Review: FIQ's Gastronomy at Subang Jaya

Food, Innovation, Quality: FIQ’s Gastronomy lives up to its acronym; this cheerfully friendly cafe, which opened this month in a relatively less familiar section of Subang Jaya, looks poised to become a big, irrepressible hit.

Innovation truly is FIQ’s middle name: The team that toils in its open kitchen strives to present recipes that transcend regular cafe fare while still preserving suburb-suitable prices.

Spinach Risotto

This spinach risotto with carrot puree, crispy brined chicken & fried onions (RM22+) succeeds on both of those ambitious fronts.

Roasted Gnocchi

Roasted potato gnocchi with mushrooms, herb-tinged walnuts & caper-raisin emulsion (RM18+ for a starter-sized serving).

Basil Tagliatelle

Pasta is made from scratch here, Tuesdays through Sundays; temptations include tagliatelle with duck confit, basil-laced melted butter & veggies (RM24+). The food looks so vibrantly alluring, we wanted to order everything on the one-page menu.

Roasted Carrot Soup

Creamy carrot soup with beef bacon, fried shallots & extra virgin olive oil (RM12). And there’s still more to indulge in, from salted beef sandwiches with miso mustard to a mac-&-cheese that sounds like pure comfort food.

Desserts

FIQ’s desserts feel like an addiction, not an afterthought. The best bet: S’mores (RM10+), the calorie-intensive camp-fire favourite of marshmallows, crackers, hazelnuts & gooey chocolate ganache. There are also brownies, baked alaska, raspberry granita & pumpkin bread pudding here.

Beverages

We’d love to have paired this meal with a Merlot, but FIQ’s isn’t that sort of venue. Still, this Snickers-&-peanut-butter shake ensured there was no space for complaints.

The coffee’s very much worthwhile too; single-origin Ethiopian, if we correctly remember what amiable restaurant manager Shahaman said. (Correction: Our memory betrays us. It was Sumatran!)

Final Thoughts

To be clear, FIQ’s members haven’t sprung out of nowhere; they’ve worked at various Malaysian hotels in the past, honing their craft & building their confidence to run their own restaurant.

The soundtrack’s fine here too, with mid-tempo John Legend, Mariah & Alicia tunes for lunchtime.

All in all, we like FIQ’s. The food is well-prepared & it’s clear that tons of thought, love & energy went into making this place. Expect to hear more about FIQ’s Gastronomy in the months ahead.