Drift Dining & Bar, Kuala Lumpur - Modern Australian Cuisine

Changkat Bukit Bintang is an area we rarely venture to since our return to Malaysia in 2008. We recently discovered Drift Dining & Bar, a modern Australian restaurant and bar which has been around since 2015. Owned by Aussie expat (also an ex-sommelier), Robert Gilliland, the menu at Drift is influenced by a combination of many cultures, with a focus on quality produce.


Drift - "a slow continuous movement with friends from one flavour to the next"..

There is more to Drift Dining & Bar that meets the eye. Come sunset hour, Drift comes alive and patrons are spoilt with an extensive handpicked wine and cocktail list. Drift also often has wine tastings/events to entertain its patrons and keep the scene interesting.

We sampled several items off its a la carte menu as well as from their newly launched Weekend Brunch menu during our visit. They also offer an affordable lunch menu daily, with prices starting from RM19. Every first Sunday of the month, there will be a Boozy Brunch (free flow food and alcohol from 12-4pm) and they also offer Burgers and Beers on the last Sunday of the month, with beer prices starting from RM12 all day.

What better way to start your weekend than with a fantastic eggy brunch. The Eggs Benedict features two beautifully poached eggs, with asparagus, Hollandaise sauce and PORK bacon. There's nothing more pleasurable than cutting through a poached egg and watching the yolk run out. So good!

We loved the Steamed Manila Clams (RM36), a generous portion of clams cooked in a creamy garlic and saffron sauce, and topped with Serrano ham. The clams were fresh and pretty meaty, a must-order for seafood lovers.

The highlight of our meal was this glorious steak platter, 250g of Australian Black Angus striploin (RM115), grilled and sliced. It was tender, juicy and most importantly well-seasoned, a basic thing which many restaurants fail to do these days. The steak was served with these really awesome roasted Australian chat potatoes.... the skin was crispy and the inside fluffy.... absolutely delicious!

Fresh salads are a big part of Australian cuisine. From the lunch menu, We sampled the Fennel, Crab, Green Apple and Orange Salad (RM25) with wasabi mayo dressing, a well-thought out and very tasty salad. A salad I'd happily eat any day. The lunch menu items come with a complimentary iced lemon tea as well.

Lunch Menu

We finished the meal nicely with the Cinnamon spiced Spanish doughnuts served with caramel and Drift strawberry jam (RM24). Crisp and light, dip your churros into either or both of the sauces and enjoy!

A la carte dinner menu

Book your table online here:

Opening times: Sun - Thurs 12pm - 1am; Fri & Sat 12pm - 3am.

Location: Drift Dining & Bar, 38 Jalan Bedara, Ground Floor Bidara Condo, Off Jalan Nagasari, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (You can park at Bidara Condo parking, or at Hotel Istana or at One Residency)

Tel: 03-2110 2079

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Driftdiningandbar

GPS Coordinates: 3.148800, 101.709782



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Bonfire Restaurant & Bar, The Starling Mall, Damansara Uptown

Located at Damansara Uptown's The Starling Mall, Bonfire is a new restaurant and bar serving modern Australian cuisine. Drawing inspiration from award-winning Australian restaurant, Porteño in Sydney, the restaurant has a custom-made woodfire and charcoal oven as a centrepiece in the kitchen.

As you can imagine bonfire consumes a lot of wood and they have artistically incorporated firewood into the interior design. Exposed brick walls and ornate floor tiles, along with a colorful, striking mural completes the look of this casual dining restaurant.

We sampled several dishes from both the lunch and dinner menu, all of which were executed flawlessly. We started off with the Braised Wagyu Cheeks (RM42) served with pumpkin puree, crispy shallots, broccoli, mushroom pudding and a sunny side up egg. A well-thought out dish, marrying wonderful flavours and textures together. We loved the tender, gelatinous beef cheeks as well as the interesting mushroom pudding.

From the lunch menu, we had the Crispy skin salmon with scrambled eggs (RM29) served with brioche toast and baby spinach. I am quite picky when it comes to eating cooked salmon in restaurants, however I am glad to report that Bonfire passed with flying colours. The salmon was perfectly cooked, just the way I like it - crispy skin, yet with the salmon flesh lightly cooked resulting in a moist, almost buttery texture.

The highlight of our meal was Big Bonfire Platter aka the 3-meat platter (RM165). Diners can choose from Wagyu skirt steak, Whole red snapper, Mediterranean baby spring chicken, Rack of lamb, and Pineapple glazed beef short ribs, all which are cooked in the woodfire oven. By using the woodfire oven to cook the meats, it imparts a lovely smokiness to the meat. If you come in a smaller group, you can also order them individually or go for the 2-meat platter.

So for our platter, we had the Wagyu skirt steak, snapper and lamb. When it arrived at our table, we all thought it looked mighty impressive.

The Wagyu skirt steak is one of their bestsellers and it's easy to see why. Cooked sous vide for 18 hours and then finished off in the woodfire oven, the meat was amazingly tender and flavourful. It is recommended to eat this with the confit garlic served with the platter.

The Australian rack of lamb was my personal favourite. Beautifully pink and tender, it is served with a mint and pea puree.

Not to be missed is the whole red snapper, locally sourced from the markets daily. The fish is seasoned with Cajun spices, cooked and served with a coconut beurre blanc. Incredibly moist and fresh.

The platter also comes with the Pana de Casa, house baked bread, toasted in the woodfire oven and served with a dried fruit (prune and apricot) butter.

Bonfire is currently offering a Free bottle of wine for every 3-meat platter purchased at the moment... what a deal! Available Mondays to Thursdays (6-9pm).


For desserts, we shared the Caramelised milk panna cotta (RM19), served with a nutella cigar and fresh berries. Whip your cameras out, jiggle it about and snap a Boomerang. Light and delicious!

Opening times: Sun-Thurs 11am to 12am; Fri & Sat 11am to 1am.

Location: Bonfire Restaurant & Bar, Lot G-032, The Starling Mall, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Tel: 018-919 8226

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BonfireDamansara


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Australian Food Trail - Snap and Win!

Do you like taking photos of your food? If the answer is YES, then do check out the Australian Food Trail campaign, organised by the Australian High Commission, Kuala Lumpur.

The Campaign will run from 1 May 2017 to 26 May 2017, to celebrate Australia’s exciting, creative and multicultural food scene as well as the strong people-to-people links between Australia and Malaysia.

“Australia’s culinary traditions reflect the diverse, multicultural character of our society, of which Malaysia is very much a part, as well as the natural bounty of our land”, said His Excellency, Rod Smith PSM, Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia. “The Australian Food Trail gives Malaysians here a chance to savour our culinary excellence at some fine local restaurants, and discover what the taste of Australia is all about.”

The Australian Food Trail will see 14 leading Malaysian restaurants and cafes showcasing their interpretation of Modern Australian cuisine. Each of these venues has a connection with Australia - Malaysian foodies bringing Aussie influences home from their travels; Aussie expats setting up shop in Malaysia; or chefs using Australia’s fresh, safe and sustainable produce in their gastronomic creations. Some of these participating venues will also offer their own special promotions during this time.

As part of the Campaign, consumers are encouraged to discover what the Australian food scene is all about, by trying an ‘Australian’ meal at one of the participating venues.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Visit one of the participating outlets.

2. Order their special ‘Australian Food Trail Campaign’ meal.

3. Take a photo of your meal.

4. Share the photo on Facebook and tag #MYOzFood and @AusinMalaysia

PRIZES

Diners will have the chance to win 2 x return flights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Perth, Australia, courtesy of Malindo Air.

Consolation prizes of health screening vouchers from Gribbles Pathology will also be available.

For more information, see http://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/foodtrail_photocompetition.html 

We visited one of the participating outlets, Bonfire Restaurant & Bar at The Starling Mall, and tried their "Australian Food Trail Campaign dish" -  the Braised Wagyu Cheeks (RM42). As always, the camera eats first ;) Snap a photo like below, and then post it on Facebook and tag #MYOzFood and @AusinMalaysia. It's as simple as that!

Another participating outlet in the Australian Food Trail campaign is Drift Dining & Bar, located in Jalan Bedara in Bukit Bintang. The restaurant will be highlighting five of its dishes for this campaign, order one of these dishes and you would be eligible for the contest.

• Slow braised baby pork ribs with yakiniku sauce, fennel and apple (RM39)
• Crispy skin barramundi with olives, mint and orange (RM39)
• Australian braised beef short ribs with Chinese master stock, shallots and chilli (RM90)
• Slow braised Australian lamb shank with enoki mushrooms, burnt butter and sumac
• Australian Black Angus striploin with wasabi butter (RM115)

Remember - order the Campaign Dish, snap a photo, and post it on Facebook, tagging #MYOzFood and @AusinMalaysia. We had the striploin steak and it was AMAZING! It tasted so good, and the plating is ace too.

Good luck and happy snapping!

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