Beta KL nails it once again with their new, inspiring menu as they continue to innovate and bring fantastic interpretations of Modern Malaysian cuisine to KL-ites. It is THE BEST restaurant we've eaten in for 2018. So, if you haven't been to Beta KL, you should definitely pay them a visit in 2019.
Last week, we had the pleasure of sampling their exciting new menu (Beta 2.0) as well as festive dishes for Christmas and Chinese New Year. Guests will now be able to choose from three set menus, expertly curated by Chef Raymond Tham alongside his kitchen and bartending team. The menu is well-thought out and clearly reflects Chef Raymond's creative mind and prowess in the kitchen.
The food here is simply amazing, with attention to detail from presentation to the unique flavours of each dish. Even before our meal began, we were served a delicious mocktail, The Oriental, a concoction of orange juice, Korean red date, longan syrup and apple cider vinegar, designed to stimulate our tastebuds and appetite.
Delicate light bites made using local ingredients set the tone for the afternoon. The trio includes a Mushroom Tart showcasing locally made artisanal cheese from Mont Kiara shaved on top of soy glazed mushrooms.
Malaysia is the third largest producer of sago, so Chef Raymond feels that it is only apt that sago gets a place on Beta KL's menu. Sago tinted with squid ink is dehydrated, to give it a crispy, cracker-like texture and is topped with salted egg yolk and curry leaf, inspired by the well-loved Malaysian dish, salted egg yolk squid.
What's Christmas without some turkey? A crispy potato cylinder is filled with turkey and 2015 fermented cranberries, which adds complexity to the bites.
Yee Sang, also known as the prosperity toss is a must-have during Chinese New Year. Beta KL's version comes with scallop tartare with local root vegetables, pickled pumpkin, deep fried yam and pomelo snow. Pumpkin represents gold and there is even a whole abalone, symbolising happiness and definite good fortune for the new year. The dried abalone is first soaked for 3 days and then cooked for 2 days in kombu. Super tasty!
The Tiger Prawn Roulade is the perfect example of head to tail eating, utilising every part of the prawn including its head and shell. Drawing inspiration from yong tau foo, the roulade is made with locally sourced prawns; with minced and diced prawns and chestnuts for added texture. The shells are used to make the aioli which the deep fried prawn head sits on. Pickled torch ginger flower and pickled radish complete this delightful dish. One of my favorites from the new menu!
Chef-Bartender Chris is at hand to pair your meals with epic cocktails. He infuses cooking techniques into his cocktail creations and is often inspired by the history of Malaysia or by his own life experiences. To pair with the tiger prawn roulade, we had the Malaysian Daiquiri,inspired by the Malaysian pisang goreng, made using curry leaf infused rum, lime and brown sugar syrup.
The Crab Custard comprises of three distinctive layers, namely the silky smooth egg custard made with crab shell stock on the bottom, followed by crab meat and quinoa, followed by the spicy chilli crab sauce and chilli crab espuma, topped with crouton and caviar. The flavours were absolutely spot on... another winner in my books!
The Bidor Spring Chicken is roasted whole, with herbs, Szechuan peppercorn and coriander seeds, and served with a deep fried local yam as well as a sauce made from Bentong ginger and Tualang honey. To complement this dish, we had the Hanz Sling which is inspired by the sweet potato soup (tong sui) commonly found during CNY. This is made using pandan-infused gin, ginger, sweet potato syrup and ginger ale to recreate the flavours of the tong sui, along with tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) made using yellow, orange and purple sweet potato. Ingenious!
Using local barramundi, the delicate fish is topped with candlenut, butter, breadcrumbs and seaweed and served with a kickass gulai siam sauce. This dish is further enhanced with the chargrilled fermented pineapple, a product of making tepache, a famous Mexican drink. To go with this dish, Chris has created the "Pick Me Up", a special floral, fruity-based cocktail for Valentine's Day. He uses Vodka infused chrysanthemum, roselle syrup, lime an strawberry yogurt to create this creamy, pink drink and embellished with a "gentleman" on top of the glass.
Who doesn't like a little theatrics with their meal? Our palate cleanser, the kedondong and asam boi sorbet is made using −196 °C liquid nitrogen, for an extra smooth texture.
Tender, flavorful beef short ribs conclude the savoury courses for the day. The short ribs have been slow cooked in stock and then grilled under the salamander, for a dish tasting just like bak kwa (Chinese pork jerky). This is paired with a radiant red, the Castello Di Ama San Lorenzo, Chianti Classico, 2013.
If there is one dessert you need to try this festive season, make it the limited edition Christmas Tree from Beta KL. Made from layers of luscious white chocolate mousse and tangy passion curd, this dessert does not only look amazing, it tasted really good too! There was also a bonus dessert, which came with the Sweet Dew, inspired by the mango pomelo dessert.
Check out more interior shots on my original post here.
Beta KL offers 3 different set menus for dinner: Taste of Beta (RM98), Discovery (RM180) and Tour of Malaysia (RM280).
Opening times: Lunch 12pm-3pm; Dinner 6pm-11pm. Bar open from 5pm-1am. Closed on Mondays.
Location: BETA Restobar, East Wing, 163 Fraser Place, 10 Jalan Perak, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Parking: 1st hour RM4, every subsequent hour RM3).
Tel: 03-2181 2990
Website: https://www.facebook.com/betakualalumpur/
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Everything sure looks...different, exclusively extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteI want that fish, and those cocktails.. any one of them pls, but just one.
ReplyDelete