieapple (the miss m.i.a) reviews Cilantro, Kuala Lumpur

HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!! *waves* Does anyone still remember me and my (non-) existence?? hehe

Sorry.. was having A BIT of a writer's block.. Thus the hiatus.. *sheepish grin* You must be rolling your eyes, murmuring: "Yeah right.. What's new.. What bs".. 

I'm back with super backdated review, as far back as 14th Feb...

Being the only unattached ones left in my group of friends, we've decided to have a foursome dinner on Valentines day at Cilantro. It was definitely unusual because the attendant to my phone reservation had to repeat after me "Table for 4" several times before he confirmed my booking. 

Excuse me Mister, we like it crowded okay? =P

Greeted with assorted pastries and truffle butter.. Oh yumz.. Can i have a spoon to scope those butter into my mouth pls?? I'm a BIG FAT sucker for anything truffle.. Anything with the T word, i'm sold..

Had the tv playing some cooking show at the background while doing some other work the other day, as soon as Jamie Oliver mentioned the word Truffle, i looked up from my work and went "OooooOooooOO.. truffle.. *sniffles the air*"  

Complimentary from the kitchen

Cold Capellini with King Crab and Tomato Coulis. 

I love the combination of the entire cold dish- how succulent the chilled king crab brings out the sweetness and freshness of the dish. I must comment on how brilliant the tomato coulis is done just so that it doesn't overpower the entire dish with merely tomato taste. Oh, not to mention the sprinkle of caviar.. 

Tip no.2 on how to bribe Crazieapple's tastebud: DROWN HER WITH CAVIARS!!!

Hokki and Scallop with Jus. 

Hokki is also know as surf clam; we voted this as our best dish for the night.. It's the most maddeningly delicious dish for the entire course, i would claim!! 

  Bresse Pigeon Salad

Almost forgettable dish as the meat was dry and uneventful. Not a big fan of walnut (or any kind of nuts) in my dish.. MOST Definitely not a grass-eater as well.. *Screams "MEATTT!!"*

Wagyu Beef Rossini

Being a well-trained monster eater from overseas,  this tiny toy was a mere appetizer to my stomach.. I've definitely had better wagyu than this and i've swore foie gras off my eating list after watching this cruel video of how they stuffed poor goose to death so that we'll get good fatty foie gras.. =( So i didn't manage to enjoy my main as much as i would like to. Credits to those smooth silky mash. But then again, how wrong can you really go with your mash?? 

Maine lobster with Japanese Sole

Mel, Crazieapple, Elyn

Who's the lucky guy?

 

Please excuse my friend as he develops a weird habit of stuffing everything rod-like into his mouth.. haha 

I KID!!

 

Thanks for the dinner DBB!! 

 

Raspberry Granite with Mascarpone Ice cream

Three types of Chocolate

Dark chocolate being my favourite, the other chocolates were nothing to scream for except "Serviettes PLEASEEE"! They were melting by the time they were being served to us!!! Bless our Msia weather..

 

Our magnum- sized wine which we were having a difficult time finishing as i wasn't allowed to drink too much as i was working as driver round the clock.. =(

My overall dining experience at Cilantro was rather disappointing. Probably due to the fact that it's valentine's day. You're meant to eat overate, poorly prepared food just because you have to... My indulgence for the dinner basically ended at course number 2 (Hokki and Scallop), everything after that just sort of went down to the drain.. And really, being called Cilantro, one would expect a more spectacular dinner than this.

I'd definitely like to give it another try on a normal operating day.. Hmmm.. Are they still serving the cod's sperm??