Monday, May 14, 2007

Taste of Australia with Mark Best @ QBA, The Westin Kuala Lumpur



The Westin Kuala Lumpur is currently running the Taste of Australia together with Tourism Australia. Featuring a trio of celebrity chefs and a chocolatier, it's something you don't want to miss if you love food. We took the opportunity to try dinner last weekend together with Lyrical Lemongrass and her husband, the Bald Eagle. To kick off the fair, they had
Mark Best who is the Sydney Best Chef 2006 at the QBA Restaurant. Pictures aren't too fantastic as the lighting is extremely dim there. Featuring a ten course meal, we kicked off with the Chaud-Froid Free Range Egg. Literally meaning hot and cold in French, the warm coddled egg is topped with cold cream. Really yummy and very comfort food like.



Next course was the Blue Swimmer Crab with Almond Jelly and Gazpacho. Nice and light, it's topped with a sprinkling of popcorn dust. The jelly is light as a feather while the crab meat is sweet.



This was everyone's favourite dish - the Cured Ocean Trout with Rock Oyster and Pickled Melon. A wafer thin slice of melon topped the fish which complemented it so well. Each bite was a melt in the mouth sensation with the burst of sweetness.



This is one of Mark Best's signature dishes which he also recently served at the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore. The Risotto of Calamari with Prawn Broth and Curry Leaf is unusual as instead of rice, you get tiny pieces of chopped calamari as the risotto. I liked this combination of the rich prawn broth and the crunchy curry leaves. Reminded me of the flavours you get in butter prawns but very much lighter.



Next was the Mille Feuille - Foil of Smoked Bonito. Wafer thin potato slices sandwich the thick smoked bonito with olive truffles and crushed almonds on the side. I liked the thin potato slices but didn't like the smoked bonito.



Then it was the roast duckling with pumpkin and olive liquorice. It's amazing how he got the olive to taste like liquorice. Quite an unusual combination but it works with the tender duckling and very tangy lemon curd on the side.



Next came the first of the dessert courses - a divine goats cheese on top of a marzipan cake and served with vanilla celery. There's an interesting twist to this dish - a Malaysian one with the addition of rambutans on the side. At first we thought it was lychee but we found out it was rambutan after checking with the kitchen.



We loved this - the Sauternes Custard with Caramel. Silky smooth it was such good stuff that all of us wanted seconds of this.



Then it was the Chocolate Banana, Apricot and Coffee. If you have a sweet tooth, this is not for you as the chocolate mousse is bittersweet and rich. Combined with the banana, it takes a while to get used to.



We finished up with Apple Pectin Jellies that reminded me of soft jelly candies and the divine Koko Black salted caramel chocolate. It was fantastic - bittersweet chocolate shell encasing a not too sweet caramel filling.

It was an extremely satisfying meal and really superb food. The restaurant was packed to the brim with people. If you wish to sample more of the other Australian chefs, the fair will be on until 20 May, 2007. There'll be Daniel Mosedale and Andrew McCornell who is Melbourne's Top Chef 2007. Then there's also the Koko Black chocolatiers. Very tempted to try the chocolate and wine tasting on 18 May, 2007 as the chocolate we had at the dinner was excellent stuff. To get the schedule, click on
Westin Dining and the What's Hot icon at the bottom of the website. The menus are also online so you know what will be served at the Daniel Mosedale and Andrew McCornell dinners. Happy dining!


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15 comments:

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hmmm how come the invitation was not extended....to me?? looks damn awesome..but i m guessing this is at least RM300plus a person? ouch..

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

I still have memories of that awesome custard! We had a great time dining with you and Splashie Boy. :-) Must do it again soon! (At least, after Bald Eagle's back)

fatboybakes said...

what were the table arrangements like? aiyo, now i'm kicking myself for not going. argh.

boo_licious said...

joe - sorry, didn't know you would be interested in this. It's less than RM300++ per pax.

lemongrass - yes, we had a lot of fun. Think next makan session with your hubby and you has to be at Max! since they both love a certain red team so much.

fatboybakes - very strange to sit a foot away but we managed. The food was very very good! Think lemongrass will be waxing lyrical on it soon so your mouth will drool. definitely worth every pretty penny of it.

fatboybakes said...

eeeeks, football talk....bleh, cant join you guys lar then...

Precious Pea said...

:( What about me????? You both going Max without me?? Sniff sniff sniff.

BTW, the dinner look awesome..so mouth watering!!!

boo_licious said...

fatboybakes - no lah, not only limited to footie fans.

precious pea - I think this month pokai already so probably next month. Will try and organise large makan at Max! so the more the merrier. The dinner was very good, still remembering how the ocean trout melted with the sweet hints and the custard.

wmw said...

Yup, yup...Need to go Max!

Pinkity said...

Had the pleasure of sampling David King's and Daniel's work today and it was fantastic. If I'm not wrong the dinner was RM259 per pax with wine pairing right?

I absolutely recommend it :D

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

ok..i m going to work harder from now on..earn more money and eat more food!..waiting for the Max!

sc said...

wow, you enjoyed every single bit of this dining experience eh boo? ;).oooohhh, keep me in the loop on Max too! thanks!

Precious Pea said...

Oh yes yes..am sure many people would love to pay a visit to Max!

boo_licious said...

wmw - next mth ok?

jackson - greedy person mah.

pinkity - sounds like a food tasting for the media rite since it's not part of the schedule? It was cheaper as we had a discount card.

joe - make more overtime?

sc - okay, no problems but probably next month.

precious pea - yeah but must find a day everyone is free.

Pinkity said...

You're right... it was a media tasting :D I truly enjoyed the dessert. A pavlova which I think is on the menu.

Cheers and keep those mouth watering posts coming!

boo_licious said...

pinkity - lucky you!

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