Birthday lunch @ Sage, The Gardens, Kuala Lumpur

For my birthday this year, my mum treated me to lunch at Sage, one of my favorite restaurants in KL. There is a sense of comfort whenever we dine here; maybe it's the familiarity of the place or perhaps its knowing that we would always be served beautiful and delicious plates of food here.

Service was impeccable; from the moment we stepped through the doors to the moment we left, the whole dining experience went like clockwork. Although we've been to Sage numerous times, this was the first ocassion that the menu was explained in detail to us ie. what ingredients actually go into the dish and how it's cooked. I found this to be most helpful and informative and it actually changed our perspective about a few dishes on the menu.

Sage is like the perfect lover; surprises you, serenades you, excites you, pleasures you and never disappoints.

We love the freshly baked bread here, but it was particularly good today. In fact, it was so good that we ate 2 plates between us. Lovely crust, with a soft warm centre.

Mum had the Glazed Duck Breast with Pine Nuts and Mesclun Salad for her starter. When we were browsing through the online menu, mum wasn't too keen on this dish as it sounded too simple. However, after our waitress explained a bit more about the dish to us, mum was sold. And she was very well rewarded, as we both felt this was an excellent starter. The duck meat was succulent with a crisp honey-glazed skin and melt-in-your-mouth layer of fat. There were 3 chunky pieces of duck, so I did not hesitate when mum offered me a piece :-) The pine nuts added a nice, pleasant flavour to the dish. There were also chunks of sweet and juicy persimmons. A beautifully put together dish, both in terms of flavour and presentation.

I find it hard not to order anything with 'foie gras' in it. So for my starter, I had the Feuillantine of Foie Gras with Mushroom Veloute and Sherry Wine Sauce. This dish was a winner for me since I love both foie and mushrooms. The pastry was light and crumbly. I did however find that the foie was quite small compared to what I've had here in the past.

Again, this was a dish mum was hesitant to order after reading the online menu (the dish name had been truncated to exclude the abalone). However, Chef Daniel did a great job with the Steamed Ike Jime of Sea Garoupa with Abalone and Nori Sauce. Ike jime is a method of paralyzing and bleeding the fish involving the insertion of a spike quickly and directly into the hind brain to maintain its quality, producing better coloured and flavoured fillet. The fish was beautifully cooked and what we loved most about this dish was the combination of the flavourful nori sauce and the crunchy fried nori topping. The thin slices of abalone had a delicate chewy texture. This was truly a delicious and well-constructed dish.

I had the Grilled Angus Beef with Dauphinoise Potato, Kailan and Yuzu Citrus. The beef was absolutely delicious and I was impressed with the generous portion. However, the yuzu citrus didn't quite do it for me and felt a little out of place in this dish.

We both loved the Vichyssoise of Fuji Apple with Calvados Brandy Ice Cream. The 'soup' was a delight on the palate; cold, refreshing, sweet, and creamy. Served with the apple vichyssoise was Calvados (apple brandy) ice-cream, poached apple chunks and apple jelly. Simply divine.

And to top off the wonderful lunch, the very nice people from Sage presented me with a complimentary slice of chocolate mousse cake for my birthday.

It was a truly delightful lunch at Sage. Everything from service to food was top-notch. Thanks mum for the birthday treat.

Opening hours: Lunch:Monday to Friday 12.00pm to 2.00pm; Dinner:Monday to Saturday 6.00pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sunday.

Price: RM100 nett per person. 10% off for The Gardens Club card members.

Location: Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, Level 6, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2268 1328

Website: http://www.sagekl.com/lunch.php