Fat Olive at Dataran Prima: Restaurant Review

His wine licence might only come in next month, but Chef Enrique Garcia Fernandez – call him by his nickname, Kike (pronounced ‘Key-Kay’) – is ready to cook; Fat Olive opens this week, helmed by Kike, who hails from northern Spain, & his partner Stacee, a Malaysian former advertising executive who recently returned home after a long stint in Shanghai.

European Cooking at Lower-than-expected Prices

Fat Olive – which specialises in hearty servings of European cooking at lower-than-expected prices – is one of PJ’s most photogenic new restaurants, filled with hazel-toned acacia wood furniture & fronted by a spiral staircase that leads up to a baking kitchen. It currently opens 10am-6pm everyday (but call first to confirm), offering hot meals throughout operating hours.

Only Set Meals this Week

Fat Olive serves only set meals this week; RM30 nett will buy you a lot – a soup of the day (possibly pumpkin, with enjoyably crunchy garlic croutons), Caesar salad, chewy sourdough bread, plus a main course (try the buttered soft-shell crab, heaped on creamy risotto with crab meat, fish roe, green onions & parmesan cheese) & dessert (ask for the rich chocolate terrine with a mellow strawberry sauce). It bears repeating – all that for only RM30 nett (for now), sufficient for two light eaters to share.

Other sets cost RM28-RM38, with main course options such as pan-fried Norwegian salmon with green pea risotto & butter soy sauce, Australian beef medallions with mashed potatoes & red wine sauce, roasted spring chicken with sauteed potatoes & mushrooms, & seafood spaghetti with spicy semi-dried tomato sauce. Coffee is available, made with Colombian beans.