Graze at Hilton Kuala Lumpur: Restaurant Review

Change has come to KL Hilton, where Senses, one of our top restaurant recommendations, was replaced this month by Graze, which offers classic European recipes.

It’s a bit sad though to see Senses vanish; it could take some time to become accustomed to Graze, which sports a distinctively different, consummately casual look.

Sampling of Senses entries: Feb 2009, July 2008 and Sept 2009.

Graze’s menu takes fewer risks than Senses’, but the food remains beautifully prepared and brilliantly palate-pampering. Worthy of plate licking.

Fresh Meat and Seafood

Fresh meat and seafood are the highlights here: these 300 triumphant grams of a veal T-bone steak, served with chunky hand-cut fries and bearnaise sauce, should satiate the most ravenous medium-sized carnivore.

It’s meat at its juiciest, promising full-bodied, full-blooded pleasure in every bite.

Back to Basics

Back to basics with pure meat and potatoes, plain ol’ protein and carbs (with fibrous veggies thrown into the mix): Slow-cooked Dorper lamb shoulder and grilled rack (the latter’s more succulent) with parsley mashed potatoes.

Shellfish Stew

Graze’s bouillabaisse boasts a lighter-than-expected touch, delicately sweet in flavor but full of fleshy lobster, sea bream and snapper.

Savor the shellfish stew with some toasted baguette and rouille.

Chef Audrey Chin

Audrey Chin, a former junior sous chef at Senses, heads a remarkable kitchen here. We loved every bite of everything, even the side salad.

Popping the Bubbly

To be sure, Graze’s booze is expensive, with nearly no wines below RM200.

The Hilton must have had its reasons to turn Senses into Graze. We can’t help preferring the former, partly because we had numerous excellent experiences there, stretching back to the Kelly Brennan era (remember that cheerful chef?). Still, Graze is top-notch in its own right.