One of Kuala Lumpur’s top fine dining restaurants has conjured up another special and unforgettable gastronomic experience for food lovers this month. Nestled on the 38th floor of the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, THIRTY8 Restaurant, Bar & Lounge is offering the chance to sample fine cuisine prepared by a world-renowned chef, amidst a stunning 360-degree view of the city.
Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur proudly presents #DinewithChef, with chef extraordinaire, Poh Boon Neo. Having made a name for himself as the winner of Otto Weibel and Norwegian Salmon Young Chef Competition in 2016, Chef Boon continues to refine his skills in the world of the culinary arts, and has now arrived in our beloved city to put those skills into action. Food enthusiasts are in for an amazing treat as Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur will feature Chef Boon in an all-new #DinewithChef series this month.
We were invited for the food tasting menu and we assure you, you’ll enjoy the best in gourmet artistry at THIRTY8! Read on for a full scoop of our experience.
Starters
The meal began with a 63°C sous vide cage-free egg dish that was garnished with fresh truffle slices, crispy buckwheat, and Jerusalem artichoke sauce. Underneath were roasted Jerusalem artichokes and maitake mushrooms glazed with old sherry vinegar. Breaking the yolk to scoop a bit of everything onto the spoon is the best way to enjoy this dish. As a result, you’ll get a jumble of ingredients that’ll make you forget about regular eggs. The truffles had a slight saltiness, the yoke had a sweeter taste, and the mushrooms had a citrusy flavour. Together, they completely boosted the flavour of the dish. We couldn’t think of a better starter than this simple but sophisticated egg dish.
Mains
Next, we had two main courses to try. The first dish was crispy scale kinmedai fish served with a flavorful lemongrass and lime emulsion. Most of us tend to steer clear of fish scales, but this dish will change your mind, because the scales were thin and crunchy, like chips. The fish used was a Japanese Red-Eye Snapper. To make this dish, the fish is grilled and hot oil is poured on the skin to make it super crispy. Underneath the fish, there’s charred hispi cabbage and prawn. We loved that the fish was tender and that it paired so well with the sauce, cabbage and prawn. The sauce was the best part of the dish. You could literally taste the creaminess from the coconut and it reminded us of rendang! We definitely loved our fish, which was not fully cooked as it’s a Japanese-themed dish.
The second main was what we were all looking forward to, the 65°F Signature Beef Wellington. Chef Boon made quite the entry for this meal when he brought out the freshly-baked beef wellington and served each guest a portion by hand. Of course, this meal wouldn’t be complete without side dishes. We had garlic mashed potato, creamy spinach with nutmeg and parmesan, sautéed haricot verts in smoked paprika butter, blue cheese dip, and crispy onion rings. Each side was extremely tasty.
Our favourites were the crispy onion, sautéed haricot verts and garlic mashed potatoes. There were also two sauces – béarnaise and espagnole – served alongside the meal. Both sauces were designed to go with beef. For a mild and tangy flavour, you can choose the béarnaise sauce and the espagnole sauce is best if you want a rich bite. We most definitely prefered espagnole, since it gave the beef more zing and improved the flavour.
The beef wellington was made with Australian grass-fed Black Angus beef tenderloin that was grilled to perfection – medium rare with crisp puff pastry and a flavorful mushroom duxelles covering. We did ask Chef Boon about the preparation and the reason for it being medium-rare. He said preparing the Beef Wellington takes about a couple of days, and about 45 minutes to an hour to cook a smaller portion. Beef Wellington is best eaten medium-rare, as it absorbs the juiciness of the meat. Overall, we enjoyed this dish even though we’re more “well-done” meat lovers.
Dessert
After a dessert like this, we would definitely put off eating chocolate for a while. The dark chocolate semifreddo was the final course to be presented. Everything on the plate was made of chocolate. Our blood sugar spiked as soon as we bit into the rich chocolate mousse with 22k gold leaves, cacao nib tulle, and hazelnut praline on top. Even though we like the chocolaty dessert, we thought the dish would be better with some berries (strawberry or blueberry) to counteract the richness. And nothing pairs better with chocolate than a cuppa hot latte. We were given our option of coffee to go with our delicious treat. It was definitely a sumptuous conclusion to the filling main meals.
We had an amazing time at THIRTY8 and were impressed with Chef Boon for curating such amazing dishes. All our fellow diners were genuinely pleased with the outcome of the dishes, given the difficulties that Chef Boon had to overcome, such as adjusting to a new kitchen, ingredients, and chefs.
We highly recommend THIRTY8, as it gives you a one-of-a-kind experience of smells, sights and delicious and unique flavours.
