Ampersand by Culinary Rebels at Damansara Uptown: New pork belly dinner menu review

This review is brought to you in part by Ampersand by Culinary Rebels.

Fellow fans of pork belly, rejoice: Ampersand is taking our favourite cut of the hog and carving out three distinctive new recipes that make mouthwatering use of 350-gramme portions of German-bred pork.

Rebellion by Ray

Our favourite might be Rebellion by Ray (RM36+) – achingly tender sous-vide belly, both fatty and fleshy, with potentially sufficient meat for two to share, tastily complemented by three sauces of traffic-light hues (a spicy red capsicum sauce, yellow pineapple mango chutney, and green chimichurri), each richly textured and memorably flavoursome, balanced further with salad leaves, flash-fried cherry tomatoes and crunchy capers.

The American by The Butcher

Also lusciously lust-worthy: The American by The Butcher (RM36+), with honey bourbon brined belly that’s beautifully partnered with a crispy-creamy giant potato croquette, grain mustard and apple salad – each enjoyably executed component could stand easily on its own; put together, the ensemble succeeds in creating sweet, satisfying, sumptuous synergy.

X-Rated by The Magician

The final member of the trio: X-Rated by The Magician (RM36+), tailored for Asian palates, comprising belly glazed in an unmistakable char siew sauce, coupled confidently with tofu puree and peanut butter mustard. We’re crossing our fingers that these fun three dishes will receive a warm reception, encouraging the team here to come up with more belly concoctions.

Greeny Green

There’s also one delicious new dessert to spotlight: Greeny Green (RM18+), a triumphantly snapshot-worthy trilogy of matcha treats – a molten green tea tart (notably, a molten tart instead of the typical cake); vanilla ice cream dusted with green tea powder; and moist, hot slices of green tea fudge cake laced with red beans and cranberries; plated with honey tofu cream sauce.

Ampersand’s culinary repertoire

The pork belly dishes are currently available for dinner only, bolstering Ampersand’s existing repertoire of Spanish pork ribs and chicken wings, both of which also welcome debuting entries – crispy ribs marinated with fermented bean curd and served with good old-fashioned mashed potatoes (RM35), alongside Thai/Vietnamese-inflected wings with hints of lemongrass and pennywort (RM16 for four pieces, RM21 for six pieces), made for merry munching. Thanks to Ampersand for having us back.

Location & Details

Ampersand by Culinary Rebels

19M, First Floor, Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Mon-Tues, Thurs-Fri, 11am-3pm, 5pm-11pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-3pm, 5pm-11pm.

Tel: +603-7732-9711

Find: View directory of Ampersand by Culinary Rebels here