MIGF: Lai Ching Yuen @ Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur

I scratched my head (not a case of dandrufflah) because I couldn't figure out which restaurant Lai Ching Yuen was at Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur. And when I arrived, it turned out to be what was previously known as Zing 晶苑. Blur me...the name change has been for some months and I didn't realise it. I supposed i have the nick missyblurkit for a good reason. LOL.

Back to MIGF 2011 at Lai Ching Yuen under the hands of Chef Leong Weng Heng. Traffic was massive on that Friday night and I was hungrier than normal. I was glad when Amanda and Chef Leong offered us some yummy Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs. This savoury snack was light and the buttery soft flesh pretty much melted in our mouth.

Chef Leong Weng Heng

And it went amazingly with the fresh mint soda cocktail that we were served as soon as we arrived. This refreshing cocktail pretty much refreshed us and prepared us for our dinner to come.

The brilliant thing about Lai Ching Yuen is we get to see the chefs at work. Its the whole anticipation of seeing food being put together. A very appetising process and this MIGF review at Lai Ching Yuen, my stomach was churning extra juices just at the sight of chefs at work over the following 6 course meal.

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Special Duo Seafood Combination

Crispy Seafood Spring Roll 
Scallop Salad with Assorted Fruit Served in Golden Cup 


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This is a pretty dish. And it certainly tasted food. I love the golden cup which was light and thin. Inside lay juicy tender scallop. The fruit salad complimented this cold dish superbly and this was made a tad savoury with the use of the roe.

The crispy seafood spring roll was light. It wasn't oily despite being fried and held together some minced seafood.

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Double-boiled Sea Treasures in Whole Coconut 


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I loved soups and when they are double boiled, I believe that the soups taste even better as it goes on a gentle boiling process to bring out the juices of the ingredients. And when soup is cooked in coconut, it has an added "nutty" taste to it making it even more wholesome. The Double-boiled Sea Treasures in Whole Coconut is a clear soup. It is sweet from the natural goodness of the carefully chosen ingredients that includes mushroom, fish maw (the none fried ones are called fa kau), sea cucumber, scallops and chicken. It was such a brilliant tummy and soul warmer. *Thumbs up*

a generous portion of treasures from the sea

clear soup witteh goodness of the sea treasure and subtle coconut flavour

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Baked Fillet of Seaperch with Wild Mushrooms Wrapped with Crispy Filo

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This is a good take at being fusion by Chef Leong. The filo was crispy and light. It was beautifully rich. Cut open the fluffy parcel to reveal the succulent seaperch that was baked inside the filo pastry from scratch. The fish is baked to perfection and was scrumptious with the pastry was buttery and by now absolutely delightful with the juices of the seaperch. Every bite was just a mouthwatering experience. The sauteed mushrooms was sauteed lightly and had a rich earthy taste to it that complimented the parcel of seaperch.

simple looking

yummilicious baked seaperch

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Steamed Home-made Spinach Bean Curd with Chinese Wine Topped with Fresh Crab Meat


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I love beancurd in most preparations. The beancurd was arranged delicately. And if the green looks odd, rest assured this is what you get when you mix spinach into your food. This is such a light and perfect dish after the heavy tasting baked speaperch in filo pastry. The crab meat added some natural sea sweetness into the dense and flavourful spinach tofu. The gravy was not to be wasted and I pretty much slurped my plate clean. The gravy is rich with the goodness of seafood and egg with a light dash of chinese wine.

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Fried Rice with Minced Goose Liver and Pine Nuts


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Fried rice to some sounds almost unimaginative. But at Lai Ching Yuen, the Fried Rice with Minced Goose Liver and Pine Nuts
 is not just another plain dish. the minced goose liver gives the rice a rich flavour. Every mouthful of rice has generous melt in your mouth savoury goose liver and eggs wrapping the fluffy rice grains. The added pine nuts gives this rice dish extra crunch and of course the deep nutty pine flavour.

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Combination of Avocado Purée with Durian Custard Rabbit Dumpling

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Avocado is one of my fave fruits and I delight each time I see it on any menu. The chilled avocado puree was light on our palate as it was not overly sweet. The main star of the dessert was the cute bunny with a lovely rich durian custard filling. This was was real durian not flavouring. A definite hit with the durian lovers that night. I must admit I was in a playful mood that night and brought my bunny swimming. The bunny was so cute...I had a hard time trying to eat that little fella.

should i go swimming?

bunny went swimming in a pool of avocado puree

Menu:

Full Festival Menu RM268++ per person with wine

RM158++ per person without wine

Wine

De Martino Estate Selection Sauvignon Blanc

Longo Sincini Nero D’avola

Stanley Estate Pinot Noir

De Martino Estate Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

Lyrebird Colombard Chardonnay

Lai Ching Yuen

Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur

Level 1

160 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur

T: +603 2117 4180

F: +603 2145 7876

www.grandmillenniumkl.com

www.millenniumhotels.com

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Certainly another delightful night of nom nom. And this time t was even more delightful as we celebrated Jen's birthday with a company of fello kaki makan. Happy birthday Jen. Cheers to more burp adventures!

happy burpday Jen

MIGF: Samplings on the Fourteen, Berjaya Times Square Hotel

MIGF 2011 brings me to Samplings on the Fourteen on a wet rainy Saturday. A little cold and a little upset as I was almost late for dinner (let's blame the traffic on the road and also the crowd that I had to walk pass at mall), I settled in at Samplings on the Fourteen quickly. The cozy and warm ambience with a rather pretty scene of lights from below made me relaxed. Of course the friendly crew and bubbly Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam immediately put a smile back to my face within minutes.

I love this open kitchen.

Its exciting seeing the a chef at work.

While waiting for our MIGF menu to be served, we were treated to a rather interesting appetizer. Do not be deceived by the somewhat plain looking parcel. Inside this ravioli is a brilliant mix of the humble button mushroom with juicy crayfish with Parmesan and Emmental cheese. Equally interesting is the mustard sauce with a tinge of whiskey and wine.

Equally delightful was the bread and butter served. Every bread is freshly made. Bread and butter...the simple pleasures of life.

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Appetiser

Combination of Seared Foie Gras, Tomato and Onion Tart

&

US Scallops with Yellow Mushrooms, Chive Salad

Cloudy Bay, Chardonnay

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Appetiser soon arrives. 2 gorgeous dishes separated by a garden of chive salad.

There is something about seared scallops. Its sweet and juicy yet natural saltiness of this sea treasure is truly refreshing. The trout caviar enhances the Washington scallop further and compliments the shitake mushrooms.

Seared Foie Gras, Tomato and Onion Tart is an orgasmic piece of dish sitting on a puff pastry. Memorable and still is, even as I write this blog. Lightly seared foie gras with just some sea salt, the foie gras literally melted in my mouth.

Buttery melt in your mouth foie gras

The Cloudy Bay Chardonay was light and easy. Fruity and smooth, it complimented both appetisers thoroughly although I personally preferred it wit the scallop as the caramelised shallot with the foie gras felt a tad too sweet for my personal preference.

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Soup

Light Smoked Duck Essence with Ginseng Root and Raviolini

Cloudy Bay, Chardonnay

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Interestingly, Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam marries the East and West for an aromatic soup with Light Smoked Duck Essence with Ginseng Root and Raviolini. The ginseng is light and flavourful and surprisingly went well with the smoked duck soup. The consommé was warm, light and comforting. Perfect for that rainy Saturday night.

The soup is not oily. the golden droplets are actually smoked duck essence.

Petite raviolini

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Sorbet

Celery Mint Sorbet

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The celery sorbet is absolutely refreshing and did a great job to clear our palates. A dazzling play of mint, black pepper and celery. And if one wonders why is the celery mint sorbet more stimulating compared to another celery mint sorbet that you've probably tasted before, the secret lies in the usage of both the celery root and its leave.

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Main

Roasted Australian Pistachio Crusted Baby Veal Rackserved with Greens, Potato Comfit and Truffle Jus

Nicolas Catena Zapata, Malbec

OR

Cajun Spiced Black Cod, Seared Prawns, Vanilla Oil and Escarole Risotto

Puligny Montrachet

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I opted for the Roasted Australian Pistachio Crusted Baby Veal Rackserved with Greens, Potato Comfit and Truffle Jus. This is a luscious piece of baby veal is coated with pistachios, rosemary, pepper and salt. Cooked to perfection, the meat is succulent and tender. The truffle jus was mild so as not to overpower the natural sweetness of veal.

The baby veal was paired with the Nicolas Catena Zapata, Malbec. This full bodied red and slightly sweet wine definitely was definite a good match with the baby veal and it also complimented the slightly nutty taste on the veal as a result of the pistachios.

Buddies Esther and Xiang both opted for the Cajun Spiced Black Cod, Seared Prawns, Vanilla Oil and Escarole Risotto (which I happily took a bite from). Both the cod and the prawns were fresh and it was a good match making this a must have for seafood lovers. However what impressed me most on their choice dish was the escarole risotto. Despite the slightly bitter nature of escarole, Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam cooked it well the escarole remained freshly crisp and added bite into the creamy risotto.

And because it tasted so good, I could not resist asking Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam for an extra serving of the escarole risotto. Yummeh...this was certainly one of the best risottos I have had.

The Puligny Montrachet would be a dry white wine on its own. However it went well with the cod and prawn...or in my case, it was a perfect pairing with the escarole risotto.

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Dessert

Ricotta Cheese Cake, Chestnut Mousse with Raspberry Coulis and Almond Crisp

Peter Lehmann Barossa Art, Late Harvest Frontignac

Coffee or Tea

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Dessert was an awesome play of textures and flavours. Nothing intensely sweet, it was superbly flavourful. The almond crisp was sweet but it went well with the very creamy ricotta cheese cake. The raspberry coulis gave this whole dessert character. The chestnut mousse was surprisingly not as sweet as I thought it would be and was really good with the berries.

Peter Lehmann Barossa Art, Late Harvest Frontignac is provided a sweet ending to this meal. Albeit a sweet (dessert) wine, its fresh fruity finish goes well with the ricotta cheese cake.

And so my wet cold rainy Saturday MIGF dinner was certainly fun and interesting play of flavours by an equally fun Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam whom I remember was happily dancing during the MIGF Gala Launch. A yummy meal by a cheerful chef and yes even his team was equally cheerful like him. When we requested to take his picture, I was certainly very impressed that Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam said "Please take a picture of my team too. It is team work and not me alone". He's such a brilliant and humble chef. *Niceeeeee*

chef and his team

Menu

• Full Festival Menu RM350++ per person with wine;

• RM180++ per person without wine

Samplings on the Fourteen

14th Floor Berjaya Times Square

55100 Kuala Lumpur

T: +603 2117 8000 ext 8131

http://www.berjayahotel.com/kualalumpur/dining.asp

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Here's us chilling over our wines after dinner while admiring the beautiful scenery

Be seated by the window to enjoy this view throughout your dinner

Esther

Xiang

Yours truly missyblurkit