Upper Deck, Tanzini @ GTower

Now corporate travellers to Kuala Lumpur, can mix fine food and business under one roof, especially if they are staying at the G Tower Hotel. G Tower Hotel is the up and coming choice for corporate and leisure travellers visiting Kuala Lumpur, as it has both functionality as well as a swanky vibe to it.  The hotel is located at a prime spot within the city’s business, commercial and embassy districts. It is adjacent to the Ampang Park LRT station, offering access to popular destinations in Kuala Lumpur and is within walking distance of KLCC, famous for its shopping and the Petronas Twin Towers. It really is what we call, a “G”spot in the city.

Amuse-Bouche

But I digress. I meant to tell you about our dinner at the Upper Deck, Tanzini at the G Tower hotel. This spanking new fine-dining restaurant, set on the higher level of Tanzini, looked 100% the part. I love the way this place exudes glamour. With an indoor/outdoor rooftop area such as this, and with a dramatic view of the city’s sky scape, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows some twenty odd stories above the ground, is it any wonder you feel like sashay-ing, rather than walking into dinner. Yes, in terms of ambiance, the Upper Deck has it pegged, all right.

So, let’s get down to dinner. To kick off this new menu, we shared an interesting spread of contemporary fine-dining starters and mains, with the other guests at the long table. It wasn’t until we were halfway into the dinner, that we noticed that we were actually having the degustation menu. Highlights in our meal of hits and misses were these well executed dishes, most notably the Soup of Smoked Duck Consommé and Ox Tongue Ragù Ravioli, the Butternut Squash Cappellacci with Sea Urchin and Avruga Caviar and the Baby Lobster Tail and Hokkaido Scallops starters. Of these, the most outstanding for me, was the Soup of Smoked Duck Consommé and Ox Tongue Ragù Ravioli. I managed to get a fair share and taste of this terrifically well flavoured soup of smoked duck,  and a lush, melt in your mouth ox tongue centre, encased in a perfectly textured ravioli. It was cooked al dente and the chewiness was divine. 

On the downside, since we had to share the already minute portions of starters,we actually missed out on the complete experience of flavours vs. textures, as it was rather hard to divided up the food and sauces equally. An excessively overcooked Pacific Rainbow Trout which was served with Dole Sweet Corn Risotto, was something I could not really wrap my tongue around. The fish was dry and the corn was a hindrance to the flavour.

Then came the sous-vide mains. If you’ve gone out to a fancy restaurant in the last five years or so, you’ve most likely eaten a protein that was cooked sous-vide in a water bath, whether you knew it or not. The process of vacuum-packing meat and cooking it in a precise temperature-controlled water bath has revolutionized the way fine-dining restaurants are run. The beauty of sous-vide cooking is that since you are cooking your steak in a water bath to begin with, there is absolutely no chance your meat will ever get above the temperature you choose. As a rule of thumb, 120°F rare, 130°F medium rare, 140°F medium, and so on. Apparently as far as temperature goes, a Chef I spoke to recommends, the 130 to 140°F range (about 54 -60°C). To all you hardcore carnivores out there who insist on cooking your well-marbled, prime-grade steaks rare, you are doing yourself a disservice. Unless it renders and softens, the fat in a well-marbled piece of meat is worthless and doesn’t taste palatable.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bloody steak or lamb, as much as the next person and have been a firm believer in “medium rare” since I was old enough to exercise my canines and incisors, but I would have preferred mine a little less rare. Anyway, upon returning the meats, the second time the food arrived – it was better. I truly enjoyed both the steak and the lamb on the second try. I must say, that the intrinsic flavours of the meats were superb, possibly due to the freshness of the cut plus the sous-vide technique employed in cooking it.

cheers!

Appetizer

Baby Lobster Tail Salad

Assorted Heirloom Tomatoes, Garden Greens, Basil Ravioli, Aged Balsamico

OR

Duo of Hokkaido Scallop

Caramelized Scallop, Edamame Purée & Carpaccio Scallop, Crab Roe Emulsion

Soup

Momotaro Tomato Gazpacho

Chilled Momotaro Tomato Succo, Tiger Prawn Salsa Timbale & Apple Mint Oil

OR

Smoked Duck Tea

Smoked Duck Consommé and Ox Tongue Ragù Ravioli, Black Trumpet Mushroom

Starter

Butternut Squash Cappellacci

Sea Urchin and Avruga Caviar

OR

Pacific Rainbow Trout

Dole Sweet Corn Risotto, Black Truffle, Styria Pumpkin Seed Oil

Intermezzo

Sorbet of the day

Mains

1824 Beef Tenderloin & Cheek

Slow-roasted Beef Tenderloin and Cheek, Swede Purée, Summer Root Vegetables,

 Zinfandel Reduction

 OR

Lamb Rack in Granola Bar Crust

Caramelized Onion Tarte Tatin, Baby Vegetables Niçoise,

Spiced Peach Chutney

OR

Fillet of Yellowtail King Fish

Oven-roasted Lemon Grass infused Hamachi Fish,

Braised Kohlrabi and Fennel Broth

Dessert

Assorted Tanzini Creations – Profiteroles with ice-cream and strawberries

Executive Chef, Johnny Fua and Upper Deck Sous Chef, Alven Tan

Choice of dining options is varied from a four course dinner at RM155++ per pax or a five course dinner at RM185++ per pax. This post features the Chef’s Degustation Menu, which is a six course dinner at RM215++ per pax. All in all, an interesting dining experience but we need to go back to check out the other items on the menu one of these days, for sure.