Flavours of Middle Eastern Cuisine @ Cascade Restaurant, Mandarin Oriental KL

From 15 June to 18 July 2012, Mandarin Oriental KL will be highlighting Middle Eastern Cuisine al fresco style at Cascade Restaurant. Cascade Restaurant is located on the third floor of the hotel (by the swimming pool) and overlooks KL city skyline and lush landscape of KLCC Park. 

Relaxed ambiance for dining

Dine under the stars and enjoy a shisha as well!

Though I have been to Mandarin Oriental KL several times, this is my first time dining in Cascade Restaurant. I have to say the view here is quite spectacular plus Cascade has a nice, relaxed ambiance hence it is a good place for chilling out.

For this promotion, Chef Raymond Abou Rjeily, who is also Chef de Cuisine of Mosaic has created a delectable menu which includes six appetizers (cold and hot mezze), eight main courses, and four desserts. Full menu can be found here.

Complimentary nuts

We started off with the Arabic Mezze (RM34) and Greek Dips (RM34), both comes with 3 different dips. The Arabic Mezze comes with hummus, baba ganoush, and labneh dips as well as za'atar manakeesh and pita bread. I love the soft and fluffy manakeesh, it goes well with almost every dip. The Greek Dips include tzatziki, htipti, and melitzanosalata with crusty Greek country bread. I love the stylish presentation of these two mezze.

Arabic Mezze

Greek dips

The hummus dip was very good

The dainty cheese samboussek (RM18) does not only look pretty, it's pretty addictive too. Perfectly formed and just the right size for popping a whole one into the mouth... and another.

I love saying the name of this dish... it reminds me of a term that we Malaysians love to use "tak boleh". The Lebanese tabouleh  (RM22) is made from flat parsley leaf, bulgur wheat, tomato, onion, mint and lemon dressing and tastes very appetizing. Again, this was nicely presented on a lettuce leaf which you can easily pick up and pop into your mouth. The taste... "sure boleh" (good).

Turkish Shepherd's Salad (RM28) - roasted eggplant, cherry tomato, feta cheese, bell pepper, butter lettuce

The portions for the main were quite big (and that's coming from a big eater like me!). For more variety, you can order a few mains and simply share with your friends. I love the Middle Eastern Lamb Kofta Kebab (RM65) - you won't find many kebab wraps that look as colourful and healthy as this. The lamb kofta was very flavorful and moist.  This is served with French fries on the side.

Middle Eastern lamb kofta kebab

If you want a little bit of everything, the Arabic mixed grill (RM86) would be a good choice as you will get lamb kofta, beef kebab, and chicken shish taouk to sample. It is also served with three side dishes, a salad, French Fries and Arabian rice. I like the Arabian rice, both savoury and sweet (from the raisins) at the same time.

One of my favourite dishes is the milk lamb shank tagine (RM88), which has been slow cooked at a low temperature for tender, fall off the bone meat. This is served with a ratatouille couscous and roasted pumpkin. Absolutely delish!

One of the chefs carving the meat for our shawarma

We were also served both the lamb and chicken shawarma (RM45) with Ekmek bread. You can also choose to have it with pita bread, however I would suggest that you try the Ekmek bread since it's crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Very very good. I only managed to try the lamb shawarma and it was excellent - the spiced lamb was moist, and was served with tzatziki, chilli, tomatoes, feta cheese, iceberg and shredded red cabbage.

The chicken tagine (RM58) with preserved lemon, kalamata olive, coriander-carrot and potato was slightly too salty for my liking. However, the chicken was moist. The chicken shish taouk (RM58) marinated with lemon and Arabic pickles and grilled was moist - I had a big serving of this.

For dessert, we were served an assortment of baklava and Turkish nougat (RM26), halva, Zabadi berries (RM26), and classic Italian tiramisu (RM28). The baklava was good and I enjoyed the Zabadi berries yogurt mousse which wasn't too sweet served with plump berries. The tiramisu was pretty good, I cleaned off the glass. :P

Baklava

Halva

Zabadi berries

Classic Italian tiramisu

Say hello to Chef Raymond Abou Rjeily, the man that created those delicious dishes you see above

Pool area

Btw, if you do not know already, Mandarin Oriental KL is located right next to Suria KLCC / Petronas Twin Towers. I joined my children at KLCC Park in front of the water fountains after my review at Cascade.

Isn't this a gorgeous photo?

Water fountain in KLCC Park

Petronas Twin Towers - the famous Twins

*The Middle Eastern cuisine promotion is valid from 15 June to 18 July, from 6.00 pm to 11.00 pm daily. 

Full set of photos can be found on my Facebook page here. 

Pork-free.

Location: Cascade Restaurant, Third Floor, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2380 8888

GPS Coordinates: 3.155514, 101.711555

Website: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur or like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter for latest updates and promotions.

*This is an invited review.