Lunch @ El Cerdo, Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Oink oink... says the pig.

When the "Top 5 Malaysian Restaurants" in The Miele Guide 2011/2012 was announced, I looked at the list and thought "Hey I've eaten in them all except for El Cerdo". This needs to be fixed, pronto!

We had a free afternoon recently and decided to go there for lunch. We were early so we got a parking right in front of the restaurant, but seriously Changkat Bukit Bintang is a nightmare for parking (esp if you don't want to walk far or park in the sun). We only found out when we arrived that El Cerdo dining area is actually closed during lunch and all diners are placed next door in El Cerdito. We sat at the front of the restaurant (high bar stools) since the lighting is slightly better compared to the back of the restaurant. The menu we got to order from was still from El Cerdo's though.

For lunch, you can order either from the regular a la carte menu or the set lunch menu. From the set lunch menu, you can enjoy the salad & cold appetizer buffet for RM25++ or set lunch with the buffet, mains and desserts for RM44++ or RM48++. We thought the set lunch sounded like a great deal and a good way of sampling their offerings hence went for this option.

Bread basket

All things porky.. 


The selection from the cold appetizer and salad buffet was pretty good. We went for several rounds as we enjoyed most of them, if you like cold cuts, you can just go for this buffet and fill yourself up. There was pig head jelly, salchichon, pig trotter terrine, lomo, chorizo, honey ham salad, roasted pork with tuna sauce, jamon serrano, and more. They kept refilling the buffet, so no worries about turning up late and missing the good stuff. Do try the cold cuts with the rock melon - salty and sweet works well together!

Pig's head jelly - it hasn't really got much taste to it, but was interesting just to try. ;)

Salchichon - mild taste, nice texture, this was one that I liked. 

Pig trotter terrine - this was also nice.

Lomo - a delicacy from Andalucia, cured loin with very little fat.

Honey ham salad - this was yummy too, a mix of cubed ham with onions, carrots and gherkins.

Salad

Roasted pork with tuna sauce - the meat was really tender and surprisingly the tuna sauce went well with it. I never thought that tuna and pork would work together. 

Jamon serrano - one of my favorites with rock melon.

Can't remember what this was called, but it was some sort of pate.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4 - I ain't called Baby Sumo for nothing LOL

Both of us went for the RM48++ set lunch since the mains sounded much more interesting. The RM44+ set lunch consists of mainly sausages and pasta. Hubby had the Hickory smoked pork soft ribs served with BBQ sauce and mash potatoes. While the ribs were cooked til tender, we thought that the BBQ sauce was a little too overpowering. My choice of mains was slightly better, marinated pork shoulder steak (which happens to be one of their signature dishes) whereby the meat has been marinated for 48 hours with paprika, herbs, onions, garlic and mild Dijon mustard. It was served with a potato salad and mild mustard sauce. The table next to us had the suckling pig, which looked good, they even had a chopping ritual which was rather amusing to watch. Will come back to try this (RM358 for whole piglet - definitely not cheap!).

Hickory smoked pork soft ribs

Marinated pork shoulder steak

Round 5 - more cold cuts while waiting for our desserts LOL. I think I'm turning into a pig.

For desserts, there were 4 choices. Hubby went for the Spanish flourless chocolate cake which was decent enough to enjoy. We both loved the mango tiramisu, we wouldn't mind ordering this again next time.

Spanish flourless chocolate cake

Mango tiramisu

Inside El Cerdito

The cold appetizer & salad buffet counter - help yourself to as many rounds as you like!

More piggies

Went next door to El Cerdo for a peek

Check out the door handles!

Verdict: We enjoyed the cold appetizer buffet and desserts. Would return for the roasted suckling pig when I'm feeling a little richer. LOL ;P

Full set of photos available to view here.

Service: Good.

Price: RM48++ for set lunch. Available Mon to Fri 12.00 - 2.30pm. 

Location: El Cerdo, 43 & 45 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03- 2145 0511

Website: www.elcerdokl.com