Dewakan @ KDU, Shah Alam - Modern Malaysian Cuisine

Since we didn't make it to Dewakan for my birthday month, we went there instead for Hubby's birthday. Dewakan is a fine dining restaurant serving modern Malaysian cuisine, headed by Chef Darren Teoh.  The restaurant is located at KDU University College in Shah Alam, an unusual location for a fine dining restaurant, however this is where Chef Darren is a lecturer at, and many of its staff are graduates from the college.

This was definitely one of the best fine dining meals we've had in recent months. Chef Darren is innovative and well-versed in molecular gastronomy, hence diners will definitely be in for a treat here. He takes traditional and local ingredients from around Malaysia, and prepares them in an unconventional, exciting way. I've recommended this place to a few friends, and they loved it too!

For a fine dining restaurant, the price of their menus are very reasonably priced, considering the quality meal one gets here. Lunch is priced at RM90 for 3-courses and RM145 for 4-courses, whereas dinner is RM180 for 5-courses or RM240 for 10-courses.

Since Dewakan is quite far for us to get to and we wanted to maximise our time here, we enquired if we could go for 2 x 3-courses each (meaning we wanted to have 6 courses in total per person). This gives us the ability to try almost every dish on their lunch menu.

After placing our order, we were served three types of amuse bouche, starting with the choy sum nori crackers, which have been dehydrated and then deep fried, and comes with budu mayonnaise. Budu is a type of fermented fish sauce from the East Coast of Malaysia. We love these - a nice and crispy snack to start the meal with.

Amuse bouche #1

These look like crackers, but they're actually beef tendon which has been dehydrated and deep fried and sprinkled with soy powder, cili padi and watercress emulsion, so you get a hint of spiciness from eating this.

Amuse bouche #2

The final amuse bouche is refreshing, tart frozen yogurt served in a roselle leather cup, dusted with candied cumin and smoked cuttlefish.

Amuse bouche #3

Chefs at Work - they operate an open-kitchen here, so diners can enjoy all the kitchen action along with their meal

For appetizers, you can choose from either the roast mushrooms or braised aubergine. Since we were having 6-courses for lunch, we had both the appetizers. Out of the two, I prefer the roast mushrooms, which is king oyster mushrooms served two ways- raw and thinly sliced, as well as oven-roasted. Not only does it taste good, it also looks really pretty on the plate, with all the different herbs, edible flowers and torch ginger flower. Love the meaty texture of the mushrooms.

ROAST MUSHROOMS

King Oyster Mushrooms, Green Curry Paste, Yoghurt, Dried Mackerel Flakes

The aubergine is braised in mushroom stock, and served potato glass, black bean sauce and garlic emulsion, as well as twigs made from potato. Wasn't too crazy about the taste but love the dainty presentation of this dish.

BRAISED AUBERGINE 

Aubergine braised in Mushroom Stock, Jackfruit Seeds, Black Bean Sauce and Garlic Emulsion

Both the main courses that we tried were excellent. The Pike Conger had a more comforting, homely feel to it, whereas the duck dish just screams sophistication. Pike conger, a type of eel, is smoked and served with an egg custard (ie chawanmushi) and topped with clam sauce foam and herbs. There is also roasted okra and fermented long beans relish beneath the chawanmushi. Really delicious!

PIKE CONGER

Smoked Pike Conger, Custard, Fermented Long Beans Relish, Roasted Okra, Clams Foam

The duck dish was bloody marvellous, with roast duck breast as well as duck leg rilette, topped with sliced beetroot. What really made this dish stand out for me was the rich and velvety "blood" sauce, which I really liked - enquired what the blood sauce is made of and was told that they use duck liver and beetroot juice.

DUCK

Roast Duck Breast, Duck Leg Rillette, Beetroots, "Blood" Sauce

For dessert, we had the Gula Melaka as well as Mulberry. Gula Melaka features a marquise made from gula melaka and white chocolate, topped with sour meringue and contrasting blue pea flower petals (bunga telang) and a pulut ice cream.

GULA MELAKA

Gula Melaka Marquise, Sour Meringue, Pulut Ice Cream

Mulberries, on the other hand features mulberry jam and mulberry snow, garnished with pucuk gajus, cashew crumble and cardamom ganache. This was a lovely and refreshing dessert. 

MULBERRIES

Mulberry Jam, Cardamom Ganache, Cashew Brittles, Pucuk Gajus, Mulberry Snow 

Post-lunch popsicles to end the meal

We can't wait to go back and dine at Dewakan again, hopefully when they change to a new menu.


Opening times: Lunch: Mon to Fri – 12 Noon to 2:30pm; Dinner: Thur to Sat – 7pm to 9pm. Closed on Sundays and certain public holidays.


Price: Total bill RM320, we paid RM80 for 3-courses (x4). (current price is RM90 for 3-courses)

Location: Dewakan Restaurant, Lower Ground FloorKDU University College, Utropolis Glenmarie, Jalan Kontraktor U1/14, Seksyen U1, 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel: +603-5565 0767

Website: http://dewakan.my/

GPS Coordinates: 3.092321, 101.559551



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