Showing posts with label contemporary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemporary. Show all posts

A contemporary cuisine with personal touch. Millesimme is another brainchild of Chef Max Chin of former Max @ Ihaus or Max! Kitchen and Wines and this time he decided to bring his culinary journey to a greater height. With his passion for food and undeniable talent and experience in cooking modern cuisines, you will wonder what the friendly Chef has up to his sleeve for this new establishment.

One should enter Millesimme with an open mind and let them surprise you with their degustation menu of the day. Yup, you heard right. Max’s newest establishment has only one menu – the Chef’s menu. Over here, you will set aside the common worry of what to order. The degustation menu comes in 5 courses dinner of RM150++ per pax with a lovely combination of amuse bouche, appetizers, main course, and dessert. The good news is, they change their menu by daily so it prompts a motivation of frequent visits.

While I had my reservations about the approach of serving only degustation menu in a restaurant (as it is still pretty new concept in KL dining scene- most restaurant serve ala carte menu with the degustation menu as an option), it is always a challenging business operation to depend on one person to run the show, but having to chat with the Chef and understand his thoughts and directions, I felt perhaps he is right for the job after all. However, the immediate challenge that I can foresee in the future is that diners are expecting Max himself to be behind the kitchen and when not, will be disappointed. Let’s hope it won’t affect them by much.

It was a task looking for the restaurant, having not been to Solaris Dutamas on a frequent basis because I always find parking a hassle there. Millesimme is located on ground floor towards the end of the block, near the driving entrance of the condominium. For the convenience of their diners, the restaurant blocked up several pavement parkings directly outside the restaurant purely for diners use only.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is warm and semi-formal with a seating capacity rough calculation of approx 40pax. A large open-concept kitchen stood proudly at the corner of the restaurant occupying almost 1/3 of the restaurant. The best thing is, now you can spy on Chef Max during his workings.

A good selection of wine was lined up against the side wall, with no wine menu at the present, you can either walk over to browse through the selection, or tell the manager to come up with the recommendation. We settled with Grand Vin de Bordeaux- Chateau de Seguin (RM140) for the night

 Started off with the amuse bouche of  Marlin fish (correct me if im wrong) smoky, light, tasty, and simple in presentation. A bit plain in sight, but the flavours works wonders.

First degustation course of Air Dried Beef Loin with Black truffle vinnigrette was enjoyable. The beef is a melt in your mouth sensation couple with some fresh leaves, light and crunchy.

By far my favourite dish of the night was the Cod fish with Asparagus cream. A creamy wonder topped with fish roes that explodes in your mouth. A sensation mix of both textures and flavours. I lapped it all up in no time.

Sweet Bread with duck breast, goose liver terrine and port wine sauce works nicely for me, I really appreciate the texture of the meat, it was tender and moist and the marriage of flavours in the palate works well together.
By now, i'm eating each dish with appreciation, looking forward to the main course between a choice of meat and seafood.


First option for main course is the Lamb cutlet on eggplant stew with classic mint sauce, which YJ commented that she really liked the texture of the lamb, it was soft but has a nice bite to it, but i thought it tasted a bit bland.

Sea scallops, Seared rare tuna loin and smoked anchovies with black olives tapenade. Applaud for searing the tuna loin right (nice and rare in between) but the flavour combination didnt quite do it for it for me. I remembered i liked the seared tuna loin very much back in Max @ Ihaus, but i cant quite capture what is wrong with this dish.


To cap if off, those familiar with Chef Max’s other outlets will be familiar with the Valrhona bitter chocolate souffled with hazelnut ice cream as it was also previously served in Max @ Ihaus. Fairly satisfying, though I wish the chocolate was a little bit more runny and intense.


One thing I enjoyed about this degustation menu was the simplicity in taste, when it comes to eating 5 or 6 courses a night, you tastebud will soon be pretty confused on what you are eating, but the particular one served on the night was fairly delicate and well thought of.

By the way, i just had my haircut. =P



Our Bill came up to approx RM230+ per pax with wine.

Ratings:

Food: 7/10
(Be pleasantly surprise with the menu of the day! Heard they are running white truffle menu for this month, do call up for more info)

Ambience: 6.5/10
(Good for quiet slow dinners)

Food Presentation: 7/10

Service: 8/10 
(Friendly and efficient)

Overall: 7/10

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

Millesimme

Ground Floor, Menara Kencana Petroleum
Solaris Dutamas, KL
Tel: 03-6211 0648

It was a bliss driving to Max @ Ihaus (minus all the chaotic traffic near pavillion), thanks to the clear directions that were shown on the lamp post buntings to locate this bungalow-cum-furniture-cum dining place at Jalan Jati.

Max has been around for quite awhile now (previously Max! Kitchen & Wines), and there's no getting rid of him. They have since relocate from Tengkat Tong Shin to this double storey bungalow at Jalan Jati, what i really like about this place is the ample of parking provided. No scratching head looking for a valet here!  *smiles*

The last time i was at Max @ Ihaus, it was almost 8 months ago. I had fond memories of it, everything from its food items to its service has been up-to-par.
It was a pleasant surprise that the server could still remember me despite my last visit being months ago. Service, needless to say is almost flawless.

Max @ Ihaus is a finalist in the Time Out Food Award 2009 for the Best Fusion/ Contemporary Restaurant Category- That is quite a feat. So there has to be a certain food quality to this place.

We went for the degustation menu. At RM120+, you can enjoy a 5 course meal comprising 3 appetizer, 1 main course, and 1 dessert, inclusive a glass of italian Batasiolo Cascine Prosecco.
This, my friends, are really value for money. Our only hesitation is which main dish of our choice should we choose as everything sounds really good.
*Tasting menu require participation of the entire table
We were started off with some complementary Ciabbata which tasted fresh, we couldnt help but ask for another helping.

The furnitures are mostly for sale.. Abby didnt quite like the interior, she found the furnitures a mismatch, myself, on the other hand, find them refreshing.

I told myself, shall i have a daughter next time- i'll definitely decorate her room in extreme pinkness

Italian Batasiolo Cascine Prosecco (inclusive in the tasting menu), light and sweet, a very easy drink.

First Course: The beautiful presented Salad "Nicoise" of Seared Rare Tuna Loin with spanish white anchovies salsa and french bean. (NP: RM38) The Tuna Loin was seared beautifully at the side, and well seasoned. I have no complaints as each bite was delightful. The complement sides however is not my cup of tea. However, Abby gobbled everything down.

Second Course: Pan-seared sea scallops with large clams that came with chicken broth. The scallop and clams were large and quite fresh, and the broth taste fusion. It was okay- but not good enough to recommend.

Third Course: Greenland Halibut Fillet on cream sauce with some bok choy pieces, topped with fish roe. Notice the use of Bok Choy which is known as an asian ingredients and fish roe as japanese often used.
The mixture of creaminess goes well with the fish.

For the main course, i had the Black Angus Beef Tenderloin with Truffle Soubise (150gm) Crovis Grain Mustard Cream and Wilted Asparagus. (NP: RM85)- We just need to add additional RM30 in the tasting menu for this dish.
I reckon the truffle soubise does make a difference to this dish, the taste is unique but lovable and the tenderloin is true to its name- very tender. The asparagus comes in handy as i used it to swipe up all the lovely sauce. definitely worth recommending.

Abby had Matelote of Codfish Fillet in Cabernet Jus with Shallot, Fresh Tarragon and field mushroom. (NP: RM58), this has been our least favourite of the night as the cod was dry and slightly tough. The combination of sauce does not quite go well with the fish.



My GAL-DATE of the night.

After our main course, we ordered dessert wine (which most say is a gal drinks- i say YES, ITS TRUE! =D)
We had a bottle of Semillon Botrytis 2008 Peter Lehmann Barossa Valley from Australia (375ml) for only RM100. That's pretty reasonable.
Like all dessert wine, this taste sweet and refreshing. It is then, we couldnt wait for our dessert.
Dessert of the day for Tasting Menu was Chocolate Souffle, but we requested for them to change one portion to other dessert, and they were nice enough to agree.
So i ordered warm almond-chocolate brownie and waited in anticipation.


Warm Almond- Chocolate Brownie (NP RM20) was O-K. Truth be told i was kinda dissapointed because i was expecting something more dense and rich with chocolate. While the brownie served here was sufficiently moist, it lacks the chocolate richness i was hoping for. I do like the orange mascarpone cream on the top though.

Our Chocolate Souffle come in an espresso cup complement by mixed fruit pieces and cappuccino.
As Abby commented it was "bitter sweet". I like how the chocolate is not overly sweet and the cappucino ice cream mixed so well with the souffle.

Don't we look like a couple on a quiet dinner date?


Our bill came up to RM400+ between two with dessert wine. We were so stuffed that i could feel my waistline expanding on the spot. The portion was not actual portion, but it is still quite large for a "petite" girl like myself. :D

Ratings:

Food: 6.5/10

Service: 8/10

Ambience: 7/10

Presentation of food: 7.5/10

Overall rating: 7/10

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

Max @ Ihaus
Lot No. 32, Jalan Jati,
Off Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100, KL
Tel: 03- 2142 9720

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