Ask the Chefs in KL: What Was the Most Satisfying Dish You've Tasted this Year?

“What’s the most satisfying dish you’ve tasted this year?” We posed that question this month to eight of the most acclaimed chefs in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to discover what’s been tickling their taste buds, powering their passion and igniting their imagination so far in 2014.

From Turkish lamb to stingray soup, here are their delicious responses, exclusive to Eat Drink.

1. Jean Michel Fraisse

La Vie En Rose Restaurant, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. Also Director of The French Culinary School in Asia, HTC in Asia and Gourmandines Fine Foods

jean

Photo by Kamal Zainul of Breadties cafe-bakery

“Earlier this year, I invited baker Antonio Louro to Malaysia and he showed us how to make his bread. Antonio is an honest guy with an open heart and readily shared his knowledge. His method was – surprise, surprise! – among the easiest of artisanal bread making techniques shown to us by the many boulangers whom I had invited to teach at the French Culinary School in Asia.

So now I have been reunited with the bread of my childhood: the pain de campagne (country loaf), the baguette and old slab, made using flour from wheat grown and processed with integrity (read: 100% natural and sans additives and conditioners) and made by a baker who understands the product.

Antonio’s heart is in making good bread – it’s all about the taste. So his bread is not pretty to look at; his baguettes are not shaped into pretentious pointy tips and do not benefit from being buffed and varnished. They look like rough logs that you whack the dog with.

But break one open, hear the crust crackle, see the creamy and holey ‘meat’, and smell and taste real bread. For me, it’s the taste of love – after all, it’s just a humble loaf of bread.”

2. Isadora Chai

Chef-owner. Bistro a Table, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

isadora

“I ventured to Istanbul in May this year having a carnivorous frenzy at Nusr-Et Steakhouse. I was served this amazing 1.5 kg roasted rack of Turkish lamb – meat so succulent and flavourful, only a peppering of dried rosemary sufficed to heighten your gastronomic pleasure. The crackling on the surface was perfectly executed and its taste eerily akin to that of a Sunday pork roast – it was like eating the best of both meats!

Of course, it also helps that the owner Nusr-Et himself (a smooth-operating Turkish Fabio) seductively carves your meat at the table in a very tight shirt & leather apron, then hand-feeds you after having sex with the meat with his sharp knife. I also found it amusing that the establishment had a defibrillator conspicuously displayed – you are reminded that you are dancing with death if you go on a meat binge here without your statins.”

3. Philip Leong

Head chef. Nobu Kuala Lumpur, Level 56, Menara 3 Petronas, Kuala Lumpur

philip

“I dined at Nobu Berkeley in London before transferring to KL to open Nobu Kuala Lumpur. Great hospitality, a great nine years’ worth of memories at that dining space. We had an amazing omakase specials menu that included lobster truffle tosazu with quinoa.”

4. Riccardo Ferrarotti

Chef-owner. Mediteca Wine Tapas, Fraser Place, Kuala Lumpur

ricardo

“Tough one. Could be the best pizza I’ve ever had in East Asia, at Ristorante 208 in Hollywood Road, Hong Kong. Classic Napoli Pizza ‘Verace’ thick crust, with fresh tomato, buffalo’s mozzarella, fresh basil, and a last touch of extra virgin olive oil. Baked for one minute in a wood-fire oven. Heavenly with a glass of Greco di Tufo white wine. We can’t find this kind of pizza anywhere in KL; closest is at Ocha&Bella in Jakarta.”

5. Christopher Yee

Chef-owner. Topshelf, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur

chris

“As most chefs finish work late at night, the best and most satisfying dish for me would be my supper. After a long day of service, by the time kitchen is cleaned and closed, there are only a few choices left, but my favourite dish would be Kayu Nasi Kandar in SS2, which serves full-flavoured curry and stews. Comfort food, and they are always open.”

6. Nikom “Kom” Uatthong

Head chef. Kompassion Thai Restaurant, Jalan SS20/11, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya

nikom

“The most memorable dish this year was from a tiny restaurant called Chihana in Kyoto. This was during my Japan trip in March. I remember it was a simple clear soup with stingray, cooked till it was silky and tender, with a Japanese herb called ‘kinome.’ Really simple dish, yet full of flavour.”

7. Lee Wee Hong

Group Executive Chef. Tai Thong Group

lee

“The most memorable dish I have tasted this year is a Steamed Wild Red Mahseer Fish from a restaurant near Kinta River. The meat is delicious and pleasantly chewy, with a hint of fruity sweetness, similar to Empurau fish. Ever since I tasted it, the taste has been lingering in my mind.”

8. Jason How

Chef & co-owner. Ante Kitchen and Bar, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur

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“The best thing I’ve tasted this year would arguably be an in-house dry-hung, 120-day aged, inch-thick rib eye steak at Rockpool’s, Melbourne, Australia. Even then, the complex flavours with hints of blue cheese, caramel and slight bitterness weren’t obtained evenly throughout the steak.

Many restaurants in KL may offer premium beef, but few are able to age the meat themselves, offer the correct thickness due to cost (a slab of premium beef that thick would probably cost at least RM400 locally!), and deliver the perfect crusting on the outside of the steak with the perfect medium rare interior.

This is also one of those dishes that is not so much about the cooking, but about the meticulous treatment, effort, time and monitoring that goes into producing and maintaining a high quality raw ingredient, something that is not often practised by restaurants in Malaysia.”