Out & About: Fine Dining at La Fite, Shangri-La Hotel KL

I was recently invited to participate in a Food Safari, with the express intention of seeing what other fine establishments are doing with regards to F&B service. We were asked to select a minimum of 3 food venues out of 5 and I chose 4 (and why not? free good food rite?).

Rather strangely the drive there was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Used the Waze GPS programme on my phone to direct my way using the least traffic-clogged arteries. Arrived in Shangri-La hotel at about 8.30 pm to begin my culinary adventure.

The last time I was here as a paying customer was at least 1.5 years ago, a time when I was uhmm, more financially careless ( I still am by the by!). If I recall correctly I spent close to 350 Ringgit for a 9 course Degustation menu without wines (wines would have added a whole new kind of heft onto the bill!).

Anyways, this time around, the lot of us fine-diners were seated in a private room around a long table and was guided through the evening. The waiters sought out our beverage requirements and a short while after we were presented with the Menu.

Le Menu

Page 1 of the 2 page menu

The menu is this exaggeratedly large poly leather bound thing with only 2 sheets inside (which is refreshingly simple as compared to some old fashioned restaurants that insist on detailing EVERY thing under the sun!). The menu offerings were classed into 5 selections of 4 choices each. If one prefers a 3 course meal, one chooses 1 dish from 3 of the 5 classes. If you are after a 5course meal (which I most certainly did), you would choose 1 dish from each class. So whee!

To help while the time away, La Fite treated us with a sharing platter Amuse Bouches of Salmon on Stone, Goat Cheese & Hazelnut Brittle Lollipop and Pear Sorbet with Peach Essence, to be enjoyed in that exact that order.

Amuse Bouche Platter (roughly translated as 'Mouth Teasers')

The Salmon was sashimi-grade fish lightly dry cured in an almost imperceptibly Balik style - sweet, salty and oily all at the same time. The Lollipop was pure genius, as it looked for all intents like a Confection but it had a powerfully goat-y aroma bursting forth as I bit into it. As I continued, the sudden crunch of Hazelnut Brittle surprised me further by cutting though the richness of the cheese. Who knew goat cheese could be paired with what is essentially a dessert item! Then the frozen Pear Sorbet did its magic of cleansing the palate with its tang and lightness.

Goat Cheese 'Grape' with a hidden gem & Frozen Pear Sorbet

My first course arrived moments later; light cold appetizer of  Ocean Trout Tartare.

Playful plate of seafood-y flavours!

I loved the simplicity of the dish, very French yet very contemporary at the same time. Lightly blow torched raw pacific trout cut into dainty cubes, with floating islands of Ikura-topped squid ink gelee and  a scattering of cucumber slivers and pea flowers.

Eaten as is, the trout just sang in my mouth, alternating textures of yielding butter texture and firmer torch-cooked fish.The squid-ink jelly to me could have had less of the acid hit as I would have appreciated the unique aroma of the ink jelly but the presence of the exploding bubbles of salmon roe helped the marriage of flavours. Ideally any Tartare dish should be eaten with crusty bread for the contrast in texture, and thus the Carbon Brioche supplied was just too good to be left unattended!

Charcoal Brioche

 My second course was Parsnip Veloute, a velvety soup of roasted and creamed Parsnips poured over a garnish of pear puree, and crisped apple slice. It came as a 2 parter; first was the soup plate of garnish and  second, the soup, was later poured from a silver kettle, around the quenelle of pear puree. Ohh the ceremony with which this dish was served, I loved it. Such drama!

Poured puree of parsnip!

The third run was again a fish course (I love fish when it is executed well, and I am having it to, ahem, benchmark the Chef's culinary skills), Oven-Crisped Amadai.


The local variant of the fish is none other than the lowly 'Kerisi', relegated to being deep-fried to a near wooden crisp or ground into a paste for flavouring keropok. Amadai, apparently is a regal fish, much appreciated by people of the pacific rim for its very light flavour and edible scales (like our Kerisi). I was intrigued by the mere note of this Amadai and wanted to know why it was favoured by our Japanese neighbours.

Amadai baked to crisp perfection. 
Delightfully crunchy scales atop succulent fish. 
Partnered with a spoon of lentil mash, mushroom mince and 
a sprinkling of dill and chopped mushroom gills.

This dish was great. Not exactly impactful in terms of flavours but the intermingling of textures was the primary theme in this dish. The crinkly sounds the scales made as I forked into it was wonderful. I did not appreciate the mushrooms however, it tasted like the Chef was a little heavy handed with the salt.

A short pause after the Amadai, the Plat Principal arrived. Rare Wagyu Tenderloin on Pearl Barley topped with Horseradish Foam and a small shooter of Beef Au-jus. It is rather difficult to describe the emotions I felt eating this dish as I am not exactly a fan of Wagyu (sometimes mistakenly called Kobe beef) as it is extremely fatty and tender. I prefer my meats to have a bite to it and tenderloin hardly puts up a fight.

Them black crystals next to the beefy goodness is black pacific salt!

I chose to have it the way any good marbled aged beef should be had - rare (but not bloody, as a leaky meat is a sure sign the meat was not aged properly). I was certainly rewarded by my choice. The Waiter suggested I had mine done medium-rare, probably due to most Malays liking their meat at least medium done, but he was pleasantly surprised when I chose to go against. I had really good steak at Las Vacas a while ago, and it was a totally different experience, but this, this dry aged Wagyu was majestic.

What made it even greater was the sprinkling of Black Pacific Salt. The mineral creaminess of the salt crystals was the perfect foil to the inherently buttery meat. Then there was the mound of Pearl Barley cooked to such al-dente perfection I was dumbstruck, grasping for the correct words to describe by feelings.

After this there was a short lull as the rest of the group traded horror stories from their restaurant experience the day before. Then our final assiette came, the much awaited dessert plate.

Combination of the richest chocolate mousse (ganache-like even!), chocolate soil, chocolate sail, basil mint ice cream, chestnut puree and cocoa butter bread.

The dessert was just pure sin. Heaviest, most dense chocolate mousse I have had in my life. Thick, unctuous and unapologetically rich! It was perfect when had with the other textures on the plate - cold and minty, grainy, spongy and crunchy. A master pairing of good mousse with greater partners.

Just when we though we couldn't have another bite, the waiters brought in Praline Trees as the closure to the meal. We were then regaled by the presence of the rather good looking Chef John Nash (the ladies were rather smitten with the Chef's almost bashful reaction to all their ogling) who wanted to know whether we had a good night. We did Chef, we certainly did.

Chef Nash being bashful!

Oozy Butternut Squash Risotto

Pan Roasted Duck

Slate of Rolled Venison Au Jus

Out & About: Tangkuban Prahu, Bandung, Indonesia

I found myself on the shores of Indonesia about a week back and it was a very cultural experience. Indonesia despite being somewhat related to Malaysia is a total contrast.. Everything about it is in the extremes, dirtier, smoggier, friendlier, poorer, spicier and a huge shock to my system.

We had little time for actual sight seeing, but somehow, thanks to our tour leader, we managed to squeeze in a short half day trip to Tangkuban Prahu, an active volcano crater on a mountain top in hilly Bandung. The journey in itself was a 2 hour slog through hills and valleys, bends and curves and the non-inescapable traffic jams of  Indonesia known locally as Macet (pronounced Mah-Chett).

As soon as we arrived we were hit with the pong of sulfur, causing some to experience mild nausea! From the parking area, we needed to be bussed up another kilometer up (our own chartered bus wouldn't have made it up the gradient) after a bout of being hounded the the ubiquitous street peddlers selling overpriced touristy trinkets.

A short ride after, we were greeted with an amazing sight (and somehow, we all got accustomed to the rotten egg pong of the volcano, probably dumbed down by the panorama). And like all tourists everywhere, our cameras went clickety click non-stop from there-on.

Scenes of the adjacent hills



So called active crater (more like mouldering puddle!)



Green vista!

It was there that the members of the tour group grew closer as we chatted and discovered more about each other. The camwhore-ing sessions helped us bond a little more and we gradually warmed up to each other. heck, some of us actually reveled in making complete tourists of ourselves and it was funny. 

Rizal n Jamal in the distance. Strike a pose!

Crazy bunch!

Tangkuban Prahu being a mountain, perched on a bigger mountain (which is what Bandung really essentially is after all), is cool and calm, a total sea change from the hectic rush of the city. Never mind the bevy of Trinketmen and ladies, it was great to just linger in the majesty of the hills.    

Yes, they were selling Hamsters at the top of the mountain!



Trinket & Food Peddlers taking a breather.

Trinketman selling all manner of rabbit (or kelinchir as the locals call it) merchandise.

After a couple of hours, the small group that had gravitated towards each other, we made our way back down to the bussing pit stop. GF even managed to get a Pony ride (more like a hill horse) down (which was like totally amazing, as I never imagined she would actually want to). I was laughing so hard it was ridiculous and I got some good shots for posterity.

Horse-ing around!

Poor horseys! Hahahaha..

Only much later, after the long ride back to our domicile, did we realize that most of us were sunburned! Yikes!

Tehehehe! Camwhore me!

Car Ownership Conundrum

About a little over a year ago, I finally got myself a brand new car, which replaced the ageing Proton Wira my family had since 1997. Now, it isn’t a particularly big car or one that could even remotely be considered luxurious, or flashy (I am not one of those who dream of Porsche-ing around town; a two-seater car is so ludicrously impractical). It is a simple Proton Persona, an economical and easy to drive sedan with a slightly sporty look.

I chose this car mainly because it was a good drive and most Persona owners were very (if not extremely) satisfied with the design, engineering and technology that went into it. You could say it was a logical choice, added to the fact that it was sitting squarely in what I could afford.

Proton has several classes or standards for this model, starting with the basic Baseline, onwards to Medium line, then upwards to the High line and a final notch up, the High line Special Edition or S.E. In all honestly, the Baseline version would have sufficed, but such is the story of my life, I lusted for the SE.

I postulated that I could afford the monthly bank installments with some cut backs on my current lifestyle and habits. The first day the car was delivered to me was a special day. It a strange mix of pride, for finally owning my own shiny new ride and ahem, I am driving an SE! (I guess this is the same feeling Ferraris would give to its buyers).

My baby! All clean and polished to a gleam.

I have been everywhere in it as far as Penang and Johor, to work, for short gallivanting jaunts and run-arounds. Truth be told, I am satisfied with the build quality and reliability of my car, despite what Proton naysayers are spouting.

However, I have failed to take into consideration the actual cost of owning a ride isn’t so much the monthly installments, but the actual running costs – road tax, yearly insurance, fuel, parts replacement, servicing and all other maintenance related money-sinkers like washing, polish and waxes and those assorted bits we not necessarily need but want nonetheless for the car.

Some say the 'snow-wash' type of cleaning is bad for the paint job. Is this so?

A friend recently told me of his plans to also get a car for himself and I found myself cautioning him the realities of car ownership. I certainly wasn’t trying to scare him against getting one, but I may have come across rather strongly in my advising.

I wish someone had taken the time to guide me on what I need to really look at. Obviously, having an ‘SE’ labeled car automatically makes you feel like one is part of an elite few (yes, never mind the fact that it is only a Proton), but there is much I should have known in hind sight.

Roughly two weeks ago, I sent my car in for a major servicing as it had already clocked 40,000 kms. The car was of course equipped with maintenance schedule and it urged to get certain things done, lest the car warranty kaput. Drove to my usual car service guys and got them to do what is needed.

And these little things made the owner go ouch ouch ouch!

Treatment time! Removing the gungy transmission and engine oils.

Thus my bill came out like this:

RM 18  : Air Filter                                                

RM 12  : Oil Filter                                                 

RM 18  : Engine Treatment                                    

RM 97  : Engine Oil 4 Liters                                   

RM 18  : Engine Cleaner                                        

RM 175: Automatic Transmission Fluid 5 Liters       

RM 3.5 : Windshield Cleaner                                  

RM 12  : Radiator Coolant                                    

RM 60  : Major Service Charges                            

TOTAL = RM 498.50.

I ended up gasping for air a few moments thereafter. The service mechanic also recommended that I change the front wheel brake pads (estimated at RM75 a piece!), the brake fluid (good for a few more weeks) and maybe consider doing a proper car detailing (which is an estimated RM 1500 layered combination of washing, claying, polishing, waxing, buffing and re-waxing to restore the body paint quality) at a good detailing center.

Eeep! Uhm, next month please!

Most of my days are spent working how much I actually need to set aside for my car. Now I know why some consider owning vehicles as a liability instead of it being an asset.