With spring marking its arrival through vibrant greens and colourful blooms, MICHELIN restaurants in Kuala Lumpur celebrate this season of renewal and rejuvenation with refreshed menus. Check out what the city has in store!
L-R: Fish Cracker and Threadfin (Photo: Beta)
Beta’s New Menu Shines on Local Malaysian Ingredients
Chef-patron Raymond Tham of MICHELIN-listed Beta stays true to his roots in showcasing the richness of Malaysian cuisine for the restaurant's first menu of the year: Season 1/ 2023 Humble Beginnings, Tour of Malaysia.
The Season 1/ 2023 Humble Beginnings, Tour of Malaysia menu pays homage to local Malaysian ingredients from the restaurant team's collective hometowns, traversing the Peninsula Malaysia from north to south, on a quest to take Beta's diners on a journey to rediscover nostalgic tastes and flavours with a modern interpretation.
The Fish Cracker, inspired by a Terengganu street food staple known as Lekor, is one of the menu's highlights. Beta's rendition comprises a sphere of anchovy emulsion, fermented chilli foam, and shaved cured duck egg yolk. Threadfin fish is sourced locally from Sekinchan and served with fine threads of Bentong Ginger. The sauce is a combination of the fish's bones and home-brewed rice wine. The meal wraps up with Loyang Vol 3, which is a playful take on kuih loyang (honeycomb cookies) and Chinese jin dui (fried glutinous rice balls with red bean filling and sesame seeds).
Other local ingredients that are featured in the Season 1/ 2023 Humble Beginnings, Tour of Malaysia menu include cincalok (local fermented shrimp) from Malacca, budu (fish sauce) from Kelantan, kulim (jungle garlic) from Perlis, and oysters from Penang.
"We want diners to relish every dish on this menu that highlights Malaysian flavours. For locals, we hope to draw out some familiarity from either loved ones or their favourite restaurant or local street food stall. For those new to Malaysian cuisine, we hope this gives them a good introduction," Tham says.
Season 1/ 2023 Humble Beginnings, Tour of Malaysia menu is a 13-course tasting menu priced at RM450++ per pax. The Taste of Beta Menu is an 8-course tasting menu at RM360++ per pax. Both menus are available until 26 June 2023. Beta is located at Lot 3 & 3A, GF, Cormar Suites, 10 Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur, 50450, Malaysia. Book your seats here.
Ker Sangri (Photo: Flour)
Travel Through Time with Flour’s New Menu, Aarrambh
At Flour, chef-patron Yogesh Upadhyay takes diners on a journey to participate in culinary history and to explore the possibility of evolution through discovery. "Today, we simply consume food without understanding their benefits, but in the ancient days, particular ingredients were used for particular reasons — I seek the intention behind them, the taste, and how they can be adapted to the present," Upadhyay says. When asked about his menu creation process, he says, "immense research, research, and more research," citing countless ancient books, including resources in Sanskrit, for each menu launch.
“Aarrambh simply means ‘The Beginning’. We take cues and inspiration from the earliest times, taking diners on a 2,000-year journey through food history, where small kingdoms and regions existed before India was formed," Upadhyay says.
Menu highlights include lentils and root with split moong lentils, caviar, and onion cream; charcoal-grilled organic lamb with cucumber mint gel, spiced jus, king oyster mushroom, and thepla (flatbreads); mango lassi is not the yoghurt-based drink that we know of, but presented in creamed mango pulp with caviar.
The Aarrambh (Origins), Part 1 tasting menu is priced at RM680++ per pax. A vegetarian iteration of the menu is also available at RM480++ per pax. Flour is located at 12 & 14 Jalan Kamuning, Off Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur, 55100, Malaysia. Make your reservations here.
Eastern and Western flavours intertwine in Hide's newest menu. (Photo: Hide)
Hide’s Latest Menu Marries Eastern and Western Flavours
Chef-patron Shaun Ng's first restaurant, Hide, has been widely recognised as one of the most progressive and modern innovative restaurants in Kuala Lumpur’s fine dining scene since its debut in 2020.
Drawing inspiration from Ng's training at three-MICHELIN-starred Le Bernardin and one-MICHELIN-starred Kato in the United States, his travels, and his Malaysian upbringing, dishes such as one with razor clam, spring vegetables, and watercress, featuring the various vegetable textures, is a testament to his experiences. "The sauce is made through a tedious process of handpicking watercress leaves one at a time from a 10-kilo bunch, and then, reducing them to a 1-kilo yield through cooking and juicing," Ng says.
"I found it especially interesting while developing the dishes for this new menu because Japanese and French flavours typically lean on the cleaner and simpler side. Southeast Asian dishes are typically heavier in flavour, creating a balanced contrast in terms of course flavour progressions," says Ng.
The 14-day dry-aged duck is a staple on Hide's menu, with different sides and sauces featured each season. The new menu features a sauce of truffle anchovy jus, made from the duck’s bones and shallot miso. With the duck sourced from a local farm in Penang, Ng decided that this dish is to be a mainstay due to its technicality that is representative of his culinary style.
"At Hide, being without an identity is our identity. The ability to experiment with flavours from all over the world didn't confine us in terms of choosing particular flavours or ingredients; and being able to stay true to what we believe — which is simply to make food taste good," says Ng.
Hide offers tasting menu is priced at RM650++ per pax. Hide is located at the Concourse, Ritz-Carlton Residences, 105 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, 50450, Malaysia. Book your seats via WhatsApp at +60 13-203 3627.
L-R: Antennae-to-Tail and Betel Fish (Photo: Nadodi)
Nadodi’s Nostalgia Menu Celebrates the Rich Culinary History of Sri Lanka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu
There is beauty and succour to the diverse flavours and richness of the South Indian Subcontinent. Nadodi, which means "wanderer" in Malayalam and Tamil, pays homage to the region's early settlers. It is no coincidence that the latest menu articulates the same ethos, celebrating the rich culinary history and heritage of Sri Lanka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
A dish called "Yesterday", inspired by a traditional dish called "pazhaya soru" (old rice), is one of the menu's highlights. Nadodi's version includes a rich crumble of moor milaga ( crisp chilli marinated in yoghurt and sun-dried), nellikai urga (pickled Indian gooseberry), and coriander oil. Betel Fish is presented with wild-caught local Threadfin with puliogare (traditional tamarind rice dish) made with barley instead of rice, served with betel leaf Ishtu (Indian stew), and fortified by Threadfin bone dashi. With sustainability in mind, Nadodi created Antennae-to-Tail, a dish that uses all parts of the shrimp, including the head and shells, in a thovaiyal (a side dish from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu).
"At Nadodi, we want to change people's perceptions of South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine and highlight the region's rich culinary heritage. We want diners to experience the traditions of the cuisine and the intentions behind it, while also allowing diners to reminisce with the flavours of each dish," says chef de cuisine Yavhin Siriwardhana, one of the chefs who leads the Nadodi kitchen.
The Nostalgia Menu is priced RM790++ per pax, and The Road Home Vegetarian Menu is at RM690++ per pax. Nadodi is located at Lot 183, 1F, Jalan Mayan, Off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, 50450, Malaysia. Make a booking here.
Skillet's Spring Garden 2023 echoes the liveliness of the season. (Photo: Skillet)
Celebrate the Season of Spring at Skillet
The little brother of Beta, MICHELIN-listed Skillet celebrates the season of spring in their new Spring Garden 2023 menu, which features bold, vibrant, and vivid flavours inspired by ingredients grown in a garden.
Ratatouille is presented as a blooming flower with in-house tomato jam and puff pastry. Koji-marinated rack of lamb is served with black garlic jus. The black garlic was kept at 60 degrees for three months, which contributes to its complex flavours. Traditional garum is given a modern twist with blended roasted chicken wings and bones that are fermented for a month before being mixed with egg and steamed to a custard, topped with braised morel and its jus for a hint of smokiness. To wrap up the meal, Strawberry and Rose is inspired by the classic British dessert, Eton Mess, and constructed with mascarpone, pink peppercorn, and meringue shards that are frozen with liquid nitrogen to contrast the temperature.
Skillet's Spring Garden 2023 menu is available until 24 July 2023. The 6-course degustation is priced at RM380++ per pax, and the 8-course degustation menu is priced at RM530 ++ per pax. Skillet is located at Lot 1, GF, Cormar Suites, 10 Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur, 50450, Malaysia. Make your reservations here.
Header photo from Skillet.
