Review: Dinner Menu at The Kitchen Table Restaurant, PJ Damansara Kim

Returning to The Kitchen Table, this time for its evening selection. Earlier entry on The Kitchen Table’s lunch menu: June 4.

The Kitchen Table is proceeding with more caution than expected, serving an extremely compact range for now. It’s a showcase of quality over quantity: Reckon on only two or three starters, a couple of main courses, perhaps three vegetable sides & another two desserts on the restaurant’s single-page dinner menu this week.  Domestic produce is the cornerstone of The Kitchen Table’s culinary tableau.

Small Plates/ Starters

Local mozzarella, thai basil pesto, tomato jam, shaved zucchini

Gotta love The Kitchen Table’s compilation of plates; they form an artful backdrop for gracefully nuanced recipes like Malaysian-produced mozzarella by Bright Cow (less milky-rich than the best ones out there, but still enjoyable) combined with tomato jam (terrific _ thick & tangy-sweet), vivacious Thai basil pesto & crisp shaved zucchini. RM24.

Citrus salad, grilled calamari, capers & shallot vinaigrette

Sprightly summery flavours also seize the spotlight for this citrus-fruit salad, crowned with grilled calamari (juicy & beautifully fresh-tasting _ no surprise, since it’s from the fine folks who operate MySeafoodMart) with capers & shallot vinaigrette. RM24.

Large Plates/ Main Courses

Buckwheat fried chicken, thai basil crisps & ginger, garlic ponzu

Mains underscore The Kitchen Table’s comfort-food philosophies: A fan club is forming for proprietor-chefs Marcus & Mei Wan’s flagship chicken, fried with buckwheat flour, partnered with Thai basil crops, ginger & a deeply moreish, garlic-filled ponzu sauce (plus a bottle of Lingham’s chilli sauce by the side).

The chicken nails all the right marks, with crispy skin in a light batter, peeled open to reveal hot, irreproachably tender meat. It’s a risk though; some customers might baulk at the RM36 price tag for five pieces. But we’d merrily munch on this all night long.

Pork belly, apple reduction & watercress

Don’t skip the hearty pork belly either, irresistible with a sweet-to-enhance-savoury apple reduction & watercress (RM44)

Again, all the essentials for excellence are on exhibit: A succulent meat-to-fat ratio (leaning well toward the former), bolstered by flavour that’s distinctively but not too dramatically porky. RM44.

Vegetables/ Side Dishes

Carrot & beet slaw, toasted peanuts & sweet corn

Side dishes supply sturdy support: Carrot-&-beet salad, complemented by toasted peanuts & sweet corn (RM18) …

Roasted cauliflower, celery & candied walnuts

… & roasted cauliflowers (a bit too burnt though, this batch) with celery & shaved onions (RM22).

Desserts

Earl Grey Crème Brûlée

Desserts? Definitely. Save space for the Earl Grey creme brulee (sumptuously soft & silky, topped with grapefruit segments) with shortbread fingers, a fun play on the tea-&-biscuits theme. RM15.

Dark Chocolate Tart with Almond Tuiles

Like your chocolate supremely smooth, with an authoritative depth of flavour? The Kitchen Table’s dark chocolate tart with almond tuilles should leave you plotting another visit (though hopefully, the soundtrack here will extend beyond the slightly-too-gauzy likes of Passenger & Of Monsters and Men by then).

Corkage Fee

Wine is currently not available at The Kitchen Table, but the corkage fee is a most agreeable RM35.

Location and Operating Hours

The Kitchen Table Restaurant & Bakery

23, Jalan SS20/11, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya

Open 10am-1030pm (with 530pm-630pm break). Closed on Mondays.

View The Kitchen Table’s directory page here.

What are your thoughts about The Kitchen Table? Post a thought in the comments below.