Wine Dinner with Rolland Collection

I had the privilege to dine at The Club Saujana Resort couple of weeks back to experience their special wine pairing dinner hosted by Michel Rolland of the Rolland Collection of fine wines.


Looking plenty sober prior dinner


It was a seven course meal and six difference wines, with a middle course as a palate refresher.




It was obviously going to be a happy night. :D

Dinner started wtih a Home-Dried Rock Melon with Smoked Mozzarella drizzled with 24 years Aged Balsamic, paired with Ayala Zero Dosage NV (sort of a champagne, or sparkling wine technically).

I was looking forward to the said Balsamic. I've tasted many balsamic before, from caramelized to aged and during my travels I have come across some pretty high quality balsamic. It's the same with good quality olive oil. I once heard a friend of mine who had the opportunity to taste a 120 euro per bottle olive oil in France and according to him, the taste was divine. *gulp*

Though oppose to olive oil, I'm a major fan of cameralized balsamic vineger.




Intially I couldn't really see the rock melon and was wondering what the ball of yellow-ish goop on top of my appertizer was, it turned out to be mozzarella; and to my very pleasant surprise, I could smell the aroma of the balsamic. It was really good.

One bite and I immediately asked for a second portion which the host kindly asked specially for me. ^^ I haven't tasted good balsamic for two years ago and I have to say this stood up to par.


The second course quickly followed with Expressions of Salmon with Beetroot and Horseradish, paired with Chateau La Grande Clotte Blanc, France 2007.




The name didn't serve it justice as the dish deserve more credit for its preparation. Salmon (both slices and tartare) was fresh but I adore the bite-size beetroots which was refreshing as a condiment to the fish.




Didn't really enjoyed the crispy roll though so I gave it to someone else who enjoyed it better.
Whereas the white wine was a tad dry for my liking but that's just my personal preferance.

Next came the Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Pot Roasted White Cabbage & Confit Duck Leg.




Kudos to the Chef, this dish threw me off guard despite all the ingredient that I disliked or found unimpressive. If there's a dish that would make meat-lover turn vegetarian, it would be this. The white cabbage was surpringly a sweet soft savoury delight; sauce was fabulous with the tender juicy duck breast; unfortunately the duck confit puff was a disappointment to this dish. Increase the cabbage and omit the puff and this would have been a perfect dish.

By now we have moved to Mariflor Pinot Noir, Argentina 2007. Urgh... red. nuff said.
But then again it is pinot noir and it's really not too bad nor heavy, again, just my preference.

Refreshing our palates with Blueberry Granita.




I loved this sorbet so much I had TWO! Its sweetish sourish flavour certainly woke me up from my slightly drunken state.

Now came the main courses.

Main Course 1: Olive and Herb Poached Saddle of Lamb with Creamy Polenta and Sauteed Peppers.




I have high expectation for this dish as I favor lamb over any red meat.
The chef's creation met my ridiculosuly high expectation and provided more.

Polenta is a sort of hummus-like dish made of boiled cornmeal. I've never had the actual thing before but this was really soft, creamy and slightly on the tamer side of flavour, my friend loved it he swore to return to the restaurant just to specially order this. I enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was worth driving all the way down here just for this. The sauteed peppers were brilliant though, friend never liked peppers but he finished every single slice (not that there were many to begin with, all the portions were of tasting size, a.k.a. tiny).

Oh, the little ball made of lamb mince behind the lamb, forgettable.

This was paired wtih Campo Alegre, Toro, Spain 2008. By now I was too drunk to remember if this was good or bad; though apparently my ignorance to taste only applied to red wines at this stage.

Main Course 2:
Red Wine Braised Beef Cheek (Milk Fed Beef) with Truffle Potato Blini and Moussline, paired with Chateau Fontenil, Fronsac, France 2006. (This wine was too heavy too dry for me to even 'try' to enjoy)




Another highly expected dish, I never had milk fed beef was delighted at the sight of truffle; but this dish came short in delivering 'omph'.

Beef cheek was tough and dry. It didn't look over-cooked so I assumed it must be frozen instead of chilled, a process that destroyed a meat's freshness. Truffle Potato Blini was way better than the beef.
The Moussline (mash potato) was magnifique. Soft as baby food, and if not mistaken, I'm pretty sure it's truffle scented too. *love*


Finally the last course, dessert: Extension of Chocolate - Chocolate Passion Fruit Cake, Dark Chocolate Mousse and White Chocoalte Ice Cream.




This dish was a disapointment (not utter, but almost).

The whole dish obviously came out from a freezer. The cake was too hard to cut, the passion fruit topping was too sourish and the chocolate ball at the side was too hard to bite. The saving grace of this dish was the chocolate mousse and the home-made white chocolate ice cream, which melted a bit too fast.

Served with a glass of Domaine Crazes Muscat de Riversaltes 2005, the dish was poorly paired either, as admitted by the chef, there wasn't much of a dessert wine choice from the Rolland's Collection so they had to make use of what they have. Which I excused at this point.


Overall, The Club Saujana Resort came up with an impressive dinner with their young Austrian chef. First four dishes have been exceptional save for the last two; which was a pity.

At RM260++ for a seven-course dinner. It was well worth the price considering you're paying similar price in restaurant like Cilantro for less courses minus the wines. If I have to compare, I'd say food quality par with Sage for their dinners (not lunches).

You may call to reserve for this wine dinner at the club.


*hic*



look, free fan ^^


The Club Saujana Resort
Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS 40150 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Contact: (603) 7843 1234

A Little Bit of Hot Chocolate

I stumbled upon this cafe that served all sorts of hot chocolate drink in a little alley in Madrid, Spain.

It always has to be a little alley. :)




I didn't know the name of the shop, but I remember the street it was on, because I took of a photo of it. ^^







I love the warmth of hot cocoa, and also the heater in the cafe, on a chilly winter night.

We came back the next day, locating the same street, and ordered our second cup of hot cocoa for a late night dessert.


with croissant. yum



so rich you can dip in it.


The menu was pretty extensive. I wanted to order at least ten types of hot cocoa off it.










Unfortunately, I only have stomach for one. :(




Best form of midnight snack in winter, ever.

Hong Kong Best Suckling Pig

Is tucked away on a small alley in Hong Kong Central (chong wan).

Where Anthony Bourdain once graced the shop and had it landed on news.




Which was enough to make a small shop like that famous.




I always welcome smaller eatery shops than big famous commercial and expensive chain of restaurants, like the "Yong Kei" for its roast goose in Hong Kong. Rumours has it if you want roast goose to eat for dinner, do not expect to pull a walk-in and get your goose in the same night.

But apart from the fact that I personally prefer hidden jewels over commercial icons; they are generally kinder to my purse. A whole lot kinder.




So welcome to Dragon Restaurant.
(You may find the address at the bottom of this blog post)

The shop is famous for its roast goose, and also for its suckling pig.

Average meal cost between 32 - 48 hong kong dollars. Considering the strength of Malaysia Ringgit now, it's a pretty decent price for a meal and a close comparison to KL's competitive prices.


Roast Goose and Siew Yok (caramelized bbq pork)



Suckling Pig (top) and Siew Yok (Roast Pork, bottom)


Everything on the plates was heavenly. The Char Siew was intense, sweet, juicy and soft all at the same time. The Roast Goose (my first) was tender, teeeny bit dry as most geese flesh was but the overall texture and flavour overcome that flaw.

Siew Yok was a bit fatty for my liking but I guess that's how Hong Kong people take it, juicy and fatty.

As for the Suckling Pig.
It's nothing like I've ever tried before. Those suckling pig we used to have back home (means Malaysia) were good, but they were NOTHING compared to this.

It's out of this world, out of concept, breaking every rule in the cooking book; it was new to me, refreshing, explosive, little fatty but oh-so gorgeous; all I could say was I've never loved fatty pork so much in my life. Crispy chewy and plenty of love.


To quote the great Bourdain's words,

"This is as close to God as you're going to get... It's all about the skin, and this was truly the highlight of my stay. Crispy, delicious, simple, a little salt... Homer Simpson once said, 'Pork is a beautiful thing.' and this is the best I've ever had, anywhere in the world.





I wiped the meat clean, even if I wasn't so hungry. Never a rice fan as you can see.

If you ever have the chance, even a short stay in HK, you know where to go. ;)





Dragon Restaurant
3-5 Gage Street, Central,
2545-5328

Vietnamese Snacks: Ben Thanh Market

Near the end of the trip, mom, half god-brother and I went to Ben Thanh Market for once savour the local drinks and snacks one late afternoon.

Though I must say Indo-china food doesn't differ much from the rest of the South East Asian food we're so accustomed to. Lots of food here resembled food back home.

Some pudding served with ice. Decent sweetness, sorta soft sorta hard. It's was al-right~.




Flavoured milk jelly. This was mildly sweet and has a hard bite to it. You know, like those 'crunchy' sort jelly.




And of course the special local cendo-like drink which my friend introduced on the first day.




I loved this. It was really sweet and tasted slightly different from our normal cendol drink back home, though of course since they used different ingredient to line the bottom of the glass.

I never really liked to eat the stuff though, which unfortunately occupied 50% of the glass.

How to Drink Wasabi Shot

Never heard of a Wasabi Shot?

Oh then you're in for an gastronomic adventure ride.

Learnt and drank in Daikanyama from those crazy bartenders with a creative chef that excelled in Japanese cuisine, Wasabi shot is a tequila shot drink which you take with... you guess it... wasabi.




Here are the steps.

1. First prepare the ingredients, you would need one shot of tequila, one shot of tomato juice and a teaspoon of wasabi. This is for one serving. No salt required.




2. Next, spread the wasabi over your hand, like how you would with salt when you take a tequila shot.




3. To start off. Lick off the wasabi from your hand into your mouth.




You heard me. Take it in raw.

Now don't do anything to it yet. Just let the wasabi rest on your tongue, do not squash it with your tongue (if you do, it's at your own risk from here buddy).


4. Very quickly, take the tequila shot BUT DO NOT DRINK it yet.




Instead, swirl it around inside your mouth with the wasabi to blend it together.




Relax, the wasabi won't hit you, yet.


5. Now, swallow. Tequila and the wasabi.

6. Follow up with the tomato juice.




Savour this for a while before you swallow as this would help kill off the "kick" from the wasabi almost instantaneously.




Swallow the tomato juice.

And you're done!




You have done the Wasabi Shot.

*standing ovation*


You shall now experience the heating sensation in your stomach the wasabi is stirring in there. Fun eh?

Remember to take some food, it'll ease the heat.

Daikanyama

The best Japanese bistro in town to have Japanese inspired cocktails.


choya cocktail - japanese plum








They also served really nice snacks to pair with your cocktails on a winding-down evening with your girlfriends after work.




I was invited to try the food there few months ago and I was immensely impressed by the selections of cocktails there. And how delicious each one of them were! (except for one particular green one which tasted weird)




The evening started with my typical favourite: Lychee Martini.




Then moved onto Pink Geisha.




Both of which were divine drinks. Sweeter than normal cocktails but that's how I liked them.

The alcohol helped get the conversation going and before we knew it, other invited guests were swarming in and it was almost time for dinner.




We started with Beef Teri Salad, a very sweet decadent dish that's awesome as starters to get your bites going. Tender and nice.




To which by now I was moving onto my third drink: Choya cocktail.




Now Choya cocktail is basically Daikanyama's signature drink, a mixture of choya (widely used Japanese plum in Japanese dishes), yumeishu and vodka. It's sour, paired with tongue-clapping vodka, made it a drink that you either love or hate. My baby hated it, I loved it.

Here's a list of drinks I loved that night:

There were the lychee martini (98% love), pink geisha (100% love), choya (70% love)...




Also...


Kimosan - 101% love



Apricoto Suppai - 120% love!!!!


And the list of drinks I didn't like that night... (actually, just two)


from left: some green drink I didn't bother to remember the name and grasshoper (I think).


The green cocktail was especially... odd. I couldn't have more than 3 sips. It was recommended by the waitress so maybe it's one of their named Japanese cocktails.




By the time the second dish Soba with Prawn Salad came, I realised a fault in the bistro. Food were slow. Possibly due to the large quantity of people they were serving that night. The good news was drinks were fast, and nice. There's nothing better than free delicious cocktails to keep us busy on a hungry tummy (no sacarsm intended). I have dangerously moved onto my fourth cocktail of the night by now. *warning*




Since I neither liked prawns or soba, I passed this one on.



Nasu Dengaku. Basically grilled eggplant topped with special miso paste. Smallest portion of all but a wonder as an appertiser, delicious.




I would order this chawanmushi just for the two thin slices of smoked duck draped on top if not. Powering taste and very tender and smooth, however it paled the chawanmushi in the process. Really nice served individually, but not together.





Mini Scallop Pizza. Possibly my favourite tit-bits in Daikanyama. It's like crispy nachos with toppings but creamier and sweeter. YUM!

Another close up photo.







Lamb Yaki - grilled teriyaki lamb on a stick. I love anything teriyaki so this was such a pleasure to eat. The chef cooked it to medium, just the way I like it, juicy and tender. So good that I had the waitress brought us another serving. *greedy*




Salmon Truffle Oil Tataki. Pale in comparison with the others but the fact it's salmon, served in truffle oil, made the dish a treat for the night. Who would pass up fresh salmon eh? I wouldn't order this if I had to pay, but would wallop it whole if someone's getting the bill.




Soft Shell Crab with Salmon Maki. Mango was a big no no for me, not in this dish, not in any dish other than dessert.




Fried Unagi Tofu. Couldn't taste the unagi. Took one bite and threw it to someone else.




California Cheese Maki. Anything with Unagi adds points to my ratings. The cheese didn't make any impact but the sweetness of the unagi did. Not the best Unagi sushi maki I had, not bad either.





Saikoro Steak. Sweet tender bite-size beef. Yes, yes and yes. I'm especially particular with beef normally but this hit my palate right on the spot. Bing!





I ended the night with another glass of Apricoto Suppai. Best sweet cocktail EVER!




Daikanyama
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Mon-Thurs: 5:30pm - 12:30am
Fri-Sat: 5:30pm - 3am

Tel: 03-2141 0323 (Takes reservations)