This review is brought to you in part by Gastro Bar by Burgeon.

There’s a thrilling new team that now helms the kitchen at Gastro Bar: This month, three young chefs – Justin Yap, Jeremy Chan and Rainer Krieger – have unveiled one of the Klang Valley’s most stimulating menus, imbued with a sense of adventure and accomplishment. Check them out to pique your palate with contemporary creations that flaunt a flair for stylish surprises.

1. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

2. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Pastas and poultry

Pastas and poultry illuminate Gastro Bar’s forte: Each of its nearly thirty current recipes is discernibly distinctive, weaving together global gastronomic threads into a tapestry of flavours and textures shaded with Asian/Malaysian sensibilities.

A flattened mound of orzo rice-shaped pasta is buoyed by brown sugar-glazed bacon crisps, duck liver sausage and horseradish cream (RM30), tasting like a sweet-savoury cross between a Tuscan summer salad and Hong Kong lap mei fan.

3. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

5. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Pan-seared sous-vide chicken similarly takes its cues from both West and East, partnered not only with pancetta and pumpkin puree but recast with a creamy-starchy risotto of black glutinous rice and a reduction of black chicken and traditional Chinese herbs (RM38).

4. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

6. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Beef and pork

This incarnation of Gastro Bar evolves from small plates to heartier fare, but maintains the robust complexities that have been the restaurant’s hallmark since its inception. A six-hour-braised beef short rib conveys notes of smoked miso in a chrysanthemum-and-honey reduction, matched with yellow squash, Yukon Gold potatoes and purple spinach (RM48).

7. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Japanese tonkatsu donburi is reassembled and revitalised as marinated panko-breaded pork katsu with brown butter garlic rice, water chestnuts, snow peas and lemon bacon sauerkraut (RM38) and a chunky pork belly stew emerges brazenly rich with lap cheong, smoked cheese, pickled fennel and pear in lamb reduction with jalapeno hot sauce and ricotta herb baguette toast slices (RM36).

8. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

9. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Pork remains a cornerstone of Gastro Bar – the siew yok salad is a should-try, with achingly succulent crispy roast pork surrounded by sauteed nai pak choy, baby spinach and baby cucumber with bacon pomme puree (RM28).

10. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

11. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Seafood

But seafood increasingly threatens to steal the spotlight, thanks to Gastro Bar’s reliance on top-flight fresh produce and insistence on house-prepared complements. Smoked salmon is draped around charcoal-glazed scallops with a sprightly fuji-basil puree, carbonised leeks, purple carrots and miso spinach compote (RM48), while line-caught pomfret surfaces moist and fleshy, accompanied by garlic-chilli confit shimeji mushrooms, sauteed nai pak choy, crispy capers and Shaoxing butter sauce (RM32).

12. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

13. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Vegetarian dishes

Illustrating the scope of Gastro Bar’s capabilities, vegetarians are capably taken care of. Tortellini is folded over rice wine-cooked shiitake and eryngii, with the mushroom theme completed by mushroom jam and a reduced shiitake-tea consomme (RM26).

14. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

15. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Shallow-fried mantao is stuffed with masala beet hash instead of meat patties, making for mouthfuls of vegan-friendly pleasure with caramelised orange segments, wilted spinach and cilantro with kabayaki sauce and miso hollandaise (RM24).

16. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

And what initially looks like a plate of scallops turns out to be eryngii transformed into truffled doppelgangers of the molluscs with a firmer bite, bolstered with blackened kailan, roasted soy baby corn and watercress, and decadent arugula-laced butter (RM32).

17. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

18. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Desserts

The dessert selection is more compact but showcases equally elaborate and enticing ensembles, founded on fruits – a spiced apple crumble pie with brown butter sparks magic with honey-and-bacon ice cream, citrus chocolate ganache and black sesame soil (RM32).

19. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

A bruleed caramelised banana tart is compellingly coupled with banana-pandan compote and bourbon ice cream (RM28), while a watermelon, calamansi and yuzu granita with glazed ciku, gula Melaka and dragon fruit (RM16) is as rejuvenating as its sounds.

20. Gastro Bar by Burgeon 21. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Cocktails

Our only lament is that the cocktail repertoire has been truncated, though you’ll still find sufficient temptations with a twist or two, like a Mai Tai with banana-infused rum or Gin and Tonic with jasmine-infused gin (RM38 each). The wine list merits investigating too, with most bottles of red clocking in between RM122 and RM230.

22. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

23. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

All in all, this revamped direction for Gastro Bar is very promising, and the restaurant has some intriguing plans still to come. Even if you’re not in Petaling Jaya, this is a destination that feels worth the effort to travel to. We’re likely to be back soon – many thanks to Gastro Bar for having us.

24. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

25. Gastro Bar by Burgeon

Location & Details

Gastro Bar, By Burgeon

8 & 10, Jalan BM 1/2, Taman Bukit Mayang Emas, Petaling Jaya.

Now open Tues-Sun, 6pm-1030pm, except public holidays.

Tel: +603-7497-5373

Find: View Gastro Bar by Burgeon’s directory here